Tenerife information for tourists and resident expatriates
Living in Tenerife
Health in Tenerife
Tenerife Forums and Blogs
Christmas in Tenerife
Expats on Holiday
Social Security Tenerife
How Integrated Are You?
Tenerife Expats Relax
Changes in Tenerife
Death of an Expat in Tenerife
State Schools in Tenerife
- application documentation
Raising Kids in Spain
Speaking Spanish
Test Your Spanish Level
Spanish Funny Sayings
Spanish Horoscope
Spanish Grammar
Spanish Word of the Day
Special Holidays
Christmas Season
Christmas Recipes
Christas Eve
Christmas Day
Expat Christmas Celebrations
Dia De Los Santos Innocentes
Carnaval
Business Tenerife
Bars
and Restaurants
Hair and Beauty Salon
Internet and Web Design
Recommended Web Designer
Working in Tenerife
School-leaver Job Opportunities
Tenerife Entertainers
Out and About in Tenerife
Bars in Costa Del Silencio
Costa Del Silencio Area
Costa Del Silencio Map
Bars in Las Americas
Bars in Los Cristianos
Holiday Locations
Costa Del Silencio
Holidays in Puerto de la Cruz
Holiday in Los Gigantes
Tenerife to Lanzarote
Moving to Tenerife
Household Shipment FAQ
Retiring to Tenerife
10 Reasons to Move to Tenerife
10 Tips About Moving to TenerifeEstate Agents in Tenerife
Tenerife Property
Tips
Nochebuena - Traditional Canarian Christmas Eve in Tenerife
Canarian cuisine at Christmas revolves around the sweet stuff, with Truchas
de Batata (sweet potato pies) and a veritable mountain of fruit, nuts and sweets, especially polverones,
turrones and mazapan (marzipan in various guises, especially figurines). All accompanied by Mistela liqueur.
For the last few years I have spent Christmas Eve, Nochebuena, in 'El Pueblo', Canarian style. The typical fare has been barbecued meat with boiled potatoes and the special vegetable saved for the occasion are yams, though they are eaten with sugar or honey.
If resources permit, a whole goat kid or suckling pig is preferable as tradition
dictates that this meal should never contain fish. For many poor families here,
Christmas Eve is one of the few celebration times when they will have any quantity
of meat, so it is very simply prepared, quickly enjoyed and followed by the vast
array of sweets mentioned above.
Christmas Eve is when the Canarian family gets together, the celebration may
go on quite late and they will probably start singing and playing Canarian music.
It isn't traditionally a time
for the exchanging of gifts. That comes later here, at Epiphany, or
for the fortunate few it might be both.
It used to be that the meal was served after attending the Misa de Gallo (Mass):
the 24th being a day of fasting and abstinence, but that has tended to change around these days. The mass, at which carols are
sung, being left out altogether by a large majority.
Related Christmas Articles
About the author: Pamela Heywood has been resident in Tenerife since 1992. This article first appeared in Tenerife Topics, a monthly newsletter that looks mostly at the other face of Tenerife from that that the tourist usually discovers. Since her Tenerife Topic days, Pamela has launched a comprehensive domain on all things Tenerife - aptly named : Secret Tenerife .
-Logo Maker - Colic Metabolism - Lawyer Baton Rouge-
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2006. All rights
reserved.
Costa Del Silencio, Arona, 38630,
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Tel: 922 733 583
Email: info@etenerife.com