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First off, allow me to apologize for not posting on Friday. It appears that my “post date” function was set for January, and not December. 

That said, let’s move on to the topic of Spanish Holiday desserts – a topic near and dear to my heart. Prior to moving to Spain, Holiday desserts comprised solely of pumpkin pie and Christmas cookies. Both of these desserts are still some of my favorites, but over the years, I’ve added some new delicious delectables to my favorite’s list. The first being Marzipan.

Although the true etymology of the word is unclear, it It is suspected that Marchpane was taken by the Germans for the English bread “March bread”. Another theory held by the, the Real Academia Española suggests that the Spanish word mazapán was derived from the Hispanic Arabic pičmáṭ, which is derived from the Greek παξαμάδιον. Can’t pronounce that one can you? Don’t worry, my Greek isn’t up to speed either, so you may want to stick with the first theory.

What is marzipan? It’s a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal, while cheaper versions contain rice flour or potato starch. If you buy a box from any Spanish supermarket, and compare it with those from a pastry shop, the difference is astounding. The cheaper version tends to have a courser texture, typically leaving your mouth dry and powdery. On the finish, it has a plastic taste to me that makes me think like chewing on cardboard layered in powdered sugar. Yeah, clearly not a delicious taste. While read Marzipan is like heaven in the mouth. Soft, slightly chewy with a long sumptous and almost zesty flavor, it can be compared to a bite of heaven.

Mazapan , or marzipan, can come in a variety of different shapes and colors, is occasionally covered with sugar or pine nuts, and can even contain a rich, unctuous filling such as a blend of egg yolk (yema) and sugar.

Interestingly, many desserts from Spain are made with egg yolks, thanks to wine. Albeit a practice still used on occasion today, in the olden days, monks utilized egg whites to clarify sediment from wine. But with hundreds of yolks left over, it was only logical that marzipan, among the thousands of other Iberian desserts made with egg yolk, came into existence.

Which city is internationally renowned for their marzipan? Toledo, located just south of Madrid, is required to use sweet almonds that contain at least 50% fat. Plus, the ratio between almond to sugar must be a least 1:1, where the almonds represent at least half of the total weight of the final product.

Historically however, despite the fact that both Venice and the Orient debate with Toledo’s claims to having innovated marzipan, evidence suggests that the Moors (Northern Africans) carried a sweet almond and honey concoction called, mautha-ban or mahsaban, to the peninsula when they invaded in the 8th century.

If you travel to Toledo, a trip I highly recommend, make sure to peruse the dozens of pastry shop windows filled with extravegant marzipan desserts such as 3 foot high meticulously designed cathedrals, life sized animals and intricate doll houses. The artisan work is phenomenal and absolutley worthy of a beautiful gothic day trip from Madrid.

Saludos,

Gabriella

Gabriella Opaz is co-founder of Catavino.net – a website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine and can be found on Twitter here.

As the holiday season approaches, parties seem to fill up your calendar like sweets fill up your office. Invitations to charity parties, business gatherings and small family get togethers overflow your mailbox, taunting you to leave the warm comforts of your home and celebrate! Working from home, our invitations aren’t as plentiful as I would like, but we always find reasons to celebrate. But every culture has their way of kicking off their shoes and relaxing. Here is Spain, among the numerous unique wines we have at our disposal, we also have mixed drinks! But unlike a simple gin and tonic or Manhattan, Spain has a series of drink combinations that may inspire you to try something new at your next gathering. Flickr photo “Party Button” by Phillie Casablanca

Kalimotxo - Fifty-fifty Coca-cola and red wine typically served without ice. Simple, sweet, and in all honesty, a bit foreign for my tastes. Granted, I love my wine pure, but as this is one of the most consumed mixed drinks in Spain, it behooves all of us to try something once. Native to the Basque country, Kalimotxo is their version of “Sangria”, commonly consumed as the first alcoholic drink among young people.

Pitilingorri - Basque for “a little bit red”, Pitilingorri is made with Sprite instead of Coke.

