The children from the romanian Erasmus Team want to present you their research on the local customs. Our school celebrate every year these traditions. We celebrate Christmas in December, Dragobete - the romanian love s day (24 February), Martisorul - 1 of March, Mother s Day - 8 of March, Easter and Childrens Day - 1 of June. We are happy to show you some pictures from these events :)

By Lorena Matei

I would like to give you the recipe of a traditional Romanian dish: polenta (mamaliga). It used to be consumed on a daily basis at the countryside and it replaced bread. Today polenta is an excellent side dish for sarmale (sufeed cabbage rolls) or stews.

You will need:

- 4 cups of water

- 1 pound ground cornmeal

- 1 teaspoon of salt

How to prepare it: Bring to boil the water in a large pot with the salt, then simmer and pour with a steady stream the cornmeal. Stir constantly for about 20 minutes with a wooden spoon. The cooked mamaliga should be thick enough to stay in place on a wooden plate

Every time there is a celebration in our school (National Day, Christmas, Easter) we proudly wear a traditional costume

Our Romanian cuisine contains a few different types of dishes, which are sometimes included under a generic term; for example, the category "ciroba" includes a wide range of soups with a characteristic sour taste. These may be meat and vegetable soups, tripe and calf foot soups, or fish soups, all of which are soured bylemon juice, sauerkraut juice,vinegar, orborș(traditionally made from bran).

One of the most common meals is the mămăligă, a type of polenta, served on its own or as an accompaniment. Pork is the main meat used in Romanian cuisine, but also beefis consumed and a good lamb or fish dish is never to be refused.

Before Christmas, a pig is traditionally sacrificed by every rural family. A variety of foods for Christmas are prepared from the slaughtered pig, such as:

• Cârnați – garlicky pork sausages, which may be smoked or dry-cured;
• Caltaboș – an emulsified sausage based on liver with the consistency of the filling ranging from fine (pâté) to coarse;
• Tobă (head cheese) – based on pig's feet, ears, and meat from the head suspended in aspic and stuffed in the pig's stomach;
• Tochitură – a stew made with pork, smoked and fresh sausage simmered in a tomato sauce and served with mămăligă and wine ("so that the pork can swim"). There are many variations of this stew throughout Romania, with some versions combining different meats, including chicken, lamb, beef, pork and sometimes even offal;
• Pomana porcului—pan-fried cubed pork served right after the pig's sacrifice to thank the relatives and friends who helped with the process;
• Piftie/răcitură – inferior parts of the pig, mainly the tail, feet, and ears, spiced with garlic and served in aspic;
• Jumări – dried pork remaining from rendering of the fat and tumbled through various spices

The Christmas meal is sweetened with the traditional cozonac, a sweet bread made from nuts, poppy seeds, or rahat (Turkish delight).

At Easter, lamb is served: the main dishes are borș de miel (lamb sour soup), roast lamb, and drob de miel – a Romanian-style lamb haggis made from minced offal (heart, liver, lungs), lamb meat and spring onions with spices, wrapped in a caul and roasted. The traditional Easter cake is pască, a pie made from yeast dough with a sweet cottage cheese filling at the center.

Romanian pancakes, called clătite, are thin (like the French crêpe) and can be prepared with savory or sweet fillings: ground meat, cheese, or jam. Different recipes are prepared depending on the season or the occasion.