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Celebrating New Year 1842 in Tenerife

The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife before 1900

On 30 December 1841, three British troop ships of this expeditionary force arrived in the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. They'd left Plymouth Sound on 20 December 1841, bound for China, during the Anglo-Chinese War or First Opium War. The Canary Islands, whose strategic position in the Atlantic, between Europe, Africa and America, had made it a mandatory refuelling stop for ships for a long time. 

"1 Jan 1842 [Belleisle] is reported to have been at Santa Cruz for the last 2 days, with the troop ships Apollo, and Sapphire, schooner Wanderer ... the Belleisle arrived Teneriffe (sic) with the RN troop ships Apollo, and Sapphire, where the officer commanding of the troops, at the request of the locals, allowed the band of the 98th Regt to go on shore and play on the Mole, where comparison was made to Nelson's welcome some 40 years previously, and his unsuccessful attack. The ships took the opportunity to top up with water and fresh provisions, with prices reflecting the demand for 2,500 men on board the ships."

The water for the 2,500 men, they will almost certainly have had to collect from the Fuente de Morales, inaugurated in 1838, in El Cabo, the old fisherman's quarter. The first public fountain - La Pila, in the Plaza de la Candelaria, had broken in 1802 and it wasn't until after this, in 1844, that it was taken for repair.

Just 600 meters from the city centre, El Cabo is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city, the first settlement of the Castilian conquerors at the end of the 15th century. It appears as early as 1588 in a plan of the city made by Leonardo Torriani, with just a score of scattered houses. Mainly inhabited by fishermen, it was separated from the rest of the city by the Barranco de Santos (Santos ravine), crossed by a single bridge located near the Concepción church. 

In the mid 19th Century, the Iglesia de la Concepción (Church of the Immaculate Conception) will have dominated the skyline of the city; the Castillo de San Juan Bautista (Castillo Negro) was then the second-most important fort in the defence of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Castle of San Cristóbal (now buried under the Plaza de España) was the primary fortification of significance on the island of Tenerife and the main defence on Santa Cruz Bay.

Pirotecnia Hermanos Toste (Toste Brothers Fireworks) the famous Los Realejos firework manufacturer responsible for many a display at events on the island, were founded in 1788, so if there were any New Year's celebrations ... 

The ships left Santa Cruz on 1 Jan and arrived in Rio de Janiero on 2 Feb 1842.

(My 2x great-grandfather had been part of the captain's guard on that voyage on HMS Belleisle.)

Old Barrio de el Cabo (El Cabo neighbourhood) in 1869.

Why is Mass on Dec 24 called "Misa del Gallo"?

Un Gallo (A Rooster)

Among all the religious events that are celebrated during the Christmas season we find the "Misa del Gallo" (literally Rooster's Mass), which takes place at midnight on Christmas Eve, December 24, the beginning of Christmas day.

Most historians and authoritative voices on the liturgical theme point, as the origin of this traditional religious commemoration of the birth of Jesus, to Pope Sixtus III who, in the 5th century, established the custom of celebrating a night vigil mass at midnight on the day of celebration of the Messiah's birth, “ad galli cantus” (at the crowing of the rooster). The "ad galli cantus" referred to the moment when the new day begins, according to ancient Roman traditions, at midnight.

But not all sources agree, as there are those who attribute it to an ancient fable that tells that during the birth of Jesus there was a rooster in the stable, which was the first living being witness the event and thus to proclaim it, first to the mule and the ox, then to the shepherds and their sheep and finally to the people who lived in the surroundings and, therefore, the coming to the world of the Messiah was announced "ad galli cantus", when the rooster crowed.

Another theory, poorly documented and lacking enough credibility, maintains that the name is due to the fact that, in the past, in some countries the Christmas Eve dinner menu consisted of a roasted rooster! There are also those who insist that the origin of the name of the Mass of the Rooster has its origin in its celebration in the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu in Jerusalem. This church took its name from the evangelical episode that recounted how Jesus warned Peter that he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed.

Although it is an ingrained custom to celebrate it at midnight, the Mass schedule is often adapted to the needs of the community and can be advanced. 

Stewed yams, a delicacy for Christmas Eve

Ñames (Yams) at the Mercado (Municipal Market) in La Laguna

Stewed yam is one of the most typical products of the land on the tables of the Canary Islands, especially in Tenerife and La Palma, in the Christmas and Carnival celebrations and is undoubtedly one of the favourite desserts at Christmas. This tuber, a direct relative of potatoes, sweet potatoes and cassava, is usually served, with mojo, as a garnish to accompany salty fish, but during these holidays it is presented as an appetizer or dessert, chopped and sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon or accompanied with palm honey. 

In the Canary Islands it is one of the oldest crops (mentioned by biologist and writer José de Viera y Clavijo in the 18th Century) and present in the basic diet in the past. It's said that "yams have killed a lot of hunger", because it was an important resource, especially in times of famine or poor harvests.

The so-called ‘ñamera’ (yam plant - often seen in squares all over the islands - requires a lot of water, so the ravines and springs (patameros) are the traditional areas of cultivation on the islands. Also for this reason it is more common to find them on the northern slopes of the more humid islands, especially on La Palma; in the Macizos de Anaga and Teno in Tenerife, La Gomera and Gran Canaria.

Although it doesn't need much care, the plant can reach a height of 90 centimetres and the tuber is deep-rooted, making it difficult to harvest. This is probably why it isn't usually a cash crop. Small tubers that form at the base of adult plants, sown in pots and then transplanted, are usually used as seeds. However, the most common method is to replant tubers in spring.

In the Canary Islands, only the tuber is consumed, while in other areas of the planet the stems and leaves are also cooked. The tuber is highly valued for its sweet taste and texture, but it can only be eaten stewed, as it contains certain substances that make it indigestible raw, causing serious intestinal problems.

