What Do They Eat On Easter In Spain?
Torrijas – Of all the traditional Spanish Easter food, torrijas are definitely the most popular. They consist of thick slices of white bread that have been soaked in milk, then coated with egg before being fried in olive oil and served with a coating of sugar or cinnamon.
What meat is eaten on Easter day in Spain?
Not all pies have to be sweet. In Spain, especially in the provinces of Salamanca and Ávila, locals indulge in a meat pie filled with eggs, pork loin and chorizo sausage. Hornazo is traditionally eaten on Easter Monday at a festival called ‘Lunes de Aguas’ (‘Monday of the Waters’).
What foods are eaten during Semana Santa in Spain?
What happens at Easter in Spain?
Celebrate Semana Santa in Spain | © juantiagues / Flickr Easter time in Spain can be very different from how you might be used to celebrating it at home. There are no Easter egg hunts or giant bunnies – and not much chocolate either. Here, it’s more about the religious side of the festival, filled with masses, processions and religious floats. Here are 11 Easter traditions and customs you should know about in Spain.
- The Easter period in Spain is known as Semana Santa, or Holy Week, and events in many cities around the country really do last a whole week;
- Here it’s not just about Easter Sunday – there are many other traditions leading up to the day, which are perhaps even more important;
Many Spanish also take this week as holiday, either to go back home and visit family or visit someplace new. You’ll also find that many smaller, family businesses are closed during this week. The religious processions are the main part of Semana Santa. These go on all week and consist of many people parading through the streets in colourful costumes, carrying huge floats, and mourning the death of Christ. Semana Santa processions in Spain | © Willtron / Wikimedia Commons The floats are an important part of the religious process. They are huge, intricate and elaborate pieces of artwork, which feature statues of the Virgin Mary, Jesus on the cross and important events such as The Last Supper. During many of the processions, the floats are carried on the heads of men and women who hide underneath them. A float during Bilbao’s Holy Week celebrations | © Jean-Pierre Dalbéra / Flickr During the parades you’ll see many religious brotherhoods, dressed in colourful silky costumes with pointed hoods, covering their heads and faces. The costumes of these religious brotherhoods may remind visitors of certain groups, which were around in the southern United States, particularly during the 1950s and 60s, but there’s nothing sinister about these costumes – they are simply historic and symbolise the brotherhoods they represent. Drumming during one of Bilbao’s Holy Week processions | © Misko / Flickr Another part of the processions are the mourners. Dressed all in black, they are usually women, wearing lacy veils and carrying candles. They symbolise the mourning of the death of Christ and usually follow the brotherhoods and floats. Candles are a typical part of these religious processions, whether they take place in the day or night, and are often carried by the mourners and the brotherhoods.
Brass bands and drummers are also in accompaniment. Some of the best and most elaborate religious processions can be seen in the Andalusian cities of Seville and Granada , as well as further north in the Castilla y León cities of Zamora, Salamanca and Valladolid.
Children, particularly in Andalusian cities , have competitions between themselves during this time to see who can make the biggest ball of wax. Every so often the processions come to a standstill so that the people carrying the floats can rest or change over, and when they do, children will bend down underneath the candles to collect the hot dripping wax and add it to their ball. Children collecting wax from the candles during Holy Week in Spain | © Asier Solana Bermejo / Flickr Easter Sunday in Spain is all about going to mass and staying home with family. It’s a similar time to Christmas in that families often travel home for Easter, and a big meal is cooked and eaten together with family. A typical Easter Sunday dinner may consist of garlic soup ( sopa de ajo ) with a baked egg in the middle, or seafood.
