Pumpkin coca, coca de calabaza, Mama Ía blog

October 30, 2025

Coca de calabaza, Pumpkin coca —and fiestas de Moros y Cristianos in Onteniente

Natacha Sanz Caballero Breads, Desserts and Sweets, Events & Travel cocina española, coffee time, fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, gluten free, merienda, Onteniente, Valencian cuisine

While searching on my blog, I realized that I don’t have any post about the most important festival in Onteniente, my hometown, las Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, the Moors and Christians Festival! Many recipes can be related to this post, so it was hard to choose, but I decided on coca de calabaza, pumpkin coca, a sweet torta popular in my region, la Vall d’Albaida and la Sierra de Mariola.

Coca de calabaza is a pretty simple coca, it includes only a few ingredients. It is eaten by itself, like a morning snack or an afternoon merienda, but I also like to eat it as a light lunch —never mind the sugar in it, the pumpkin (more…)

March 13, 2025

ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE FOR MAMA Ía BLOG 10TH BIRTHDAY!

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Events & Travel celebration, gluten free, Onteniente, Ontinyent, torta

Oranges and almonds for a celebratory post: Mama Ía is 10 years old!

You may have noticed I haven’t posted in a while, and there’s a good explanation for it. But I didn’t want to wait any longer, because Mama Ía blog is having a big anniversary: 10 years since the first post! I still find it hard to believe. And I wanted to celebrate with orange and almond cake, a recipe that pays homage to some of the products grown in my hometown of Onteniente.

The orange and almond cake is absolutely delicious, and like most of my recipes (I won’t get tired of repeating this), easy to make. I love it with my coffee in the morning for breakfast, and it’s perfect for afternoon tea or for a snack between meals. It is gluten-free, another added advantage for the gluten intolerant amongst you.

To accompany this post, (more…)

Chicken lemon and capers in a port sauce, Mama Ía blog

August 26, 2022

Chicken with lemon and capers in a port sauce —and splashing in Alcocebre and Onteniente, Summer 2022

Natacha Sanz Caballero Meat and Poultry Alcocebre, chicken, Mediterranean, one pan meal, Onteniente, Pou Clar, weeknight meal

I hope you had or are having a wonderful summer. I have been in back-to-work mode for a while, and thought that chicken with lemon and capers in a port sauce was a recipe worth of being the first one of the new “school year “.

If you have been a regular follower or subscriber of Mama Ía blog for a while, you know that in the summer, the blog takes a short hiatus. This is the time when, more than blogging, I am “researching“. Okay, okay, that’s (more…)

Blackberry lavender ice cream, Mama ía blog

September 25, 2018

Blackberry Lavender Ice Cream, Saying Farewell to Summer

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets Brihuega, campos de lavanda, comunidad valenciana, helado de lavanda, helado de moras, ice cream bar, lavanda, lavender fields in Spain, Onteniente, polos mora, summer, Valencia, verano

Lavender fields in Brihuega, Spain

I am drawn to lavender. If I have to choose between scents, that will be the one I choose, whether it be hand soap or dish soap, laundry detergent or air freshener, lavender is my scent. I don’t know why, I think it is its freshness, but it could be its color, too (you just have to have a look at my closet!). But most of all, (more…)

September 27, 2017

Monjavina, for “La Merienda”

Natacha Sanz Caballero Breads, Desserts and Sweets merienda, monjavina, monxavena, Onteniente, snack, summer in Spain, tea time, Valencian cuisine, vegetarian

Monjavina is a sweet of arab origin, typical of the region of Játiva and of La Vall d’Albaida, where Onteniente, my hometown, is located. You can find it by other names like almoixàvena or monxàvena, but you will very rarely find it in any other regions of Spain other than the ones I just mentioned. My mom, in fact, never made it, as she comes from Seville, and I grew up eating it at the homes of friends. You could say that every household in Onteniente makes it.

The recipe is simple, with few ingredients, and that can mislead as to its result, which is a delicious, light, sugary cake that is best eaten on the day it’s made. My favorite time to have it is mid afternoon, with a glass of horchata (*) if I am in Spain, or an espresso if I am in America. This mid-afternoon snack is usually referred to as la merienda in Spain, a meal that is meant to stave off hunger between lunch and the late Spanish dinner. La merienda is most often also referred to as this meal in the context of children: the meal they eat right after they get home from school.

La Vila, Onteniente

La Vila and Carmelites Convent, Onteniente

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February 2, 2017

Lemon Meringue Tart, and the thermal baths turned school

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets balneario, lemon, meringue, Onteniente, pie, Pureza de María, school, tart, thermal baths

Traveling back to Spain every year is an aspect of what living in North America entails for me and my family. Keeping connected with our family, our culture and our roots is very important to us no matter how long we may live or may have lived on this side of the Atlantic. I keep up with the politics, both national, local, and European, as well as (more…)