The manner of consumption is also different depending on the island. In Tenerife and La Palma it is usually eaten accompanied by salted fish, fried eggs, or as a dessert at Christmas, Carnival and Easter, accompanied with cheese, cinnamon and sugar, or palm honey. In Gran Canaria and La Gomera it is also added to stews and sancochos, to give them a special sweetness and thickness.

Historically, the yam leaf was also used, either to cover certain products that were to be kept fresh or moist, or as a cover for a jug to transport fresh water.

The traditional process of stewing yams in the Canary Islands is somewhat cumbersome, since it requires several days and a previous treatment of heating and drying of the tubers. So it is fortunate that already stewed yams arrive at the markets on the islands around Christmas time.

Ñames guisados, un manjar para Noche Buena

The lottery administrations in Tenerife that have distributed the most El Gordo prizes

Bar Pilón in Buenavista one of the 'lucky lottery sellers'

On December 22, the Lotería de Navidad (Spanish Christmas Lottery), better known as El Gordo (The Fat One), will be drawn at the Teatro Real, in Madrid. In 2021 this lottery distributed 2,408 million euros in prizes, which is why this is the date that causes the most excitement throughout the country and every Canarian has it marked on their calendar. In 2020, the first prize went to number 72897, which left 1,200,000 euros in the Canary Islands in the form of three 'tenths' (one ticket is a tenth of a strip) that were sold in Tenerife and Lanzarote. 

San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Puerto de La Cruz and Telde are the most fortunate municipalities in the Canary Islands, as the first prize in El Gordo fell in these locations three times each. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Arrecife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Granadilla de Abona and Los Realejos had the winner twice each.

Although we can't tell you the number that will win this year, what we have done is compile for you some of the lottery administrations in Tenerife that have distributed the most prizes in the past, in case luck falls again. 

La Chasnera (Granadilla De Abona)

Tenerife's gas station, La Chasnera, located in Granadilla de Abona, has been known since 2013 as 'El Surtidor de la Suerte' (The Luck Dispensor, or Fountain of Luck), on occasion it has even been compared to Doña Manolita, the most famous Lottery Administration in Spain, located in Madrid .

In 2013 they sold a complete series of 200 million euros, 79,712 and since then, each year, they have returned to spread joy in the form of award-winning tickets.

The queues that form at the station that has been giving the first prizes for years, in what is already one of the best-known lottery administrations in Tenerife, were endless in 2020 (and again in 2021 - Long queues in La Chasnera to buy the Christmas Lottery), although it was estimated that sales were 30% lower than the previous year. According to compilations made by Diario De Avisos, based on the information collected in the previous 4 years, in La Chasnera the third prize has fallen in 2018 and 2019; the fourth prize in 2019; fifth prizes in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and the Gordo in 2018 and 2020.

Gas Station Pcan (Arico)

In the Pcan de Abades store the sale of tickets began in 2018, when it distributed a third and a fifth prize. The following year, in 2019, it again distributed luck, by awarding a third prize, for 1,406,000 euros, of a fourth and three fifth prizes. 

The owner of this service station is Juan Antonio González, who opened the gas station in 2000. He didn't know then that it would become one of the lottery administrations in Tenerife that generates the most joy among its customers.

El Bohío (La Matanza)

Another of the lottery administrations in Tenerife that stands out for the sale of winning tickets is at the El Bohío service station, in La Matanza de Acentejo. On December 22, 2018, one of the fifth prizes went to this gas station.

El Gato Negro (Los Realejos)

In 2018, El Gato Negro (The Black Cat), one of the most popular lottery administrations in Tenerife, celebrated having sold El Gordo. "We gave the Fat, we gave the Fat, in the Black Cat", sang Pili, Varinia, Eli and Katia, the four employees of the premises. It was not the first time that a large prize was awarded in this administration, but the workers' celebration exuded the same joy. In 2011, the Black Cat sold 15 tickets of the third prize to a bar in the town of La Victoria and in 2007, it sold tickets awarded with the first prize.

Estanco Goya (Granadilla De Abona)

The Goya de San Isidro tobacconist is often fortunate. In 2018, for the fifth consecutive year, this tobacconist gave a prize in the Extraordinary Christmas Draw, that time being a fourth prize, which places it on the list of lottery administrations in Tenerife that have distributed the most prizes.

Other administrations of the Lottery in Tenerife in which a Christmas Lottery prize has fallen in recent years are:
  • Bar cafetería Andrés, in San Juan de la Rambla, which has awarded fifth prizes in 2017 and 2018
  • The El Perón lottery office, which has been handing out Christmas Lottery prizes for three consecutive years
  • Bar Pilón in Buenavista de Norte
  • The administration of El Corte Inglés, in which El Gordo fell in 2018
  • The lottery administration located in CC Viña del Mar, in Las Américas, which awarded the third prize in 2019, this being the second time it had distributed a large prize

The 10 most typical Spanish Christmas dishes


In a few days, we'll be celebrating Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), one of the most important nights of the year, and as such, the menu chosen for dinner must be very special. For the occasion, families usually prepare recipes that they don't make during the year, with the idea of offering something different. 

Spain is a very culturally and gastronomically varied country. For this reason, Christmas dinners are different in different regions. What's more, there are even places like Catalonia where they don't celebrate Christmas Eve, but the tradition is to have a great family meal on December 25. The products that are consumed in Spain on these dates vary according to the area and according to the raw materials that exist in the place. However, as in France, despite not having a common dish par excellence, there is a tendency to consume high-quality or highly elaborated products to give that special and magical touch to the night. Thus, in Galicia seafood is the main protagonist, spider crabs, lobsters, crayfish, prawns, crabs and much more, marinated with white Ribeiro wines.

In the Basque Country, on the other hand, they opt more for fish and elvers, although without neglecting shellfish either. In addition, traditional desserts such as goxua or intxaursalsa stand out. Further south, in Castilla-La Mancha or Andalusia, stuffed turkey tends to have a leading role. 

Here are some of the most typical Spanish Christmas dishes.

