Spanish Easter eats

We’ve been in Madrid for a couple of weeks now for a prolonged Easter visit. Besides the obvious (spending time with J’s family and feeling the sun’s dependable rays on my skin), the thing I relish most about coming here is the food. 

This trip has been different in that I’m 19 weeks pregnant, which necessitates a more restrained relationship with food, what with all the NHS-recommended restrictions. Normally when I’m here I eat everything with joyful abandon, so it’s been hard having to second guess what’s on my plate and saying a temporary goodbye to certain food (for example, the slices of soft pale cheese that looked as if they would melt in your mouth that J’s grandparents put out as part of a pre-lunch spread). 

Despite this, I have still managed to indulge on several occasions. We were only a few hours into our stay when I gleefully gobbled up my first torrija of the season, and I went on to eat at least three more throughout the Easter week. I also ate a couple of J’s grandma’s rosquillas (a kind of mini sugared doughnut), which are also traditional Easter treats, although she makes them all year round. On a savoury note, Semana Santa, or Holy Week, brought with it the pleasures of potaje, a delicious chickpea stew that looks and tastes like pure nourishment in a bowl. It’s best when mopped up with hunks of fresh bread. We had churros and porras (churros’ fatter cousin) for breakfast three times and whilst I couldn’t dip them in strong coffee like I usually do, I opted for Cola Cao as my dunking liquid, which is a very popular Spanish instant hot chocolate. My new discovery of the trip has been chocolate-covered palmeritas (little versions of palmeras), which are apparently Beyoncé’s favourite Spanish treat, according to my father-in-law. We got ours oven-fresh from a local bakery and I think Queen B is onto something - they are incredibly rich, buttery and soft, at least the ones we bought anyway. 

I might not be back in Spain until next Easter, which is a strange thought considering I typically spend a decent chunk of the summer here, as well as New Year’s Eve. When I do return, though, it’ll be with a list of food I’m going to eat and I’ll be heading straight for that soft pale cheese first.