Celebration
Spanish book of Celebrations
COCA DE LLARDONS Ingredients
A little bit of flour to sprinkle on the marble.
200g of sugar
A package of frozen puff pastry.
200g of crackling.
Preparation Let the puff thaw completely. Sprinkle some flour on the marble and with the help of the roller, stretch the puff until it becomes very fine. Crumble over the crackling and fold the leaf puff over with the roller and make as many sheets as necessary until the crackling are well incorporated into the paste. Make individual rectangular or square cake quite fine. Then, with the tip of a knife, make decorative cuts around the cake and sprinkle the sugar over them. Put them on the baking tray on greaseproof paper and bake them at 200ºC for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the cake. Finally, let cool them. History “La coca de Llardons” is a traditional cake on which there is a great amount of crackling. It was originally made with bread dough. Traditionally, it was only eaten on Lardy Thursday, but now, you can eat it throughout all the year and it takes part of the cakes variety that are made for the eves of Saint John, Saint Peter and Saint James.
CREMA DE SANT JOSEP Ingredients
1 litre of milk
8 egg yolks
200 grams of sugar
40 grams of corn flour
1 cinnamon stick
1 skin of a lemon
Preparation Take a glass of whole milk. Then, boil the remaining milk with the lemon and cinnamon, and then turn off the heat so as to let the three ingredients take the various aromas. With the help of a whisk, mix the egg yolks and the sugar in a bowl until you get a cream. Later, dissolve the cornflour in the glass of milk. Add the contents of the glass inside the cream of egg yolks and stir until all ingredients are well blended. Strain the milk over the mix and stir all the time. Put back on low heat and continue stirring until it thickens and boils. Turn off the heat. Finally, fill the individual cups and let cool in the refrigerator before tasting them. History It was traditionally prepared on March 19, the day of Saint Joseph. During the traditional fairs in which honey and cottage cheese were laid out in display, It was usual to consume homemade cakes made of milk, cream and also curds. One peculiarity of this cream is the use of burned sugar. The burning can be done by adding sugar to the cream and applying it to a red-hot iron or with an electric blower.
STICKS ICE CREAMS
INGREDIENTS
½ k of mixed fruit: pineapple, pear, apple, strawberries…
2 oranges
Preparation Wash and peel all the fruit. Then blend it. Make the orange juice and mix it with the liquidized fruit. Finally, put the liquid in the molds and freeze it for one hour at least.
History Ice cream can be classified into four groups: 1) Made from cream or milk, to which no vegetal or animal fat is added 2) Ice cream “of ice”, like sorbets, ice creams and ice drink made of water and sugar. 3) The ice cream dessert; desserts and cakes. 4) The “special” ice creams made of sweeteners, without calories or with fructose, some without fat. Their consumption increases during hot days, especially in summer.
PANELLETS Ingredients - 200 grams of Marcota ground almond - 200 grams of fine sugar. - 1-2 eggwhites - 300 grams of soaked pine nuts. - Some lemon’s grated skin - 1 yolk
Preparation Make the dough by mixing almond and sugar and adding the eggwhites little by little to check the best texture. (It shouldn’t be too sticky). Let it stand for two hours in the fridge. Make two cylinders with the dough on a marble with flour and cut small pieces to make little balls Put the drained pine nuts on the balls and bake them on the oven’s tray which must be covered with aluminium foil. Spread the beaten yolk on the balls wit some water drops. Bake them for 10-12 minutes between 200-220 degrees Celsius. History The tradition of “Panellets” establishes a parallelism between nature and the encounter between dead and living beings. The first days of November are the prelude of winter, which is about to arrive. Therefore, these are days when harvest is already coming to an end. The lands that expect the seeds to become fertile again represent the encounter between the dead and living beings. That is the reason why it was traditional to make “panellets” at home and next day, on All Saint’s day, to take them to the Church where they were blessed and eaten in group as if it were a ritual.
CANELONS DE SANT ESTEVE (ST STEPHEN’S CANNELLONI) Ingredients 1 package of 20 plates of cannelloni Remaining meat from the previous day soup 1 onion 1 green pepper 2 garlic Tomato sauce Salt Pepper Béchamel sauce Preparation Boil salted water and introduce the sheets one by one and stir. Let them cook for 12 to 15 minutes. Take the meat remaining from the day before and mince it well, until you get a thick dough. Peel and chop the onion and the pepper into small pieces. Cast on a frying pan a little oil, the onion, the pepper, chopped garlic and the minced meat. Add a splash of tomato sauce and when it starts to boil, reduce heat and cook over a low heat 10/ 15 minutes. Once the plates are ready, drain well and spread the sheets separated on a cloth. Put on each one a little meat and roll them up, warping the mixture. Place them in a ovenproof dish. Then, put the béchamel sauce and spread it well. Sprinkle the cannelloni with some cheese. Put the dish in the oven to gratin and to heat it up. Tradition St Stephen’s cannelloni are traditionally a meal in Catalonia eaten on St Stephen’s Day (December 26th), holiday in Catalonia, prepared with the previous day remaining meat used to cook the traditional “galets’” soup for Christmas.
