Cordial

In Spain, the traditional Christmas food is usually based on abundant sweet dishes. Three days significantly in the Spanish Christmas Special: Christmas dinner, New Year's Eve and the Epiphany. The Christmas meal is characterized by all Christian traditions. It should be noted nougat (the most famous is the hard nougat), the shortbread, marzipan, dates, sugared almonds, alfajores or almond soup. 

Also typical dishes eat these dates, such as suckling pig, free range chicken, turkey, capon, lamb, sea bream, clam meat, cooked meat (in Catalonia), prawns and seafood. In Galicia is also often eat cod with cauliflower, on Christmas Eve.

On December 31 (New Years Eve) is tradition to eat 12 grapes at the rate of twelve strokes marked by the Puerta del Sol, once it enters the new year, you will be welcomed with a Cava toast. At dawn or morning of January 1 (New Year's Day) is usually breakfast Chocolate with churros. On January 6 (Epiphany) is usually eaten for a snack, cake of Epiphany.

The "Cordial" is a typical sweet of the Region of Murcia (Southeast Spain). They are usually served accompanied with marzipan sweets and shortbread. Is strictly required to consume within 5 days of its development, as they spoil very quickly. 

ingredients: 

- 1 kg of raw almonds. 

- 9 eggs. 

- 800 gr of sugar. 

- 1kg of candied pumpkin. 

- Scrape the skin of 1 lemon. 

- Wafers. 

Preparation: 

- Cleaned and peeled almonds (with hot water). Chop and dried. 

- Add the sugar, grated lemon rind and eggs. Mix until a homogeneous mass is made. 

- Take small amounts of almond dough, make a well in the center and fill with candied pumpkin, close giving a cone shape. 

- Place on the wafers, and bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes.

Bread with tomato.

The tomato bread is a meal representative of Catalonia (Northeastern Spain), consists of a slice of bread rubbed with ripe tomato half and seasoned with olive oil and salt.

It is a traditional food from the kitchens Catalan, Aragonese, and the Balearic Islands (Islas Baleares and northeastern Spain), similar to the Italian bruschetta. Workers have a history in Southern (South of Spain) who migrated to other parts of the Iberian Peninsula. He is considered one of the typical examples that define the Mediterranean diet.

Preparation:

The bread with tomato is made by smearing and mature medium raw tomato on a slice of bread, preferably bread "rustic", toasted or not, seasoned to taste with salt and olive oil. If desired, toast the bread once, and before spreading tomato, spreadable garlic to give it a spicy flavor.

It can be a starter, a companion of other foods and also a main course, in which case it is usually associated with: sausage, ham, cheese and omelette.

origins:

It is known that bread with tomato is inspired by the bread with olive oil, seasoned bread slices with olive oil and seasoned with a little salt. Binding of bread and oil have been present in the Mediterranean from ancient Greece. The first written reference of bread with tomato nineteenth century, devised in the countryside, in a time of abundance in tomato crops, to take advantage and thus soften the dry bread.

Spanish Chorizo

In Spain is a cured sausage (can be air or smoking). Presumably paprika, appeared on Spanish cuisine from Latin. The chorizo ​​was the first of the appetizers served as tapas in Spain. This recipe dates back to the sixteenth century:

ingredients:

- 2 kg of pork (loin and ham).
- 250 gr of white fresh bacon.
- 3 heaping tablespoons of sweet paprika.
- 1 scoop of red pepper.
- 1 heaping tablespoon of oregano.
- 1 tablespoon salt.
- 1 glass of white wine.
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced.
- 4 meters Natural pork belly.

Preparation:

1. To make the sausages is essential to have a machine that makes the work of chopping and then fill them.


2. Chop the meat and bacon with machine
3. Once the meat is chopped, we add the ingredients: salt, oregano, garlic, paprika and pepper and white wine glass.
4. Knead well to blend all ingredients.
5. We let the meat rest for 24 hours.
6. Now is the time to test the zorza (marinated meat): We take a small portion and fry with a dash of oil and tasted.
7. Put the pork belly in warm water to get the excess salt.
8. A machine grinder, we remove the blade and put the funnel. On this one, we gut carefully so it will not break.
9. We introduced the "Zorza" at the mouth of the machine and turn the crank. Then begins dating the funnel and getting going in the gut. It is at this time when you have to make a knot in the end not to enclose the filling.

10. We end up turning the meat. We end knot and cut the gut.
11. Now, we regularly spaced knots according to the size we want to give the sausages. After the process, we have to hang in a cool dry place until they are cured.

Blancmange

The blancmange appeared in medieval Catalan cuisine as a dessert suitable for Lent would be a crème brûlée at which eggs are removed and replaced by cow's milk, almond milk. Specifically, this dessert was created in Scala Dei (Catalan monastery at the foot of the Sierra de Montsant), once the monks were forced to serve a great meal during Lent, in which were to serve desserts that meet with the rules of Lent. Not only eaten at this time, the upper classes at banquets enjoyed it all year, and is also considered a remedy for ill.

ingredients:

- 200 grams of raw almonds.

- 200 grams of sugar.

- 15 g of corn starch.

- Lemon.

