December: The Gastronomic Festivity Month

Christmas is important for many things. First of all, for millions of families across the globe, including mine, it’s considered to be the primary annual celebration. That special time of the year when, above all, we celebrate our family as well as Jesus’ birth. The time of the year when the younger ones wake you up just as the Sun is peeking its head over the horizon to unravel the gifts Santa Claus has placed under the Christmas tree. Of course, all of this before leading you to the snowball fight and snowman race Christmas edition. For me, Christmas is indeed all of those things (and many more things), yet one of the reasons why I consider it to be my favorite time of the year is due to the gastronomic festivity it becomes. Yes, Christmas, or La Navidad as we call it in Spain, is a celebration of food where I sometimes have eaten until I could barely get up from the chair.

Having spent the four months prior to the holidays thousands of miles away from my home in Spain, I had already anticipated that for my return, my mother would have planned both special and abundant meals to welcome me home. I wasn’t mistaken. On the day of my arrival, my family took me to a secret gem of a restaurant near our home where the high quality of the product is what characterizes the dishes. As you can imagine, I was coming from the mediocre food served on airplanes so the nearly four and a half pounds of high-quality meat we ate, the excellently-cooked Rodaballo (it’s a highly appreciated Mediterranean fish species) we devoured, and the great appetizers we were served at the start felt like glory. This was simply the initial treat.

Another of the days I spent in my beloved Barcelona the family and I made the monthly visit to what is the city’s most prestigious restaurant. That perfect place for an elegant, unforgettable affair. That restaurant where US Presidents such as Clinton and Bush have enjoyed a meal when in Barcelona. Or other great characters from the world of sports, politics, Hollywood… have also been. Even the great Quentin Tarantino (yes, he’s my undisputed favorite director). As always, Botafumeiro (the restaurant’s name) delivered. Seafood, seafood, and, let me think, more seafood. Just take a look at the photo on the right.

All of these culinary experiences were great, and just a couple among the great gastronomic festival which was my trip back home during Winter break. However, the main course was none other than Christmas lunch. That meal where my mother swings her magic wand and year after year delivers an overwhelmingly stunning culinary experience. This year we were gifted with the best of the best in terms of gastronomic product. Foie Micuit, the absolute king of foie, not the one you find in every store, cheeses such as the Italian Gorgonzola and the Swiss Gruyere (my father and younger brother are great cheese lovers), Mediterranean lobster, and a Spanish-style goat kid, or Cabrito as we call it that my mother cooks to absolute perfection. Crusty exterior, tender inside, juicy, tasty… everything you could ask for in this extremely typical Spanish dish. And, of course, I almost forgot, the best Spanish ham. All of this topped with delicatessens from French soil such as the champagne Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and a delicious red wine from the southern French city of Avignon.