The traditional Christmas gastronomy in Catalonia is usually focused on warm dishes, meat and sweet desserts. Christmas wouldn’t be the same if there wasn’t the usual massive family FEASTS, right? Well, as any other region, Catalans also have their own tasty specialties for Christmas.
Gastronomy Specialties
Canelons de Sant Esteve (Cannelloni)
We usually have cannelloni throughout the year. However, it’s also the main dish on the 26th of December (Boxing Day). Traditionally, Catalans used the meat leftovers from Christmas Day to stuff the cannelloni and serve them with an exquisite white sauce and grated cheese.
Galets Soup
The starter on Christmas day is basically a veggie or chicken soup with Galets (snail shaped pasta) and giant meatballs (called Pilotes). You can have the soup with other ingredients such as vegetables or other meat remains (called Escudella). It’s the best starter to have when having lunch in winter as it’s usually chilly during December. Check out the Windsor Restaurant for a nice Christmas meal.
The Main Dish
The main dish on Christmas is turkey, chicken, duck or the authentic Pota Blava del Prat (a type of bird from el Delta del Llobregat). The stuffing is mainly elaborated with plums, sausages and pinions. You can also add some Muscatel wine to give it a better flavor.
Dessert Time: Neules and Turrons
It’s now time to have the dessert along with a cup of coffee (having coffee after a meal is a very typical thing to do in Catalonia). The Christmas specialties are neules, thin, crunchy and sweet tubes, and turrons, which are usually made of almonds and honey. However, there are different types of them all around Spain. The authentic Catalan one is the Turró de Crema Cremada, which is inspired in the famous Crema Catalana dessert. The Gold Turró that you see on the picture (top right side) is made with chocolate and nuts.
Tortell de Reis
The King’s Day dessert on the 6th of January is basically puff pastry, candied fruit and some topping inside which can be marzipan, cream or marmalade. It’s also topped with powdered sugar. There are little figures inside which will reveal who is the King of the table and who is the person that will have to pay for the cake (which is usually around 20€).
Discover more Spanish and Catalan specialties that you definitely have to try when you visit Barcelona. Our friend Jessica from Seasoned Travelr has a very detailed guide on more than 40 types of dishes that you should try in the city!