Cordero lechal (Roast suckling lamb)

Roasted lamb is a typical recipe from Castilla-La Mancha, but at Christmas it is present throughout the country. The meat of the suckling lamb is that of an animal of about 25 or 30 days of life, which is why it is so delicious. It is not necessary to add spices because they will only hide its flavour. It is one of the tastiest Spanish Christmas recipes. (Lamb certainly is the most popular choice for Christmas throughout Spain. In the Canary Islands you would be more likely to encounter a goat kid, cooked on the barbecue.)

Cochinillo al horno (Roast suckling pig)

Baked suckling pig mixes the crunchy texture of its skin with a juicy meat. It is a famous dish in Segovia and Ávila and has become one of the most typical Spanish Christmas recipes.

Besugo al horno (Baked sea bream)

One of the most classic fish recipes is the baked sea bream. It is a very simple recipe but its price can be high. You can also find it from a fish farm at a more affordable price. It is one of the classic Spanish Christmas recipes.

Escudella de Nadal

Escudella de Nadal (Christmas Soup)

Escudella i carn d’olla, the so-called galet soup, Escudella, is one of the traditional dishes of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. It is one of the most used Spanish Christmas recipes in those communities. Galets are a pasta shaped like shells, which instead of being stuffed, is cooked together with some small meatballs, separately, on the one hand the broth with galets and the meatballs on the other. There is a particular version of this soup that can be called "Escudella de Nadal" (Christmas soup) or "sopa de galets" (galets' soup) and it is very typical on Christmas Day. Escudella de Nadal - recipe in English.

Bacalao con coliflor (Cod with cauliflower)

A humble and cheap dish that has been served during Christmas in northern Spain and Galicia. If the ingredients are of quality, the result is extraordinary. It is another of the most typical Spanish Christmas recipes.

Cocido murciano con pelotas Avicentegil, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cocido de pelotas (Stew with meatballs)

Cocido de pelotas (stew with meatballs) is a tradition as the main dish on Christmas Day in the Murcia region. In fact, a cup of soup with meatballs on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day is never missing from any Murcian table.


Cardo de Navidad (Christmas Milk Thistle)

The milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is part of the gastronomic heritage of Navarra, Aragon, La Rioja and the Basque Country. The Christmas thistle made with the stalks is cooked accompanied by nuts, clams or ham. Another of the most typical Spanish Christmas recipes. (In foods, milk thistle leaves and flowers are eaten as a vegetable for salads and a substitute for spinach. The seeds are roasted for use as a coffee substitute. Don't confuse milk thistle with blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus).

Pavo relleno (Stuffed turkey)

Turkey is the dish that many families choose for Christmas Eve dinner and that we most associate with Christmas, perhaps due to the influence of Anglo-Saxon culture, where it is an irreplaceable dish for these dates.

Calamares rellenos (Stuffed squid)

One of the most typical Spanish Christmas recipes that are chosen as an alternative to meat and fish is stuffed squid in any of its variants.

Arroz con leche (Rice pudding)

It is a classic of Asturian desserts for the Christmas holidays. Its preparation requires patience but the result is a sweet with an irresistible creamy texture. One of the most typical desserts in Spanish Christmas recipes.

What are the odds of winning "El Gordo"?

People queue to buy Christmas Lottery tickets in Madrid Barcex, CC BY-SA 3.0

When we buy a décimo (one ticket = a tenth of a strip) of the Spanish Christmas Lottery we always do so in the hope that we will win the jackpot, but what are the chances of winning the first prize, worth 400,000 euros? 

Truth be told, the chances are pretty remote.

It is often said that it is easier to be struck by lightning than to win the lottery. The probability that you will be favoured by El Gordo is the same as if you pluck a hair from your head and it is your only grey hair, or that you open a dictionary right on the page that contains the word you are looking for. 100,000 numbers enter the drums at the Teatro Real (from 00000 to 99999), so the probability that your tenth is the winner with El Gordo is one in 100,000. 

The chances of winning El Gordo go up or down too, obviously, depending on the amount of tickets purchased. In addition, experts assure that there are various probabilities. One of them, the professor of applied mathematics at the CEU San Pablo University, Miguel Córdoba, says that the chances of achieving El Gordo on December 22 are 5%. On the other hand, according to Córdoba, the probability that we will not win a euro increases to 86%.

This does not deter Spaniards from participating in the draw. While some rely on key dates, others opt for what they consider to be "pretty numbers." Such numbers exist in every home, as well as various rituals to supposedly attract luck. "Everyone is free to have their own beliefs, but scientifically there are 100,000 equal balls, with the same chances of each of them coming out," says Córdoba.

For this reason, there are many who are satisfied with recovering their ticket money of around 20 euros, for which there's a 9% probability.

Winning Numbers of the Christmas Lottery

Photo: jacilluch, CC BY-SA 2.0

The final countdown to the celebration of this year's Spanish Christmas LotteryEl Gordo (The Fat One), has begun. On December 22, the Teatro Real de Madrid will host the draw, which gives thousands of Spaniards the greatest hope. 

Knowing the exact number that will win the 'Fat' prize is a matter for magicians and fortune tellers, but there are many who ask the question 'what number will be awarded in the Lottery?' It's one of the most searched terms on Google during the month of December. Logically it is impossible to know, but if we look at the statistics and at the winning numbers from all of the previous editions, we can determine which numbers are more likely to win prizes and which numbers have had the most luck with the ‘Gordo’ throughout the history of the Lottery draw. With this, [perhaps] we can rule out those that have never or rarely been awarded.

While plenty of people will simply play whichever number happens to be available at their favourite local bar, many Spaniards choose theirs carefully. 

A common question you’ll hear people ask is “En qué termina?” (What does it end with?) While choosing the exact five numbers you want to play is quite difficult (although you can do so online), many people will at least try and make the last digit or two mean something (to them, obviously).

Winning Lottery number in 2016
The number most preferred by those seeking luck is one that ends in 5 ... El Gordo de Navidad has terminated in this number up to 32 times, followed by 4 and 6 (27 times). 

