Author: Kate Wilson

My third christmas

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Christmas has been and gone and I haven’t written anything.
Nothing about the beating of the Tio, nor the traditional Catalan Christmas dinner of Escudella i carn d’olla.  I haven’t shown you the Christmas market in Barcelona nor the nativity scene in Plaça St Jaume.  No photos of bubbling cava or delicious turrons……nothing!  Res!  Niente!  Nada!
Sorry. I have just been so involved in getting the dogs settled here in their new home and trying to find a rhythm that allows me time for myself between sorties to the plaça with anxious Bonnie, hyperactive Duna or slow Blue or some combination of those three. I haven’t been to Barcelona at all and I didn’t go to  beat the Tio and sing ‘El Noi de la Mare’ this year.
But I did finally make it into Granollers centre to look at the Christmas market. It’s not really very exciting compared to the Santa Lucia one in Barcelona but I did take a good look at the figures for the all important nativity scenes and bought a little set for home

I remember unpacking the nativity scene was one of the lovely parts of Christmas in Troon when I was young. We used to set them up inside a toy garage which must have deeply influenced my idea of the stable in Bethlehem.
If you have been following this blog at all you’ll know that Catalunya has a strong tradition of scatalogical customs. the beating of the Tio is to make it shit presents. and in the nativity scenes, the pessebres, there must be somewhere hidden a caganer, a little man with his trousers down shitting in the bushes

I bought one of these for a friend but couldn’t decide on one for our pessebre so for the moment it has only Josep, Maria, Jesus, a donkey, (by the way did you know the donkey or burro has been adopted as a symbol of Catalunya and many cars have a bumper sticker with one on it?) and a cow, una vaca. Oh and an angel of course!

Christmas dinner was lovely this year and I have to say much easier now that I can speak a little more Catalan. I took my  own nut roast and ate parts of the typical Catalan dinner.

Of course there was Cava – here’s a glass with icecream mixed in
And a tower of turrons to be carefully demolished like an edible pikastix

The other reason I didn’t write too much was because it’s taken me a bit of time to get settled back in here after all the turmoil of the move and three months in Cornwall where of course I feel totally at ease. I have had some days of feeling like this

but now that the stress of Nadal and Sant Esteve is past I seem to be sniffing the air and, like Blue, finding it full of interesting smells

Christmas Menus

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

On the way down through France I treated myself to a food processor – a Magimix!  The old Kenwood Chef died before I left Cornwall after about 20 years of service. So it is time for something new!
I wanted one with a two pin plug so decided to buy it in France and when we stopped off in Cahors I found a kitchen shop and indulged. It felt like a big buy but hopefully I will still be using it in 2021!

Today I made my favourite nut roast to eat on Christmas day.

I have special permission to bring my own food as this is my third Christmas here and the meal in Catalunya is a melange of pork, chicken, beef and sometimes lamb. It is called Escodella i Carn D’Ollo and is thought to be one of the most ancient of Catalan dishes.

It actually creates two courses – the first is a clear soup with large pasta shells and the second is the vegetables and meat that were used to make the soup.  I have eaten it in the past (or those parts of it that I could swallow)  and it is very interesting but this year I feel the need of something traditional for me.  I want to actually enjoy the dinner!
The recipe I like is Sarah Browns Layered Cashew Nut and Parsnip Roast.  Usually I use button mushrooms for the middle layer but today we bought some lovely Girgoles in the Thursday market which makes the whole dish feel more exotic

Today I was also doing a roast potato experiment.  You need floury ones and here the choice was between White ones and Red ones – not a Maris Piper in sight!  The stallholder thought the white ones would be best but the Red ones are the floury ones. So I got both and after parboiling, put them in the oven, hoping that I wouldn’t forget which was which.

They did taste totally different and although all were crunchy on the outside, the red ones definitely had a better consistency inside

Now….can I remember……the yellow ones are the red and the white the white?  Or are the yellow the white and the white the red?…..oh dear!
The dinner for Sant Esteve is in our home and the plan is to have a more traditional British Christmas dinner so an ‘ecologic’ chicken has been ordered from the butchers and I will be testing my ability to produce a roast dinner without tears or trauma. Or burnt brussel sprouts and parsnips  and wounded pride!

Mediteranean Sea

~ Kate Wilson ~ 5 Comments

I have never forgotten my first contact with the Mediterranean sea. It was in the south of Italy. After travelling down by train from Rome to Brindisi on a student rail pass, I finally reached the beach and sat with my feet in the water turning my face to the sun like a sunflower. I felt my body and all its layers of defense, melting into butter.

Today Blue and Bonnie had their first meeting with this blue warm enchanted sea. The waves came to find them and the winter sun stroked their backs. Blue was dancing with joy and found new energy to run and jump and of course bark.

Listening to Catalan in the early hours

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

I was up early this morning to take out Bonnie and Blue before the shoppers start to walk down the street and it gets embarassing for me to be out there in my badly hidden nightie. Also Blue has developed the habit of peeing as soon as we get out the front door – or sometimes worse!  And thirdly our Resident Adolescent was out at a disco last night and expected home around 6.30am which I knew would wake the dogs up and perhaps lead to puddles in the living room.
So….after wandering around the square for a while with two sleepy dogs I came back and made a cup of tea and opened the computer to pass the time while waiting for two teenagers to get home.
Where do you go when you want to look at something on the internet but aren’t sure what?
Youtube perhaps?  I’ve just been watching some videos by a man who makes films of himself speaking Catalan and Spanish…. and English sometimes which is the language he is learning. He’s called Oscar and he sits in his home talking to the camera in a really informal and informative way. I like these videos because he speaks very clearly and he just chats about interesting things like language learning or problems faced by people learning a new language. It’s all very relaxed and a great way to practise listening skills. Sometimes he goes out for a walk with his dog in the Catalan hills and chats to his iphone as he goes. There’s something very appealing about him and if you are learning Catalan or Spanish I’d really recommend finding him on YouTube and subscribing to his channel.  Then you’ll automatically get sent his new video.
This is not the most interesting one he has made but I put it here as an introduction to Oscar and it’s short and topical! He speaks English, Catalan and Spanish in a brief Christmas greeting.  Click here to watch.
Hope you enjoy him!

Bliss

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Before I write about our homecoming I must just show you these photos of the meal in Cahors. It was one of those dinners which won’t be forgotten. The hotel was so beautiful, sitting right on the edge of the river Lot which snakes around the city making it almost an island. Because we were all tired we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant and leave the dogs safe and nearby in the van. I was almost too tired to eat but also really needing something more than travel food. We ate from the Menu which was 17 euros plus wine.
Every single mouthful was heaven.
First there was fish soup with little toasts and cheese and a spicey sauce. The main dish was a simple steamed white fish with a delicious sauce, ratatouille and perfect roast potatoes. For pudding I had creme brulee and Marta the icecream. The wine was local from Cahors and the waitress who was Argentinian and had taken a fancy to Marta let us share the wine buffet which meant you could keep going up to chose and taste another.
Here we are in this paradise