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Roscón de Reyes: An Epiphany treat
05/01/2020
IF YOU'RE in Spain whilst you're reading this, you'll have been in for a treat tonight – the Three Kings, as the country refers to the Magi, will be parading round your town, flinging out sweets to the children, and then giving them gifts bought and wrapped by their parents and sent to the town hall for distribution.
Of course, don't tell the kids that this is how the Kings got hold of them – as far as the little ones are concerned, the Reyes Magos have travelled from the Orient, following a star, and bearing presents with them which the children wrote to tell them they wanted when the Royal Pages visited a few days ago to collect their letters.
More presents will be in store for children when they get home after the procession, or cabalgata, and some small ones, too, in shoes they'll have left out for the Reyes, often stuffed with straw.
Leaving carrots for the Kings' donkeys – or camels, in some towns – is a tradition that those who come from countries where Father Christmas is the gift-bearer will be familiar with.
Tomorrow (Monday, January 6) is a national holiday, for the Epiphany, or for the Reyes, and children only get that one day to play with their new toys before it's back to school every January 7, or whichever working day falls closest to it.
This is the reason that some parents are now embracing the Santa Claus idea – less so with the more traditional Catholic families – so kids have stuff to play with throughout most of the long festive holidays – but practically every family in Spain also celebrates the Reyes Magos.
Another treat you're in store for tomorrow is a fat slice of the delicious Roscón de Reyes, an 'Epiphany cake' in the shape of a large ring, normally made from 'cronut'-type batter, and decorated with colourful candied fruit and sugar, sometimes with a cream filling. Cafés, bakeries and supermarkets have been selling them by the bucketload in the last week or so – and in some cases, newer versions that may become popular year-round and help their manufacturers earn a living 12 months of the year rather than just one.
Here are some fun headlines about Roscones de Reyes for January 2020.
Biggest Roscones in the world (or at least in Spain)
Trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest, longest or heaviest Roscón de Reyes is not exactly an original challenge; numerous towns in Spain are doing their best this year, and have done in the past. But in most cases, the main aim is charity rather than fame.
The branch of the Catholic Church-run charity Cáritas in the province of Vizcaya (Biscay), of which Bilbao is the capital, has dished out thousands of chunks to locals today (Sunday) for a token price, and all proceeds will go towards Cáritas' Childhood Programme, covering over 20 social and educational projects benefiting more than 650 kids, and to its Young People's Independence Programme, which supports over 50 adults aged between 18 and 23.
With the help of local bakeries and Kutxabank's charitable wing, Bilbao city council and Cáritas managed to create a Roscón weighing half a tonne – and will probably have shifted the lot.
Instead of ring-shaped Roscones, the massive ones made in Huétor Tájar (Granada province) and Utiel (Valencia province) were in long strips – the first was over 100 metres, one of the biggest in the southern region of Andalucía, and slices were sold in aid of hard-pressed families. A total of 3,000 thick slices, with a free cup of mud-thick hot chocolate for each, was distributed at a cost of just 50 cents.
The one in Utiel, unveiled in the Plaza Puerta del Sol, was just six metres and was chopped up on Friday, made by the La Tahona bakery, accompanied with a thick cup of chocolate to ward off the freezing cold in this inland rural wine region, but was given away free to all residents.
A giant one served up in Lucena (Córdoba province) was sold off in bites for the charity Annes, which works with special needs children, whilst the one in Vélez-Málaga was sliced into 5,000 pieces and given away free to residents.
A bakery in Bañeza (León province), Confitería Conrado, hid a ticket in one of the Roscones it had on sale for a prize pot worth €10,000.
The one in Huétor Tájar was beaten in length by a 165-metre version in Alhaurín el Grande (Málaga province), which included a section suitable for those with gluten intolerance, and the proceeds of which went to the charity Un Sí Por La Vida ('A Yes For Life'), a local cancer association.
The Rotary Club in Cáceres, Extremadura, made a Roscón of 24 metres and all pieces sold off on Saturday on the C/ Gómez Becerra raised money for the group's 'Smiles Project', which seeks to renovate waiting rooms in the city's San Pedro de Alcántara Hospital's paediatric department to make the experience pleasanter, more comfortable and less scary for kids and their parents.
Weird and wonderful recipes
Rather like the way a debate has been ongoing for years as to whether the best tortilla, or Spanish potato and egg omelette, is better with or without onions, a similar discussion always hits the media at this time of year about Roscones de Reyes – whether they are better with more or with less candied fruit, with or without cream in the middle, and with or without a chocolate filling.
