If you plan to travel to the Valencian Community, know that on these dates some gastronomic customs with a long tradition are reactivated and that they are delicious. Among the most beloved foods are the “monas” for Easter, the sausage for Easter, the egg for Easter, the arnadÃ, the “pepitos” and the cocas with raisins and nuts. To improve the recommendations we have the collaboration of Paco Alonso.
Star food these days in half of Spain, but in the Valencian Community it has a special preparation. “For the Valencians of my generation, the monkey is made from eggs, with anisitos and zoomorphic; sometimes from fish, other times from duck and even from fardatxo” says Paco Alonso.
“I have to go back to my childhood, it was the usual gift on Easter holidays from my godmother, Maruja Llopis, but it was not only the monkey, but the entire Easter kit: Mona, Easter sausage, lettuce, spring onions… Wrapped in a bundle with the typical checkered scarf and to berenar in els amics!”.
And he adds that “in Valencia the” hybrid monkeys” triumph as a snack resource for the childish. Let me explain, they are normal monkeys but with chocolate eggs, the hard-boiled egg has fallen out of favor”.
It is a sausage very typical of the Valencian Community and the eastern area of ​​Aragon. Its shape is thin and elongated and it is eaten when it has been left to dry for a few days to achieve that characteristic bite. It is made from lean pork, having a length of about 30 centimeters with the approximate thickness of a finger.
In the Oliver de Alzira butcher shop, they produce more than 500 kilos of Easter sausage these days, as custom says that on Easter Sunday you have to go to celebrate Easter with sausage, hard-boiled egg, Easter cake and lettuce. All Valencian boomers know this custom.
Arnadà is a traditional Valencian sweet of Arab origin that is usually made during Lent and Easter. It is also known in Valencian as carabassa santa or moniato sant. Considered one of the oldest puddings in Spain, it seems to originate from the Xà tiva area, specifically from the large Jewish community of this Valencian town in Muslim times.
It is made from pumpkin and sugar, following the following procedure, although variants are known, in which the cucurbit can be substituted or mixed with others (mainly sweet potato). In this regard, there are ovens that prepare casseroles of arnadà with both types, pumpkin and sweet potato.
Small sandwich known in half of Spain that has special characteristics in the Valencian Community. It is made especially at Easter with a stir-fry to which salty tuna is added, known as tonyina de sorra; tomato, red pepper, pine nuts and garlic; everything cooked on a very slow fire.
In other Valencian areas, ratatouille are also made with different ingredients, almost always based on tuna and hard-boiled eggs. Fill the roll with this mixture, previously emptied of crumbs, which is then covered on both sides, dipped in milk and egg, and fried in the pan. It’s really delicious.
Cocas with raisins and walnuts are quite typical throughout the province of Valencia: in the Vall de Albaida and Canal de Navarrés they are called “fogasses” and are traditional for the Todos Santos festival. Some variants occur in the Ribera where they call it “bread of air” or “bread of wind”.
In Xixona the “finish tonyetes” that contain a little anise are typical. Although they are eaten all year round, it is traditional to prepare and eat them on Holy Week and Easter along with the also typical “monas” pascueras. Of course, in all of them an almost common characteristic is its rounded shape.
Its ingredients are walnuts, almonds, grated lime, raisins and angel hair.
