Wonder, Read, Taste, Be Cool

Wonder
Halloween, All Saints Day, and the Day of the Dead are all end of October or beginning of November celebrations in the Western Hemisphere. While the Anglo Halloween tradition is marked more by the spirits of terrifying or magical creatures, monsters, and bloody bodies, the Spanish tradition is more into remembering the loved ones who have passed away. November 1st is a holiday in Spain, and people take advantage to visit the cemetery and place flowers on the tombs of their deceased relatives. It’s the American Memorial Day for Spaniards. Nonetheless, and despite its Spanish detractors, Halloween has been gaining terrain into the Spanish population, especially with the children and youth. And why wouldn´t it, it’s fun!

We found two cities, one next to the other, that have a distinct tradition of celebrating these days with a more than a touch of their own idiosyncrasy.  The first one, and more historically genuine, is found in the Southwestern city of Spain, Cádiz. The festivity “Tosantos” is an annual celebration that the people of Cadiz look forward to each year. The name comes from a shortened way of saying “Todos los Santos” (All Saints) and the holiday that falls on November 1st. During the “Tosantos” celebration, which is celebrated on the eve of All Saints Day (this year was on Monday, October 30th), stalls from two food markets decorate their stands and compete for the best and the wittiest motif.

The tradition began at the end of the XIX century, as a way of promoting the products of the fresh market, and helping the population to get stocked for All Saints Day. This year 56 butcher, fish and veggies shops tried their best to win first prize. Gaditanos (people from Cádiz) are known for their sense of humor and political jokes.
This time the tone was marked by Cataluña’s self declaration of Independence with of course, a very Halloweenish influence. The ones that caught our attention the most were the heads of fish and pigs, dressed up as humans, and not smelling very nice indeed. We published a couple of photos of them in this Instagram post. 

 Read
The second celebration we found was in the nearby city of San Fernando or “La Isla“, about 20 minutes from Cádiz. Not too many years back, the Lamela family, fascinated with Halloween, started a tradition of decorating their orchard with Halloween themes, as a way of doing something fun with their kids, family and friends, and scare some neighbors. The activities had so much success that three years ago, they started to build a thematic cemetery inside the orchard, and invite the whole neighborhood to visit it. It has grown so popular that every year more, and more people come to visit them, to the point that the police and the municipality have started to help them.  And why not capitalize from the success?  In order to divert and take advantage of the crowds, the city started to create their own thematic cemetery in the downtown, with a tunnel of terror with organized contests, zombies and magicians shows.
We walked around both areas, and have never seen so many families and children running around so alive at midnight. Maybe only at the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in New York City? Here you can watch a video with some scenes of this year festivities downtown San Fernando.
Also at History.com you can read a short article and watch a video that explains the origins of Halloween and its ties to the Day of the Dead, or watch here the emblematic Dia de los Muertos Parade in Mexico City, in which emergency workers were honored, and the parade was dedicated to the victims of the September 19th earthquake.

Taste
The recipe of the week

Celebrations of Halloween, and the Day of the Dead always involve food. People used to place food and wine on the tombs of their dead relatives. In Spain, it is an excuse to go out and enjoy tapas with family and friends. On All Saints Day, we had this very simple Caprese salad made of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and sweet basil, seasoned with salt and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Ours had also a Spanish touch of jamón serrano.

Be Cool
The product of the week

We are excited to see that our container with the new Terracota White inventory arrived at our warehouse in Oregon on Halloween Day, and our shipment of  new Hojiblanca EVOO was released by the FDA on the Day of the Dead (Nov. 2nd)!  We hope you enjoy these two additions to our product lines at GringoCool.

Abrazos,
Pia from GringoCool