There is one time around the year when the Spaniards go crazy with their food. The Christmas season in Spain is all about food. Find out what there is to eat on Spanish dinner table during the Christmas season.
There were times when Christmas was never to be celebrated in Spain. These were the times when the Muslims ruled over Spain. With the Muslim decline came the Christian dominance and Christmas became one of the most celebrated events of the year. In the initial years it was highly encouraged and backed by the state so as to eradicate any remnants of the Muslim influence and eventually it established itself as a time of the year that was full of festivals and feasts.
There is no doubt in the fact that the Christmas Eve dinner is the biggest dinner in Spain. The Christmas foods are quite different from the ones that you would normally find in other Christian communities. This is because the cuisine of Spain was quite developed by the time the Christians came back into power. Hence the people of Spain were quite accustomed to certain types of foods which they used to prepare for special occasions. Christmas season basically meant eating lots and eating well rather than trying something out of the norm.
The dinner table sketch
The initial years saw the use of turkey as the main course meal of the dinner. They would prepare a turkey roast and stuff it with truffles for the guests to indulge in. The popularity of Turkey as a Christmas dinner item has declined over the years and in some places the practice does not even exist. Lobsters however are amongst the most popular Spanish Christmas foods. The lobsters are by no means the main course of the dinner instead they are complimentary to the main dish which has to be a roast of some kind. Although the use of pork has increased over the years traditionally the Spaniards have had a deep likening for Lamb roasts. Hence we find lamb roasts to be the number one dish for the Christmas season.
These main items are accompanied by side servings of different kinds. Amongst the side servings soup is always a given. The most common kind of soup consumed during the season is fish soup. Other seafood dishes are also to be seen on the dinner table along with cheeses of different kinds and pates. The Spaniards are used to eating late and dinner usually starts around nine but during the festive season they push it back an hour further. They are also bound to spend a considerable amount of time on the dinner table.
Sweet Spanish Christmas Foods
The best thing about the festive season is the wide range of sweet dishes that people all over the place get to indulge in. This is where we find Spanish food to be taking on its full form. There are a wide range of Spanish sweet dishes that one can tingle their taste buds with during this season. They include many varieties of marzipans, nougats and other crumbly delicious treats that are impossible to describe in words. Other accompaniments to the dinner are mandarins, dates and walnuts. Hence we see that Christmas season in Spain is about food as much as anything else.
