At the beginning of November, we visited a city in the north of Spain, Zaragoza. There we met two Hive users, and in addition to the moments we spent talking, we also saw the city and its architecture, learned about history and, of course, ate tasty traditional dishes. We took home with us impressions, many photos, but also some small gifts that we received from those we met.
The two days we spent there were sweet in every means. Maybe because of that, we got these gifts from 
The inside of this sweet is candied fruits, which are then dipped in chocolate. Treating fruits in syrups probably comes from ancient times, maybe even from Roman times. Others say that it could be Muslims who brought this technique of preserving fruits and sweets in this way to the Iberian Peninsula. In any case, they are now popular in Zaragoza among the citizens but also among the tourists. As you see, I was just a tourist but got one bag of them from Paloma. Although I started "exterminating" them a few days ago, fortunately, there are plenty left to appear in the picture.
The chocolate is a gift for my friend as she is very fond of it. Clearly, I will not open it now, but I assume it is a pretty dark chocolate (as the percentage of cacao is 70%). She studied in Zaragoza... I am sure she will like to see this little gift.
And now, the famous Trenza de Almudévar comes to my table.
It was 
But I was more interested in the ingredients and the process of how it was made. According to the pastry shop where it is manufactured, the slow fermentation is the key of the quality. They start with sourdough, maintained for many years and which serves as the culture of the ferments for all their doughs. There are several stages of fermentation and elaboration but in total, the production process lasts between 48 and 72 hours.
I loved it. Basically, it was me who consumed almost the whole Trenza de Almudévar. 😁
The transparent plastic bag from the photo below contains little pieces of candy called Adoquín del Pilar. I needed to ask Paloma a few times about the name, then she explained the history of this traditional sweet. It can be made in different sizes. Usually, it was a lot bigger piece of candy, something like half a kilo or so, and looked like a block, like a paving stone. A hammer was needed to break it into smaller pieces.
These hard candies can be made in four traditional flavours, which are orange, strawberry, lemon or anise. Here we have the strawberry one. When open, the interior of the packaging paper contains the lyrics of a song (I opened just one, so I don't know if all of them have the same lyrics or not... (
I think until this point of the post we all have elevated sugar levels in our blood. So I suggest, let's see the last gift that is not edible.
Cachirulo. That is another name I kept forgetting, but finally, I have learned it. Cachirulo. A kind of scarf, that is tied around the head. I think it is a part of the traditional outfit of Aragones men, but I will keep it folded, as a gift, a souvenir that will last as a reminder of our first visit to the city of Zaragoza.
Thank you girls for these goodies! 😇