Tinto de Verano - We typically call this a “spritzer”, but Spaniards call it the “red wine of summer”. Tinto de Verano is a mix of red, and sometimes white, wine and Casera, a sweet soda water with a hint of citrus. Personally, this is a great way to enjoy mediocre wine. It’s a refreshing, a fun way to experiment with wine, and when garnished with a slice of lemon, it’s delicious.

Tawny and Tonic - Here we move to the other side of the Peninsula to the home of Port wine – Portugal. When Ryan and I first visited Portugal in 2003, we learned of this drink and admit to developing a taste for it. Take a good jigger or two of Tawny port and pour it over ice and top it off with Tonic water. It’s tasty with a slight bitterness to balance the sweet port.

Rebujito – Native to Andalusia, Rebujito is a mix of Manzanilla sherry, ice and 7up. The first time I tried this was with the Denominacion de Jerez-Xerex-Sherry last year, after I completed the Sherry Wine Educator Course. To be honest, I was a little appalled when trays of these drinks where carted around from student to student, thinking that it was sacrilegious to ruin a good sherry, but I actually enjoyed it. For those of you who find dry sherry a bit overwhelming, give this a shot. You might surprise yourself.

Zurracapote - Take the legendary Sangria but instead of Brandy, make it with red wine, soda water/citrus soda lemon, sugar and cinnamon. Drank in the Navarra region of Spain and in La Rioja, it is another way to lower the alcohol but not the flavor.

So there you have it. You are now well armed with several new options for this year’s holiday bash. And please, if you try them, let us know what you think!

Saludos,

Gabriella

Gabriella Opaz is co-founder of Catavino.net – a website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine

A few years ago, while still fresh off the airplane from the States, I learned rather quickly that one cannot always translate words directly from one language to another.

Still in my nubile state, dizzy from culture shock and in a state of confusion, I began teaching English classes to business executives as a way to make ends meet. For months, this went splendidly as my Spanish was nonexistent, whereby, forcing my students to converse in English. But like any native tongue, words seem to slip out unconsciously when you feel comfortable or at ease.

“Hola guapa”, my handsome forty something student said while greeting me at the door of his office.

“Wait a second, doesn’t guapa mean beautiful? Why didn’t he greet me in English? Is he hitting on me?!!”, I thought to myself while following behind his perfectly pressed suit into the conference room.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, as if I cheated on my husband, I approached my roommate later that evening and asked, “So, do I need to tell my husband that my really attractive student finds me beautiful, or is he humoring me?” Flickr photo by Foraggio Fotographic

As expected, she broke up in tears of laughter and quickly educated me that guapa is our equivalent of “honey” or “sweetie”. “Gabriella, you’ll quickly notice that even the most homely among us will be called ‘guapa‘ from both close friends and just plain friendly people.”

She was right. Once my ear was attuned to this perfect five letter word, I began to hear it everywhere. Over time, I slowly picked out different variations on the same theme, “Hola guapi!” or “Guapaton, como estas?” Some terms were exclusively used for specific friends, while others seemed to be an overall catch term for “honey”.

But there’s more:

mi rey (literally “king”, but in this case, “honey, sweetheart, darling”)

mi reina (literally “queen”, but in this case, “honey, sweetheart, darling”)

(mi) corazón (literally “heart”, but in this case, “love”)

(mi) muñeco (doll, both literally and figuratively)

(mi) muñeca (doll, both literally and figuratively)

cariño (honey, sweetheart, darling)

cielo (literally “heaven”, but in this case, “angel”)

chiquita (little one)

What’s interesting to note is that I now use many of these terms not only with friends and friendly people on the street, but also in business. I can’t tell you how many times I have had a new client thank me for something by saying, “Eres un cielo”, or on the second meeting with a client, being called “cariño“. And although I wouldn’t start practicing this on future business clients yourself, I would suggest listening in to conversations and taking note of what you hear.

Personally, I adore these terms, as I am notorious for calling everyone “honey”, “sweetie” and “love”. I appreciate hearing the butcher call me reina and my fruit vendor call me chiquita. It makes me feel cared for and a part of the community.

