We are in the middle of holy week, a traditional festival deeply rooted in our lands, commemorating the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are only a few days in which this religious tradition and the party come together in a somewhat peculiar way.

With the arrival of spring, the streets become scenes that give way to the processions where the death of Christ is remembered, parading to the beat of the music and accompanied by great devotion, cries and laments. People parading with tunics and capirotes, those tall, cone-shaped hats are worn to cover the faces of those who walk. Each part of the country celebrates the week differently with its peculiarities, but they all have the same objective.

There are very important dates in which religion takes great importance and is reflected in the cuisine throughout the entire country. Vigilante stews or typical sweets tend to flood the bakeries and tables.

What these cities have most in common is the use of cod in most of their dishes. The fish is mainly used to replace meat during these days. Other typical things include the Potaje de Vigilia, french toast, the fritters of wind and chocolate Easter eggs all of which are very common throughout the whole country. Lent sweets are also abundant as well as typical scones with characteristics of each area like: the Easter monkey in Catalonia and Valencia, the Karapaixoa in the Basque Country or the “Bollu Preñau” in Asturias.

But many of the regions have their own customs. For example, sancoche in the Canaries is usually prepared on Good Friday to abstain from eating meat during those dates. It is a soup made with salted fish, large potatoes, sweet potatoes, olive oil, parsley and salt to taste. In the Balearics, the panda is a dough stuffed with pork, lamb, sobrasada, salt and black pepper, and may or may not carry peas. It is a tradition to meet as a family to prepare the bakeries that will be eaten during the holidays. The robiols are a kind of sweet dumplings that are filled with jam, angel hair or cottage cheese. Finally, the crespells, which are typically cookies made with lard.

Andalusian food typically consists of cod fritters, rice with milk, pestiños, or the lemon cascarúo and sugar cane consolidated in Malaga. In Castilla and Leon, the cod and octopus are eaten in the restaurant Sanabresa, and in Castilla-La Mancha, marzipan and cheese. In Madrid we find cod, cod with potatoes, Pavia soldiers, widowed potatoes and peas with eggs and carnival flowers.

In Catalunya, Easter Monas are very famous and have a long tradition behind them. It symbolizes that Lent and its abstinence is over. It is taken during the snack, accompanied by the Easter sausage (they are elements of the snack, but they are not accompanied by one another). It is tradition that sponsors give it to their godchildren on Easter Sunday, and then on Monday many family and friends gather together to eat it. In Alicante we find the “Pa Torrat” tradition from the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century which is delivered on Good Friday as a gift for the bearers as a lunch to regain strength.

Up in the north of Spain, torrija (french toast), fried milk, and ansie donuts fill the shop windows of the bakeries. On their tables are the jars of triumph, a soup of Basque origin, made with leek, potato and carrot. The Karapaixoa or Easter Bread (traditional of Alto Deba) is a farmhouse bread with chorizo and eggs. It is a dish the godparents give to their godchildren every year on the dates of Lent until they get married. Although nowadays there are some who make it sweet with chocolate eggs, they still give it away despite being married. In Asturias the equivalent is the “bollu preñau” and in Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia they have the hornazo, both eaten to celebrate the resurrection of Christ despite having their own differing characteristics.

In this period of time, there is a tradition of abstinence. In some religions, the flesh symbolizes the flesh of Christ, so to ingest it at this time would be an offense. But, today, these traditions are gradually being forgotten and the concept of abstinence is lost, although there are still many people who fulfill it.

 Text: Elena Olaran

Photographs: Anel González y Creative Commons