A Catalan Log That Poops Candy At Christmas : The Salt : NPR
By
Lindsay Patterson
Caga Tiós, Catalan Christmas logs stacked up at a market in Girona, Spain.
Lindsay Patterson
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Lindsay Patterson
Caga Tiós, Catalan Christmas logs stacked up at a market in Girona, Spain.
Lindsay Patterson
The first time I heard about Caga Tió, or Tió de Nadal, my family was getting settled into our life abroad in Barcelona this fall. A new friend’s teenage daughter was telling us about the Catalan traditions she celebrates in school.
“During Christmas, there’s a log that you feed scraps of food, and then he poops presents when you hit him with a stick and sing a song!”
Then she sang:
Caga tió, (Poop log)
tió de Nadal, (Log of Christmas)
no caguis arengades (Don’t poop salted herring)
que són massa salads (They are too salty)
caga torrons (Poop turróns)
que són més bons! (They are much better!)
I had so many questions. Mostly, why was a log being urged to poop something called turróns, to eat? When I asked Catalan friends, there were no clear answers. Apparently, Caga Tió is like Santa. You take the presents, you don’t ask questions. But I wanted to connect the dots.
Caga Tió starts popping up in markets at the beginning of December: A log with a drawn-on face, with a big smile, and a jaunty red hat.
Around the same time, store shelves begin to be filled with turrón, a nougat traditionally made of egg white, honey or sugar, and almonds.
They’re fashioned into rectangles or cakes, and served sliced into bite-sized pieces. The most popular versions feature milled or whole almonds, and hail from towns in the southeastern region of Valencia. But there’s many takes on turrón: Caramel, chocolate, fruit, and even liqueur-filled versions.
I started my investigation at Victoriano Candela, a turrón specialty shop in Girona with a glorious Art Deco façade and crystal chandeliers dangling from the ceilings. Turróns of all types are stacked like bricks atop the counters.
Stacks of turróns at a store called Victoriano Candela in Girona, Spain. The store specializes in high-quality turróns or torrons as they are called in Catalan.
Lindsay Patterson
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Lindsay Patterson
Stacks of turróns at a store called Victoriano Candela in Girona, Spain.
The store specializes in high-quality turróns or torrons as they are called in Catalan.
Lindsay Patterson
Sandra Redondo-Candela was behind the counter. Her family has been making turrón for more than 50 years. She told me that when she was little, she’d leave oranges in front of Tió at night, and in the morning, only the peels would remain.
After feeding him for weeks, on December 24, a blanket was placed on the non-face end of Tió. Then the singing, and the beating, would commence. Afterward, she’d be sent into another room to pray. When she returned, the blanket was lifted, revealing presents and turrón.
I asked Redondo-Candela if the idea of a pooping Christmas log struck her as unusual.
“We are Catalan,” she said, as if that was explanation enough.
The origins of both Caga Tió and turrón are hazy, and their marriage appears to be one of convenience.
“Any candy type can be placed in Tió de Nadal,” Jordi Manes, a professor of nutrition at the University of Valencia, wrote me in an email. But Tió is implored to poop turrón, specifically, because it’s the traditional Christmas sweet – not just in Catalonia, but across all of Spain.
As candy legend has it, turrón was brought to Spain by the Moors, in the medieval period, when most of Spain was known as Al-Andalus. There’s no record of a specific event of cultural transmission, but documents from the 16th century refer to turrón being consumed during the Christmas season since “time immemorial.”
Manes says that it’s likely that turróns were reserved for special occasions due to their high cost. It was served during the holiday by King Phillip II, and spread through the country by the nobility. “There are also documents that associate turrón with salary,” Manes wrote. “In fact, it is known that the Spanish port city, Alicante´s landowners paid the first half of salaries in coins and the second half in turrón during Christmas season.
