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As the year comes to a close, we all look forward to the celebration of the clock striking 12 with hugs and kisses to all!
In Spain, the tradition of bringing in the New Year is all about family. The holiday cheers are not in a bar with strangers, but at home sitting around the dinner table enjoying a feast of a meal – seafood if possible – and the eating of grapes!
At 12 midnight, when the clock starts to ring out, one must eat a grape for each gong! That’s 12 grapes to bring in the New Year and ensure luck, prosperity, and good fortune! And believe me, they take this 100 year old custom seriously – while the more traditionalists just eat them straight off the vine, some pre-peel their grapes, while others are careful to remove the seeds. In the past decade, they even began to sell prepackaged cans of 12 grapes: free of seeds and already peeled! Just pop open the can, put on your party hat, and ring in the New Year!
So remember, when the clock starts to strike 12, save your kisses till the grapes are gone! Happy New Year to all!
Fresco Tours
30 Dec 2010 in Miscellaneous | 
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04 Nov 2010 in Miscellaneous | No Comments
Those in the New York Area, be sure to check out “Sunday at the Met—Celebrating the Cathedral of
Santiago de Compostela” November 14, 10:00 a.m.– 4:30 p.m
http://bit.ly/b2MTl0
Looks to be a great exhibit! Enjoy – wish I could make it!
30 Oct 2010 in Miscellaneous, News | No Comments
See our arrival live on the webcam of the Cathedral: http://www.crtvg.es/cgi-bin/camweb/camaras.asp?id=7&idioma=espanol
We should arrive around 3:00PM (Spanish time) mas o menos – I’ll send out 2 messages: 1 hour and another one 15 minutes before.
Hope you see us there!
16 May 2010 in Miscellaneous | No Comments
I’m sharing daily photos of our journeys on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frescotours
Have a look and keep an eye on us!
Saludos,
Alex
21 Apr 2010 in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments
No, we are not climbing Mount Everest! However, our photos have been selected for Editorial Everest’s newly released Guide to the Camino de Santiago. This leading editorial firm in Spain has chosen over a dozen of our pictures for this guide book that is available in 4 languages Spanish, German, French and English!
Muchas Gracias, Danke schön, Merci beaucoup, and Thank You!
Fresco Tours
10 Mar 2010 in Camino de Santiago, Miscellaneous, News | No Comments
Near the end of my June tour, as I was approaching Santiago, I realized that I was celebrating my 10 year aniversary on the Camino de Santiago! It has been a wonderful decade – walking the trail, meeting wonderful people from around the globe and becoming friends with the locals.
Over the years, I’ve seen how a local farmer would start by selling water and Coca-colas’from his garage, only to return the next year and find him making salads and sandwiches, a couple of years later, he had turned his cowshed into a small albergue. Nowadays, many pilgrims have enjoyed his pleasant hospitality and have had a wonderful place to rest, share their stories and create new ones!
The Camino de Santiago, the more things change…
Buen Camino!
Alex
19 Aug 2009 in Miscellaneous | No Comments
Spanish omelette- or tortilla española- is a staple here. Everyone has their favourite way of making it and, once you have the basics mastered, you can experiment with the recipe to achieve something like the best you have had. For me that is Pilar’s in O Cebreiro.
The main ingredients of tortilla are eggs and potatoes. Start with three medium-sized potatoes. If you have read my post on Tarta de Santiago, you will know that I am not big on measurements! Peel the potatoes and slice them finely. Carmen likes to slice them superfine which gives you a dense, homgeneous mass of tortilla. I like Pilar’s which has slightly chunkier pieces of potato. It’s a good idea to salt the potatoes before you start cooking.
Heat a deep pan with enough olive oil in it to cover the potatoes and put them to cook. You are not frying them. You don’t want them crispy like chips but cooked- Keith Floyd says it’s more like slow boiling them in oil. When they are done you put them to one side in a bowl.
At this point you may like to think of other ingredients. I like onion in my tortilla. I grate and add it straight to the mix. Some people chop red peppers into little cubes and others like ham. When you have all of your chosen ingredients together you crack three or four eggs and mix them well with the potatoes so you have a gloopy mess.
Decant the oil from the pan into pot. This pot is a standard of the Spanish kitchen. It looks a bit like a metal teapot and sits conveniently on the side next to the cooker for all those occasions you need cooking oil. We have one with a strainer on the top that takes all the bits out.
You add the mix to the pan and cook it on a low heat. This is tricky. You don’t want a high flame that will cook the outside too fast. When the bottom is done, which is easily verifiable by lifting the tortilla with a fork, you take a large plate and place it over the pan. Lift the whole thing and- oop la!- transfer the tortilla to the plate. Then slide it back into the pan straight away so it doesn’t stick there.
Another couple of minutes and you are done.
The advantage of the tortilla is it can be eaten hot or cold. It’s great with a green salad and if you are a Spaniard you will almost always have some kind of ham or sausage to go with it: chorizo, salchichón, lomo.
The meats will be another story, but I’m on the Camino right now in Palas de Rei and all this talk of food is making me hungry. Anyone for tortilla?
Jason
09 Jun 2009 in Miscellaneous, Recipes | No Comments
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As the year comes to a close, we all look forward to the celebration of the clock striking 12 with hugs and kisses to all!