La tarta de Santiago

La tarta de Santiago

by | Jun 1, 2018 | food, recipes

Tarta de Santiago |

Galicia is well known for its gastronomy. Pescado (fish) and marisco (seafood) are one of its main culinary attractions. You can read a bit about it and learn how to prepare pulpo á feira in this previous post.

But there’s more than fish and seafood. If there is one traditional dish that also symbolises the Camino, that’s the tarta de Santiago. In case you haven’t heard about it, tarta de Santiago is an almond cake, typically decorated with the shape of a Santiago cross.

The origin of this cake is unknown, but the first written reference to an almond cake dates back to 1577. Back then it was referred to as torta real or royal cake. However, we must wait until 1838 to find the first recipes of tarta de almendra (almond cake).

The decoration in the shape of a cruz (cross) was introduced in 1924 by Casa Mora, a pastelería (cake shop) in Santiago de Compostela. In fact, this pastelería is still in business, although its name has changed a bit: it’s now Pastelería Mercedes Mora and you can find it at rúa do Vilar, 50.

You can find it on many shops and pastelerías along the Camino, but if you want to try it at home, it’s very simple to make.

 

So, let’s bake a tarta de Santiago

 

The traditional recipe is made up of just tres ingredientes (ingredients) in equal parts: almendra (almond), azúcar (sugar) and huevos (eggs), so it’s sin gluten. You can add a bit of limón (lemon) or canela (cinnamon) flavouring if you prefer.

 

  • First, take 3 huevos, 200 g de azúcar and 200g de almendra (get whole almonds and grind them yourself or buy almond flour; both options are fine).

 

  • Then, mix all 3 ingredientes. This cake doesn’t have any raising agent, so it’s a good idea to beat the eggs and sugar together first, before adding the almond. But your cake will still be yummy if you don’t. You can add lemon zest or cinnamon if using any flavourings. The resulting mixture will be quite thick.

 

  • Pour the mixture into a round cake tin and bake in a preheated horno (oven) for about 30 minutes at 180ºC. It needs to be cooked inside and slightly golden outside.

 

tarta de santiago ingredients
tarta de santiago mix
tarta de santiago

 

  • And finally, decorate it! There are hundreds of cross templates online. I used this: https://www.hogarmania.com/archivos/201407/plantilla-cruz-tarta-santiago.pdf. Just print it, cut it out, place it on top of my cake and sprinkle with powdered/icing sugar. I was in a bit of a hurry to finish, so my decoration didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked. But the cake was still delicious!

 

If you want to reuse your template (and prevent messing the presentation up like I did), my suggestion is to copy your cruz on a harder material than paper.

 

Today’s Spanish words

 

Tarta

Almendra

Huevos

Azúcar

Limón

Canela

Cruz

Horno

Ingrediente

Pastelería

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¡Buen Camino!

Vía de la Plata

Vía de la Plata

by | May 18, 2018 | Camino de Santiago, other routes

The Vía de la Plata crosses Spain from south to north, making it one of the longest Caminos in Spain. It starts in Sevilla, in the region of Andalucía and continues through Extremadura and Castilla y León, before entering Galicia.

The distance covered is around 1000 km, depending a bit on the variant you take. You have two options:

  • You can walk up to Astorga and then join the Camino Francés for the final stages (260 km).

 

  • Or you can head towards Galicia before you reach Astorga, through the Camino Sanabrés. Granja de Moreruela (in Zamora) is the town where you must decide which way to continue.

 

The Vía de la Plata is not a difficult route in terms of terrain and elevations, but you will be facing other challenges such as the weather. It is not advisable to walk it during the months of julio (July) and agosto (August) due to the extreme heat. You should still be careful in junio (June) and septiembre (September). The best months would be marzo, abril, mayo (May) and octubre (October).

The distances between towns are long and the services are few, so you need to be prepared and make sure you have enough agua and snacks to make it to the next town. It might be hard if you are planning to do shorter stages.

The signage is not as abundant as in other Caminos but it’s adequate. The Vía de la Plata follows old Roman roads, so you will also see many Roman milestones

I think I’m not making it sound very attractive, but that’s not true. It’s just not the Camino Francés, so you should adjust your expectations and be prepared. It is a much lonelier Camino (only 3.04% of pilgrims chose this route in 2017 according to the Pilgrims office statistics)* and you will be walking a lot through pastures (with lots of cattle). Some of the best cured hams come from this part of the country.

What to see on the Vía de la Plata

But it’s not all cows and pigs. The Vía de la Plata also goes through wonderful cities. In fact, it is the Camino with the highest number of towns on UNESCO’s World Heritage List:

 

 

 

 

But these are not the only interesting places to see. Zafra, in Extremadura, is a lovely medieval town worth a visit. And Zamora, in Castilla y León, is full of Romanesque arquitecture and also worth a visit.

So, do you think this is the Camino for you?