But a baker in Madrid's Chamberí neighbourhood is seeking to increase the dilemma even further – Teto Bargueño calls his art haute rosconerie and has even invented savoury versions.
His aim is to make Roscones a year-round treat, and his shop window is described as 'like an edible jeweller's' – it even includes a Roscón covered in gold glitter.
His creations include Roscones stuffed with spreadable sobrasada spicy sausage, pâté, pistachio nuts, and even tripe and fabada or bean stew.
They are designed to be eaten as a savoury snack, part of a main meal or a 'nibble' with a glass of wine, says Bargueño.
Some use lard, to make the dough lighter, and Teto mainly uses sourdough, fermented for 24 hours.
It's fortunate his idea is to make and sell them year-round – even online – since all his varieties had already sold out ahead of this year's Epiphany.
For pets, too
Baker Antonio Peralta from Andújar (Jaén province) knows that for many of us, our pets are our children, too – and his is the only cake shop in Andalucía purely for dogs. Waniyanpi's goodies are available online and his Roscón de Reyes is made with sweet stuff that's suitable, and healthy, for pooches.
These are not the only festive treats Waniyanpi sells for dogs – ginger biscuits, mini-Panettoni, turrón and other delights typically eaten between mid-December and early January are designed specially for pets and are shifting like, well, hotcakes.
These holidays alone, Peralta has managed to sell over 400 of them throughout the country via his website.
As he uses 100% natural ingredients and is registered by the European Union, Antonio Peralta is able to sell his dog treats internationally, and is a member of the organisation Vivadogs, which distributes to nine countries, and which has over 85,000 of Waniyanpi's pup-snacks on its list.
Dog-owners can create their own treats, cakes, Roscones and more via their mobile phones, pick out their own ingredients so they are suitable for pooches with specific dietary needs – and treats are also available for cats.
With an estimated 20 million households in Spain – probably the majority, given that the country is home to over 47 million people – which are also home to pets, with 22% of these households having at least one dog in them, the market is huge, according to the domestic animal trade association Veterindustria.
A large amount of home pet budgets go towards health 'extras' and treats.
In total, in 2019, the Spanish market for food and medical goods for pets was worth over €1.2 billion, but Peralta is, as far as we are aware, the only pet-snack company which caters for the needs of each and every domestic animal, including allergies, intolerances, diabetes, and other conditions.
One of his friends had had trouble finding suitable food and treats for his dog's health condition, which planted a seed of an idea in Peralta's head.
Now, he offers 'Wanipizzas' and 'Chuchorias', or pizzas and sweets for dogs and cats, all made without preservatives, artificial flavourings, salt or sugar.
And for humans, if they can't decide...
According to one of Spain's leading consumer organisations, the OCU, after analysing Roscones in nine major supermarkets, the best value-for-money Roscón de Reyes comes from Día and retails at €11.71 for a kilo.
The OCU looked at Roscones sold in Eroski, Carrefour, Alcampo, El Corte Inglés, Ahorramás, Mercadona, Lidl, Aldi and Día, and said the best quality ones were the cream-filled versions from Eroski and Alcampo, followed by those sold at El Corte Inglés, although in terms of price and quality combined, Día's cream-filled one came out top.
They retail at between €6 a kilo in Carrefour, Aldi and Lidl, and €17 a kilo in El Corte Inglés, although the OCU warned that in most cases, the cheapest prices reflected the quality of what you're buying.
Those with the lowest price tags, in general, had a greater quantity of vegetable oils and fats – coconut and palm oil – compared with the higher-priced ones, which contained cream and butter.
This said, those seeking to avoid animal-based produce would find the cheaper ones suited them better.
The OCU also studied chocolate a la taza – the popular winter hot chocolate which is so thick you can literally stand a spoon up in it – and found the best of the lot was by the brand La Chocolatera, with a very reasonable price of €1.60 a litre, followed by the brand Reny Picot.
Those with a lower ranking had less of a 'proper cocoa taste', were often higher in saturated fats, or were more expensive in relation to their quality.
As well as La Chocolatera and Reny Picot, the OCU analysed brands such as Valor, Tres Tazas, Ram, Paladin, Mercadona's own brand Hacendado, Eroski's own brand, and Alipende from Ahorramás.
