Monas de Pascua, Mama ía

Mona de Pascua, Easter Sweet Bread, from Valencia

Monas de Pascua, Mama ÍaYou might be wondering why I would be posting a recipe for Mona de  Pascua now. In my defense, I will say that we ate the monas (also called panquemados) on Easter Monday, as it is tradition in Spain. And also in my defense I will say that Easter started on Sunday, but it hasn’t ended yet. In fact, it will not end until Pentecost, which this year (more…)

Cod+ Cauliflower soup with rice

Cod and Cauliflower Soup with Rice, for Good Friday

Cod and Cauliflower soup with rice, Mama ía

This week will culminate in Easter Sunday, which in gastronomic terms means chocolate and special sweets, and an occasion for family celebration. Eggs of every color and material, real and not, and also made of chocolate, inundate our tables, our decor, our stores. So understandably, my first instinct was to make an Easter treat for this week’s post. But this week is also (more…)

Thick hot chocolate, Mama Ía

Thick Hot Chocolate for “Las Fallas”, Valencia’s Festival

Thick hot chocolate, Mama Ía blogThis is a very special week in my home city of Valencia, Spain, where every March, Spring and Fallas seem to arrive together. From March 12 to March 19, the city stops its daily business to celebrate this festival. In a ceremony called la plantà, the setting, 700 colorful statues are mounted throughout the city, in every square and street crossing. Fallas is the name of the festival, but it’s also the name of these statues, real works of art, built each year for the occasion. There are 368 children’s fallas and 370 full-scale fallas. These can stand as tall as 90 feet, and they portray popular characters, like celebrities and politicians. The children’s fallas represent cartoon characters. With the unusual political situation that Spain is living at present, many fallas this year portray our most popular politicians, in very humorous situations. Thick hot chocolate for La Fallas is the drink of choice, particularly when accompanying it with buñuelos, sweet fritters (click here for the recipe for apple fritters).

IMG_9844web (more…)

Olivada and Smoked Salmon Spread

Olivada and Smoked Salmon Spread, Spain and Canada on toast

Olivada and Smoked Salmon SpreadAppetizers are a wonderful invention. So much so that, in Spain, we have created a new category of dish called tapa, or pincho, or montadito (the name changes depending on the region of Spain you’re in) based on small plates, equivalent to what in America we would call appetizers. Tapas can be so flavorful that we like to (more…)

Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Tart, Two Birthdays, and a Potting Party

Dulce de Leche and Chocolate TartAt the end of February and beginning of March, one week holds two birthdays in our family of five. You will then understand that some Lenten promises take a break, and we pause to celebrate. Two cakes, two special meals, and a whole week of anticipation and celebration. This year, in fact, those two birthdays are (more…)