Sixteen Things You (probably) Never Knew about Navidad: Part 2
Throat-slashing Santa. There are 1001 stories about the exploits and origins of Olentzero, the Basque Santa Claus. In the oldest, he belongs to a tribe of beer-swilling giants. Despite his own gluttony, he gets in a tizz when the inhabitants of a nearby village gorge themselves the night before Jesus’ birth – and promptly cuts their throats. In one of the more sanitised versions Olentzero is a good-natured, food and wine-loving coal miner who carves wooden toys and saves children from burning houses. He is usually depicted as a Basque peasant with a beret and a pipe.
Fleecing the relatives. In the bad old days children went from house to house extorting cash for carols. Now they just turn the screws on their relatives within the comfort of their own homes. No sooner have the Christmas dinner plates been cleared away than all those aged five to twenty-five (or older if still studying / living at home / sponging off parents) ambush their elders with a rousing rendition of El Aguinaldo (The Christmas Box). The basic message goes something like this: “Give me some money sweetie, cos’ if you don’t, you’ll be splattered to death by the great fat bell of the cathedral”
Singing lottery. Never get stuck in a bar on the morning of December 22 when the winning numbers of El Gordo, the world’s most famous and financially rewarding lottery, are sung out on TV for what seems like three eternities by the children of the San Ildefonso school in Madrid. The tradition originated in 1771, eight years after the very first national lottery was introduced by King Carlos III.
Bubbling stars. The lead up to Navidad::poinsettias by the truckload, hand-clapping carols, Euro shops crammed with tinsel and tack, supermarkets swinging with hams – and the dazzling, no-expense-spared commercials by Freixenet, one of Spain’s leading cava producers. Lisa Minelli, Gene Kelly, Paul Newman, Pierce Brosnan, Andie MacDowell, Sharon Stone, Antonio Banderas and Meg Ryan are just some of the beautiful people who, over the years, have clinked their bubbles at us through the TV screen.
Christmas supping One of the advantages of spending your Christmas in Spain is that you can get tipsy for free while popping into the hardware shop / haberdasher’s / hairdressers etc. As an expression of seasonal goodwill many shops and business still offer a help-yourself tipple and nibble - usually a glass of anis or other liquer and a glue-your-mouth-together polverón (lardy cakey thing).
© Theresa O’Shea
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 am
In my home there is this old tradition to have almond soup as dessert on Christmas Eve. Though you can purchase it everywhere, I think it is only traditional in Madrid or Castile -in my case, tradition comes from my father’s father side of the family.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Sounds delicious. Have you got a recipe. Hot or cold? Not like ajo blanco, no?
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Almond soup is a sweet, thick soup made of a kind of marzipan dough dissolved in milk. It has to be served hot, with cinnamon powder and a thin toasted bread on top. Some years ago, the marzipan dough for the soup was sold in supermarkets and so on, but today it seems to be more difficult to find -which I didn’t know until I asked- because it’s expensive and not so popular. My mother has just told me my grandfather only found it last Christmas to be sold in Mercado Maravillas in Madrid. There are recipes for the dough all over the net, though.