Photograph 1: Flickr
Photograph 2: Utiel town hall
Photograph 3: Bilbao city council
Photograph 4: Rosconería Bargueño, Chamberí, Madrid
Photograph 5: Waniyanpi
Related Topics
IF YOU'RE in Spain whilst you're reading this, you'll have been in for a treat tonight – the Three Kings, as the country refers to the Magi, will be parading round your town, flinging out sweets to the children, and then giving them gifts bought and wrapped by their parents and sent to the town hall for distribution.
Of course, don't tell the kids that this is how the Kings got hold of them – as far as the little ones are concerned, the Reyes Magos have travelled from the Orient, following a star, and bearing presents with them which the children wrote to tell them they wanted when the Royal Pages visited a few days ago to collect their letters.
More presents will be in store for children when they get home after the procession, or cabalgata, and some small ones, too, in shoes they'll have left out for the Reyes, often stuffed with straw.
Leaving carrots for the Kings' donkeys – or camels, in some towns – is a tradition that those who come from countries where Father Christmas is the gift-bearer will be familiar with.
Tomorrow (Monday, January 6) is a national holiday, for the Epiphany, or for the Reyes, and children only get that one day to play with their new toys before it's back to school every January 7, or whichever working day falls closest to it.
This is the reason that some parents are now embracing the Santa Claus idea – less so with the more traditional Catholic families – so kids have stuff to play with throughout most of the long festive holidays – but practically every family in Spain also celebrates the Reyes Magos.
Another treat you're in store for tomorrow is a fat slice of the delicious Roscón de Reyes, an 'Epiphany cake' in the shape of a large ring, normally made from 'cronut'-type batter, and decorated with colourful candied fruit and sugar, sometimes with a cream filling. Cafés, bakeries and supermarkets have been selling them by the bucketload in the last week or so – and in some cases, newer versions that may become popular year-round and help their manufacturers earn a living 12 months of the year rather than just one.
Here are some fun headlines about Roscones de Reyes for January 2020.
Biggest Roscones in the world (or at least in Spain)
Trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest, longest or heaviest Roscón de Reyes is not exactly an original challenge; numerous towns in Spain are doing their best this year, and have done in the past. But in most cases, the main aim is charity rather than fame.
The branch of the Catholic Church-run charity Cáritas in the province of Vizcaya (Biscay), of which Bilbao is the capital, has dished out thousands of chunks to locals today (Sunday) for a token price, and all proceeds will go towards Cáritas' Childhood Programme, covering over 20 social and educational projects benefiting more than 650 kids, and to its Young People's Independence Programme, which supports over 50 adults aged between 18 and 23.
With the help of local bakeries and Kutxabank's charitable wing, Bilbao city council and Cáritas managed to create a Roscón weighing half a tonne – and will probably have shifted the lot.
Instead of ring-shaped Roscones, the massive ones made in Huétor Tájar (Granada province) and Utiel (Valencia province) were in long strips – the first was over 100 metres, one of the biggest in the southern region of Andalucía, and slices were sold in aid of hard-pressed families. A total of 3,000 thick slices, with a free cup of mud-thick hot chocolate for each, was distributed at a cost of just 50 cents.
The one in Utiel, unveiled in the Plaza Puerta del Sol, was just six metres and was chopped up on Friday, made by the La Tahona bakery, accompanied with a thick cup of chocolate to ward off the freezing cold in this inland rural wine region, but was given away free to all residents.
A giant one served up in Lucena (Córdoba province) was sold off in bites for the charity Annes, which works with special needs children, whilst the one in Vélez-Málaga was sliced into 5,000 pieces and given away free to residents.
A bakery in Bañeza (León province), Confitería Conrado, hid a ticket in one of the Roscones it had on sale for a prize pot worth €10,000.
The one in Huétor Tájar was beaten in length by a 165-metre version in Alhaurín el Grande (Málaga province), which included a section suitable for those with gluten intolerance, and the proceeds of which went to the charity Un Sí Por La Vida ('A Yes For Life'), a local cancer association.
The Rotary Club in Cáceres, Extremadura, made a Roscón of 24 metres and all pieces sold off on Saturday on the C/ Gómez Becerra raised money for the group's 'Smiles Project', which seeks to renovate waiting rooms in the city's San Pedro de Alcántara Hospital's paediatric department to make the experience pleasanter, more comfortable and less scary for kids and their parents.
Weird and wonderful recipes
Rather like the way a debate has been ongoing for years as to whether the best tortilla, or Spanish potato and egg omelette, is better with or without onions, a similar discussion always hits the media at this time of year about Roscones de Reyes – whether they are better with more or with less candied fruit, with or without cream in the middle, and with or without a chocolate filling.
