Thursday, December 14, 2006

Thursday Thirteen [39]: it's the season


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01. Christmas in Spain wouldn't be Christmas without turron
02. Which is a nougat confection (Arabic in origin), typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, coated in crushed, toasted almonds - same ingredients today as they were centuries ago:http://www.marketuno.com/products/turron_article.htm
02. and usually shaped into a rectangular tablet or brick.
See more turron here
03. There is a hard version from Alicante , a tough brick with whole almonds and hazelnuts
04. and a soft one from Jijona , which is not really soft but much softer than the tough turron and therefore easier to eat!
05. There are of course many variations and flavors: Egg Yolk (yema tostada) , Coconut Turron (containing natural coconut), Fruit Turron (with candied fruits together with the rest of the traditional ingredients), Chocolate Turron (which in turn have different variations such as coffee, raisins with rum, whiskey, truffles, oranges, etc)
06. The supermarkets literally build towers with turron bricks! You can see an example here
07. The other traditional treats are Mantecados and Polvorones Christmas cakes, made with almonds, sugar and lard.
08.I don't have pictures of my own of any of the above mentioned treats because they are way too sweet for my non-sweet tooth so I never buy any and no one at home misses them! thanks to the net for all pics and information used here (It's Christmas time, don't sue me!)
09. The Mar household looks forward to salty treats/traditions at Christmas time.
10. Coming up early next week: Danish salmon, arriving just on time for a lovely meal!
11. Maybe we won't eat the whole thing in one meal....
12. This time I will have pics of my own and won't fear copyrights and the like!
13. Happy thirteening!


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in the comments.

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30 comments:

  1. Ah, I love these kind of posts! Very interesting, only one problem: I want to be there... *lol*

    Danish salmon? Really? YUMMY.

    Warmth welcome to my Crack Me Up Party on Friday 15 dec! Prepare some joke or some fun to bring and to have FUN :-) Tell everybody to come!

    Read more at my blog...

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  2. I'm always sunk at Christmas because I love sweets! This sounds right up my avenue!

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  3. Thanks for teaching me about other cultures. I always feel so enriched after visiting here.

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  4. I love to see what others do for Christmas. Thanks for telling us. :)

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  5. They build towers of food here too...sometimes for fun, others to try to sell.
    DH & DD would love the candy...hand me something salty.

    She decided to put a due date for the form.

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  6. Nougat ~ yum! Any kind, just love it :o) Actually, I don't have an amazingly sweet tooth (more of a canape / savoury snack girl myself) but nougat always hits the spot.

    My TT is up too

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  7. Thanks for teaching us about the traditional Christmas treats in Spain - I enjoy learning about other cultures. We are experiencing some of the German Christmas traditions - this is our first year in Germany.

    The Danish Salmon sounds delicious, although I'm sure it's not as good as Canadian Salmon. ;)

    Happy T13. :)

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  8. Sounds yummy. Except the salmon. I don't do fish!

    Love your WW photos. Thanks for visting mine

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  9. I know tourran, but I think I know it under a different name...is that possible? I think it is something I've had in Italian Restaurants, too...It is always fascinating to hear about something so connected to a Holiday in a particular country--such as Tourran and Spain...!

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  10. I am in Spain over Christmas so I will look out for this though it sounds too sweet for me too.

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  11. that turon (is that right?) looks yummy.

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  12. I had turron when I was in Tenerife and loved it! We can't get it over here so I guess a trip to spain should be organised!

    I have some Danish salmon in my fridge at the moment, just deciding what to do with it!

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  13. MMMMMMMMerry Christmas! Did I ever tell you that a freind in Puerto Rico brought me to my first Tapas Bar. I thought he was saying TOPLESS.

    Mine are behind the 8 ball. I don't think that translates in Spanish.

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  14. It sounds like some Italian specialities. But as you said it's all very sweet except the Italian Christmas cake Pannetone. Anyway I prefer salmon and my men too !
    Thanks for the comments on my grandma, she really were a special case !
    Ah, and I found another way to comment on Beta bloggers (when I think in french "Betat", but pronounced "beta" means kind of simple, stupid) I just take "others" and put my link in and that works and anonymous as well !

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  15. That seems delicious. It should be if it is a tradition.
    Thanks for passing by.

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  16. That's a great list!
    I really enjoyed reading!
    Thank you for sharing!!!!

    Hugs and Happy TT from Germany,
    Sonny

    Sweet like Kitty
    Sonny's Xmas

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  17. I would like to try turron, it sounds yummy

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  18. Mmmmm, I prefer salty treats, too!

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  19. Ohhhh...I gained 5 pounds just reading about it. Excuse me while I go wipe off the grool on my keyboard.

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  20. There was a specialty candy shop in my neighborhood that sold turron. And luckily they had a soft version - I tried the hard once - I actually used a hammer on it.
    Thanks for sharing and visiting,
    Frances

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  21. Danish Salmon sounds delish!!

    Happy TT!

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  22. The turon confection looks good and I've never heard of that before. I've learned something new today!

    My 13 are up.

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  23. Mmmm... I think when I was a child I used to get in my stocking a bit of the candied fruit turron! It was my FAVORITE candy in alllllllll the world - back then before I knew about women and chocolate! I don't think my parents KNEW this fabulous treat came from Spain though! I never heard such tales when I was small! It all sounds like a little piece of Heaven though! I am still a BIG FAN of nougat today!

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  24. Yum! It sounds very similar to the Italian candy "torrone" that my family eats at the holidays...see here.

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  25. Those sweets look very tempting to me!!!! Yum!!!

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  26. MY Christmas is gonig to be Turron free this year...

    Will it still feel like Christmas...

    I think so. ;)

    Steve~

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  27. A tower of food....sounds like fun!

    Thanks for visiting History Is Elementary! My WW explanation is up about the painting I posted.

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