Tipple number 1 – Anis del Mono
With Christmas on the horizon it’s time to break out of your conservative imbibery, to take a long hard look at all those jazzy bottles lined up on the barman’s shelves – and dare to drink something...
View ArticleTipple number 2 – Ponche Caballero
Perhaps you’ve seen your face distorted in the shiny silver bottle and wondered what was inside? After reading that ‘Gentleman’s Punch’ was in fact Spain’s most widely-consumed spirit, I decided to...
View ArticleTipple number 3 – Licor de bellota
Acorns are not only meant for the crème de la crème of Spain’s porcine population. These sweet nuts, rich in oils and oleic acid, come from the evergreen holm oak and have been used since forever to...
View ArticleTipple number 4 – Pacharán (candy in a glass)
Also spelt with a t and an x, pacharán is a Designation of Origin product of the Autonomous Community of Navarra. To its detractors, the deep raspberry- coloured ‘syrup’ looks, smells and tastes like...
View ArticleTipple number 5: A Whisky called Dyc
Why should you swap steady old JB or Ballentines for a brand with such a smirk-inducing name? Well, it’s more economical for starters – about a third of the price in the supermarket, and possibly a...
View ArticleMuffled prawns, please: the best Spanish menu ever.
Oh, how we laughed. It’d been a long time since any of us had browsed such an inscrutable menu. We worked out most of the items, though we did have a problem with ‘black poplars’ (the bilingual among...
View ArticleSpanish Christmas Customs 1- Fleecing the relatives
Yes, yes, you’re all familiar with the Three Kings, the 12 lucky grapes and the big fat Gordo Lottery. But you don’t know everything about Spanish Christmas customs, do you? Whatever, you can always...
View ArticleSpanish Christmas Customs 2 : building the belén
OK, so you know what a belén is, but it took me years to realise that Belén is how the Spanish say Bethlehem, as in ‘O Little Town of’. I had always assumed that it just meant ‘Christmas crib’ or...
View ArticleSpanish Christmas Customs 3 – the villancico
Villancico The Spanish word for Christmas carol has its origin in the old Castilian word villano, meaning ‘villager’ – as opposed to noble or squire. During the 15th and 16th centuries the villancico...
View ArticleSpanish Christmas Customs 5 – Saints and Canelons!
San Esteban/Sant Esteve My Catalan mother-in-law could never relax on Christmas Day. Plates with remains of chicken or turkey were whipped from under our noses, earthenware dishes hauled away for...
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