But a baker in Madrid's Chamberí neighbourhood is seeking to increase the dilemma even further – Teto Bargueño calls his art haute rosconerie and has even invented savoury versions.
His aim is to make Roscones a year-round treat, and his shop window is described as 'like an edible jeweller's' – it even includes a Roscón covered in gold glitter.
His creations include Roscones stuffed with spreadable sobrasada spicy sausage, pâté, pistachio nuts, and even tripe and fabada or bean stew.
They are designed to be eaten as a savoury snack, part of a main meal or a 'nibble' with a glass of wine, says Bargueño.
Some use lard, to make the dough lighter, and Teto mainly uses sourdough, fermented for 24 hours.
It's fortunate his idea is to make and sell them year-round – even online – since all his varieties had already sold out ahead of this year's Epiphany.
For pets, too
Baker Antonio Peralta from Andújar (Jaén province) knows that for many of us, our pets are our children, too – and his is the only cake shop in Andalucía purely for dogs. Waniyanpi's goodies are available online and his Roscón de Reyes is made with sweet stuff that's suitable, and healthy, for pooches.
These are not the only festive treats Waniyanpi sells for dogs – ginger biscuits, mini-Panettoni, turrón and other delights typically eaten between mid-December and early January are designed specially for pets and are shifting like, well, hotcakes.
These holidays alone, Peralta has managed to sell over 400 of them throughout the country via his website.
As he uses 100% natural ingredients and is registered by the European Union, Antonio Peralta is able to sell his dog treats internationally, and is a member of the organisation Vivadogs, which distributes to nine countries, and which has over 85,000 of Waniyanpi's pup-snacks on its list.
Dog-owners can create their own treats, cakes, Roscones and more via their mobile phones, pick out their own ingredients so they are suitable for pooches with specific dietary needs – and treats are also available for cats.
With an estimated 20 million households in Spain – probably the majority, given that the country is home to over 47 million people – which are also home to pets, with 22% of these households having at least one dog in them, the market is huge, according to the domestic animal trade association Veterindustria.
A large amount of home pet budgets go towards health 'extras' and treats.
In total, in 2019, the Spanish market for food and medical goods for pets was worth over €1.2 billion, but Peralta is, as far as we are aware, the only pet-snack company which caters for the needs of each and every domestic animal, including allergies, intolerances, diabetes, and other conditions.
One of his friends had had trouble finding suitable food and treats for his dog's health condition, which planted a seed of an idea in Peralta's head.
Now, he offers 'Wanipizzas' and 'Chuchorias', or pizzas and sweets for dogs and cats, all made without preservatives, artificial flavourings, salt or sugar.
And for humans, if they can't decide...
According to one of Spain's leading consumer organisations, the OCU, after analysing Roscones in nine major supermarkets, the best value-for-money Roscón de Reyes comes from Día and retails at €11.71 for a kilo.
The OCU looked at Roscones sold in Eroski, Carrefour, Alcampo, El Corte Inglés, Ahorramás, Mercadona, Lidl, Aldi and Día, and said the best quality ones were the cream-filled versions from Eroski and Alcampo, followed by those sold at El Corte Inglés, although in terms of price and quality combined, Día's cream-filled one came out top.
They retail at between €6 a kilo in Carrefour, Aldi and Lidl, and €17 a kilo in El Corte Inglés, although the OCU warned that in most cases, the cheapest prices reflected the quality of what you're buying.
Those with the lowest price tags, in general, had a greater quantity of vegetable oils and fats – coconut and palm oil – compared with the higher-priced ones, which contained cream and butter.
This said, those seeking to avoid animal-based produce would find the cheaper ones suited them better.
The OCU also studied chocolate a la taza – the popular winter hot chocolate which is so thick you can literally stand a spoon up in it – and found the best of the lot was by the brand La Chocolatera, with a very reasonable price of €1.60 a litre, followed by the brand Reny Picot.
Those with a lower ranking had less of a 'proper cocoa taste', were often higher in saturated fats, or were more expensive in relation to their quality.
As well as La Chocolatera and Reny Picot, the OCU analysed brands such as Valor, Tres Tazas, Ram, Paladin, Mercadona's own brand Hacendado, Eroski's own brand, and Alipende from Ahorramás.
Photograph 1: Flickr
Photograph 2: Utiel town hall
Photograph 3: Bilbao city council
Photograph 4: Rosconería Bargueño, Chamberí, Madrid
Photograph 5: Waniyanpi
Related Topics
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