 

*Source: https://oficinadelperegrino.com/estadisticas/

Today’s Spanish words

Vía de la Planta

Andalucía

Sevilla

Extremadura

Zafra

Mérida

Cáceres

Salamanca

Zamora

Granja de Moreruela

Mayo

Junio

Julio

Agosto

Septiembre

Octubre

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The Camino Inglés: 6 days (or less) to Santiago

The Camino Inglés: 6 days (or less) to Santiago

by | May 11, 2018 | Book review, Camino Inglés

When I felt I had to walk the Camino, one of my first questions was:

Which Camino should I do?

I didn’t feel ready to tackle a long one, and it wasn’t feasible either, given my personal circumstances. So I started looking into doing the last 100 km of a Camino. And then I came across Susan Jagannath‘s book The Camino Inglés: 6 days (or less) to Santiago. I read it and my decision was made!

It’s a fantastic little book full of practical information. It takes you from the planning stages all the way to the start of the Camino in Ferrol and from there to Santiago de Compostela.

 

The Camino Ingles: 6 days (or less) to Santiago

  • Chapters 1-4 are all about planning and preparing:

Chapter 1: we learn about the author’s motivation to walk and why she chose this route. There is also a lot of encouragement for anyone who is thinking of doing a Camino: don’t let things like age or level of fitness stop you.

Chapter 2 is all about preparation: mindset, fitness, nutrition, preparing your feet… and even a bit of Spanish! Yes, you can get a list of basic Spanish words and phrases to use on your Camino such as gracias (thank you), por favor (please), buenos días (good morning) or vino tinto (red wine).

There are a few more words in the chapters devoted to the actual walking, but the main ones can be found in this chapter. Some of these words have already been covered by me in previous posts, some others haven’t. You can scroll down for the audio files of the new ones (and some links to the old ones).

Chapter 3 is about planning: maps, transport, bag transfer services, safety issues (list of emergency numbers included) and mochila packing, with lists of essential and optional items.

Chapter 4 is about getting there: booking flights, train and bus services, types of accommodations.

  • Chapters 5-11.

These describe the author’s walk from Ferrol to Santiago. Each stage includes distances, elevation maps, list of available accommodations and extra insightful tips.

  • Finally, chapter 12.

It includes extra resources, such as websites, books she read before the walk and a Pilgrim’s Prayer.

And… this guide also includes a downloadable free set of maps of the towns and villages mentioned in the book.

I loved the way this is a very informative yet entertaining book. It gives you very easy to understand advice and it offers options and alternatives for people with different levels of fitness or health issues. It gives lots of encouragement too, all in an easy-to-read style (and humorous at times!).

 

The Camino Inglés: 6 days (or less) to Santiago is available on paperback and Kindle. I have the Kindle version (I have the Kindle app on my phone: no extra weight!), so I can’t comment on the size/weight of the paperback, but I’m guessing it’s not too heavy to carry in your mochila since it seems to be around 115 pages long.


Disclosure: this is an affiliate link. This means that if you click on it and happen to buy the book, I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you.

 

About Susan

Susan Jagannath

Susan Jagannath successfully combined a passion for reading, a love of writing and a fascination for technology, to create a career in technical writing. With over 50 technical manuals (not) to her name, she finally decided it was time to write the books she wanted to write under her own name.

 

As an army brat, her childhood included seven different schools, three universities and a couple of emergency evacuations from conflict zones. Travel and adventure were a normal part of life. She now believes in seizing every opportunity to have a new adventure.

Whether it’s camping on the beach in Australia, trekking in the Himalayas, kayaking in Queensland, whitewater rafting down the Ganges, or walking the Camino in Spain, her philosophy is to pack it into one or two weeks to create memories for a lifetime, and inspire others to see that the right time for adventure is right now.

Her first bestseller came from her walk in Spain, The Camino Ingles: 6 days to Santiago. What also happened is that Susan fell in love with Spain, and all things Spanish, and is busy making plans to return for a longer time, and maybe, another Camino.

Susan is now on the next adventure of her life, writing books that are not technical manuals, training to be an awesome grandmother, and helping others write and publish their own bestsellers.

To learn more about Susan Jagannath (and to download the map set), you can go to https://www.susanjagannath.com

Today’s Spanish words

For the pronunciation of Compostela, credencial and sello check ¿Cómo vas a hacer el Camino?

If you don’t know how to pronounce albergue, hostal, hotel and hospitalero check Where to sleep on the Camino

For the pronunciation of Ración and tapa check ¿Dónde vas a comer?

Check Shopping on the Camino for the pronunciation of supermercado, farmacia and empanada.

 

Por favor

Gracias

Buenos días

Vino tinto

Café con leche

Cuánto

¿Dónde está el Camino?

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Money matters

Money matters

by | May 4, 2018 | Camino de Santiago

Money matters |

There’s a phrase that is repeated a lot in Camino forums and groups:

Cash is king.

And it’s true. Although many albergues, cafeterías & bares take cards, there are some places that only take efectivo (cash).

