The first major celebration of the year is upon us, the very entertaining Carnival or "Entroido" as it's known in Galicia. For those not familiar with Carnival it's a festival where people often dress up or masquerade, a celebration held before the 40 days of lent.In Galicia it is a major celebration, especially in the province of Ourense where in some villages the celebrations last for several weeks. The photo above depicts a "cigarron" from Verin (Ourense) which has the longest carnival in Spain. The costume weighs 25 kilos including the cow bells tied around the waist, the elaborate masks always have the image of a wild animal, and the Cigarron holds a whip in his hand and hits anyone who gets in his way.
The celebrations continue well into the early hours of the morning, to keep the body going you will need to eat and drink, especially the traditional coffee liqueur and "lacon con grelos", the traditional carnival dish which consists of salt ham, turnip tops, chorizo sausage and potatoes. For dessert there is the traditional Galician pancake known as "Filloas".
