Jars Of Jam & Fiesta Parades
I had intended to boil up the Seville Oranges that we had thawed out and just whizz them up as pectin stock and freeze that, but me being me, it turned into a full weight preserving session. 3.6 kilos of Seville Oranges plus 1.65 kilos of strawberries plus 5 Birdseye chillies plus a day’s hard graft on my part plus the able assistance of Garrath who ran up and down stairs to get stuff for me and we have 23 jars of jam plus two litres of syrup that will be transformed tomorrow afternoon into one litre of dessert sauce. That’s 51 jars of preserves thus far and the week isn’t over yet!
As with all preserving, it is the preparation that is the really hard part but I keep learning better ways to do things. My last minute decision to include strawberries in the jam has taught me that hulling strawberries when they are still frozen is far easier than hulling thawed out ones. Must remember that one for Spring when I have no doubt that Perran’s strawberry farm will be bountiful. Deseeding the boiled soft Seville Oranges however will never new anything other that mind numbingly booooooooooooooooorin, but it had to be done and I did it! I have a bag full of Kumquats in the freezer that need de-seeding before being transformed into chutney, and the de-seeding is the most mind numbing task on the planet. I wonder if it easier de-seeding them when they are still frozen. I think I am about to find out.
Enough of preserving, when I finished that task at around 19.00 I quickly slapped my phizzer on (put my make-up on) and we headed to town to see The Solemn Parade that concluded the Fiesta Of Moors And Christians. The Moors & Christians Fiesta is the celebration of Santisimo Cristo del Sudor – the patron saint of Calpe. The festival takes place over several days in October, to celebrate the historic attack on Calpe that took place on 22nd October 1744.
The fiesta commenced with the ringing of bells, fireworks, band parades & a presentation in the Old Town. The main procession took place on a Saturday, and started in Avenida del Norte at 7pm, continued for several hours through the town to the Plaza Colon at the bottom of Avenida Gabriel Miro. We were told that this is a spectacular parade of colourful costumes & music and not to be missed, but we missed it!
Sunday offered the re-enactment of first landing on the beach, and the main activities took place at Playa Arenal at 11am. The stage was set on the beach where a castle was constructed for the simulated battle as the Moors & Christians arrived on boats. We were out to lunch with friends at the time so we missed that too, so we were determined not to miss tonight’s’ parade.
The parade started outside the Town Hall and it was very impressive. I had been expecting a frankly amateurish affair but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The bands were excellent and the costumes gorgeous. I was delighted to note that in true Spanish style the parade of the Saint’s big heavy thingy started ten minutes late. Some traditions must not be messed with and Spanish Mañana is one of them.
We followed the parade for about an hour, got loads of photographs, then hunger drove us to a local eatery for dinner. Replete after salad, entremesas, pork chops for me, liver for Garrath we drove up to the local bar for a few drinks. Well we couldn’t disappoint them could we?
Last Ones Out
And for the second time this trip we were the last ones to leave close to midnight!