Money matters |

 

That means you always need to carry some dinero (money); euros, to be precise. And céntimos (cent). Billetes (notes) bigger than €50 will be difficult to change, so I would avoid them. Smaller billetes (€5, €10, €20) and a few monedas (coins) are your best choice for your daily expenses.

 

Taking money in your own currency and planning to exchange it at banks along the Camino is not a good plan. It will be hard to find a bank willing to do that for you if you’re not a client. 

 

But it’s OK; you don’t need to exchange large amounts of dinero before you travel and carry all that money on you. You can withdraw from cajeros automáticos or simply cajeros (ATM) along the Camino, maybe once a week. On average, people budget around 30-50 euros per day to pay for accommodation, food and snacks. This will give you an idea of how much to withdraw.

Most of us have at least one tarjeta (card), either de débito or de crédito. Or both. You will be able to use them to withdraw dinero from cajeros and to pay for hotels, restaurants and purchases in bigger shops in bigger towns.

Different countries and banks have different types of cards with different conditions, so it’s hard to give very specific advice, but if you are planning to use your tarjetas during your Camino, there are some things you should take into consideration.

 

Money tips

  • Before you travel, check your card’s conditions (fees and exchange rates) to avoid unpleasant surprises. For instance, tarjetas de crédito generally attract more fees than tarjetas de débito when withdrawing dinero from cajeros. 

If your card’s charges are too high, you might want to consider a prepaid card. Correos, the Spanish post office, has one. All info here: https://correosprepago.es

  • Let your bank know you are travelling. Otherwise, they might think the activity on your tarjeta looks suspicious and block it.

 

  • Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted cards. It might be hard to find places that accept others such as American Express.

 

  • Make sure your card has a 4-digit PIN number.

 

  • If you are asked whether you want to be charged in euros or your own currency, always choose euros. The exchange rate will be better.

 

  • As much as possible, try to use cajeros when the banks are open. If there’s any issue, such as your card being swallowed, you can go in and try to resolve it at once (opening hours are usually 8:30-14:30).

So, do you think you could ask these in Spanish? You can leave your answers in the comments below.

Can I pay with a card?

or

Where is there an ATM? 

Today’s Spanish words

Efectivo

Dinero

Euro

Céntimo

Cajero

Tarjeta

De crédito

De débito

Moneda

Billete

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El Camino Primitivo

El Camino Primitivo

by | Apr 27, 2018 | Camino de Santiago, other routes

After a stop for a tapa de pulpo á feira, we’re back to our series about the different Caminos. This week, I’m writing about the Camino Primitivo.

 

The Camino Primitivo (Primitive Way) is so called because it’s the first Camino pilgrimage of which there is a written record. It follows the route taken by king Alfonso II of Asturias in the 9th century when he visited the sepulchre of St. James, which had just been discovered.

The Camino Primitivo is one of the shortest Caminos, as it covers around 320km from Oviedo (in Asturias) to Santiago de Compostela. It is a route of amazing natural beauty, but it is also the hardest of the Caminos. That’s probably why only 4.5% of pilgrims chose this route in 2017, according to the Pilgrims office statistics).*

 

It is well signposted and there are albergues and other services all along the way, but there is a lot of going up and down through mountains on dirt paths, loose rocks and mostly difficult terrain. Sometimes, the albergue is the only available service in town, so make sure you check ahead of time and plan accordingly.

 

The weather in Asturias and Galicia is quite rainy so there will also be mud much of the time. As well as lluvia (rain), you can also expect viento (wind) and niebla (fog) in some areas. It’s not advisable to take this Camino in winter, due to nieve (snow) in the mountains.

 

The Camino Primitivo route

 

  • There is a variation called Ruta de los Hospitales, starting at Borres and so called because of the remains of several old mediaeval hospitals. This is allegedly one of the most beautiful sections of the Camino. It covers around 24km but if you are planning to do it you should be aware that it has no services at all. The weather can also be treacherous. So make sure you are well equipped and stay safe!

 

The Camino Primitivo in Galicia

  • The Camino Primitivo enters Galicia through O Acebo pass (1300m altitude) and from there it descends to Fonsagrada (700m).

 

  • The second biggest town on the Camino Primitivo is Lugo. It was founded in the year 25 b.C and it was one of the most important Roman settlements in the Iberian Peninsula. Its Roman walls are mostly intact and they surround the historic centre. They were added to UNESCO’S World Heritage List in 2000 (see https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/987). Definitely worth a visit!

 

  • From Lugo, this Camino continues towards Melide, where it joins the Camino Francés for the last stages.

 

 

Do you think this could the be the Camino for you? If you’ve done it, please share your experience!

*Source: https://oficinadelperegrino.com/estadisticas/

Today’s Spanish words

Oviedo

Salas

Tineo

Ruta de los Hospitales

Borres

O Acebo

Fonsagrada

Lugo

Melide

Viento

Niebla

Nieve

Lluvia

 

 

¡Buen Camino!

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