Christmas Eve

When it is Christmas Eve or ‘Ia Nochebuena’, as it is known in Spain, there are two important traditions - attending Christmas mass and. second, enjoying a meal with friends and family.

There is a wide variety of typical foods one might find on plates across Spain on this particular night and each region, has its own distinct specialties.

It is particularly common, however, to start the meal with a seafood dish. such as prawns or salmon, followed by a bowl of hot, homemade soup. The main meal will commonly consist of roast lamb, or seafood, such as cod or shellfish.

For dessert there is quite a spread of delicacies, among them are ‘turron’, a dessert made of honey, egg and almonds that is Arabic in origin.

Spanish Christmas recipes

The following is an example of typical Spanish fare at 'Ia Nochebuena’. The Christmas meal starts with a citrussy salmon and cod starter, followed by a typically Spanish aubergine soup with diced chorizo and then, as the main dish, roast shoulder of saffron lamb. A light prune crema Catalan dessert finishes the meal off perfectly - this is a Spanish version of crème brulee.

Casadielles these lovely turnovers of puff pastry stuffed with buttery anis-flavoured walnuts, are a specialty of the northern region of Asturias, and are particularly popular at Christmas time. Red cabbage lombarda is a typical dish of many Christmas Eve dinners in Spain. Besugo a la Donostierra this dish would be the second course in a Basque Christmas dinner.