Orthodox Christians began the Easter Fast on March 18, which will last until May 4. And the first big holiday is the Annunciation, celebrated every year on March 25.
This year it falls during the Easter Lent and it is one of the holidays for which the Church grants release to fish.
The Annunciation or the Annunciation as it is popularly known is celebrated in memory of the day when the Holy Archangel Gabriel announced to the Holy Virgin that she would give birth to the Son of God.
According to doxologia.ro, the Annunciation is the first celebration confirmed in documents, among those dedicated to the Mother of God.
Thousands of kilograms of fish in Piața Obor in Bucharest
And since the believers who keep the longest and hardest fast of the year are allowed to eat fish, the Bucharest markets were invaded by buyers. And the goods are for all tastes and all pockets.
The biggest anthill in Bucharest is in the area reserved for fish in Piața Obor.
Thousands of kilograms of fish are waiting to be bought for a feast in honor on Monday, March 25, the Annunciation. It’s a real madness on the stalls full to the brim with fish.
The cheapest fish is the red bream for 12 lei, then the bream for 16 lei, the pike for 18 lei and the pike for 20 lei per kilogram.
Housewives have to pay 22 lei for a portion of fresh mullet, 26 lei for a kilogram of wild carp, and four lei more for one brought from the Danube.
The world stands in line and buys everything. The sellers are happy that the good weather outside has made its way to the market, and some Bucharesters don’t look at money when they buy fish especially for the Annunciation.
“How big is this moron by tonight I’ll give him”
The sturgeon costs 50 lei per kilogram, and the cod is sold for 60 lei.
“How big is this moron by tonight I’ll give him. I had another one that I sliced up and sent to people’s pans. Ha, ha, ha! We sell everything until we go home, there is nothing left, don’t worry”, says one of the traders.
The fish is sold, and dozens of crates of fresh fish appear one by one from the cold stores.
Pike is sold this year for 30 lei, catfish for 36, and shad for 43 lei. There are also more special varieties, which make potential buyers curious. For example, the eel is sold for 35 lei, the sea scorpion for 45, and the sea urchin for 95 lei.
How much fish is sold in Piata Obor
- tomato 12 lei
- pay 16 lei
- cash 18 lei
- pike 20 lei
- mackerel 20 lei
- mullet 22 lei
- carriage 25 lei
- wild carp 29 lei
- Danube carp 30 lei
- pike 30 lei
- trout 30 lei
- perch 35 lei
- eel 35 lei
- sleep 36 lei
- hall 43 lei
- sea shrew 45 lei
- sturgeon 50 lei
- nisetru 50 lei
- morun 60 lei
- bag 95 lei
Fish and seafood brought from Greece
In the square in Obor there is a special stall with fish brought from outside Romania. The country of origin is Greece, and the sellers brag about the fresh goods they have brought.
“Everything is fresh, transported in ice-filled boxes and refrigerated cars. Quality goods, one hundred percent fresh, without any problems. We are here every day, the world knows us, we have our customers”, they say.
Being products brought from outside the country, the prices are reasonable. For example, for one kilogram of mullet, those who want it must take out 120 lei from their pockets. “Fagri” red bream is 100 lei, seriola is sold for 97 lei, and angler fish for 75 lei. Sea bream costs 43 lei, and those who want to try sea swallow must pay 30 lei for one kilogram.
The same stall also sells seafood, also brought from Greece. Mussels are 15 lei, langoustines are sold for 45 lei, squid for 49, and octopus, which is starting to be more and more consumed in our country, costs 120 lei in Obor.
Whoever wants to try a salmon filet brought from Norway has to pay more than a hundred lei, but the traders guarantee “rainbow on the palate”. “Good stuff, straight from her mother,” they relay.
The online alternative and get the fish delivered to your door
Sorin Barbu is the man who brings the fish to your door, just a click away. Sorin lived in Spain for many years, but decided he couldn’t stay away from home and returned to Romania.
He opened two restaurants with a Spanish specialty, four fisheries and, more recently, a store dedicated exclusively to jamon. All his products are brought from Spain.
The fish shop he now patronizes is located in the Pipera area and we are talking about a fish market with delivery in Bucharest and Ilfov, which brings fresh Mediterranean and Black Sea fish, bought directly from the port.
Sea bass costs 96 lei per kilogram, sea bream is sold for 90 lei, trout is 58 lei. As we are talking about an exclusive fish shop brought from Spain, the prices are reasonable. For example, jumbo shrimps are priced at 249 lei per kilogram, and a portion of large langoustines is sold for 250 lei.
“There are more than 30 species of fresh fish and seafood for sale, which people can buy either raw for home preparation or cooked according to our special recipes,” says Sorin.
Which reveals that “we bring in fresh fish twice a week, both familiar species such as sea bass or sea bream, as well as special fish such as John Dory or sea shrew”.
Why is fish eaten on Annunciation?
According to those from doxologia.ro, tradition says that those who keep the Easter Fast eat fish on the day of the Annunciation to imitate Christ, who ate grilled fish and honeycomb shortly after his Resurrection.
Furthermore, Father Nicolae Necula emphasizes that the permission to eat fish meat during fasting is “a derogation for those who work hard”. The fish having an “easily digestible, especially rich in phosphorus” flesh.
Annunciation superstitions
Among the people, far from the meaning of the Christian ritual, there is the tradition of celebrating the cuckoo. Around the spring equinox, nature’s crossroads, when the migratory birds return, predictions can be made about the state of the weather.
In some areas of the country it is mandatory to have money in your pocket on this day. For every song of the cuckoo must be paid for, to bring luck, health and abundance. Therefore, if you hear the cuckoo, toss a penny in the direction from which it is heard. If the bird sings right in your face, it’s a good sign.
An unwritten law from our ancestors says that, for the Annunciation, we are not allowed to leave the house hungry. On this day it is obligatory to eat well, not to feel the sensation of hunger at all and not to leave the house with an empty stomach.
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