{"id":37736,"date":"2017-12-20T16:59:25","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T15:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/?p=37736"},"modified":"2019-12-23T18:30:53","modified_gmt":"2019-12-23T17:30:53","slug":"catalan-christmas-vs-british-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/catalan-christmas-vs-british-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalan Christmas Vs British Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

All countries are proud of their quirky traditions and this is no more evident than at Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In South Africa they eat deep-fried caterpillars, in Germany they hide pickles in the Christmas tree and in Norway they put away the brooms<\/span><\/em> in case they are stolen by witches or evil spirits.<\/p>\n

But what is a typical Christmas like in Catalonia and the UK and how are they different?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Food<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

We think you\u2019ll all agree, food is one of the most important things, when it comes to Christmas! It\u2019s the one time of the year when we can be as greedy<\/span><\/em> as we want without feeling too guilty about it. Afterall, we all promise to start a diet in the new year anyway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christmas Lunch: Escudella i Carn d’Olla Vs Roast Turkey<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Learn<\/p>\n

We thought we should start with Christmas dinner, perhaps the most important meal of the year. For people in Catalonia this usually consists of a large bowl of soup (escudella) made with a tasty broth<\/span><\/em>, full of a shell-shaped pasta known as galets and often with meatballs (pilota).The rest of the meat used in the broth (carn d\u2019olla) is then served aftewards along with the veggies<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n

In Britain you are most likely to have roast turkey served with all the trimmings<\/span><\/em>. This includes roast potatoes, parsnips, brussel sprouts, carrots, pigs in blankets<\/span><\/em> and cranberry and bread sauce. Usually people buy the biggest one they can find and you end up eating turkey sandwiches for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dessert: Turron Vs Christmas Pudding<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Learn<\/p>\n

Christmas lunch wouldn\u2019t be complete without something sweet. In Catalonia and the rest of Spain, Turr\u00f3n is usually the dessert of choice. This can come in many forms but the most popular is the soft turr\u00f3n de Jijona<\/em> (made with a paste of mashed almonds and honey) or the hard turr\u00f3n de Alicante<\/em> (made with whole almonds and egg whites cooked until solid). Another favourite at this time of year are polvorones<\/a>, a type of Spanish shortbread also made with almonds.<\/p>\n

The British alternative is slightly on the boozier<\/span><\/em> side. Christmas pudding or pud is made of dried fruit, suet, spices and lots of alcohol (usually brandy). It\u2019s often set on fire before eating and sometimes a coin is hidden inside which is said to bring luck for the lucky person who finds it. Dried fruit is certainly popular as mince pies<\/a> are also consumed in large quantities throughout December.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After dinner traditions<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Caga Ti\u00f3 Vs The Sleeping Uncle<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Learn<\/p>\n

One of Catalonia\u2019s most iconic Christmas symbols has to be the adorable Caga Ti\u00f3 which roughly translates to the pooping log<\/em> in English. In the run up to Christmas the children in the family feed Ti\u00f3 with tangerines and turr\u00f3n and cover him with a blanket so he doesn\u2019t get cold. The idea is, the more they feed him, the more presents he\u2019ll poop out.<\/p>\n

On Christmas eve the children sing a song to Caga Ti\u00f3 and beat him with a stick to help him get over the stage fright<\/span><\/em> (it\u2019s never easy to go to toilet in front of others). If they\u2019ve been good, there will be presents under the blanket. But if they\u2019ve been bad, they\u2019ll be left with a lump of coal!<\/p>\n

Watch these children get excited as they sing to Caga Ti\u00f3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many non-locals often hear the word ti\u00f3 and think it means uncle (which is easily confused as uncle is t\u00edo in Spanish). Although there\u2019s nothing quite as fun as the Caga Ti\u00f3 in the UK, Christmas wouldn\u2019t quite be the same without a drunk uncle!<\/p>\n

There’s one in almost every house – you’ll spot them asleep on the sofa still wearing their hats from their Christmas<\/a> crackers<\/a>. While it’s not really a tradition, it’s certainly very common and I\u2019m sure many wouldn\u2019t mind beating him with a stick, too, when his snoring drowns out the Queen\u2019s speech or Home Alone 2.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Caganer Vs Greggs’ Sausage Roll<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Learn<\/p>\n

Poop seems to be popular in Catalonia around this time of year. Let us introduce you to el caganer AKA<\/span><\/em> the crapping man. These delightful figurines are placed in the nativity scenes which are very common in Spain at Christmas. They are usually hidden away in the corner or behind a tree and are said to be a symbol of fertility and good fortune with the poop of the boy being used as fertilizer to help with the harvest. These days most Catalan households have one and they come in all varieties from Leo Messi to Barack Obama.<\/p>\n

Again, British traditions are quite tame in comparison but one popular UK company did cause quite a stir<\/span><\/em> with its interpretation of the nativity. Greggs, a chain of bakeries, swapped the baby Jesus for a sausage roll<\/a> in one of its promotional images for an advent calendar they were selling. Greggs soon apologised but many church groups were upset that they\u2019d used the birth of baby Jesus for commercial gains.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d love to hear about your family\u2019s Christmas traditions. Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n

\">
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>\n

Glossary for Language Learners<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

broom (n):<\/em><\/span> a long-handled brush used for sweeping.<\/p>\n

greedy (adj):<\/em><\/span> having an excessive desire or appetite for food.<\/p>\n

broth (n):<\/em><\/span> soup consisting of meat or vegetables cooked in stock.<\/p>\n

veggies (n):<\/em><\/span> short for vegetables (informal).<\/p>\n

all the trimmings (n):<\/em><\/span> refers to all the extra things that comes with something (usually food).<\/p>\n

pigs in blankets (n):<\/em><\/span> small sausages wrapped in bacon and cooked with the turkey.<\/p>\n

boozy (n):<\/em><\/span> with a lot of alcohol.<\/p>\n

stage fright (n):<\/em><\/span> nervousness before or during an appearance before an audience.<\/p>\n

AKA (abb):<\/em><\/span> also known as.<\/p>\n

cause a stir (exp:<\/em><\/span> to cause trouble or excitementy.<\/p>\n

\">
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>\n

Key<\/strong><\/p>\n

n = noun<\/p>\n

exp = expression<\/p>\n

adj = adjective<\/p>\n

abb = abbreviation<\/p>\n

\">
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<\/div>\n

Study English at Oxford House Barcelona<\/h4><\/i>Interested in taking an English course at Oxford House Barcelona? Check all the different English classes<\/a> we can offer you or contact us<\/a> for more information.<\/div>
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All countries are proud of their quirky traditions and this is no more evident than at Christmas. In South Africa they eat deep-fried caterpillars, in Germany they hide pickles in the Christmas tree and in Norway they put away the brooms in case they are stolen by witches or evil spirits. But what is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":37741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[]},"categories":[268],"tags":[490,195,137,988],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37736"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37736"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41466,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37736\/revisions\/41466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37736"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=37736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}