So remember, the next time you’re called guapo or guapa, don’t assume the hot Argentinean across from you wants your number, as they just might need you to pass an extra napkin

Saludos,

Gabriella Opaz

Gabriella Opaz is co-founder of Catavino.net – a website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine

A few weeks ago, Ryan and I decided to go for a long and leisurely hike through Parc de Collserola, a gorgeous and lush green natural space with over 8,000 hectares for you to get completely and utterly get lost in. It’s virtually an island dead center of one of the most densely populated urban areas on the Mediterranean coast, Barcelona.

According to the Parc de Collserola website:

Approximately 50 % of the population of Catalonia lives less than ten kilometres away from the park, which makes it the largest metropolitan park in the world: 8 times larger than the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, and 22 times larger than Central Park in New York. The valleys of the rivers Llobregat and Besós, together with the plain of Barcelona and the Vallés basin, mark the geographical boundaries of the Collserola massif.

Park de Collserola is a magical space filled with both natural and man made wonders that will keep you enchanted from the beginning of your hike to the end. Take this Flickr photo, for example, shot by Ryan while meandering aimlessly down a windy vine covered path. Passing an abandoned Casino from the late 1800’s with deteriorating stone terraces slowly crumbling under nature’s omnipotent presence, we came across this incredible graffiti artwork.

Like most of Europe, graffiti runs rampant throughout Spain. Schools are plastered with day-glow signatures, curvy and busty women with lustful looks, markings meaningful only to the artist, and occasionally, masterpieces like this. What does it mean? Who knows, but what would normally annoy me, while prancing through the forest, actually made us both stop in our tracks and smile.

This is far from the first time we’ve come across amazing little discoveries like a hidden bar called Les Gens Que Jaime decorated in red velvet behind a 3.5 foot high wooden door; La Cerveseria Artesana, a great international beer bar complete with a few roaming bar cats; or Bar Celta Pulperia, a sketchy looking tapas bar from the street, serving some of the most delicious patatas bravas and calamare in Barcelona.

The moral of the story here is to keep your mind, heart and eyes open to hidden treasures wherever you go. You’ll never know who you may meet or what you may stumble across, purely by accident, if you don’t take your eyes off the map and guide books and focus on what’s around you! Remember, look up!

Saludos,

Gabriella Opaz

Author of Catavino.net, a website deidcated to Spanish and Portuguese wines.

As an American, I am very used to having people over to my house. On several a Sunday, friends would gather together, bringing their favorite dip, dish or dessert, basking in the warmth and festivities of the group. Glasses could be heard clinking among roars of laughter, or even raucous debates would be bantered over the most recent controversial political faux pas or religious stand. In our home, old friends and new would share their lives, their histories and their feelings with us, regardless of who they were or how long we knew them. For us, our front door had open door policy.

Here in Spain, however, the customs are slightly different. A Spanish home, from an expat point of view, is considered sacred. It is reserved for close friends – which usually refers to the people you’ve known all your life – and extended family. Everyone else is asked to meet in the streets, restaurants, bars and cafes to share their experiences in the open air. Large groups gather comprised of people of all ages, styles and relations to stroll the streets, while stopping here and there for a beer or tapa.

I’ll never forget how bizarre I felt the first time I went out with 12 new friends in the heart of Madrid, not only feeling overwhelmed with the bustling city streets at 12am, but also the overwhelming notion that we travel and socialize in a pack. I was used to one on one conversations, where you sink into a deep philosophical discussion or simply giggle over insignificant stories. But to have a dozen people share stories at once, most of whom have known each other since grade school, took a bit of getting used to.

Yeah, I’ll admit that there are many times when I miss being over to a new friend’s home to have dinner, or simply share a drink. Equally true, I miss having the liberty of having people over to home, other than expats like us, but I’ve learned to accept what I cannot change.

When moving to a new culture, there are always these little hurdles we need to overcome. Whether it’s hanging clothes on the line to dry, losing your electricity for a week, or my inability to touch fruit with my bare hands in the fruit stand, we all need to learn how to go with the flow. Things can’t always remain the same, and the best we can do for both our psyche and emotions is to enjoy the ride, appreciating and respecting the culture around us. Not always easy when your native culture feel so natural, but a goal worthy of achieving.

