Spanish Senses

Crema catalana is a traditional Catalan dessert. The recipe is very easy to do and economic.

INGREDIENTS

1 litre of milk

4 egg yolks

2 tablespoonful cornstarch

1 stick cinnamon

grated rind of 1 lemon

200 gr. sugar

 

PREPARATION

Warm up the milk with the cinnamon and grated lemon rind. Remove from heat when it boils.

In a pot, beat together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Pour in the milk.

Heat the mixture until thickens.

Divide the cream into terrines and leave them in the refrigerator.

Before serving, sprinkle the sugar on the cream and caramelize it.  

 

Seguidilla is a Spanish dance with a ternary rhythm which is very animated. It is accompanied by castanets and guitars.
This dance has not clear documented origins, but it became one of the main Spanish dances and got more and more theatrical, till it was named “bolero”.
The Seguidilla is a Spanish musical composition, whose origins dates back to the 15th century. Its rhythm is fast and its lyrics are lively and cutting. The topics use to be love and joy, jealousy, anger and reconciliation. It became very popular during Cervantes’ times and was included in many works of the 18th century Spanish theatre. It diffused through the South and the Centre of Spain, modifying and creating different varieties: sevillanas gitanas, seguidillas of Murcia and Mancha.
 The seguidilla of Mancha is a genuine artistic creation of Castilla La Mancha, and even though there is not a reliable documentation of its musical structure, its lyrics was preserved .

The Great Mosque -Aljama- of Cordoba, built during the period of Moorish occupation, is the most splendid Islamic monument in the western world. It was the third biggest mosque in the world, after that in Casablanca and in La Mecca, but its artistic importance, from the beginning of its construction, was famous both in the East and in the West. 

It’s a very big Muslim mosque whose some parts was added in the Christian Times, in particular in the 16^th century when the Christian Cathedral, in a Plateresque style, was built.  The Mosque of Cordoba is not only the symbol of Al-Andalus, but a fundamental monument of the Muslim West and one of the most spectacular in the world. The Mosque of Cordoba is an enormous quadrilateral with beautiful arcades. The most important parts of the building are the ancient minaret or tower, the courtyard and the room of prayer. 

The Mosque of Cordoba was transformed into the Christian Cathedral in 1236, after the conquest of the city by Fernando III. It’s a building which mixes different styles as the Gothic, the Plateresque, the Renaissance and the Baroque. It is constituted by a nave and a transept, with a Latin plan. The arcades are in Gothic style, the ornamentation is in Plateresque style and the dome is in Renaissance style. 

This a typical cake of Cantabria. Its main ingredient is the flour and it is not very difficult to prepare. 

INGREDIENTS 

250 g of cream 

250 g of sugar 

300 g of flour 

4 eggs 

1 spoonful of baking powder 

Grated orange rind 

 

PREPARATION 

 

Whip the cream with the sugar in a bowl till to get an homogeneous cream. 

Add the eggs, one by one, without stopping to whip. Add the flour with the baking powder and the grated orange rind. 

After incorporating everything, pour in a greased and floured baking tin. 

Put it to the oven, previously warmed at 200° and cook for one hour. When it is cooked, take it out and make it get cold. 

Serve it decorated as you like. 

 

The Royal Palace of La Magdalena is the most emblematic building of Santander, does not have a definite style, but a mixture of English and French styles with incorporation of typical elements of the highland architecture. One finds placed in the peninsula of the same name, which has an extension of 28 hectares.

Built at the beginning of the 19^th century in a charming area, the Real Palace of Magdalena had integrated with the natural landscape and had converted into the symbol of the city. Originally used as summer residence of the kings, at present it hosts the academic activities of the International University Menéndez y Pelayo.
The works started in 1909 and finished in 1911, but the interior was finished only in 1913. Between this year and 1930 the palace was used as summer residence of the Real Family.
The building has a rectangular plan, with a part which tends to the North. The monument is constituted by a basement, a ground floor, a second floor and an attic.
In the ground floor there were a pavilion for guests, bedrooms, servants’ rooms, a big terrace, a ballroom, dining rooms and a room for the audience with His Majesty.
In the second floor, you could find some bedrooms with studies and lounges, the real bedrooms and the bedrooms for the king’s personal servants as well as the king’s study.
This complex includes also the stables, created in the low part of the peninsula in 1918, because of the strong interest of the king in horse riding.  

