With not long until the special time of year begins descending on us, we wanted to tell you how your Sitges home chefs will be celebrating. Here’s a few Spanish Christmas traditions from our corner of the world that we’d love to share with you.
Midnight Mass
La Misa Del Gallo, or The Mass of the Rooster as it’s known, is a timeless Christmas Eve tradition. It’s a time where Spanish people come together like at no other time in the year to celebrate and embrace their faith. It’s all about giving thanks, and giving back to the people around you. Interestingly, we’ll typically eat our main Christmas meal on Christmas Eve; either before or after the mass.
Caga Tió
This is a tradition that’s unique to the Catalan region, and it’s one that has been around for hundreds of years. It literally translates to ‘pooping log’, and it’s the friendly face of Christmas in this part of Spain.
The ends of the logs are decorated with faces, simple wooden peg legs are added to lift it off the ground, and a barretina (a traditional hat) provides the finishing touch. It’s very much for children, whose job it is to look after the Caga Tió by feeding it bread and orange peel each night before bed. On the big day they hit it whilst singing a song, and cross their fingers that it will give them a mountain of nougat and other sweets to enjoy in the morning.
El Gordo
You might not think that a national lottery is a big tradition; after all the one in the UK is not even 25 years old. El Gordo is a different proposition entirely however, as its origins go all the way back to 1812.
The main draw happens on the 22nd of December every year, with a few lucky people having a Christmas they’ll never forget. In fact, it’s such a big part of Christmas culture that groups of school kids can be heard singing the winning numbers like a carol.
Roscón de Reyes
If you want to wonder what we eat instead of traditional Christmas pudding, you only have to ask for a helping of Roscón de Reyes. Whilst it isn’t traditionally served until the 6th of January, it will often prove too tasty a treat to wait for.
Made from a sweet bread ring, finished with candied fruit and crushed almonds, it really is a dish to savour. Not only that, but there’s also the option to add an ample helping of whipped cream to proceedings if that takes your fancy.
Dia de los Santos Inocentes
This is the Spanish equivalent of April Fool’s Day, and it occurs on the festive date of December 28th. If you love pranks, being silly, and making your friends and family laugh, then this is certainly the day to unveil something truly special. Ideal if you want to be able to make even more memories, and extend the love and joy of the festive period.