Mucenici is a Christian feast of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste, a traditional holiday in Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 and Moldova

Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

. It coincides with the start of the agricultural year. Those who observe this holiday clean their households and light fire to garbage collected from their homes, to bring warmth outside.

Food

Some believe that when the Martyrs were drowned, flowers rose to the surface. As a result, the desserts are made in the figure 8 to look like garlands. Others believe that the figure 8 denotes a stylized human form of the martyrs themselves.

In Moldova, dough in the shape of the figure 8 is baked, then smeared with honey and walnuts.

In the Muntenia

Muntenia

Muntenia is a historical province of Romania, usually considered Wallachia-proper . It is situated between the Danube , the Carpathian Mountains and Moldavia , and the Olt River to the west...

 and Dobruja

Dobruja

Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...

regions of Romania, the dough is smaller and cooked in water with sugar, cinnamon and crushed nuts, symbolizing the lake where the Martyrs were cast.