Christmas in Romania is a great fun time with lots of unique customs and traditions.
Romanians decorate their houses, go shopping, bake cookies and cakes, send Christmas cards, and decorate the Christmas tree during Christmas. Children go out skiing or sledding.
They like to make snowballs and snowmen, but mostly they like to wait for Santa Claus to give them presents. Christmas in Romania is known as Craciun and Santa Claus is called Mos Craciun.
Carols form an important part of Christmas in Romania. Romanian carols are a sort of invocation in verse sung by children and lads, on the evening of Winters Holidays.
According to custom, the leader carries a large wooden star called a Steaua, which is covered with shiny paper and decorated with bells and colored ribbon. A picture of the Holy Family is pasted in the star's center, and the entire creation is attached to a long pole. A lighted candle is placed inside to give the effect of a heavenly lantern.
The Christmas tree is decorated on Christmas Eve with walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, candies, apples and chocolates wrapped in colored paper. A special cake, the delicious Turta, is made for Nosterea Domnului Isus, or Christmas Eve. It is composed of thin layers of rolled dough that represents the swaddling clothes of the Christ Child.
Some traditional foods of Christmas in Romania that are a must have during this season are:
Ciorba de perisoare - a slightly sour vegetable soup made with fermented bran and pork meatballs.
Sarmale - Sour cabbage leaves stuffed with ground pork and served with polenta.
Roast pork - pork garnished with pickled vegetables or mixed salads.
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