“
It was clear that turrón was highly valued, at least in Alicante. So how did it end up coming out the butt of a log in Catalonia? I looked for answers back in Barcelona, at the city’s department of Popular Culture. There, Marcos Yáñez and Xavier Busquets assured me that Caga Tió shares with turrón the distinction of being part of the culture since “time immemorial.”
Yáñez dug out a small pamphlet out of the department’s archives titled, “Tió de Navidad: el ciclo navideño.” It described the origins of Caga Tió as a pagan tradition celebrating the Winter Solstice. In rural villages, Catalans would choose a large tree trunk to set aflame in a bonfire. They’d burn it throughout the winter, and honor it as Tió de Nadal. At some point – and no one knows exactly when – that tradition evolved into the tradition of families finding a log in the woods, covering with a blanket and caring for it inside the house until it was time for Tió to “give back” – now small gifts and the obvious choice of turrón, instead of warmth.
But why does it have to “poop” the turrón? I asked. Yánez and Busquets both shrugged.
“No one knows,” Yánez said.
“It’s just a thing we do,” said Busquets.
I had hoped to find a tidy origin story, but instead, I understood how most Catalans haven’t asked, “Why?” The tradition of Caga Tió is bizarre to the rest of the world, but here, imploring a log to poop candy with sticks and threats is as magical as waiting to hear the sound of sleigh bells on the roof of your house.
After leaving the archives, I picked up my 3-year-old son from school. He had just returned from a field trip to go”find” Caga Tió in a park on the edge of the city.
We then headed to see another Tió at a small Christmas party. My Catalan friend sang the traditional song and my son hit Caga Tió with a wooden spoon. When the blanket was lifted, there was a small set of watercolors, a Kinder egg, and a bottle of beer for the parents. No turrón – it appeared separately, on a plate, and it was delicious.
Lindsay Patterson is the creator, producer, and co-host of Tumble, a science podcast for kids. She lives in Barcelona with her husband and son.
Feeding the poop log: A Catalan Christmas tradition
Photo: Josep Ma. Rosell
Atlas Obscura on Slate is a blog about the world’s hidden wonders. Like us on Facebook, Tumblr, or follow us on Twitter @atlasobscura.
It’s Christmas Eve, which means children across Spain’s Catalan region are gathering in their homes for the traditional whacking of the festive shit log.
Tió de Nadal (Christmas log), a hollow log with stick legs, a smiley face, and a floppy red hat, is a yule branch with a scatological spin.
(Its other name is Caga Tió, or “shit log,” for reasons that will shortly become apparent.)
On December 8 each year — the Feast of the Immaculate Conception — families bring out the happy log. Every night until December 24, children are tasked with “feeding” the log by offering him nuts, dried fruit, and water. Kids must also cover Tió de Nadal with a blanket to ensure he stays warm and comfortable.
On Christmas Eve, it is time for the little shit log to shine. Children gather around the red-hatted branch and beat him with sticks while singing the traditional Tió de Nadal song:
Shit log,
Shit nougats,
Hazelnuts and mató cheese,
If you don’t shit well,
I’ll hit you with a stick,
Shit log!
com/_components/slate-paragraph/instances/cq-article-2929b4eb07534c49556177f1e4b3aec5-component-7@published”>Then comes the miracle: the kids look under Tió de Nadal’s blanket and discover that the dear log has pooped out a pile of candies and presents. (The end of the defecation session is signaled by the presence of a stinky herring.) When everyone has collected their gifts from Tió de Nadal, the family burns him for warmth.
The poop log is not Catalonia’s only defecation-based festive tradition. Take a close look at any nativity scene in the area and you’ll spot Caganer, a porcelain man copping a squat in the presence of Mary, Joseph, and the Three Wise Men. Caganer is not meant to be sacreligious — his fertilization of the holy ground heralds a prosperous harvest in the new year.
Photo: Ajuntament Barcelona
com/_components/slate-paragraph/instances/cq-article-2929b4eb07534c49556177f1e4b3aec5-component-11@published”>Visit Atlas Obscura for more on Tió de Nadal.