It's usual to avoid the so-called ugly numbers and focus on those considered pretty. Tickets ending in 13, because of bad luck, were usually the least popular. However, the ‘Gordo’ of 2016 ended up in this figure and therefore, since then has been one of the most requested.

The most repeated endings have been 85 (7 times), 56 (6), 64 (5) and 95, 58 and 40, awarded four times each. In three different years, El Gordo fell to numbers ending at 297 and twice each El Gordo was number 15640 and 20297.

However, you should [probably] avoid some endings, since it has never fallen on numbers that ended in 09, 10, 21, 25, 31, 34, 41, 42, 43, 51, 54, 59, 67, 78 or 82. In addition, the 1 is the least fortunate ending, since it has only come out 8 times. In turn, the 2, has been the ending in thirteen editions of the draw; and the number 9, which has been in 16, is also considered not very "reliable".

In actual fact, one number does not matter any more than another, although superstition is superstition.

The superstitious should also avoid a few thousand, as no jackpot ever started with 27, 37, 39, 41, 44, 51, 64, 67 to 75, 77, or by numbers between 80 and 99.

The earliest first prize was drawn in 2004: at 9.15 in the morning, thirteen minutes after the start of the draw, the number 54600 surprised everyone by being the El Gordo of that year when only 39 balls had been drawn.

This table lists all of the numbers that have won the jackpot of the Christmas Lottery throughout history, which has been held continuously since 1812.

December 2005 storm claims one victim

Even our usually bone dry barranco was still running on 20 December 2005

On December 19, 2005 and when the inhabitants of Tenerife had not yet recovered from the serious consequences that Tropical Storm Delta had left, there was a new episode of intense rains on this island that, together with strong winds, left a mortal victim: a woman, resident in the municipality of Granadilla de Abona, when she accidentally fell into the Fañabe ravine and was swept away by the flood. This storm also left other material damage, such as: the TF-1 highway cut due to the flooding of the highway and cancellation of flights at Reina Sofía airport, which had to be diverted to Los Rodeos and Gran Canaria airports. 

Efemérides meteorológicas en Canarias del siglo XX y XXI

Flavours of a Canarian Christmas

An assortment of Christmas Sweet Delicacies

We feel a roundup of the Christmas recipes we've published over the years is called for although we're entirely unapologetic that they're almost exclusively sweet treats. They're impossible to resist. In Spain, Christmas Eve is usually celebrated as a family, with dinner consisting of seafood (particularly langoustines), cured meats (especially ham and Iberian products) and some other dish that the family considers special and at the end of the meal they eat an array of sweets including truchas and turrón, drink and sing Christmas carols.

There are also the Secret Christmas Recipes of Tenerife NunsAlmendras Garrapiñadas (Candied Almonds), an indispensable part of every fiesta, but also popular at Christmas and Frangollo, a Canarian Dessert, which although not locally touted for Christmas has all of the flavours we associate with the season. For Los Reyes on 6th January, Roscón de Reyes (Crown of Kings)

The origin of Spanish Christmas turrón

Assortment of turrón and Christmas sweets for sale

On the origin of the turrón (nougat) there are only hypotheses or, rather, conjectures, as most enter more into the terrain of legend than that of theory.

In principle, it seems reasonable to place its cradle in the Mediterranean basin where almonds and honey abound, the basic ingredients of nougat to which, centuries later, sugar would join ... But since almond trees come from Central Asia some conclude that nougat was invented in China, despite a lack of evidence. What did come from the East was sugar, which was incorporated into Arab gastronomy from the 7th century, following the conquest of Egypt, where sugar cane from India was grown. It was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by Muslims in the 10th century and cultivated in areas of the South and the Levant.

But, going back to turrón, most sources attribute an Arab origin to it due to the profuse use of honey and almonds in Muslim pastries. In fact, a sweet with similar characteristics to nougat is mentioned in One Thousand and One Nights. On the other hand, in the 11th century a Lombard scholar named Gerardo de Cremona translated and published a book by the Cordoba doctor Abdul Mutarrif, with the title De medicinis et cibis semplicibus, in which he speaks of the salutary qualities of an Arabic sweet called turun. The similarity between the words turun and turrón as well as between the ingredients of both, has led to placing the origin of turrón in the turun of the Arabian peninsula. It arrived in Spain with the Muslim invasion of the 8th century; it adapted especially well throughout the Mediterranean strip due to the abundance of almond trees and honey; and from here it was exported to Italy and France. This is the most widely accepted theory, however there are a couple of conflicting facts.

Long before the Middle Ages, before the Arab turun and the sweet mentioned in Persian tales, during classical antiquity, Greece was already making a sweet based on honey and crushed almonds (like the Jijona nougat) that the participating athletes in the olympic games ate before competitions to increase their vigor. They were the energy bars of old.

On the other hand, as Sebastián de Covarrubias explains in his Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española (Treasury of Castilian or Spanish Language) of 1611, the word turrón does not derive from Arabic turun but from Latin torrere which means toasted, and refers to the way in which the ingredients are cooked. It seems rather that it is the Arabic term that derives from the Latin.

The first time that the word turrón appears written in Spanish is in Arte Cisoria, a didactic kitchen treatise written by the scholar Enrique de Villena, nicknamed "the Astrologer", in 1423: "Others, turrón, nuégados, wafers, letuaries and such things that the curiosity of the princes and genius of the Epicurians found and introduced into the use of the people." 

The first nougat recipe does not appear until a later date between 1475 and 1525, in the anonymous book Manual de mujeres en el cual se contienen muchas y diversas recetas muy buenas (Women's manual in which many and diverse very good recipes are contained). The original manuscript is in the Palatine Library of Parma and is a practical treatise on the activities that high-ranking women had to carry out or lead in the family sphere with recipes for medicine, cosmetics and cooking. 

