Turrón (Spain)

Turrón is a delicious sweet from Spain which is especially served at Christmas time.
It is served with coffee at the end of the large Christmas meal. It has often been viewed as the Spanish version of nougat. However, there are many different types of turron: soft, hard, with whole almonds, with blended almonds, with chocolate... the list is endless! The recipe below is for a honey and almond hard turron.

Ingredients
4 eggs
400g finely chopped, toasted almonds
200g pale, thick honey
200g granulated sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
Rice paper

Recipe and method
1 Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
2 Beat the egg whites until they are stiff
3 Mix in the almonds to make a paste
4 Put the honey into a pan large enough to hold at least 2 litres and heat very gently until it is runny. Honey gets very hot, so take great care.
5 Add the sugar and continue to heat until it has melted into the honey. Now allow the mixture to boil gently. Again, take great care with the boiling sugar.
6 Add the paste of nuts and eggs to the honey mixture and stir without stopping over a low heat for 10 minutes.
7 Line a large, shallow dish or cover a plastic chopping board with rice paper and pour the mixture on top. Use a non-stick fish slice or heatproof spatula to spread it out in a thin layer.
8 Allow the mixture to cool. Sprinkle it with cinnamon.
9 After about 12 hours, when the turrón has set, break it into small pieces and serve.

Niños envueltos (Argentina)

This recipe means "babies in blankets", because that is what they look like! It is a good reminder of what Christmas is all about: the birth of Baby Jesus.

Ingredients
100g frozen leaf spinach
2 x 125g rump or sirloin steaks
Salt and pepper
1 hard-boiled egg
150g cooked ham
1 tbsp butter
4 sprigs rosemary and some string
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
227g tin of chopped tomatoes

Recipe and method
1 Allow the frozen spinach to thaw, and then chop it up roughly.
2 Put the spinach in a colander and, using a spoon, press it hard so that as much water as possible is squeezed out.
3 Season the meat with salt and pepper.
4 Chop up the hard-boiled egg and the ham into very small pieces.
5 Mix the spinach, butter, ham and egg together. Spoon the mixture on to the pieces of steak.
6 Roll up the pieces of steak. Tie them up and spear each of them with 2 sprigs of rosemary.
7 Sprinkle the flour on to a dish and roll the bundles of meat in it until they are entirely coated. Now heat the oil in a heavy pan and fry the pieces of mealt for 1 or 2 minute, turning them over at least once. When they are brown all over, add the tomatoes.
8 Put a lid on the pan, and cook it over a low heat for about 20 minutes. Check occasionally to see if it is getting too dry. If it is, add a little water to moisten.
9 Serve on "baby" roll to each person, with potatoes and a green salad.

Christmas bread (Chile)

This bread is traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve, at a meal that brings the pre-Christmas fast to an end. It is very similar to Christmas breads and cakes that are eaten in Europe. This is because so many people from southern Europe settled in South America in the past.

Ingredients
110g butter
110g caster sugar
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour
110ml milk
1 tsp baking powder
100 glace cherries
80g sultanas
30g chopped almonds
50g mixed candied peel
Grated peel of 1 lemon

Recipe and method
1 Preheal the oven to 150degreeC/gas mark 2
2 Beat the butter and the sugar together with a wooden spoon until they are light and fluffy.
3 Break the eggs into the bowl one by one and mix well. Add the flour and mix gently.
4 Fold in the remaining ingredients and mix well.
5 Spoon into a round, greased, 20cm cake tin with a loose base.
6 Bake the bread in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes. It is cooked when you can push a skewer, or knife, into its centre, and it comes out clean.
7 Allow the bread to cool for a couple of minutes and remove from the tin.
8 Cool completely and serve in slices. Christmas bread is especially tasty with butter spread over it.