So as I’m sat here writing this, it is 23 degrees outside and I’m soliloquising about how to decorate the Christmas tree whilst listening to Michael Buble’s Christmas album, so give me credit for imagination! It’s that time of year again and we’re all in a fluster about what to buy, what to receive, how fat we’re going to get and how much past the minus sign our bank accounts can stretch. Therefore, you have to think outside the obscure shaped box that is Great Britain. Here is an alternative Christmas from across the continent!
Food for thought:
Everyone knows Spain is famous for its Mediterranean diet. Okay, stop; don’t panic! I’m not going to rob you of the Christmas dinner you’ve been salivating over for the past 12 months, but there are a few precautionary methods you can put in place to reduce the need for that inevitable New Year’s resolution to lose the Christmas roll. Firstly, I introduce you to olives. Okay, so it’s an acquired taste; you either love them or loathe them. I personally love them and living in Spain, it’s a blummin’ good job because it’s no myth that olives are served with EVERYTHING. Even when I’m having a repose from gorging on tapas and just want something small to nibble on whilst wiling away the long winter days here, I reach for an olive (or twenty). Olives have long been a staple of the Mediterranean, but only recently has their ostensible purpose of turning faces sour after one taste made way for an interest in their nutritional value. Olives are great as they are very low in carbohydrates, so perfect for that post Christmas low-carb diet! They are also blessed with having hundreds, and no I’m not exaggerating, hundreds of varieties and what’s even better is that the taste really does vary. So before you pull the ‘ugh, who can eat these’ face, each olive can taste distinctly different and once you’ve tried a few you may realise that there is one you actually enjoy. So next time you go to pick up the Purple One from the Quality Street tin, think oliv-iating the pressure on your waistband: think olives!
If olives aren’t your idea of a palatable salubrious snack, maybe I can interest you in nuts? A true British Christmas isn’t Christmas without nuts. We all have the standard multi-pack in a bowl lying around the house at Christmas time, but many people see them as a chore rather than a delectable luxury. Nuts really are a great substitute for that sweet, often fattening, treat you’re craving whilst watching Home Alone for the twentieth time with the dog. Almonds are a big deal here in Spain and are sold on the street all year around. They are sweet but they’re also highly nutritious and can be of benefit to your health in many ways. Just one ounce of almonds provides you with 12% of your daily protein allowance and they have recently been proven to help prevent cancer due to their high Vitamin E content. If my plight still hasn’t persuaded you to adopt nuts as part of your Christmas repast then I’ll let you into a secret. Turron is a typical, nougat based Spanish desert which makes for a flavoursome Christmas. Here’s the recipe if you want to shake up your average post dinner binge this 25th of December.
Turron de Alicante (hard nougat)
Ingredients:
1 kilo Rosemary Honey
500g sugar
2 egg whites
1,500g almonds heated in the oven
1 lemon
· Slowly heat the honey in a saucepan until all the water that it contains has evaporated.
· Add the sugar and mix
· Beat the egg white until stiff and then add the mixture
· Stir briskly with the spatula for eight to ten minutes then stir slowly over a low flame until it begins to caramelise
· Put the hot almonds into the honey mixture with the rind of the lemon
· Mix well and let cook slowly for a few minutes, taking care it does not stick
· The mixture is then poured into wooden moulds lined with rice paper
· After two and a half hours, the Turron is cut. When it is completely cold, the pieces are stored in an air tight container.
So why not take a leaf out of the Spaniards book and go nuts for almonds! You never know, by 2012 you may begin to resemble Penelope Cruz, and luring Javier Bardem into your grip is no burden in my books!
The great Christmas gift-away:
For them: Olives and nuts (or Turron if you’re feeling adventurous) can also come in handy as part of a creative and original Christmas present for those with a more diverse palette than a penchant for multipack socks or novelty hunk calendars. A Christmas hamper is a thoughtful, personal and cheap way to show someone you care this Christmas. You can buy cheap wicker baskets from most home ware shops and the filling is up to you! Olives are great to add that refreshing kick of summer to a rich array of wintery foods.
For you: Ditch the desire for an ‘it’ bag. Walking around university you can’t miss them – Mulberry being the brand of choice. I can’t judge, as I myself succumbed to the British juggernaut last year. When I came to Spain I realised how irrelevant labels are and how much their desirability depends on how well known the simple ‘name’ is. Nobody here knows what Mulberry is, so why waste your money? Zara being my outlet of choice, of course, offers high quality leather bags, on trend, at a quarter of the price of Mulberry’s cheapest range. It was only a few weeks ago Zara’s praises were sung here at HerCampus Leeds by Laura Robles Gourley. It’s a stereotype, and from what I’ve witnessed it is just a stereotype, that Europeans on the continent don’t have the flare for fashion the same way us Brits do. Tailoring, leather and animal print being this season’s look of choice, here’s a few substitute ‘it’ bags courtesy of Spain’s fashion powerhouses.