Saludos,

Gabriella

Having lived in Albuquerque, the northeast suburbs of Chicago, Minneapolis and Boulder, I’ve always perceived public transportation as something used by college students, individuals with a tight economic belt and for those with no other means available to them.

I remember years ago when a friend of mine was in a car accident in Minneapolis in the dead of winter. Without a car, living approximately 30 minutes outside of the city, she was forced to use the bus as her only means of transport. In two feet of snow, and blustery winds, she sad frozen, shivering in the streets waiting for the bus to come at its scheduled time. Needless to say, it came 3 hours later, struggling to keep up with the road delays and heavy influx of passengers. This story is far from the exception, as public transport has rarely been a viable investment until the economic crisis started to hit the USA last year. Now, as car sales plummeting, more and more communities throughout the country are viewing public transport as a necessity, rather than a luxury.

But here in Spain, public transport has always struck me as quite good, if not downright impressive. Most cities not only have an effective bus and rail system, but they also have an extensive bike and car rental program in both Madrid and Barcelona.

If you are planning a trip to any one of the major Spanish cities throughout the peninsula, consider the following for your next visit: (más…)

Flickr Photo by Ryan Opaz

If you’ve ever considered planning an international conference in Spain, don’t think, just do it. If you actually take a moment to think about it, you may find yourself crouched in a corner, rocking back and forth, saying to yourself, “Are you kidding me? I don’t have a the language skills to put this together!”. But the fact is, is that it isn’t impossible. All it takes is a little courage, a lot of gumption, and little hesitation. It’s another one of those situations where either you do it, or you simply talk about it wondering what it “would have been like” if you actually followed through with your desires.

Always follow your dreams!

However, I wouldn’t suggest you follow my particular lead. My husband Ryan, our friend Robert, and I took a leap of faith about 6 months ago and decided to plan and organize the first European Wine Blogger’s Conference in La Rioja Spain (Flickr Photos). Noticing an enormous lack of conversation and connection among wine bloggers, we buckled down and organized a three day event attracting over 40 wine bloggers from around the world.

How did the event go? To our great suprise, really well! However, with 20/20 hindsight, I can now offer you some suggestions could make your event run a touch smoother:

1. Pick any other date than July and August for your event. As Spain completely shuts down at this time, you’ll be pulling out your hair trying to get businesses to help you organize and/or carry out the event. From hiring bus companies to obtaining sponsors, summer is a tough sell in Spain.
2. Use a telephone, not email. Although many other countries prefer email as an effective was to finalize business, Iberia tends to rely on the telephone and/or a lunch meetings instead. So rather than get frustrated wondering why you haven’t received a reply to your email, pick up the phone and call.
3. Telephone = Speaking Spanish! Why yes, yes it does. So tackle the problem head on by first getting an intercambio (language partner) on a website like Conversation Exchange.com, or the newspaper, and have them help you put together a “speech” of sorts to get your vocabulary and fluidity up to par.  There is no reason to suffer by winging it. Instead, have a clear message and practice. Nothing to it!
4. Confirm Event Locations and Suppliers. If you are in a smaller city like Logrono, many of your suppliers, or service providers, will be family run businesses that may have a long list of other clients they need to handle that same day. Therefore, it is in your best interest to call the week of the event to confirm the time and date of service. Additionally, program the contact number in your mobile, as the person helping you with the service, may be the only person running the business. Hence, if there is an issue, you’ve got his/her number handy at all times.
5. Dietary Issues. Spain, especially La Rioja, is renowned for their roasted meats. Whatever you order will most likely have 90/10 split of meat versus veggies on the menu. That said, if you have a vegetarian, or vegan, at the event, make sure you triple check alternative options for their meal.
6. Get a Mobile Broadband: If your business relies on Internet, I highly suggest you purchase a Mobile Broadband. for 15 euros you can at least guarantee a connection, as several areas in Spain are without it, or may charge you through the nose in connection fees.

