Doesn’t it seem like every year Christmas preparations start earlier? As soon as November 1st arrived, I started to see the first signs of Christmas: decorations, advertisements, special Christmas foods, etc.
As I was thinking about this, I realized that starting Christmas earlier gives me the excuse to enjoy one of my favourite Christmas treats for longer, turrón! Turrón is a traditional Spanish Christmas sweet, in English known as Nougat.
Nowadays there are all sorts of varieties and flavours, but this recipe is the original one, as brought to Spain by the Arabs during the Moor occupation. In my opinion, it is much much nicer than the sticky white or pink nougat sold in shops outside Spain.
In Spain there are some very artisanal turrones that are a real treat, but if can´t get your hands on these, try to make it yourself! And it will be a lot of fun too!!
During Christmas, and now starting in November!, we usually have a plate with different turrones and Christmas sweets around the house to eat for dessert or to have a bite in the afternoon.
It’s a challenging dessert to pair with, but my recommendation would be an LBV Port, like Osborne´s.
Go ahead, try it and don´t forget to let me know if you like it!!
Turrón Recipe:
250 grams sugar
250 grams white honey
250 grams toasted almonds
250 grams toasted hazelnuts
5 egg whites
Chop the nuts finely and then crush them in the mortar until they become a smooth paste
Beat the eggs whites stiffly and then add them to the paste
Put the honey and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil
Add the paste to the honey mixture
Mix constantly with a wooden spatula for ten minutes
Remove from the heat, put into wooden moulds lined with rice paper
Only in the past recent years– maybe 10–15– has the American-style Halloween celebrations become very popular in Spain. Growing up, it wasn’t a custom to dress-up or throw parties. The Halloween celebrations I attended were mostly in the homes of my American friends, but I always thought they were so much fun! Now with the globalization of ideas, both children and adults are dressing up and expect some sort of trick or treat.
In the effort to spread a little bit of Spanish culture to this very American holiday, my Tempra Tantrum team has created a very cool idea, a “Tempra Tantrum Hallowine Tapas Party.”
Time is getting closer… two of the most waited-for bars in Spain will open their doors in Barcelona in a few months. After taking El Bulli to the maximum level, Chef Ferran Adriá, along with his brother, are starting their new adventure with “La vida tapa” (The Life´s Tapa). According to the website, “this project wants to be the reflection of the current image of the city, which is really creative and innovative and fights for gastronomy.”
The project includes two different spaces: Tickets, a modern tapas bar that will reflect the Mediterranean way of life, and 41º, a cocktail place with an exciting gastronomic offering. Tickets will be composed of different bars: a tapas bar, a drink bar, and a third bar, known as Mad house or Marx´s cabin, a grill, and finally a place for desserts. I figure that nothing of this will be as we expect, as Ferrán always surprises people with his innovation and great ideas. For now, all we know is that Tickets, La vida tapa is all about “sharing, talking, trying and getting excited. A way of understanding life through gastronomy.”
As an exceptional movement, the European Union has authorized the use of chaptalization in 11 European countries. Chaptalization is the use of sugar or concentrated musts in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation, and in this case, help these countries achieve the least minimum alcohol percentage established for each wine category. The countries allowed to use this process in the 2010 vintage are Bélgium, Poland, Holland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, UK, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia.
This extraordinary move is due to this years climate conditions– lots or rain and no sunshine– that have put the wine industry of these countries at stake.
While us in the south of Europe benefit from cooler weather and rain, to Northern countries it creates less favorable conditions. Nevertheless, they still make some pretty good wines.
