Approaching in the wide range of philatelic themes, an issue of public interest concerning a balanced nutrition, Romfilatelia develops a new project dedicated to a healthy lifestyle, by introducing into circulation the postage stamps issue: Live healthy! Romanian traditions.
Taking into account that there is no food which can assure all our nutritional needs, it is important, and recommended to have a varied alimentation including fruits, vegetables, bread, cereals, dairy products, meat and eggs.
The four postage stamps illustrate several ways of preparing local traditional dishes, and the tight connection between the Romanian religious holidays and the food served on these occasions.
The red egg, an important Easter symbol, has always been associated with the renaissance, the beginnings, and thereafter with the Resurrection of our Lord.
Thus, egg tapping is accompanied by the Easter greetings: “Christ is Risen!”, “Truly He is risen!”, that Christians use on Easter time instead of “hello” or its equivalent. The red colour symbolises the blood of Christ.
From a nutritional viewpoint, the egg contains real amounts of natural energy, but it has to be consumed nevertheless in limited portions because of the high quantity of cholesterol it holds.
The Lamb is the symbol of innocence, gentleness and purity. The lamb or the ship embodies the animal to be sacrificed, the Christian as a member of God’s flock, and Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself for the salvation of people, overcoming evil.
Roasted, baked or cooked in sour soup with vegetables, lamb meat is a delicious dish on this period of time.
From a nutritional point of view, rational consumption of lamb is recommended as it is highly rich in proteins, vitamins and microelements.
However, to ensure proper functioning of the body, lamb roast and eggs should be associated with many salads and season vegetables, such as wild garlic, garlic, green onion, pilework, and many others.
The Easter traditional cake called Cozonac, a product similar to Pasca (a Romanian pastry containing eggs, sour cream and fresh cheese) is presented as the sweet bread of Resurrection and renaissance of the entire Creation, replacing thus the pasca or being served together with it.
Symbolically, the ritual expression of our Lord’s sacrifice continues to be validly represented through sprinkling with holy wine in the church.
A symbol of water, life, fertility and wisdom, the fish is one of the earliest Christian representations, Jesus calling the Apostles fishers of men, and feeding a large crowd of believers with only two fish and five loaves of bread. In addition to the union with Christ, the fish is also a symbol of water, life and spiritual food.
Fish products have an excellent nutritional value. The amount of nutritive elements it contains varies according to the species and the environment they live in.
Fish fats are characterised especially by the high amounts of Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The cheese in fir-tree bark is a type of dairy prepared in the mountain areas, being an important source of fat-soluble vitamins (that can be dissolved in fats or oils), essential amino acids, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium and zinc.
A balancing element of daily alimentation, dairy products shouldn’t be missing from any person’s meals. They are delicious, healthy, and can be combined with many other ingredients.
Customary for a healthy and varied alimentation, the products illustrated on these postage stamps suggest the idea that by consuming locally prepared traditional dishes in a proper combination, while avoiding at the same time overeating, we can put forward the message of this philatelic issue: Live healthy! Romanian traditions, and also the doctors recommendations that eating in excess can have health consequences.
The four postage stamps of the philatelic issue illustrate some of the traditional dishes that can be found on Romanians’ tables on Holidays.
The postage stamp with the face value of Leu 1 reproduces the image of an assortment of cozonac and red eggs.
The postage stamp with the face value of Lei 3.60 reproduces the image of an assortment of fish on fir-tree branches.
The postage stamps with the face value of Lei 4.50 and Lei 8.10 reproduce the images of roasted lamb with season vegetables, and traditional dairy products.
Issue date: 2014-04-18
