Saint George’s Day
Saint George’s Day is celebrated on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George’s death in AD 303. Saint George is associated with several areas of Spain, like Aragon, Caceres and Catalonia.
La Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George’s Day), also known as El dia de la Rosa (The Day of the Rose) or El dia del Llibre (The Day of the Book) is a Catalan holiday held on 23 April, with similarities to Valentine’s Day and some unique twists that reflect the antiquity of the celebrations. The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts, loved ones and colleagues. Historically, men gave women roses, and women gave men a book to celebrate the occasion—”a rose for love and a book forever.”
Legend and tradition
The legend of Sant Jordi and the dragon
According to popular tradition, Sant Jordi was a Roman soldier and was born in the 3rd century in Capadocia in Turkey. This Saint, who was under the orders of the emperor Diocletian, refused to carry out the emperor’s edict to persecute all Christians and for this reason he was martyred and decapitated by his companions. In the eastern part of the Roman Empire, he soon became venerated as a martyr and shortly after this, fantastic stories related to him began to appear.
The exploits of Sant Jordi and the Dragon became popular throughout Europe around the 9th century under the name of “Golden legend” and were compiled by the archbishop of Genoa, Iacopo da Varazze, in 1264, in the book ‘Legenda sanctorum ‘. In this version, however, the exploits took place in Libya.
The most popular legend in Catalonia about Sant Jordi tells that at Montblanc, in Conca de Barberà, there was a terrible dragon which viciously attacked men and beasts. To pacify it, lots were drawn and a person was chosen to be given as a sacrifice to the monster. One day, the misfortune fell on the king’s daughter, who would have died in the beast’s claws if it had not been for the arrival of a handsome knight who challenged the dragon and killed it.
This same legend, although with slight variations, is told as a popular legend in England, Portugal and Greece.
Source: Generalitat de Catalunya
Guess the price for the best cheese in the world
Last month, the World Championship Cheese Contest took place in Wisconsin. The wheel of Vermeer, a low-fat Gouda-style cheese, scored a mild upset at the World Championship Cheese Contest, beating out two cheeses from Switzerland and preventing the Swiss from capturing a fourth straight title.
Then a 24-pound wheel of Vermeer cheese has been auctioned off for $8,400, or $350 per pound..
The title question has some trap. Well actually it is an auction of gold-medal cheeses that raises money to help educate cheesemakers and it raised more than $140,000.
Source: Associated Press
Pictures: World Championship Cheese Contest
Read MoreMona de Pascua (Easter Cake)
¿Qué os parece esta foto? ¿Sabéis qué es y de qué tradición se trata?
Esta elaboración (que ya se documentó con el nombre de mona en el siglo XV) consistía en un pastel, preparado tradicionalmente en casa, para celebrar la alegría pascual. Según la costumbre, los padrinos obsequiaban a los ahijados y ahijadas con un pastel que llevaba tantos huevos de gallina como años tenía el niño. El regalo se repetía cada lunes de Pascua hasta que se hacía la Comunión.
A partir de 1939, con la aparición de las figuras de chocolate, se estableció la fórmula de las monas que conocemos en la actualidad: una base de bizcocho, con diferentes rellenos y, por encima, un huevo o una figura de chocolate, que puede ser más o menos elaborada, en función del talento artístico del pastelero. En las monas artesanas se utilizan sólo ingredientes naturales. Se encuentran en la época de Pascua, en casi todas las pastelerías del país para consumir el Domingo de Resurrección o el Lunes de Pascua.
En mi familia, mis abuelas eran las que preparaban las monas de pascua y se hacían siempre como las anteriores a 1939, pero la cantidad de huevos sólo dependía de la medida de la pasta y raramente llegaba a 4 o 5 como mucho. El aspecto era como el que véis en la foto y en cuanto al relleno interior, la mayoría eran de cabello de ángel, salvo alguna de mazapán, requesón, boniato o chocolate.
Hoy en día, las monas de pascua tradicionales, tal como las hacían mis abuelas, continuan siendo mis favoritas.
Vía Gastroteca
Read MoreTwo Events on Saint Valentine
On the occasion of St. Valentine, students of Via Magna organised a dinner in Tortosa at two different places, on Saturday February 11 at Restaurant Julibert and Saturday February 18 at Restaurant Lakinoa.
During the week, evenings after school, students of Kitchen and Gastronomy prepared menus and students of Restaurant Services on the one hand were in charge of event marketing and booking management and the other hand prepared the staging of the event.
The night of the event, culinary students made the dinner and restaurant students were responsible for serving. Each student was in charge of specific items with specific functions. In addition to the evening menu, there was also a magic show and finally a dance accompanied by a cocktail service self-created by students, with products such as “Titanium” or “Love is in the air.”
The audience responded fantastically and we hosted the event with a good influx of guests both days. We also want to thank for the congratulations received from some parents of students and acquaintances.
The objective of this event was to raise funds for a student trip. Via Magna students will organise more events in the future to continue raising funds while reinforcing learning.
Read MoreTribute to a master chef
Berasategui was honored on the first day of Madrid Fusion.Dani García
Read MoreThe first day of Madrid Fusion paid tribute to a great cook and chef. And it was not for his work in the kitchen, which also deserves, not even as the Spanish chef with more Michelin stars. It was for a lesser-known facet but probably more important, trainer of young people who then have gone very far. He made a good job as teacher as witnessed yesterday at the stage of the Palace of Congresses when some of the most outstanding chefs currently in Spain gathered to recognize the merit of the man who taught them the fundamentals of a profession so exciting. The teacher is called Martín Berasategui. And the disciples that honored him, Andoni Luís Aduriz, Dani García, Josean Martínez Alija, Eneko Atxa, Rodrigo de la Calle, Pepe Rodríguez Rey, David de Jorge, Erlantz Gorostiza, Íñigo Lavado, Antonio Guerrero and Diego Sáez.
Split open gilthead bream cooked on its back
Split open gilthead bream cooked on its back by rosarioaldaz, on Flickr | Photo license: by-nc-sa
Here we have a simple and delicious recipe explained by Toni Songphop Pujol, student of kitchen and gastronomy at Via Magna:
Recipe: Split open gilthead bream cooked on its back
Ingredients
- gilthead breams
- garlic cloves
- chilli
- a cup of vinegar
- oil
- salt
Directions
- First of all prepare the gilthead bream split open, ie, open it down the middle and better without a head.
- Put a splash of olive oil in a pan and when hot add gilthead breams on the meat side. Don’t put them on the skin side because it would shrink and look very ugly. Raise them occasionally to check the golden point and avoid sticking. When brown, set aside. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 160º.
- In the same pan, put the sliced garlic and chilli and simmer until brown.Then add garlic and vinegar and let reduce a little.
- Put the gilthead breams in the oven for about 10 minutes.
- Serve with some boiled potatoes as garnish.
Culinary tradition: Spanish
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