Christmas log “pooping” sweets • News of Spain ≪︎All Spain≫︎
Christmas log @allspain.info
Christmas log
Tio de Nadal (Spanish: Tió de Nadal) – Catalan and Aragonese and Christmas tradition , which is primarily in Catalonia, Aragon and also in Andorra .
In the past, “thio” was an ordinary log that was burned in houses and which gave the inhabitants light and warmth, the most important feeling of a holiday. And the ashes from the burnt wooden block were used as protection against lightning, insects, etc.
The Christmas log (Thio de Nadal) is a hollow log with four wooden legs and a painted smiling muzzle. As a rule, Tio is put on a typical Catalan cap called barretina and is also covered with a blanket to keep him warm.
Tio de Nadal “poops” sweets
Tio de Nadal is a tradition, one of the most popular among children, because this character “poops” gifts and sweets at Christmas.
On December 8, the day of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, Tio is brought into the house. Children begin to take care of him, protect him until Christmas and feed him. A bowl is placed in front of him, where they put everything that animals eat – peel from fruits or potatoes, shells from nuts or eggs, etc.
On Christmas Eve, December 24, Tio is beaten with sticks, causing him to poop with gifts.
Tio never “pumps out” large gifts (they are brought by Papa Noel – Catalan Santa Claus), only sweets, turron, lollipops, waffles – all those sweets for children, without which any Christmas is unthinkable. Usually the beating is accompanied by songs, of which there are countless. After singing songs and beating the Christmas “uncle” well, the children look under the covers to see what he “pooped up”. The secret is that every time the parents put new gifts under Tio’s blanket, while the kids are busy with their own business. This continues several times, until the funny log “poops” with an onion, or “pees” with water on the floor, as a sign that it is over with gifts from it, writes allspain.
info.
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Christmas in Spain
Celebrating Christmas in Spain
Spain is considered the most Catholic country in Europe, so Christmas (Navidad or Nadal) is by far the most important holiday of the year, even compared to New Year.
The night before Christmas, from 24 to 25 December, is called Nochebuena, which translates as “Good Night”. Usually, a few hours before midnight, car traffic stops everywhere, it is almost impossible to meet someone on the streets of Spanish cities, shops close, and the pre-holiday bustle almost completely subsides. The Spaniards are getting ready for Christmas.
In Spain, Christmas is considered exclusively a family holiday: it is not customary to celebrate it in the streets and squares, in noisy companies or in restaurants. Religious and Christmas customs are associated with the cult of the family and the hearth.
On this main night of the year, the Spaniards gather with their large families around the festive table. According to an old tradition, kerosene lamps are often used as lighting as a symbol of rebirth and new life.
The Spanish Christmas table is always bursting with all sorts of foods and delicacies. Depending on the region, this or that dish is served as the main dish: in Madrid it is consommé soup, in Catalonia – thick meat soup “escudella”, in Andalusia – puchero, in Aragon – cardo artichokes, in Galicia – cod with cauliflower, in Valencia – fried fish with stewed onions. Numerous tapas, meat snacks, and many varieties of cheese are also served on the hostess’ table. And of course, it’s impossible to do without Christmas sweets: a variety of turrons, marzipans, polvorones, fruit candies, pies with various fillings, apricot and peach “ears”, walnuts, almond pies, dried fruits.
Every year at exactly 9:00 pm, the King of Spain delivers a traditional Christmas message to the citizens of the country from TV screens, in which he sums up the results of the outgoing year, and also wishes all the best for the next year.
All central TV channels broadcast the monarch’s speech live.
Spaniards, who observe Christian traditions, take part in a festive liturgical service on this night – a church Christmas mass. For example, in Catalonia, at exactly 2 am, locals gather for the Rooster Mass (Misa de gallo). According to beliefs, it was the rooster who first saw the birth of Christ and spread the news throughout the world.
Another Christmas tradition is the chanting of Christmas carols called villancico. Initially, from the 14th century, this song and dance genre was exclusively of a church nature, and only from the 19th century, villancico began to mean any Christmas songs. Very often, children are attracted to their performance.
