Dear Caminoheads,
I thought to bring today the “second installment” of the traditions around Christmas here and while particularly I speak about my house, this could easily be extended to many other families… if not for the recipe of the “adobo” to season the meat… that, my friends, is something unique… believe me, that is something you should try!!!
So…
Our tables always had the sweets my grandfather brought in those boxes (he used to spend his whole “aguinaldo – 13th salary” in those sweets): walnuts and almonds and “turrones de Jijona” or “turrones de alicante” and “mazapan”. The purchases included always a pannetone “Pan dulce” or (2 or 3), lots of cider (yes, champagne is a newer posher invitee, usually there was always cider, really really cold cider), and there were always grapes, cherries, and orange peels… all covered in chocolate 🙂
You would think that that is enough for a feast, but actually, that was the “last part of the meal”… At my house, usually the meal started with “Jamon con melon”, tomatoes filled with tuna, smashed potatoes, olives and pimientos del piquillo roasted, or “pionono” (a sort of very thin rectangular sponge filled with the same filling of tuna or sometimes, ham, cheese, tomato, olives and lettuce, and then “rolled”). There used to be “ensaladilla” always… remember the pilgrims menu? Potato, carrots, peas, maionesse… And then, the PORK (a young one, known as lechon or cochinillo) or LAMB. We used to like more the pork for Christmas, and maybe the lamb for the new year… we usually had a complete animal (18 kg approx) cooked in the wooden oven of the local bakery. A friend of my aunt who was an excellent cooker, taught my aunt the best “adobo” for the lamb or pork:
Recipe of “adobo”:
-Garlic: 8 dientes chopped not too small not too big
-Lemmon juice: 4 lemmons
-Oregano, black pepper, chili, a little bit of cayene pepper (here, you can buy a mix called “adobo de pizza” and has this all)
-Apple vinegar: same quantity as the lemmon juice
-Water: 2 times the quantity of the lemmon juice
You put this all to cook, low heat, until it simmers. When the vinegar cannot be smelt anymore, you add 2 generous measures of whisky, and you let it simmer a bit more until the alcohol evaporates a bit.
Now, you let it cool down, and then, you add the same quantity of oil, a mild one, not a strong one.
You put it on a jar in the fridge and is ready for any occasion.
My uncle used to take the pork out of the fridge the night before, very very late, put the “adobo” in generous quantities, as if he would be giving a massage!!! and by 5 AM, he would wake up, take the pork to the bakery 2 blocks away, queue with all the other proud owners of porks and lambs, and leave it to cook. Around 1 PM, when the bakery was about to close, there was a new queue of avid men trying to check whose pork or lamb smelt the best!
Those were the times loves,
Cris
How fitting, this Christmas theme and the aroma of spices., enjoying cookies and candies I have just spent 1/2 a day with a friend creating two different varieties of lasagne. The house smells fabulous, and I can hardly wait to make the adobo.. We are enjoying those Spanish Christmas cookies and the turrón. Thankful for life here in Spain, and the deep family traditions that keep us connected around the world.
Dear Ann,
I will appoint myself to your cooking classes!!! I saw the picture in instagram and your cooking classes “sold” themselves!!!!
And yes, please, make the adobo and let me know how it worked… I bet your kitchen will smell special too!
Love to you!
Besos y abrazos,
Cris
Ah, more words to connect our lives to foods that insist on making memories sweet. Like that “turrones de Jijona” that you mentioned. We are doing our best to only eat a tiny part of the turrón on our kitchen table each night. We buy only one bar at a time. Often a reopening of the box is required to get ‘just a little more’ in order it balance the café left in the cup.
But holiday cooking also involves, as you say, working together to get the ingredients, prepare the special recipes, serve and finally eat them together. To me, eating together is such a special treat. And I even like to clean up the dishes after the belly is full and the body works on the contents to sustain us.
Happy cooking and eating together to all of you!
Dear Ron,
As I always say, you are one of mines! Or I am one of yours! Either way works! A shared table, let it be a coffee with a bit of turron de Jijona, or a paella, or tapas, or the pilgrims menu or whatever is that we have to share over the table, resulting from the hours of thinking, planning, shopping, preparing, cooking, it is the best gift ever. I love the word you used: “sustain us”. That is totally right and accurate.
My grandfather used to say “panza llena, corazón contento” (full belly, happy heart) and while the happiness may come from having enjoy a delicious meal, I bet the happiness this saying speaks about is the one that comes from the joy of sharing the meal, from the planning to the doing the dishes…
I am waiting for your book entitled “The pilgrims tables in the Camino”… We seem to talk a lot about the walking, but the tables we shared… oh… those transformed us as much as the walking…
Much love to you!
Eat some turron de Jijona on my behalf tonight!
Besos y abrazos!!!!
Cris
Dearest Cris!
Such wonderful memories you have retained, and allowed us all to enjoy them as well!! We would love to sit at the table where these mouth-watering offerings were provided, and served with a measure of love.
Thanks for including us.
Christmas Dinner Loves,
SF,
PFJ