The nuégados that Don Enrique mentions next to the turrón are sweets in which walnuts replace almonds. They are originally from Jewish cuisine and, for this reason, there is no shortage of those who place the birth of nougat in this cuisine. During the Middle Ages, they were made both in Aragon and in French Provence (where almond trees were not introduced until the 17th century).

What no one seems to dispute is that the Spanish version of nougat appears in the province of Alicante, at least since the 15th century, although there is also a nougat tradition in Castuera (Badajoz) that dates back to Arab times and continues to the present day.

Nougat turrón is part of an assorted family of sweets of ancient origin, all of them made up of nuts mixed with a sweet paste. They receive the generic name of halva, from the Arabic halwä which means sweet. The halva are spread over a vast territory that goes from Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh ... the Middle East where they are very popular: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Arabia, Egypt ... to southeastern Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Cyprus… The ingredients vary according to the region, and can be sesame paste, sunflower seeds or wheat semolina; the sweet can be honey or sugar; and can contain walnuts, hazelnuts, dates, raisins ...

Fernando Galiana Carbonell, historian and official chronicler of Jijona, in his book Anales y documentos históricos sobre el turrón de Jijona (Annals and historical documents about Jijona nougat), indicates that primitive forms of turrón were already known in that city prior to the 14th century. The Jews made a sweet paste, halva, similar to soft nougat, and the Mudéjars (Moors) made a nougat by mixing honey with sesame, walnuts or almonds.

Already in the 16th century, it was the Alicante nougat that gained fame throughout the Peninsula, entering the court of Carlos I and captivating the taste of the nobility. In 1570, the Sevillian playwright Lope de Rueda makes him the protagonist of his passage La generosa paliza (The generous beating), in which Dalagón punishes his servants because: they have eaten his pound of Alicante nougats that were on the desk.

During the 16th century, the custom of consuming nougat only during the Christmas holidays was already a tradition, probably because their high price prevented most Spanish families from consuming them more regularly. In a document from the Alicante City Council dated 1582, it is stated that municipal employees: ... from time immemorial, each year, said city of Alicante customarily, for Christmas parties, pay their salaries, part in money and part in a present that they are given, of 'an arroba of nougats' ... And apparently, the expenditure that the Alicante municipality made in these sweets was so high that Felipe II, in an Order signed in 1595, demands: "... that in nougat and fig bread to present At Christmas, I forbid and command that my city (Alicante) cannot spend more than fifty pounds each year."

This tradition is also collected by the Alicante lawyer and writer José Guardiola Ortiz in his book Conduchos de Navidad, which he attributes to Francisco Martínez Motiño, who was head of the kitchens of Felipe II, Felipe III and Felipe IV. He places the action in 1585. In February 1584, a Japanese legation sent by the shogun Toyotomi Hideyosi and made up of princes of Bungo, Arima, and Omura, who had converted to Catholicism, had landed in Lisbon. From there they traveled to Madrid to pay homage to King Felipe II. In the story, Don Francisco later accompanied them to Alicante, where they would embark for Italy to attend the coronation of Pope Sixtus V. On the way they passed through Jijona to see the Tibi reservoir that was being built by Juan Bautista Antonelli, the most ancient in Spain and the most important in the world until the arrival of the Enlightenment and its great engineering works. On his way through Jijona, the author affirms: "all the houses in Jijona smell like hot steam of honey because they make nougat in all of them." And it is that in those years, on the dates before Christmas, no less than one hundred families from Jijon traveled to the main Spanish and European cities to sell their nougat. In 1610, the Valencian historian Gaspar Juan Escolano wrote in his 'Decades': "The nougat from Jijona, put in little boxes, is taken throughout Europe as a unique gift."

Hard and soft nougat

Nougat from Alicante (duro / hard) and from Jijona (blando / soft)
La.blasco, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Until the seventeenth century, turrón was manufactured both in Jijona and Alicante. The guild of master confectioners used sugar, and that of nougat used honey, and each one was governed by its own rules. During the second half of the century, at the time of Carlos II, the powerful Valencian confectioners' guild (the oldest in Europe and the first to found an Official Pastry School in 1644) sued against the Alicante nougat makers to absorb them by subjecting their activity to the regulation of its own statutes. For this reason and due to the growing popularity of chocolate, the production of turrón in Alicante was greatly reduced. Jijona, being further away, did not attract the attention of the Valencian union corporations, thus became the main center for the production of turrón.

Already in the 18th century, Madrid confectioners complained to King Carlos III of the competition that the nougat makers of Jijona and Alicante made to their businesses. The King listened to their demands and promulgated an ordinance that prohibited the itinerant sale of nougat, except in the forty days before Christmas. It is not true that this is how the custom of restricting the consumption of nougat to the Christmas period originated. On the contrary, based on that tradition that, as we have seen, predated the sixteenth century, the king found a way to please some without causing too much harm to others.

Sugar is not mentioned among the ingredients of nougat until the 18th century, coinciding with the massive plantation of sugar cane in Latin America and with the opening of American trade to several Spanish ports, Alicante among them. Thus, in the Chronica de la muy ilustre, noble y leal ciudad de Alicante (Chronicle of the very illustrious, noble and loyal city of Alicante), written by Dean Vicente Bendicho in 1640, that ingredient still does not appear: "The turrón that is commonly said of Alicante, which when made only of honey and almonds looks like its pieces white jaspers. The nougat made in Jijona at the beginning of the 18th century already contained sugar, which contravened the union regulations of confectioners, but made its price cheaper and made it available to the less favored economies."

Myths and legends

The lack of precise data on the origin of nougat, has been abundantly supplied by legends, fables and tales of all kinds. In Jijona, which could well hold the title of world capital of turrón, they have a tender and romantic legend to explain it. The current location of the city dates from the end of the 12th century, when the Almohads built the castle of which the ruins still remain, and the population gathered under its protection on the slopes of the hill crowned by the bastion. Legend has it that, many, many years ago, a king lived in that castle who married a beautiful princess from northern Europe. The girl with stubby eyes and blonde locks longed so much for the snowy landscapes of her native Scandinavia that she fell into a deep melancholy, which filled her loving consort with despair. To remedy the sadness of his princess, the king had thousands of almond trees planted around the castle and, when they flourished, the landscape that could be seen from the battlements seemed covered by a blanket of snow. Thus, the princess regained joy and the king happiness. And the local peasants, making use of that enormous quantity of almonds, invented the nougat. 