Another beautiful custom at Christmas is henbane – compositions of the nativity scene, made on the biblical theme of the birth of the baby Jesus Christ. The most popular henbanes are the Holy Family surrounded by shepherds and domestic animals; angels giving glory to the Savior; Magi who came from the East to worship Christ.
Nativity scenes are found everywhere in Spain: on the streets and squares, in shop windows, at train stations and airports, in institutions, on the windows of private houses and apartments. The production of such compositions has become a real art, and some scenes are true works of art.
After the Christmas feast, it is customary to visit relatives and friends with congratulations and gifts. Often such a gift is a special Christmas basket (cestas de Navidad), which can be purchased in almost all stores: they usually include jamon, jamonera (stand for cutting jamon), a knife for cutting jamon, wine, cava, Spanish cheeses, deli meats, christmas sweets. The most exquisite holiday sets can cost up to 150-200 euros.
Some regions of Spain have their own traditions for celebrating Christmas. In Catalonia, Aragon, Galicia and Asturias, a special character participates in the Christmas holiday – the Christmas uncle (Tio de Nadal, Caga Tio). This is a special wooden block covered with a blanket, with a human face and legs in the form of sticks, which must be looked after in order for it to bring gifts.
According to another belief, you need to knock on a block of wood with sticks, knocking out various sweet gifts (sweets, waffles, lollipops) from it. The Catalans have an even more interesting character – the caganer, or “pooping” person. According to local residents, this figurine can bring good luck and abundance in the house in the coming year, Allspain.info writes.
Subscribe and follow us: Facebook , VKontakte and Yandex.Zen.
Christmas in Spain
Celebrating Christmas in Spain
Spain is considered the most Catholic country in Europe, so Christmas (Navidad or Nadal) is by far the most important holiday of the year, even compared to New Year.
The night before Christmas, from 24 to 25 December, is called Nochebuena, which translates as “Good Night”. Usually, a few hours before midnight, car traffic stops everywhere, it is almost impossible to meet someone on the streets of Spanish cities, shops close, and the pre-holiday bustle almost completely subsides.
The Spaniards are getting ready for Christmas.
In Spain, Christmas is considered exclusively a family holiday: it is not customary to celebrate it in the streets and squares, in noisy companies or in restaurants. Religious and Christmas customs are associated with the cult of the family and the hearth. On this main night of the year, the Spaniards gather with their large families around the festive table. According to an old tradition, kerosene lamps are often used as lighting as a symbol of rebirth and new life.
The Spanish Christmas table is always bursting with all sorts of foods and delicacies. Depending on the region, this or that dish is served as the main dish: in Madrid it is consommé soup, in Catalonia – thick meat soup “escudella”, in Andalusia – puchero, in Aragon – cardo artichokes, in Galicia – cod with cauliflower, in Valencia – fried fish with stewed onions. Numerous tapas, meat snacks, and many varieties of cheese are also served on the hostess’ table.
And of course, it’s impossible to do without Christmas sweets: a variety of turrons, marzipans, polvorones, fruit candies, pies with various fillings, apricot and peach “ears”, walnuts, almond pies, dried fruits.
Every year at exactly 9:00 pm, the King of Spain delivers a traditional Christmas message to the citizens of the country from TV screens, in which he sums up the results of the outgoing year, and also wishes all the best for the next year. All central TV channels broadcast the monarch’s speech live.
Spaniards, who observe Christian traditions, take part in a festive liturgical service on this night – a church Christmas mass. For example, in Catalonia, at exactly 2 am, locals gather for the Rooster Mass (Misa de gallo). According to beliefs, it was the rooster who first saw the birth of Christ and spread the news throughout the world.
Another Christmas tradition is the chanting of Christmas carols called villancico. Initially, from the 14th century, this song and dance genre was exclusively of a church nature, and only from the 19th century, villancico began to mean any Christmas songs.
