And here below we have a traditional Catalan delicacy for kids, which is brought out around Christmas time, called Tio Caga. (Uncle Shit).
"A magic log which is beaten with sticks while singing 'Tio, Tio, caga torro, d'avellana i de pinyo, per les festes Nadal, caga si us plau!' which translates crudely to
'Uncle, Uncle, shit out hazelnut and pinenut nougat for Christmas, if you please.' "
I swear I'm not making this up, I'm quoting from Barcelona Metropolitan magazine.
All this tells you something about the Catalans. I'm not sure what it tells you, except maybe that they're twisted.
11 comments:
Is it just me or has Gustav from Greavsie's blog been on holiday?
Oh I'm so having a laugh at my catalan mate when he gets back from Spain.
Ah, the Catalan Crapper.
And Gustav went to Moldova, something about 'bring back his family'
I am Adrian's Catalan mate and it's all true. I have just partaken in the Shitting Log tradition and our nativity has a Jordi Caganer hiding behind the stable. The Catalans have a strange sense of humour
Could be, US, he gets around that Gustav...
Adrian, they try and make out like it's some kind of political satire but I'm not so sure...
Greavsie, your garden will start to look like some of the estate gardens round here if Gustav brings back the whole family.
Hi, Extremeboarder - so he's called Jordi, why does that not surprise me?
"Catalans have a strange sense of humour" yup, can testify to this, having just watched 3 days of Catalan tv ;-)
That's not Gustav, it's his twin brother. Gustav always looks like he has to pee.
I'll never eat a chocolate log again, as long as I live...
Hurrah for Alda! I love your site Alda. Yes, whereas Gustav's brother has no inhibitions whatsoever.
Wyndham, you've now ruined them for me too, cheers.
HAHAHAHA. I HAVE to share this with Ale, another blogger who's had a go at the folks from Barcelona and how odd they are.
but annie...tell me if it's really true :-D
It's absolutely true, everything you heard about them. They're very, um, "unique" people.
Just a quick note about the Caga Tió (not "Tio Caga"). Tió, in Catalan, doesn't mean 'uncle', as tío in Spanish. In Catalan, a tió is just a big piece of wood that is normally used for fireplaces.
The real Caga Tió is actually a big log with a fake face and the typical Catalan cap or barretina, and is a very popular Christmas character for kids. It is actually the one that brings them the presents (and that was before we ever heard about Santa!), at least symbolically. Parents would put the log on top of a table and then cover it with a big blanket. One of the adults would hide under the table with all the presents and the rest would ask the kids to hit the tió with a stick singing a really silly song quite similar to the one you've mentioned. Then the adult under the table would push the presents out as if the Caga Tió was actually "shitting" them.
Ok, enough of cultural rambling for today :P
And yeeeeeees, we're twisted!
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