Recipe for Galician Easter Bread

In Lendo, the tiny village in Galicia where my mom was born, the so called Easter Bread was made during the festivity of  St. Julian, the village's patron saint. The celebrations took place on January 7th, a day after the Epiphany. I guess that's why my mother associates the bread ring to St. Julian's festivity and not to the coming of the three magi, like in many other parts of Spain.

Lendo: the house where
my mom Clara was born

In the district of Bergantiños, where both Lendo and Caión are located, the typical dessert on any special occasion is the Easter bread in the shape of a ring or braid, accompanied by the typical mild cheese of Galicia. An exquisite combination!

Traditionally during Easter, godparents give their godsons and goddaughters Easter bread as a present. This Easter bread is made from the same dough as the Easter bread ring, but instead of giving it a ring or braid shape, they might be shaped like a loaf. According to my mom, lately (which in her terms means about 30 some odd years ago), these Easter loafs started to include a boiled egg in the center. Unfortunately for them, once they marry, godsons and goddaughters no longer receive this tasty present!

In case you'd like to savor one of the most typical desserts of Galicia--and of many other Christian cultures across Europe--you can download my mother Clara's own recipe here.

By the way, when my parents owned a restaurant and small hotel in Caión many years ago, people used to say that her Spanish tortilla was much better than the famous one from "As Casillas" in the small town of Betanzos, near A Coruña. But I'll leave that controversy (and recipe) for a later post.

Documentary Heritage

Minutes of the
Laracha Town Council
meeting held on
January 5, 1932

In Galicia, where people are so attached to the land, inheritance is important. By inheritance, however, we can refer literally to what property our ancestors have handed down to our family through generations, but also to a historical, cultural and artistic heritage and even to a documentary heritage.
I think this is how I should refer to all those family documents and mementos that have been handed down to me, such as land deeds, letters, photographs and, curiously enough, the minutes of a council meeting in A Laracha signed on January 5, 1932 by, among others, my maternal and paternal grandfathers, both town council members during the Second Spanish Republic. This document is part of the treasure of information on our family tree.
It's such hard work organizing and preserving all these documents, that sometimes it seems it would provide at least a part-time job for a professional archivist; in fact it's sometimes tougher than looking after the land property.

Women's Literacy Project

Another of Tashi Chering's projects now is a literacy program for the women of Gulabgarh of which I'm also a sponsor:

"On 29th of November 2010 a school was founded to eradicate illiteracy among the women of Gulabgarh Padder through the Women’s Literacy Programme (W.L.P), established and organized by Mr. Tashi Chering of Kabban Padder (Chairman) and sponsored by Madam Mari of Spain.

A teacher, Smt. Pama Lamo, has been hired to assist in this initiative. Moreover, a committee of 9 prominent community members has been established to assure the smooth functioning of the school."

Thanks to the generous contribution of a teacher at the School of Languages of Santiago de Compostela (EOI de Santiago) together with my concerned family and friends, Tashi was able to rent a room, hire a teacher and buy the school supplies needed to begin work on the project. Classes began with 25 women—now there are 30 and the number will hopefully increase.

A month ago, again thanks to the staff at the EOI de Santiago and others, I was able to send another contribution so that this initiative can continue for a few more months. I'm extremely excited about this project, but that's nothing compared to how happy and grateful the women of Gulabgarh are. Now the important thing is to keep this project going.

For more information, you can contact me through the form on this blog or Mr. Tashi Chering, through his website  lonpoadventures.com.

My summers away from Caión

In an earlier post I mentioned that I was also cooperating in other volunteer projects, which keep me so busy during the summer that I don't have much time to enjoy the fabulous warm, sunny weather in Caión. In my next posts, I'd like to tell you a bit about those projects and about my experience.

Last summer I worked as a volunteer English teacher at a school in a village called Gulabgarh, in the district of Kishtwar, state of J&K, India: The school was established and is funded by the Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association.

I am not a member of this or any other NGO and I am not Buddhist. The reason why I ended up in Gulabgarh is that a friend of mine called Tashi Chering, a mountaineer and guide who is from this village, asked me if I would be willing to help the children of Gulabgarh and nearby hamlets, by working there as a volunteer English teacher. So, it was thanks to his personal initiative that I finally volunteered. You can read more about this soon on Tashi Chering's website Lonpoadventures.

What about you? Are you ready to volunteer as an English teacher in the Himalayan Cultural School, Gulabgarh?

Becoming a volunteer teacher of English in Gulabgarh can be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of anyone's life. Would you like to live and teach in an incredibly different place among such a hospitable and grateful people even if it is for only a short time? You would be contributing to these children’s education while learning all about their amazing culture, language and customs, as you share their everyday experiences.

You don't need to join an NGO. All you need is a desire to help others, to help further the education of the children of Gulabgarh and nearby villages. You would be doing so much for the people of Gulabgarh. The school staff, the students, their families would all make you feel welcome and they will be there for whatever you may need. Why wait? Get involved today!

If you'd like to volunteer or cooperate in some other way, you can contact me or Mr. Tashi Chering through his website Lonpoadventures.

Time for a newsfast

According to the latest news, property sellers and buyers alike have no other choice but to wait patiently for a recovery of the economic scenario. Since I know that you can only win with this investment, I'm waiting for a creative, enthusiastic buyer with a talent for risk taking to come along— and I'm sure that he or she will. Instead of a financial or real estate expert, the buyer of this property might simply be a person captivated by the beauty and peaceful lifestyle of our coastline. Whatever the buyer's profile, it's first come, first serve! The person willing to purchase this lot will be the one to enjoy its singular beauty, which in this case is no cliché! You won't find a better spot for a newsfast, something I think we would all benefit from now.