Christmas recipes in Spain

From the beginning of December, everything changes in Spain! Christmas decorations are hung in the streets, stores are decorated. Families like to get together at Christmas to eat and drink together, celebrate, and get presents.

Typical dishes of Spanish cuisine for Christmas Eve are suckling pig and lamb on a spit, turkey, not to mention, of course, fish and shellfish. After everyone has eaten a lot, the night mass is attended ´La misa del gallo´. But of course not before drinking a glass of cava, one of the traditions in Spain!

On Christmas Day, children receive gifts from ´Papa Noel´, but the gifts on January 6 from the Three Kings, Los Reyes Magos are much more popular! Especially for children, this is a big celebration! Weeks in advance they are busy writing letters and wish lists for the kings. The party is similar to our St. Nicholas party, with processions, water prepared for the camels and also charcoal for the little kids who were not so sweet. Furthermore, Christmas Day is mainly an addition to Christmas Eve. The family is visited and festive meals are eaten according to typical traditions in Spain.

As you probably know, good food is very important to Spaniards! Spanish cuisine has many delicacies. Real Spanish Christmas favourites are Turron from Alicante, Bacalao with cauliflower, crab, lobster, scallops, roasted prawns and turkey.

Other typical recipes for Christmas in Spain are dishes with oranges. such as caramelized oranges, flambéed oranges, fish filet á l´orange, there is an awful lot to choose from!

On Epiphany, a typical cake with decorations of dried fruit, or "Roscón de los Reyes," is eaten for breakfast or after lunch. The fruit symbolizes the rubies and emeralds of the three kings. There are 2 figures hidden in the cake. A gift that, when you find it, makes you kings or queens for the rest of the day. And a bean, which means whoever finds it will have to pay for the cake next time.

After Christmas is over, Spaniards have another fun tradition. Namely, on December 28, they celebrate ´1-April´. This is called the Day of the Innocent Saint or "Día de los Santos Inocentes" in Spain. On this day, Spaniards play pranks on their friends and family and strange and absurd news appears in the newspaper.