 

The Verdiales are a folk form of art of rural origins, constituted by a particular style of dance and music. They are performed by a group of musicians known as a Panda de Verdiales, who use a variety of instruments including from two to four guitars, violins, drums, tambourines and two or more cymbals. Its lyrics are very simple and cheerful and its music possesses a vibrating rhythm which represents its primitive origin. The Verdiales are certainly very old, they are believed to be the oldest surviving style of fandango and are typical of an olive-farming region of Málaga, Andalusia.
This artistic tradition has developed and has differenced into three styles according to the zone: Almogía, Montes and Comares. The first is the most spread from a geographical point of view, it has the fastest rhythm and it is characterized by the peal of its cymbals; the Montes style is considered to be the oldest and best preserved, because of its genuine and pure form; and the last one, Comares style, is surely the most rich from a musical point of view.
  

The Orphanage (El Orfanato) is a 2007  Spanish movie. It’s a thriller interpreted by Belén Rueda and directed by the debutant  director Juan Antonio Bayona. This movie was chosen to represent Spain at the 80^th Annual Academy Awards.
The Orphanage centers on a woman, Laura, who purchases her beloved childhood orphanage with dreams of restoring and reopening the long abandoned facility as a home for disabled children. Once there with her husband and her son Simon, who’s disabled, Laura discovers that the new environment awakens her son’s imagination, but the ongoing fantasy games he plays quickly turn into something more disturbing. Laura tries to investigate about this building to explain this strange and terrifying happenings. But the history about her old orphanage is quite more dramatic and gruesome than she thought……..  

The Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace, originally a Moorish fort, which has been expanded several times so it embodies a series of palatial rooms and spaces in various styles and from various ages.
The Origin of the Alcázar can be situated into the era of Abd Al-Rahman III, the first Caliph of Andalucia, who decided to build his alcázar in 913. In the following centuries it suffered many transformation, and in the 12^th century, when the Almohades turned Seville into the Capital of the new Maghreb Empire, new parts were added to the original construction.
Then in 1254, Alfonso X El Sabio, gives orders to build his palace in Gothic style and in the following century Pedro I, known as “the Cruel” or “the Just”, built his Mudéjar palace.
The Palace of Pedro I is considered to be the most complete example of this so-called Mudéjar architecture in Spain.
This Alcázar is still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and is administered by the Patrimonio Nacional.
The visit to this enchanting monument gives you the possibility to appreciate the perfect harmony between building, nature and water. Here you can admire the  Puerta del León into the Patio de la Montería; the vast galleries and halls decorated in tiles and Mudéjar ceilings which lead you to the Patio de las Doncellas, which is the main courtyard and where  the  Hall of the Kings, the Hall of Charles V and the Hall of the Ambassadors all open to this patio. Moreover its marvelous gardens are worth a visit: moorish touches are everywhere among these tranquil pathways. Fountains, pools, lemon and orange groves, palms and hedgerows extend in all directions; a curious blend of different gardening styles (Arab, French and Renaissance style) can be admired here and you will fell in a sort of paradise on earth.

This is a typical Asturian dish. The preparation is not so simple and it takes 45 minutes, but you will enjoy a very delicious meal.
Ingredients
2 onions
6 tomatoes
50 gr. of lard
1/5 dl. of cider
4 pork chops
Salt
Pepper
 

Preparation
 

Heat up the oven. Peel and cut up the onions and the tomatoes.
Heat up the lard in a clay pot. When it’s quite hot, put the chops in to brown them completely. Take them away and in the same fat, put the onions and add the tomatoes.
Spice it and let it cook some minutes. Then add the chops and the cider sauce and let it cook 30 minutes over a low heat. Serve it with potatoes cooked in their skin.

The Chotis is a traditional music and dance which originated in Scotland. It later become a French and a German tradition. It became popular in Spain in the XIX century and at first it was known as Polca Alemana. The word Chotis comes from the German word Schottisch. It gradually became a symbol of Madrid and it was largely danced in the working class neighbourhoods. It is considered the most typical dance of the city since the XIX century and it is danced in all the traditional festivals, especially during San Isidro’s Day. The Chotis is usually danced with the accompaniment of an organillo. It is danced in pairs, cheek to cheek. While dancing the woman turns around the man. Women usually wear the traditional mantón de Manila and men usually wear a hat which is called parpusa.

Goya immortalized the madrileños dancing Chotis in several paintings which are part of Prado Museum collection.