Christmas Traditions The “Caga Tió” or how a Wooden log can poop. Add new characters in your nativity scene, the “caganner”.
Special Catalonian CousinE: THe “CANELONS”.
The strange Catalonian Traditions
The Christmas days are just around the corner and with them, the different traditions in every country, region or culture. I want to talk about the strange Christmas traditions there are in the Catalonia region where I was born. I will talk about traditions such as the “Caga Tió”, the “Caganer” or the “canelons” eaten on 26th of December, a traditional food.
The “Caga Tió” or the log pooping Caga Tió is a very strange tradition and trying explain it is hard. Physically, Caga Tió is a wooden log with a painted face. Sometimes it has a pipe and it is wearing a Catalonian red hat, called “barretina”. The name of “Caga Tió” means “Log Poop” but “Tió” can be also translated as uncle and perhaps it is better to translate it as “Uncle Poop” rather “Log poop”. Every family has their own “Caga Tió” and before
Christmas and during December, the kids feed the “Tió” fruit, nuts and other kind of snacks and they cover the rear of the “Tió” with a blanket to keep him warm. When the Christmas day arrives, the kids, using a stick, hit the log while they singing a particular song.
“Caga Tió, Caga Tió, atmelles i mató, si no cagues bé, et donaré un bon cop de bastó.”
“Caga Tió, Caga Tió, hazelnuts and cottage cheese, if you don’t poop well I will hit you with the stick” .
Then the kids look under the blanket and see if the log has pooped any presents. It is possible that the log poops nothing then the kids have to hit the log again until they find sweets and presents under the blanket. It is very funny and the kids enjoy hitting and singing.
The “CAGANER”, the pooping man Another strange tradition from Catalonia is the “Caganer” or the “pooping man”. Yes, it seems that Catalonian people have an obsession with pooping.
Original “Caganer” figure.
people make the nativity scene and also add the “Caganer” figure hiding in the nativity scene. The Caganer is a squatting and laying figure and normally is similar to the log poop. He also has the same hat and a smoking pipe. The “Caganer” is a sign of good luck and his poop provides a good harvest and fertilizes the land. The “Caganer” is an old tradition, about 18th/19th century, but actually it is a funny figure. Now, it is possible to buy different “Caganers”, figures of celebrities, soccer players, and politicians from different countries, religious figures as the Pope or the Dalai Lama, and characters of TV shows, as “The Simpson”, Games of Throne and Star Wars.
It is very common at the houses of Spain to Before Christmas days, it is posible to buy the different figures of the “Caganer” in St. make the traditional “nativity scene” with small figures representing the different char- Lucia’s market, in Barcelona. acters of the nativity scene. In Catalonia,
ST. Llúcia’s Market in Barcelona
Traditional Food: The “Canelons” Another tradition from Catalonian is to eat “canelons” the 26th of December, Saint Stephen day, at home of your grandmother. For the Catalonian people the 26th of December is more important than the Christmas day and every family meets together and eats “canelons”.
“Canelons” is a roll of pasta, similar to lasagna, stuffed with meat and covered with béchamel sauce.
The meat, which the grandmother cooks, is the leftover food of the Christmas day. After the grandmother stuffs the roll with the meat she bakes the “canelons”. Then, the “canelons” are ready and the family meets around the table and they spend all day talking, eating and enjoying together.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
These are the most important and maybe strangest traditions in Catalonia. Sometimes, the foreigners do not understand these traditions but they are very funny. Every Catalonian family tries to preserve these traditions and I think it is important to continue with these traditions because they are part of our culture and tradition. For that reason, if someone wants to live them, I will invite him to feed and to hit the “Caga Tió” or eating “canelons” at 26th of December.