CHRISTMAS DESSERT) POLVORONS Ingredients -500 grams of butter -500 grams of sugar -500 grams of flour .-4 eggs -half tablespoon of vanilla
Preparation Put all the ingredients in a bowl. Let them stand for half an hour. Make a paste and little balls with your hands. Put them on a tray into the oven at the minimum temperature for thirty-five minutes.
GALL D’INDI DE NADAL (CHRISTMAS BAKED TURKEY) Ingredients: • A turkey • 400g of chestnuts • 200g of sausages • A lemon • A boat of loquat • 3 small onions • One tablespoon of port • A pinch of tarragon • 200g of smoked bacon • 1 sprig of rosemary • 1 egg • 1 bay leaf • 1 clove garlic • 1 cup white wine • 2 tablespoons butter • 2 tablespoons olive oil • Salt and pepper Preparation Wash well the turkey inside and outside with warm water. Put water and salt in a saucepan until it boils. Then, introduce the chestnuts with the bay leaf. Bake it for 40 minutes. Place in a large bowl the butter, the oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary, and place it in the oven at 180º. Take out the chestnuts, set aside half of them and chop the rest. Mix the chopped chestnuts with the sausages, sliced loquats, a chopped onion, chopped bacon, a spoonful of port, a pinch of tarragon, salt and pepper. Mix and stuff the turkey with the mixture. Take the bowl out the oven and place the turkey. Turn it over so that the herbal mixture touches all parts of the turkey. Then introduce it in the oven at 180 degrees for two hours. During the first hour cover it with a lid or a tinfoil. After the first hour, remove the bowl from the oven and cover the top of the turkey with the juices that will have been accumulated in the bottom of the recipient. Place the remaining nuts and the two small onions cut into 4 pieces inside it. Replace the bowl in the oven, this time uncovered for the second hour of cooking. History The way to prepare it is originally Aztec, indigenous people from Mexico. The turkey has American origins. The Spanish conquerors brought Turkey to Europe. Gradually it became famous among royalty and nobles as a symbol of excellence. Later, it was adopted the habit of cooking it at Christmas for kings, and now it is eaten all year round, but specially on Christmas.
PASTA SOUP AND STEW (SOPA DE GALETS I CARN D’OLLA) Ingredients - 100 grams of pasta shells - ½ of chicken - Vegetable broth - 100 grams minced pork - 100 grams minced beef - 4 eggs - 100 grams of cooked chickpeas - Flour - Breadcrumbs - Oil - Salt and pepper
Preparation To make the broth, place the chicken in a pot with water and let boil, then remove the water and add the broth, chopped vegetables and clean water. Let cook for 4 hours and then strain the stock. Meanwhile, boil the pasta shells in a saucepan with water and salt for 10 minutes. Then take the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Lining a glass with some plastic wrap, and put a little oil and a yolk inside, wrap it well and leave it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. As for the meatball, season the beef and place it on a plate. Place a frozen egg in the middle of each meatball and round them well. Then, coat the meatballs in flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs and fry them in a pan in hot oil until they are well browned. Finally, let it bake for 10 or 15 minutes at 200 degrees. Then put the strained broth in a saucepan, add the cooked pasta shells, cooked chickpeas. Season with salt and cook together for 5 minutes.
RAĂ?M Ingredients - 12 grapes
Preparation
There's no preparation. Just take 12 grapes in a recipient (a dish, a glass... whatever) and wait until the bells start ringing.
History In Spain on 31st December, the tradition consists in eating twelve grapes in the twelve last seconds of the year, while the bells strike twelve a.m. Everything started in 1909, when Spanish growers harvested so many grapes that they decided to distribute it for nothing among the population as they didn't know what to do with the surplus and thus created this tradition on the New Year's Eve as a symbol of future good luck.
ROSCÓ DE REIS (LARGE RING-SHAPED CAKE BAKED FOR EPIPHANY) Ingredients - 1 kg of wheat flour - 250 g of sugar - 200 g of butter - 25 g of baking powder - 3 eggs - ½ liter of milk - Grated lemon or orange rind - Salt - A little water - Almonds, cherries and candied fruit to decorate - A little bean figure - A little king figure Prepare the dough Put the flour in a bowl. Make a hole in the middle, making the shape of a volcano, and place inside the butter, the sugar, the yeast, 2 eggs, a pinch of salt, the grated rind and the milk. Stir and knead the mixture on a hard surface. Soon the dough will stick to your hands. Add more flour, little by little, until the dough pulls away easily from your hands. Continue kneading. When the dough is smooth, put it in a large bowl, which should be covered with a cloth. Let stand for 3 hours in a warm place. The dough will increase. Then give it a donut shape, and let it sit for one more hour to increase more its volume. To decorate the cake, you have to smear it with the egg left, sprinkle it with sugar and place the fruits. Do not forget to enter the figures inside the dough. When the roulade is ready, put it in the oven at a temperature of 170 to 180 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. History The tradition of this cake goes back to Roman times, where sweet cakes were distributed for the poorest people. The one who found the bean hidden inside was treated like a king during the rest of the day. From the third century AD, this tradition arrives in France and Spain assimilated by Christianity. Nowadays, in Spain, the tradition is that the one who finds the figure of the king places a paper crown on his head as a king, and the one who finds the bean has to pay the cake.