A beautiful legend and very appropriate, if it were not already traced to this other Cordovan legend that has nothing to do with nougat although it does with almond trees and with love: Abd al-Rahman III was the first Umayyad caliph of Córdoba. His favorite wife was a beautiful Granada-born woman named Azahara or al-Zahra (Orange Blossom Flower). So in love was the good caliph that, in her honor, he had a most luxurious palatial city built eight kilometers from Córdoba and called it Medina Azahara or Madinat al-Zahra (City of Azahar Flower). But despite the luxury and wealth that the caliph offered her, the beautiful Azahara was sad and Abderramán could not see her smile. When she finally confessed that her melancholy was due to the fact that she longed to contemplate the snows of the Sierra Nevada, the caliph promised: "I will make it snow for you in Córdoba." So it was. He had a forest in front of the city cut down and hundreds of almond trees planted in their place, so close together that in spring the white orange blossoms formed the promised blanket of snow.

Another legend attributes the invention to a contest called by a caliph who, concerned about feeding his troops during long campaigns, was looking for a nutritious food, easy to transport and that would take a long time to spoil. Nougat was the winning recipe. Yet another attributes it to the ingenuity of the inhabitants of one city who invented it under the pressure of famine during a siege. That city may well have been Jijona, which for centuries occupied a frontier position. However, this same fable is also attributed to the invention of marzipan.

Italians have their own legend to claim the invention of nougat. In the city of Cremona, on October 25, 1441, the marriage between Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti was celebrated, a wedding that assured the family more than half a century of dominion over the Duchy of Milan. The chef created for the occasion a dessert based on honey, egg white and almond, which reproduced the most emblematic monument of the Lombard city, il Torrazzo, the bell tower of the cathedral. For this reason he called his dessert torrone, from torrione (tower). Although, in reality, torrone, like turrón, derives from the Latin torrere and means toasted, the story is really suggestive ... but it is nothing more than a tale invented, apparently, by the painter Massimo Gallelli during the previous years to the First World War to promote the products of a nougat industrialist. In 1914, the fable was collected and published by the Cremona Chamber of Commerce, giving it an air of verisimilitude ... and until today. We do know that in the year 1529, a tower-shaped dessert was served at a banquet, because Cristóforo di Messisbugo, cook, writer, mayor of the Casa de Este and organizer of lavish court banquets left a written record of this. But the Cremons, who even today continue to boast of having invented the nougat based on this legend, insist on ignoring that the Venetians, since the Middle Ages, consumed a dessert made with honey, almonds and spices during Christmas. They also ignore the fact that in many places in southern Italy, in Campania, Sicily, Calabria, and especially in the city of Benevento, they make a sweet called cupeta that they consider the ancestor of nougat. Tradition says that this sweet was already prepared in the region in ancient Roman times under the name of cupedia, as recorded in the writings of Tito Livio and Marcial. However, specialists affirm that in the writings of these Roman authors of the 1st century, the word cupedia is not found anywhere. Yes there is a very similar word, cuppedia, which means delicacy and that appears in texts by Cicero and Plautus among others. In Sicily, on the other hand, the cupeta is called cubaita, a word of Arabic origin that points to the Arabic origin of nougat.

Barcelona also has its own legend, although somewhat later. In 1703 the city was ravaged by the plague. The authorities summoned the pastry chefs to a contest to make a delicious sweet that, in addition, would serve as a restorative to the battered surviving citizens. The winner was Pedro Torró with a sweet made with honey and almonds. His surname gave name to the nougat (torró in Catalan). The story adds that the bishop ordered the priests to recommend to the parishioners the consumption of this dessert in the period between the Immaculate Conception and the day of Kings. In another version, the contest won by Torró would have taken place during the siege of Barcelona in 1651-52.

Turrón is currently produced in several countries in Latin America, in France, Italy and Spain, which is the world's leading producer of turrón, marzipan and Christmas sweets, and which exports to many countries in Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East. The Spanish alone consume forty-six million kilos of nougat every year, approximately one kilo per person, which places us at the head of the world and far ahead of the rest.

Truchas de cabello de ángel (Angel Hair Turnovers)

Cucurbita ficifolia

To finish off a perfect Christmas meal, share some nougat or shortbread, or turnovers in their different flavours, today the angel hair.

We've had Truchas de Batata (Sweet Potato Turnovers) and Truchas de membrillo (Quince turnovers) and now we bring you a third variety of this seasonal delicacy, Truchas de cabello de ángel (Angel Hair Turnovers). 

You'll be pleased to know that it's not necessary to catch a biblical angel and rush him to the hairdressers, as the angel hair in question is made from the flesh of the Calabaza de cabello de ángel (literally: angel hair squash) Cucurbita ficifolia, known by various names in English: fig-leaf gourd, Malabar gourd, black seed squash and cidra.

Instructions below for producing the angel hair jam - step-by-step instructions in Spanish with pictures here too - also available in some stores in tins.

Angel hair filling:

  • 1 kg of sugar for each kg of flesh from the squash
  • cinnamon stick 
  • lemon zest (to taste)

For the pastry: 

  • 1kg of flour
  • ¼ l water
  • ¼ k lard (preferably) or butter

Angel hair filling:

Remove the strands of flesh from the squash with a fork, discard the seeds and cook in plenty of water. When soft, drain well and weigh (to determine the amount of sugar). Then it is cooked again, this time with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest, stirring constantly, over low heat. When a texture similar to jam is obtained, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool, to later use in the turnovers.

