Wednesday, September 29, 2010
There's a general transportation strike in Valencia which was announced last week, so we all had plenty of warning to prepare. The schools sent out emails. There would be no bus services. The city busses were next to none and the train schedule looked sad. Skeletal at best.
The blessing here is that while I don't really enjoy fighting the maddening crowds of overdressed Caxton parents, it did give me the opportunity to pick up my girls and take them to my little coffee shop for a treat.
Carmen is the mother there who started the shop with her husband and two sons because the boys both decided to become chefs, the older one, a restaurant chef, and the younger, a pastry chef. The father who used to be a farmer and make deliveries on his little horse drawn wagon is now a cook as well who shows up each morning at 3am to start baking. He likes it, he says, except in the summers when the heat outside makes the oven heat unbearable.Today Carmen motioned to the girls. "Are they all yours?" she asked. "Which one do I get?"
We talked. When it was time to go she told me how well behaved they are and asked if I would leave then there a while. We all stayed a little longer, this time, in the back where the magic happens. What a treat!
Next week Valencian's will celebrate Nou d' Octubre, Valencia's independence day commemorating the day in 1238 that King Jaime Primero came in to town to reconquer the land. The people of the time loved King Jaime and in thanks, brought him gifts of the best that they had, which were often gifts of fruits and vegetables tied up neatly in the simple scarves that they wore 'round their necks.
Now, each year on Sant Donis day, also 9 October, locals here buy small marzipan fruits and vegetables and these shapes of fireworks that the people threw in celebration of the Moors defeat. They wrap them in scarves and give them as gifts for their loved ones.
Santi's brother showed the girls how he piped the sugar glaze onto these solid marzipan logs, then he got out a bit of marzipan, something he makes over months leading up to this, then stores it and takes time to make all these beautiful pieces. He made 6 half-dollar sized pieces of flattened marzipan, wrapped them together to form a rose, then gave it to the girls with a ball of marzipan so that they could practice at home. Next week the case will be filled with these beautiful treats. I'll be back to take pictures and to buy a few things as well. I already have scarves from the market today to wrap my marzipan treasures in. 
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