Guide to Barcelona

A Catalan Christmas dinner

שני, 15 נובמבר 2010 14:47

מדריך הופעות ואירועים בברצלונה

During Christmas almost everyone has a nice Christmas dinner, while some countries might have a turkey as tradion others have way different traditions on that evening.
As is the case in Spain, Spanish food is mostly known for paella but one of the most famous dishes in Spain is the Catalan meal escudella i carn d'ollo.
That is the meal that is traditional Catalan Christmasfood.

So what is it? Its a slowly cooked  one-pot stew that consists of meat and vegetables.Allthough there are different variants in most countries most consist of this concept.
It is sometimes called hotch- potch dish beacsue its full of surprises, which is a bit true because it has a lot of ingredients.
It normally is like a soup with beans,parsnips,garlic calery,cabbage and chickpeas, often cooked with a ham for the flavour.

The Christmasversion however is even more  filled with special ingredients then the normal escudella, it also consists of more pork ( for st anthony), lamb ( for st john) beef (for saint luke) and chicken (st.peter).
This way it turns into a special kind of traditionalfood, this takes up most of the Christmas dinner for the Catalan people.

Also other kind of food is usually eaten alongside this meal.Torrons,wafers, Prawns and sometimes even turkey is eaten.

As a starter the Catalan people often chose for Galets, this is type of pasta in the form of a snail. The galets are usually filled with meat and vegetables and are served as part of the Catalan Christmas tradition now for hundred of years.
Also notice that during this time throughout the city huge blown up versions of the galet can be find where tourist often have their picture taken with.
Christmas sweets include,nouzgats,marzipans,walnots and mandarins.

Take in mind that in Cataluna Christmasdinner is eaten at lunchtime on the 25th of December, while the rest of Spain usually has their food the day before.It must also be taken into consideration that not all restauranst are open during Christmas, most bigger ones are though.
To avoid dissapointments it is advised that you contact the restaurant where you want to eat to try and find out their openinghours during Christmas. Most shops are also closed during christmas, so that is to keep in mind if you want to go Christmas shopping.

When you are in Barcelona during christmas time make sure to check out the festivities and enjoy a Catalan christmas meal. It is really worth eating and is a great opportunity to taste some Catalan culture during the holidays.