A lot of people have been asking me what we do in Spain during Christmas. The answer to that is we love catching up with family and friends, plus consuming our body weight in food and drink during the festivities!

 Big differences? First of all, it’s winter over there, so there are more indoor traditions. Secondly, the length of the Christmas season is longer, starting the week of December 24 and finishing around January 6.

 These are the three main event dates:

• December 24 — Christmas Eve dinner: a big family feast with a long night ahead.

• December 31 — New Year’s Eve: a big dinner and drinks gathering with the main goal of waiting until midnight. Then, as the clock strikes midnight, we have the most important cultural tradition in Spain, the ’12 grapes tradition’. This is the one where everyone eats one grape per second during the first 12 seconds of the year. It is one of those traditions where we all wish for a little bit of luck for the following year. After that, the family gathering usually goes on until really late, sometimes we even finish in the churros place at five or six in the morning.

• January 5 — The magic night of the ‘three wise men’. It is basically the same tradition that Santa is here in Australia, but with a more religious approach to it. Kids love going to the local parades, where they see colourful carriages, music, jugglers, animals, lollies everywhere, et cetera. And, on January 6, kids get up in the morning with the presents under the Christmas tree.

 Christmas in Spain is definitely a season where family and friends always come first. Where Spanish bubbles and rich treats always appear on the table. Where family living overseas surprise Mum in order to give her a special and memorable night. And where suddenly we become better human beings and we help people who need a hand. 

Whatever your background, religious point of view, or political affiliation, Christmas brings people together and we all, independently of our social class, do the same. In fact, there is one thing that unites Spanish people all around the planet during Christmas festivities. Today I’m going to share that with you: we love eating a treat called 'turrón'.

What is turrón? Well, it is one of those Xmas treats we took from the Arabic influences in Spain, usually made with almonds and honey. The English word for this is nougat, and they are soft or hard versions. I have to be honest with you; I have never been a big fan of these two, but ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved the chocolate version of turrón! It is actually really, really easy to make (sort of like a fancy chocolate cracker). Hope you give this one a try and don’t hesitate to let me know how you went.

Recipe: Turrón de chocolate

 Ingredients

- 180 dark chocolate

-150 milk chocolate

- 50 g lard or butter

- 70 g rice bubbles

Method

- Place a saucepan filled with water (half of it) and turn the heat on.

- Put a metallic bowl on top, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. (This is called a bain-marie)

- Add butter, dark chocolate and milk chocolate and melt everything while stirring with a spatula.

- Once everything is melted add the rice bubbles and stir it until all is well combined.

- Prepare a rectangular takeaway container with a piece of baking paper.

- Pour all the mix inside, and press with the spatula making sure there are no gaps with bubbles.

- Leave it in the fridge until fully cooled down. Slice it and serve.

¡Feliz navidad, everyone!

Ruben