Have you ever planned an event in Spain? If so, what have been your experiences?

Saludos,

Gabriella Opaz

Gabriella Opaz is the co-founder of catavino.net, a website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine.

Now that you’ve established that packing up your existence and moving to Spain is the be all and end all of your existence, don’t forget to consume as many bagels, deli sandwiches, deep dish pizzas, root beer, vanilla bean ice cream, bran muffins, crunchy peanut butter and your favorite micro-brewed, because you won’t find them here. You will find amazing tapas bars, beautiful seafood and enough cured jam to permanently place a grin across your face, but small delicacies like a toasted salmon cream cheese bagel will be one of the little things you may sorely miss.

But the big trivia question is how you will pay for those four hour seafood dinners and delicious sparkling wines?

Here are some suggestions as heard through the proverbial grapevine:

1. Flip a Coin, Jump on a Plane and Arrive in Spain
So are you feeling adventurous and want to jump over the pond without a visa? Mind you, it is not the easiest road to take, but thousands have taken it before and have had a wonderful time doing it. Work can be found as an English Teacher in either academies, or on your own through adverts posted on the street or in local newspapers. Restaurant work is generally available, as is work as a tour guide. However, tour guides typically need a license, and if you’re caught without a license, well…its risky. Other options to consider are field work – if your a farmer at heart, as a writer for travel or food magazines, or working online as a programmer, developer, graphic designer, etc. (más…)

1. I Can’t Learn a Second Language because I don’t Live in Spain

I will be the first to admit that your chances of learning, comprehending and utilizing a second language increase 10 fold if you live in the country for which your target language is spoken, but that should never stop you from at least trying. We are not victims of our surroundings. I retook first level Spanish three times in the USA, in hopes of understanding it, but I learned that for me, without context and practice, it was difficult for me to learn. So I picked up a book in another language, watched videos with the subtitles active, and when I was very motivated, I volunteered as a TEFL teacher in return for Spanish lessons. It was a lovely little intercambio!

2. I’m too Old to Learn a Second Language

There is nothing that astounds me more than hearing someone throw out this illogical excuse – although I’ve done it myself more than once. There is absolutely no proof that I am incapable  of learning a second language after a certain age.? Now, there is no argument that the process of becoming proficient will take longer at 32 or 82 yeas of age than if I’m at the young, impressionable age of 2 to 5, but it is not impossible. It only requires me to have a bit more faith and patience in myself, and the world around me.

3. I don’t have a Good Ear (más…)

I remember when I was a kid, August was the best and the worst time of the year. Its long casting shadows signaled steamy hot weather filled with the encroaching buzzing of mosquitoes. Our days were lazy alongside Lake Michigan building towering sandcastles and collecting multicolored sea glass sprinkled across the coast like elegant jewels. If the weather turned ugly, filling the sky with dark thundering clouds and straight lined winds, we would retreat to our downtown square to do a bit of shopping or simply eat ice cream in our local parlor until our tongues would eventually numb in pure sugary bliss.

But here in Spain, one needs to adapt to another way of life. Come August, the majority of Spaniards vanish to foreign lands. Metal gates over store entrances are commonplace with a paper signs hanging haphazardly from glass windows reading “Cerrado por Vacaciones hasta Septiembre”. Cars are fewer, laughter in the parks are now just simple whispers from old men sharing their daily woes of growing older. A singular whimper from a dog echoes in the distance, as the smell of barbecue floats in the air from some isolated rooftop.

For a foreigner used to obtaining any material good or service at any given time of the day or year, the idea of having your city literally close for an entire month is odd, not just odd, but freaky. I remember my first summer in Madrid constantly confused as to how a country can function when all of their production completely ceases to exist for 30 days. But what I learned is that it doesn’t stop completely, it merely changes location. Rural houses charge double for occupancy, coasts are packed with happy Spaniards buying beach side drinks and restaurants are jammed with bronzed foreigners. In short, the Spanish economy keeps rolling, but more in a leisurely sort of way. (más…)