For the turnovers:

Mix the water and lard/butter and bring to a boil. Allow to cool a little. In a deep container, place the flour, making a well in the centre, pour in the water and fat mixture little by little. Knead well until the dough detaches from the container. Roll out and, to cut rounds for the turnovers using any round object (a cup, a glass...). Place a little of the angel hair filling in the centre of each portion, closing afterwards with a fork. Finally they are fried in plenty of hot oil.

Truchas de cabello de ángel

Truchas de Batata (Sweet Potato Turnovers)

Truchas de Batata

One of my, admittedly many, favorite sweet things of the Christmas season are these delicious little Truchas de Batata (Sweet Potato Turnovers). Since you may not have them available in the shops near you, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
3 tablespoons of lard
1 small glass of olive oil
500 grams (1 l.b.) flour.

For the filling:
500 grams (1 l.b.) sweet potatoes
250 grams (8 Oz) ground almonds
1 small cup of caster sugar
3 egg yolks
A teaspoon of aniseed
A dash of rum
A dash of aniseed liqueur
A teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Grated lemon rind
Oil for frying.

Preparation:

Filling: Boil the sweet potatoes in water with a little salt. When they're done, peel them, pound to a pulp and mix them with the almonds, flavourings and liqueurs.

Pastry: Mix together lard, oil and flour until a mass is formed and leave to rest for a short time. Cover a surface with flour and roll out the pastry until very thin. Cut out small rounds with a cup and put a small amount of filling into the centre of each. Close them by folding in half to make little semi-circular patties. Press down and seal with the aid of a fork. Fry in hot oil then sprinkle with sugar to serve.

Tropical Storm in Tenerife in December 1975

Puerto de la Cruz in 1975

On December 14, 1975, a very strong windstorm occurred throughout the archipelago. Although not officially recognized by the Florida National Hurricane Centre, it's possible that its origin was in tropical depression TS2. In Santa Cruz de Tenerife there were gusts of wind of 162 km / h, and, at Izaña a maximum gust of 216 km / h was recorded. This would very likely have been a record, it it hadn't been for Tropical Storm Delta in 2005.

From an excerpt from the newspaper El Día in 1975, we learn: Those who experienced that event first hand said that the buildings vibrated with the storm and, even, in the Ofra neighbourhood, residents abandoned their flats to take refuge in hallways for fear of collapse. At eleven o'clock on December 14, the electricity disappeared and Tenerife was left in the dark. "The firefighters worked from ten at night until late in the morning to remove blocks, glass and trees that hindered traffic in the interior of Santa Cruz".

The Atlantic Broadcasting Centre of Radiotelevisión Española stopped broadcasting its signal in a wide radius of the Tenerife capital. "The city woke up with collapsed electrical and telephone cables, as well as being carpeted with flowerpots, plants and trees that began to be removed in the early hours of Monday morning," it was reported in a copy of EL DÍA, which at that time cost eight pesetas. 

They were different times: In the palace of La Zarzuela, Juan Carlos I met with the Council of Ministers twenty-five days after Franco's death. In November 1975 adverts offered one-week cruises through Mauritania at 12,800 pesetas, a Mini at 125,000 pesetas or spacious apartments with a garage in the Simón Bolívar area for 1,950,000 pesetas.

In clinics and the general hospital, several people had to be assisted, with minor injuries.

In the port of the capital, the container ship "Frank Pais" had to be assisted by a tugboat due to the danger that it would collide with other ships after breaking its moorings; The circus tent installed in the Polígono de los Reyes Católicos jumped into the air; at Los Rodeos, La Palma and El Hierro all flights were suspended due to the adverse weather conditions; the plastics in the greenhouses were ripped ...

Efemérides meteorológicas en Canarias del siglo XX y XXI

Truchas de membrillo (Quince turnovers)

Truchas de membrillo (Quince turnovers)

If you've made Dulce de Membrillo (Quince Preserve) - we did and it's delicious - you'll already know it's good with Manchego cheese. It's also used as a filling for these Truchas de membrillo (Quince turnovers), so typical in the Canary Islands around Christmas. There are also Truchas de Batata (Sweet Potato Turnovers), as well as those filled with Cabello de ángel (Spanish Pumpkin Preserve). 

Ingredients:

Ready made pastry (your own or bought)
Homemade quince paste
Oil (if frying)
Sugar for dusting

Method:

Cut out circles of pastry, fill the pastry with a little quince paste, brush the edges with a little water to make them stick, fold over to make semi-circles and close the edges. Crimp them with a fork to make a good seal. 

Fry the turnovers in a frying pan with plenty of hot oil. (Less typical, but if you prefer, you can bake them in the oven.) Remove to a plate lined with absorbent paper to remove excess oil. Dust with sugar. Watch them disappear!

Turrón de Jijona (Spanish Almond Candy)

Turrón de Jijona

There is no more typical Christmas sweet in Spain than turrón. The recipe for turrón should never contain less than 10% of honey or 64% of almonds. There are two traditional basic types of turrón. Soft Jijona or turrón blando, which is so smooth it has the consistency of peanut butter and hard Alicante or turrón duro, which is like a thick almond nougat candy, similar to peanut brittle. 

Ingredients for 4 tablets:
  • 400 grams of honey (azahar - orange blossom honey is traditional) 
  • 200 grams of sugar
  • 1 egg white
  • 700 grams of almonds, peeled and toasted
  • the grated rind of half a lemon

Method:

Grind the almonds without letting them become completely pulverized. Pour the honey and the sugar into a saucepan and put it to heat over a low flame, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture thickens. Remove the mixture from the heat.

Beat the egg white and add it to the honey and sugar mixture. Mix well without pausing for 10-15 minutes then place the mixture back on a low heat until the mixture begins to caramelise and take on a deeper colour.

Add the almonds and the grated lemon rind to the mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon and leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Line moulds with grease proof kitchen paper, pour the mixture into the moulds so that the turrón is around 2 - 3 cm thick. Leave for 3 - 4 hours to set to the right consistency, then turn out and store in Tupperware boxes in a cool, dry place.