Very often, children are attracted to their performance.
Another beautiful custom at Christmas is henbane – compositions of the nativity scene, made on the biblical theme of the birth of the baby Jesus Christ. The most popular henbanes are the Holy Family surrounded by shepherds and domestic animals; angels giving glory to the Savior; Magi who came from the East to worship Christ. Nativity scenes are found everywhere in Spain: on the streets and squares, in shop windows, at train stations and airports, in institutions, on the windows of private houses and apartments. The production of such compositions has become a real art, and some scenes are true works of art.
After the Christmas feast, it is customary to visit relatives and friends with congratulations and gifts. Often such a gift is a special Christmas basket (cestas de Navidad), which can be purchased in almost all stores: they usually include jamon, jamonera (stand for cutting jamon), a knife for cutting jamon, wine, cava, Spanish cheeses, deli meats, christmas sweets.
The most exquisite holiday sets can cost up to 150-200 euros.
Some regions of Spain have their own traditions for celebrating Christmas. In Catalonia, Aragon, Galicia and Asturias, a special character participates in the Christmas holiday – the Christmas uncle (Tio de Nadal, Caga Tio). This is a special wooden block covered with a blanket, with a human face and legs in the form of sticks, which must be looked after in order for it to bring gifts. According to another belief, you need to knock on a block of wood with sticks, knocking out various sweet gifts (sweets, waffles, lollipops) from it. The Catalans have an even more interesting character – the caganer, or “pooping” person. According to local residents, this figurine can bring good luck and abundance in the house in the coming year, Allspain.info writes.
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Christmas traditions in Spain | About Spain from the guide
Christmas traditions in Spain are interesting and varied.
Today we will talk about one of the most unusual: the Catalan Kaga Tio.
Three weeks before Christmas, a funny character appears in Catalan houses: a wooden log with a funny face th. They call him Kaga Tio.
This Spanish Christmas tradition dates back to the winter solstice celebrations in the rural areas of Catalonia and Aragon.
Later it became part of the tradition of celebrating the Christian Christmas.
Kaga Tio is still one of the most unique Christmas characters these days.
Contents
Christmas traditions in Spain: origins
The winter solstice has always been a special date in cultural tradition. This is the official arrival of winter, which falls on the period from 21 to 22 December. It is the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere.
The beginning of winter foreshadowed a cold, dark, difficult period of time.
This period required endurance and asceticism. That is why in pagan times holidays were celebrated, the main characters of which were the harvest and the sacrifice of animals. It was a great final holiday to face the harsh winter.
It is in this pre-Christian context that one can trace the origin of Kaga Tio, a log that was symbolically burned in the houses of rural communities, giving light and warmth at the beginning of winter.
During the winter solstice, the log was burned and its ashes scattered over the village as a symbol of rebirth. It was also customary to sprinkle ashes on the crops as a fertility ritual.
This magical log was the personification of the spirit of the forest. It occupied a place at the family hearth. His trunk was a kind of cornucopia full of food and gifts so that the family can endure the harsh winter.
The historical birth of the Christmas holiday is part of a tradition associated with the famous Roman Saturnalia.
It was a holiday that took place during the winter solstice. During this festival, they paid tribute to Saturn, the god of agriculture and harvest. The Romans, on these dates, visited relatives and friends, exchanged gifts and arranged great feasts.
And Saturnalia undoubtedly influenced the establishment of the date of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Christmas traditions in Spain: Kaga Tio
In this way, the Christian holiday has its roots in pagan holidays, adapting various elements from them, such as the Catalan Kaga Tio .
One of the legends that connects Kaga Tio with Christmas is the legend of the shepherds who attended the legendary Feast of Worship. Since they had nothing to offer, they left their food in the manger and were rewarded on their return home with the plentiful food they found under the log.
Over time, it turned into a children’s party with gifts at Christmas.
The tradition has been transformed and Kaga Tio has become exactly the character who brings gifts to the Catalan children.