Nochevieja

I realize I’m a few weeks late with this, but I’d like to give you an idea of what New Year’s Eve (or Nochevieja) is like in Spain.

Looks familiar, right? Christmas tree & stockings

My sister-in-law Tuky is the one in the family who puts up all the decorations. She made all of the stockings hanging on the fireplace. She is really talented with sewing and crafts. She makes the whole house festive!

Everyone gathers in the kitchen to help prepare food or to sneak a taste

So what is important to Spaniards during the holidays? Food, family, wine and food. New Year’s Eve centers around a big family dinner, much as Nochebuena, or Christmas Eve does. Spanish people eat dinner later than the rest of the world, usually around 9 or 10 PM. Nochevieja is no exception.

A few of the appetizers ready to eat

Holiday dinners generally include lots of appetizers, seafood and lamb dishes, and tons of sweets. Our dinner included:

Air-cured meats including the famous Iberian ham and sausages (fiambre – jamon iberico, salchichon, chorizo, cecina, lomo), cheeses (Manchego – a hard sheep cheese from the La Mancha region, Afuega’l Pitu – a soft, local Asturian cow’s milk cheese with Spanish paprika, my personal favorite!), pâtés (pastel del cabracho – a paste made from scorpionfish, del higado – the usual goose liver kind), asparagus (espárragos), artichoke hearts (alcachofas), puff pastries (hojaldres rellenos), prawns (langostinos – there are a zillion different names for shrimp/prawns in Spanish including gambas, camaron, cigala, langostinos & carabinaros) and roasted lamb (cordero).

Jamon Iberico – air cured Spanish ham

Of course, the Spanish love sweets, too. When we were living in Costa Rica, our roommate’s family, from Sevilla, came to visit over Christmas. They brought bags and bags of sweets. I probably gained about 20 pounds in less than one month’s time. Little did I know that Spanish sweets are filled with nothing more than almonds, marzipan, egg yolks and sugar. Pure heaven!

The sweets tray ready for the table

Among the goodies you will find: turrón – how can I describe this? There are several versions. Turrón blando is a soft square made of ground almonds and honey. Turrón duro is like peanut brittle made of almonds (but better!). There is also turrón made of chocolate. The Italians also make and enjoy turrón. Mazapán – we know this as marzipan, but I have never eaten marzipan in America like the marzipan in Spain. It is incredible – made from real almonds, no potato here. Mantecados and polvorones – small flaky cakes, usually flavored with anise or cinnamon. Bolitos de coco – small balls of dried coconut flakes dipped in chocolate. Yemas – this sounds gross, but it is not! They are made of egg yolk and sugar. Indulgent and rich. So Spaniards pretty much ingest pure almonds and sugar everyday for three weeks over the holidays. How much more decadent can you get? Oh yeah, in most houses you will also find a plate of dried fruits – raisins, dates, figs, apricots. These always seem to get eaten last.

The DH with a mouth full of grapes

What happens when the clock strikes midnight in a Spanish house? Well, instead of watching the ball drop in Times Square, NYC, Spanish TV shows the countdown from the Casa de Correos building in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid. With each chime of the clock, you are supposed to eat one grape. If the grapes are big, you end up with a mouth full of them. According to Wikipedia, this tradition started “in 1909, when grape growers in Alicante thought of it as a way to cut down on the large production surplus they had had that year.” Some people eat melon balls instead. The tradition has become so mainstream that you can now buy cans of 12 peeled, seeded grapes all ready for the New Year.

Late night revelers

After the family dinner, many people head out to the streets to celebrate the New Year with friends in pubs and bars. Spanish are night people. These parties often last until the next morning. I was suffering from really bad jet lag and could only last until 2AM. (Early for Spain!)

We’re jet lagged!

Spanish Christmas celebrations last from December 24th – Christmas Eve (Nochebuena) until January 6th – Epiphany or Kings’ Day (Dia de los Reyes). For Spanish children, Kings’ Day is the most important. That is the day that the three kings arrive with all their presents. Children might have received a few gifts on Christmas Eve from Santa Claus (Papa Noel), but the main event is January 6th. Santa Claus is becoming more and more popular, but is often viewed as a commercialization of the season.

Overall, I’d say Spain is one of the best places to spend the holidays. You really can’t go wrong with two weeks of festivities, all the sweets you can eat and two rounds of gifts!

Spanish New Year gallery on SmugMug

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