Translated from this recipe

The Canary Islands registered the fourteenth coldest month of November since 1961

What better than a picture of the desert when we're talking about [relative] cold?

The Canary Islands have registered the fourteenth coldest November since 1961 (which is such as weird number to make 'news' of that it was irresistible), at the same level as those of 2005 and 1971, with a negative anomaly in the average temperatures of -0.9 ºC, more accentuated in the eastern islands.

According to the climate information from State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) the pluviometric behaviour (rainfall), both at the regional level and in the western islands, was dry and very dry in the eastern islands and the rainfall, divided into two episodes, contributed just 54% of the expected amount. 

Tenerife North and La Palma airports were notably deficient in hours of sunshine.

At 10 meters from the surface, the wind blew with less force than usual and in the maritime zone of the Canary Islands there were no anomalies in the temperature of the sea surface water, which was very close to the average values.

Turrón de Alicante (Hard Almond Nougat)

Turron and Coffee, Jonathan Pincas, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Now that Christmas is approaching, we have to start thinking about nougat, marzipan and all kinds of sweets typical of this season. Today we are going to show you how to make Turrón de Alicante (Alicante hard nougat). It is a very simple recipe that you can prepare with the kids, as a Christmas activity.

Ingredients

250 gr. raw Marcona almonds
150 gr. of honey
150 gr. of sugar
1 egg white

Preparation

Start by roasting the almonds in a dry pan over a low heat, stirring continuously so that they do not burn and brown on all sides. When they are ready, reserve them.

Place the sugar and honey in a pan with enough depth and heat over low heat, stirring so that the ingredients are mixed well. Whisk the egg white until stiff. When the contents of the pan begin to bubble, let it cook for a few more minutes then remove from the heat.

When cooled, slowly incorporate the whipped egg white, little by little to prevent it from curdling. Return the pan to a very low heat and continue cooking, stirring continuously until the mixture reaches a caramel texture. Then add the almonds, mix well, remove from the heat and wait until it cools slightly. At this point pour the mixture onto a tray covered with baking paper, smooth the surface, and allow to cool down to room temperature.

Turrón de Chocolate (Chocolate Fudge)

Turrón de trufa negra con Yogur y Grosellas Rafa Gorrotxategi

This typical Christmas sweet is simple to make even for kids.

Ingredients for one bar of turrón:
250 grams of butter
250 grams of crumbled cake
100 grams (4 Oz) of almonds
100 grams (4 Oz) of walnuts
1 x 150 gram (6 Oz) tablet of chocolate
8 tablespoons of sugar

Method: Put the chocolate in a basin over a saucepan of hot water and leave it to melt. Work the butter with the sugar until you obtain a creamy consistency. Add the tepid chocolate to the cream with the crumbled cakes and mix the whole lot together well. Add the almonds and walnuts, well chopped. Turn the mixture into a rectangular mold, lined with greaseproof paper that has been spread with butter. Leave it to set in the fridge for 24 hours before removing from the mould.

The Immaculate Conception in Tenerife

Nuestra Señora de La Concepción (Church of the Immaculate Conception)
Image: rene boulay, CC BY-SA 3.0

Today, 8 December is a public holiday for the Inmaculada Concepción (Immaculate Conception). Many people will "bridge" together this holiday with that for Constitution Day on 6 December and take a few days off. It's also customary in Spain to put up Christmas decorations (in homes) on the weekend closest to 8 December.

Since the 14th century there have been references in Spain to brotherhoods created in honour of the Immaculate Conception. The oldest, in Gerona, dates from 1330. 

In the 16th century this fervor was revitalized with a huge number of brotherhoods established under the dedication of the Pure and Clean Concepción de María; brotherhoods devoted to charitable work and social assistance. The Franciscans were very faithful to the belief in the Immaculate Conception, and contributed to its spread throughout the world. The feast of the Immaculate Conception was a feast of keeping in all the kingdoms of the Spanish Empire, since 1644.

It was declared a feast of keeping in the entire Church since 1708 by order of Pope Clement XI. In 1760, in response to a plea from Charles III, Pope Clement XIII issued the bull Quantum Ornamenti, which has since proclaimed the Immaculate the main patron of Spain and the Indies. In 1771 the same king consecrated the newly created order of Carlos III to the Immaculate Conception and a year later Clement XIV recognized this order, identified by the colours white and blue.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception has been Patroness of the Infantry since 1892 by Royal Order of Queen María Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena. This patronage has its origin in the Miracle of Empel (8 Dec 1585), a great Spanish victory in the wars in Flanders. She is also patron of the Ecclesiastical Corps of the Army; the General Staff, Legal Corps, and the Military Pharmacy. The Official Associations of Pharmacists and the Faculties of Pharmacy also have her as their patron.

The first temple dedicated to the Immaculate Conception in Spain was the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Granada

Iglesia de la Concepción (San Cristóbal de La Laguna) 
Image: Raimo Nieminen Some rights reserved

In the Canary Islands, the mother parish of the island of Tenerife is under the invocation of the Immaculate Conception in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, of which she is the Mayor and Co-Patron of the city and Patron of the Spanish Red Cross. This also had the honour of being the second image of the Immaculate to be canonically crowned in Spain, after that in Villalpando (Zamora).

The most important temple in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception (Iglesia Matriz de la Concepción).

Immaculate Conception Church in la Orotava, Tenerife El fosilmaníaco, CC BY-SA 3.0

In La Orotava (Tenerife) is the Iglesia de la Concepción, the mother temple of this town, which is the best example of the Baroque in the Canary Islands. In Los Realejos (also in Tenerife) is the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción.

In Agaete, Gran Canaria, she is the patron saint of the town. On the island of Fuerteventura, she is historical patron of the island and in the municipality of Betancuria, the Matriz de la Concepción Church, is the mother parish of the island. She is also the patron saint of the island of El Hierro, the westernmost of the Canary Islands and in Valverde is the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción.

Tenerife Land of Eternal Christmas

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