nourishment for the soul

for Holy Week, the whole Christian world comes to a standstill. for me, it is the perfect time to reflect on God's word and promises and to be grateful for all the blessings He has given us and will continually give us.

here in Gib,  for most of the Catholic residents, fasting and/or abstinence from eating meat on Fridays, as acts of penance, leading up to and until Good Friday is observed. fasting and abstinence gives us the opportunity to draw nourishment from a different source. so most of the households prepare a special bread known as "hornazo" as well as lots of vegetarian dishes. 

"hornazo" is actually meat-pie from Spain (there are so many cultures and traditions, including gastronomy that Gibraltar has adapted from Spain) but instead of stuffing this dry bread with meat, they use aniseed to make it sweeter.

the mister has been making our "hornazos" every year from a recipe handed down from his grandmother.  she used to bake a big batch so she can give some to friends and family.  today, the mister follows the same act of generosity every Lenten season.

yep, he does a mean "hornazo" and i mean it.  i would eat the whole batch everyday if i could :)  but i do a mean cornbread around here ;)  last minute, i added some blueberries for some fruity flavor :)

a recently discovered recipe from Cordoba, Spain is "berenjenas con miel" or eggplant fritters drizzled with orange-blossom honey.  thinly-sliced and extra crispy, they are great as a snack or as a starter.

I also made some yummy Vietnamese spring rolls yesterday. made with avocados, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, mint and basil (you can pretty much add whatever you want, really) and wrapped in thin rice paper, these healthy and very filling food is great dipped in sweet chilli sauce or my current favorite, sriracha sauce.


sriracha sauce has been gaining quite a following among chefs and fanatics  and quite a few blogs and recipes have been written as a tribute to this wondrous concoction of ground chillis, garlic, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper :)

The New York Times and The Washington Post are just two of the big name newspapers which wrote articles about the world's best condiment :)


Happy Easter everyone!