Spanish Christmas is celebrated above all at the table: Nochebuena dinner, lunch on the 25th, New Year's Eve and the Three Kings' breakfast. Here are the stars.
Sweets
- Turrón: the Christmas sweet par excellence, of Arab origin, made with almonds, honey, sugar and egg white. The two classics come from the province of Alicante: turrón de Alicante, hard, with whole almonds, and turrón de Jijona, soft, with ground almonds. Both have protected geographical indication. Today there are endless variants: toasted egg yolk, chocolate, coconut, candied fruit.
- Polvorones and mantecados: crumbly biscuits of toasted flour, lard and sugar that dissolve in the mouth (polvo means "dust"). Their capital is Estepa, in the province of Seville, where dozens of factories produce millions of kilos a year; they are sold individually wrapped in tissue paper.
- Mazapán: Toledo marzipan, with protected geographical indication, made of almonds and sugar, often shaped into small figures or filled "eels".
- Peladillas: sugared almonds, typical of Alcoy.
- Roscón de Reyes: the 6 January ring cake, scented with orange blossom, with candied fruit, sometimes filled with cream, hiding a figurine and a bean.
- Other regional sweets: Andalusian alfajores, Agramunt turrones in Catalonia, pan de Cádiz, barquillos and Catalan neules wafers.
Nochebuena dinner
The menu varies by region, but usually includes:
- seafood and shellfish: prawns, langoustines, crabs and goose barnacles, whose prices soar in December;
- a starter of jamón ibérico, cheeses, chorizo and lomo;
- soups, such as sopa de almendras (almond soup) or fish broth;
- a main course of meat or fish: roast cordero (lamb) or cochinillo (suckling pig) in Castile, baked besugo (sea bream) in Madrid and the north, stuffed pavo or capon in Catalonia, bacalao in the Basque Country, with lombarda (red cabbage) on the side.
On the 25th in Catalonia escudella i carn d'olla is a must, and on the 26th, Sant Esteve, canelons made with leftovers, a legacy of nineteenth-century Italian cooks.
To drink
Toasts are made with cava, the traditional-method sparkling wine produced mainly in Catalonia at Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, or a sweet wine, finishing with anisette, brandy or a glass of sherry (see Spanish wines and sherry). For New Year's Eve there are the lucky grapes, sold peeled and seedless in cans of twelve. See also typical Spanish sweets.