Romanian Christmas food is soooooo special. And tasty. My mouth is already watering. That’s why you can find it all over the year not only in Christmas time.
I don’t make a mistake when I say on Christmas every Romanian family have on their table sarmale, caltabosi, carnati and toba. Below you’ll find short explanations of these words (and many others) and in the future their recipes. All of them being part of the traditional Christmas food in Romania.
Romanian Christmas food generally use pork (except Advent food). Pork meat, animal’s organs, fat and blood. Everything swine has inside is used. Some of them are used for Christmas holidays, others are prepared to be eaten later, till in spring.
I have to warn you. All this food has a lot of fat. Then how can we be well and healthy? Simple. Near all these types of food we drink wine. Red wine. We also drink tuica (plum brandy) as appetizer and we eat a lot of garlic and onion.
All pork preparation things start on Ignat Day. Then all appetizers are prepared and all the rest at least half prepared. The recipes kept from a generation to another differ from household to household (not much) but they can significantly differ from province to province.
OK! Let’s see what is Romanian Christmas food about.
Christmas food – appetizers
- carnati – home made sausages
- caltabosi – sausages made from heart, liver, lung and meat of the head
- lebervurst – a paste made from liver and pork fat
- sangerete – blood sausages
- jumari – melted fat
- piftie – pork feet jelly (or aspic?)
- toba – I found somewhere the name head cheese (?)
- smoked ham – no comment this time
- pork liver tart – no comment again
- pogacele cu jumari – a kind of donates with melted fat
- winter roll
Christmas food – soups
- peasant soup with smoked pork meat
- sour soup with meat balls
Christmas food – main dish
- sarmale – cabbage rolls with pork
- baked gammon
- baked pork chops
- breaded pork chops
- baked pork backhead
- pork schnitzel
- meatballs
- pork’s alms
- grilled carp
- vegetable hodgepodge
Christmas food – dessert
- sweet bred (cozonac)
- knot-shaped Christmas bread (colaci de Craciun)
- lots of cookies
- lots of layered cakes
- apple pie in advent time
- baked apples and many others
Christmas food – others
- mamaliga – if names like polenta, maize porridge, tortilla tell you something, please show me the most appropriate
- balmos – a special food from mamaliga