- Forget chocolate Easter eggs, the Spanish have their own Easter treats;
- Similar to French toast, torrijas are typically eaten around Easter time;
- They consist of bread, dipped in milk and egg, then fried, before being sprinkled in sugar and drenched in honey;
Some of them also have a burnt sugar layer on the top, similar to a crème brûlée. Some of the best torrijas can be found in the Basque Country. Try some torrijas during Easter time in Spain | © Tnarik Innael / Flickr Another Easter treat are pestiños, which are like crunchy, deep fried fritters, flavoured with anise and orange and glazed with sugar or honey. You’ll mostly find them in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Easter cakes, or Monas de Pascua, are typically found in the Catalunya and Valencia regions. Traditionally they consist of sweet bread rings with whole eggs baked into the top and sprinkled with candied pieces of fruit and sugar. Try a traditional Mona de Pascua at Easter in Spain | © Juan Emilio Prades Bel / WikiCommons Bueñelos are like small doughnuts, although they are irregular in shape and have no hole in the middle. They are deep fried and are usually sprinkled with sugar. Valencia is a great place to try bueñelos – here they make them with pumpkin.
What is eaten during Semana Santa?
Eat the typical dessert – The ultimate food for Semana Santa in Seville is torrijas. These delicious treats are essentially Spain’s answer to French toast, bread soaked in honey, eggs, and white wine and lightly fried. Some of our favorite torrijas also have a dash of cinnamon. 
Delicious torrijas are the typical food of Semana Santa in Seville, not to be missed!.
What is traditional Easter food?
Can I eat meat on Semana Santa?
Easter Food – Delicious Semana Santa sweets (the hooded figures) are available in local pastelerias. Semana Santa, like any other festival, has its own special flavours and this is especially during this week because traditionally Catholics are not supposed to eat meat. A great time for seafood. The exact dishes will vary to some degree depending on where you are celebrating in Andalucia.
- However, you can expect local “Menus of the Day” to feature fish and vegetables;
- The Andalucian garbanzos con bacalao (chickpea and cod stew) is a favourite in many areas as well as a vegetarian dish called garbanzos con espinacas (chickpeas with spinach, which usually has a lot of garlic and is a wonderfully tasty way to eat spinach);
A favourite dessert during Holy Week in Andalucia is rice pudding, arroz con leche , and you can expect most local bakeries to be offering torrijas. These are slices of bread dipped in egg then soaked in wine or milk, fried and sweetened with sugar and sprinkled with cinnamon.
Another typical sweet at this time of year is the p estiño (fried, honey-glazed pastries). It’s worth asking locals of any village you visit to point out their favourite Holy Week specials on any menu or at the bakery.
You may have the once-a-year chance to try things most tourists miss out on. It’s also a great way to practice your Spanish and mix with the locals, as food is one of the Spaniard’s most loved topics of conversation! To read more about gastronomy in Andalucia, click here. Booking. com.
Can you eat chicken on Semana Santa?
It has been a practice among Roman Catholics to abstain from eating meat every Friday during lent, and the entire holy week. It is not recommended to eat pork, chicken, beef and other types of meat during this time of the year. However, you can always consume vegetables and seafood.
Since lent is a time to reflect and focus on spiritual health, let me help you a bit by suggesting some dishes that you can prepare for this week so that you can concentrate on more important things. The original article suggests 12 dishes; I added 8 more dishes and provided the links for the recipes, for your convenience.
May you find inner peace and be able to reflect on your relationship with our creator.
Does Spain do Easter eggs?
Easter eggs Known in Spanish as huevos de Pascua or huevos de chocolate, they are given to children as gifts at Easter and often have a small gift inside, just like in many other countries.
What do Spanish people wear at Easter?
Easter Dress People who take part in the ritualistic celebrations of Easter in Spain typically dress in traditional clothing. Those who are doing penance will wear capirotes, tall conical hats that cover the face along with belted robes.
Why is Easter so important in Spain?
Easter in Spain – As a predominantly Catholic country, Easter is one of Spain’s most important religious festivals. Just like in other countries celebrating Easter, the Easter weekend has a changing date and takes place every year on the Sunday and Monday after the first full moon after the beginning of spring.
What are the most popular things to eat during Easter celebrations in Spain?
What is the name of the sweet eaten during La Semana Santa?
A close cousin to the English bread or the French pain-perdu, torrijas is a traditional Spanish dessert in the Holy Week or ‘Semana Santa’ which is as simple as it is delicious.