- Cinnamon stick.

- Cinnamon.

- 1 l of water.

- Lemon zest.

Preparation:

- In a wok, boiling water, lemon zest and cinnamon stick. Cover for 10 minutes to make tea.

- Remove the lemon and cinnamon and add crushed almonds, let stand for 6 hours.

- Sift with a cloth, to imprison the flavor of almonds are incorporated into the water completely.

- Cook over high heat until boiling and remove, reserve at room temperature until cool.

- In a round mold, or individual molds, lead to the fridge and sprinkle cinnamon.

- Serve cold.

Flake or pestiño

The flake is a sweet Christmas or Easter, typical of Andalusia and other southern areas of the Iberian Peninsula, made with dough, fried in olive oil and honey passed.

ingredients:

- 100 ml of olive oil.
- 100 ml dry white wine.
- 15 gr of anise.
- 300 gr of flour.
- 250 grams of honey.
- Olive oil for frying.

Preparation:

- In a skillet heat up to 100 ml of oil, when hot add the anise to it, we remove the pan from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

- In a large bowl put the 300 grams of flour, make a hole in the middle of this and pour the oil (which before had warmed) and white wine and knead until dough is apparent from the fingers and walls bowl. Spend the dough to a floured board, cover with a cloth and let stand for 1 hour .

- Spread the dough with a rolling pin, when the dough has the thickness of a coin, cut with a knife or pastry cutter strips 5 cm long x 3 cm wide.

- Spend the strips of dough to a floured board and let rest for 30 minutes.

- Heat a pan with plenty of olive oil and fry the flakes until golden brown.

- Once golden pass them by a mixture of honey and water previously heated to fire.

- Let cool, sprinkle some icing sugar on top and serve.

Filloa

The first signs of what would become known in this area (Galicia, Spain) as filloa come from Roman times. Known as "pita" in Lebanon and parts of Africa; "blakava" in Palestine, Greece, Syria and Albania, "blinis" in Russia, "filo" in Asian cuisine, "pancakes" in Anglo-Saxon culture, "crêpes "in France," pancakes "in Mexico," Pfannkuchen "in Germany," twitching "in Italy and" pancakes "in Chile and Argenitna.

Although more filloa-like crêpe of France, there are important differences: The first is that custom dictates filloa consume one or at most with a sweet cream, while in France the crêpe is a base to wrap all the ingredients and is a complete meal. Furthermore, according to the cook Miguel Vila "The filloas are made with water and broth crepe no, the salted butter crepe and carries no filloa." It is also important to note that for the filloa not used wheat or buckwheat, as if done with the "pancake".

ingredients:

- 1 liter of milk.

- 4 eggs.

- 1 cup pork blood.

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

- Zest of 1 lemon.

- Flour which supports.

- Sugar.

- Cinnamon.

- 1 pinch of salt.

Preparation:

- Beat the eggs, add milk, salt, lemon zest and a teaspoon of cinnamon.

- Add flour gradually to the mixture to form a loose pulp is added pig blood and mix well.

- Catching fire pan, smeared with butter or bacon.

- Once bursts oiled pasta thinly spread so that it covers the entire bottom.

- It is allowed to set and you flip to brown the other side.

- After removing sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.

Andalusian Gazpacho

The Original gazpacho was already produced in the era of Al-Andalus and the ingredients were: bread crumbs, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and water. These ingredients were crushed in a mortar and used as a soup. All these ingredients admitted under Islamic dietary rules.

ingredients:

- 1 kg of ripe tomatoes.
- 400 grams of cucumber.
- 200 grams of onion.
- 2 garlic.
- 2 peppers.
- 200 grams of bread.
- 1 shot glass of olive oil.
- 1 shot glass of vinegar.
- 1 pinch of salt.
- Water.

Preparation:

- We clean and cut into cubes all ingredients, mix well and reserve in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Put the ingredients in a pot, cover them with cold water and grind well and reserve in the fridge. Serve cold as a drink or as a starter.

Spanish Omelette

Ingredients for 3 people:

- 4 large potatoes.

- 6 eggs (preferably fresh).

- Virgin olive oil.

- 1 small onion.

- 1 piece of lard or butter

Preparation:

- Wash the potatoes before peeling (to remove soil and stain them), once we have stripped the back to wash and reserve in a bowl (without water).

- Pour plenty of oil in a nonstick pan and make it warm.

- Cut the potatoes into slices (not too thick, not too thin) and add them to the hot oil. Add a pinch of salt.

- Cover the pan and lower the heat. Leave for 15 minutes fry stirring them occasionally

- When the potatoes begin to fall apart, remove and drain them best.

- In a bowl, pour the eggs and beat well. Add the potatoes and mix until they are well covered with beaten eggs.

- We removed the oil from the pan. The heat we put in and had a bit of butter or butter for the pan, when it starts to smoke pour the egg and potatoes mixture.

- When we see that the edges are studded, we turn using the same pan lid or a plate of the same size to make the other side and down the fire.

- We take a clean plate and we pour the tortilla in it. Serve cold.

Note: When you make the omelet, try to soak the potatoes as possible. Try not to let them soak why these will absorb water and will notice when cooking.