domingo, 6 de enero de 2019

Three Kings Day

Epiphany, Little Christmas, Twelfth Night… you may call it what you will, but in Spain January 6th is El Día de Los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings Day.  On the night of the 5th, Spanish children leave out a shoe for the Three Kings to fill with gifts brought from the Far Orient on camels and accompanied by their pages.

In addition to gift-giving, there is always a feast of roscón de Reyes, which is a sweet yeast bread flavored with agua de azahar, or orange blossom water.  Dried orange blossoms are left for a day in water to give a lovely aroma to the roscón.  Obviously a Moorish influence, I have not seen agua de azahar used in any other foods.


The roscones are sold with a gold-foil crown, and they have a large butter bean and ceramic figurine hidden inside.  Whoever finds the figurine in their piece of roscón is "crowned" as King, and whoever gets the bean is supposed to pay for the roscón (fancier ones can cost up to €60!).  Over the years, children can collect quite a few figurines!



Roscones are often served with chocolate, which is a very thick hot chocolate, almost like a warm pudding or custard.  Some modern roscones are glazed with chocolate or filled with whipped cream, chocolate cream or cabello de angel ("angel hair", which is candied spaghetti squash).  My family prefers the more traditional type, though.


In the afternoon, we have a family meal, which is usually seafood-based as my father-in-law owned a small fish market until he retired.  Prawn, smoked salmon, peaches with tuna and caviar (my favorite) and oven-roasted sea bass are all usually on the menu, accompanied by Spanish cured ham and cheeses for the kids who are not big fans of seafood.  Oh!  And don't forget the escarole salad with clementines and pomegranate arils with a garlicky olive oil vinaigrette - yum!


A cousin of mine recently asked me about our Spanish traditions, so my sisters-in-law sent me all these photos to share and the photo credit goes to them.  Many thanks!  But, the Spanish Christmas tradition that I love the most is the Belén, or Bethlehem.  Instead of a Christmas village or a simple Nativity scene, in early December Spaniards adorn their homes with full-on towns of Bethlehem, including houses, vegetable gardens, gristmills with running water, paths and bridges, shepherds with their sheep, etc, all around a nativity scene with approaching Wise Men on their camels.  Some are truly works of art with antigue figurines, while others are made with Playmobil or Lego figurines and Play-doh for young children to be able to touch.  Below are photos of my sister-in-law's Belén, with lights, running water, beach sand and moss.  Each year, they go to the Christmas market in the center of Madrid to add to their collection.  Isn't it wonderful?

 

So, wherever you are and whatever your traditions, I hope you have had a very happy holiday season.  May 2019 be your best year yet!






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