February on our tropical coast has been exceptionally cold and windy this year. But we are lucky to enjoy festivities and delicious seasonal dishes to chase away winter depression. Dogs do not seem to mind about bad weather. I won’t bother you with dog euphoria this time, but I feel I must tell you that our Westie, Marta, is just as cheerful as ever, despite grey clouds, cold mornings and drizzling rain. We two-legged creatures have to rely on woollen underthings and bufandas, not to forget warm socks and shoes on icy floors. A warming toddy in front of the fireplace or estufa is not so bad, either.
In Spain, the highlight of February is the yearly Carnival. After 40 years of being forbidden by Franco, the Carnival of Spain returned to the streets to reclaim its inheritance from the dusty attics of the 1970s.
Of all the boisterous Spanish fiestas that take place throughout the year there are few more colourful than the Carnival celebrations in mid to late February. The week leading to Lent is a time for wild partying in some parts of Spain, such as Tenerife, Cadiz and Sitges. Compared to these, the Carnival in Almuñécar is a fairly low-key event. But this year we could enjoy a great feast with a children’s’ party with entertainment, red noses and crazy costumes worn by people of all ages. As is common in many towns, the festival ended with the Burial of the Sardine on Ash Wednesday. This ceremony, dating as far back the 18th century generally consists of a carnival parade that parodies a funeral procession and culminates with the burning of a symbolic figure, usually depicting a sardine or, as in Malaga, a boqueron. The ceremony marks a farewell to life’s pleasures and the beginning of Lent. The expression “The Burial of the Sardine” was first known to me from an impressive oil painting bearing this title, by Fransisco Goya that I saw in Toledo. This picture is usually dated between 1793 and 1819. Masked and disguised revellers are seen dancing their way to the banks of the Manzanares, where the ceremonial sardine will be buried.
Scandinavian delicacies of the season are ‘semlor’ or ‘fastlagsbullar’ as we call it in Finland. A bun made with a dough of milk, wheat meal, eggs, yeast and sugar, is cut into half, and filled with almond paste and topped with whipped cream and sugar. In Finland we also have a variety filled with strawberry or raspberry jam. These buns are eaten with tea or coffee or, as in the olden days, as a dessert with warm milk and are served on Shrove Tuesday after some hours of skiing or bob sleighing in the wintry landscape.
Another February delicacy in Finland, the blinis, is a Russian treat, inherited from the period when Finland was a Grand Duchy of Russia. It is one of my favourites, and I would like to share the recipe (to serve 4) with you: 3 dl milk, 12 g fresh yeast, 2 dl buckwheat flour, 2 egg yolks, 1 dl beer, 5 cl rye flour, ½ tbs salt, freshly ground white pepper 1 ½ tbs smetana (or crême fraiche) 2 beaten egg whites.
Warm the milk to abt 42 degrees and add the yeast. Add the buckwheat flour and mix it into a smooth dough. Cover and allow it to stand overnight and ferment into sour dough, folding in the beaten egg whites last. Fry the blinis until crisp in clarified butter in a blini pan and serve them with hot clarified butter, vendance (or whatever roe you can find here in Spain) chopped onion, black pepper and smetana or crême fraiche. Truly delicious! If you can’t find all the ingredients here, use a bit of fantasy. Buckwheat flour can be replaced by rye flour.
Enjoy!