Taking advantage of last week’s warm weather some cafes and bars in the Old Center have already put out the tables for the summer terraces. Some of the smaller terraces had all tables full, which was pretty good considering that this was the Easter holiday and Bucharest was at its most quiet with half of the population gone to spend their vacation somewhere else.
The other highlight of the Easter meal, from my point of view, is this traditional dessert, called cozonac which, as I discovered, has it own wikipedia page. It’s traditionally prepared for every major holiday (Christmas, Easter, New Year) and in taste is similar to the Italian Panettone. It’s not easy baking a good cozonac. My grandmother used to bake a very good one but unfortunately the tradition stopped with her: my mom never got it right and I never tried to bake one. Only reading the recipe makes me want to give up 🙂
Most of the dishes we prepare for the Easter meal are made of lamb, including this traditional Easter appetizer called drob which is made using lamb organs: heart, kidneys, liver. It’s a bit similar to a meatloaf. It’s one of my favorites and I can’t have enough of it, especially considering that I’m only eating it once a year. I looked for lamb drob recipes on the web and found plenty of sources (for example this one or this one). I also discovered that this dish can be found in Bulgaria as well.
As the customs goes, we went to the church at midnight to “get the light”. The priest comes out of the church with a lit candle which quickly gets spread around the crowd. It’s supposed to bring luck, if you can get it home without blowing it. After the short sermon we were invited at a friends house where we had fun with Easter eggs tapping. Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates it!
Madonna’s concert from last August and a beer festival that followed left Izvor Park without any grass and some of the trees withered. A few environmental organizations decried the destruction and soon after these protests the park was renovated and grass replanted. These days Izvor Park looks quite nice, although a few more trees would help.
This was my second choice for yesterday’s Theme Day: Easter eggs colored by my mother-in-law, to be enjoyed on Sunday.
Today is Theme Day at the City Daily Photo community, a monthly event that happens the first day of every month, when all participating blogs will post a picture that relates to the theme day’s description. Today’s theme is: Red. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants
I’ve spotted this red truck a few days ago while strolling through Cişmigiu Park on a sunny day. I’m guessing it’s being used for the park’s spring cleaning.
