Not So Fast, 9. Fairness.

When Americans think about Carnival, they think about New Orleans and Mardi Gras. At the most, Rio de Janeiro. A wild day of floats, parades, and weird costumes. And most probably they have no idea where it comes from.

The most immediate past of Carnival is in the Middle Ages. During Lent eating meat was forbidden, so all the meat from the butchering of the previous fall needed to be eaten. After Easter, the weather would get warmer and the meat would go bad. But its oldest history dates back to pagan times. It has evolved over the centuries into a festival of excesses. Costumes to hide a person's true identity helped individuals do things no one would have condoned otherwise, such as pulling up women's skirts, kissing a strange woman or running and hitting someone with a stick. A costume would also designate someone as the "devil" and a person to be avoided, as that person would run through the crowd doing mischief. During Carnival the "devil" would run amok and the social order would be turned on its head.

In Spain there are three places with famous Carnival celebrations. They are Cádiz in Andalucía, Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canaries, and Ourense in Galicia. In Ourense there is what is called the magical triangle that comprises the towns of Xinzo de Limia, Verín and Laza. Neighboring towns also have well-known celebrations, such as Viana do Bolo and Maceda. The Carnival traditions here are amongst the oldest in Europe. Some towns begin celebrations even five weeks earlier, though the strongest day is always Fat Tuesday. There are different happenings in those towns during those weeks. There are Sundays in which people go and throw flour at each other. Somewhere else people throw rags doused in mud and other things. And there is one town in which the young men wander through the woods collecting ant hills. The furious ants then get thrown at people, who had better be wearing protective clothing because they're going to be bitten. In Verín there's also the Xoves de Comadres, a Thursday during which the women get the run of the town, making fun of the men and having a women's-only night. The men then get their turn on the Xoves de Compadres.

In almost every town and small city of Ourense there is a central figure, the one that represents the mischievous spirit or the devil of Carnival. In Verín they're called Cigarrons, in Laza, Peliqueiros, and in Maceda, Máscaras, but this devil is practically the same in all three towns. They all have cowbells tied to the waist, and as they run you can hear them several streets over. They also carry swinging sticks, with which they try to hit passers-by (though in this century only symbolically because now we have something called lawsuits!). They have tall masks painted with real and mythological creatures and the costumes, being expensive, are generally handed down to the next generation. These devils are generally the law in these towns and can do just about anything they want, so front-line spectators be warned.


In Xinzo de Limia they have Pantallas. They have a mask shaped almost like a rooster's crest and on each side the masks are painted with different images, much like the Cigarrons, Peliqueiros, and Máscaras. Traditionally, they patrolled the streets to make sure everyone was costumed. They also carry inflated animal bladders that they bang together to create a noise only to be heard during these days. 

In Viana do Bolo they have something that more closely resembles a devil, the Boteiro. They have an enormous head covering and masks that look like they've stepped out of a Breughal painting. They parade in front of the band and jump over a stick they carry called the monca, with which they also sometimes hit the public. These are much more primitive and reach back to times before the Church ever showed its face in these mountainous areas of Galicia.

These celebrations and characters are the trademark of Carnival in the province of Ourense. Year after year visitors come to this magical triangle, where the traditions are primitive and ancient. There are more refined traditions elsewhere in Galicia, though. In townships around the river Ulla near the coast there's the tradition of the Xenerais do Ulla. Here men and women dress up as eighteenth century generals on horses and do battle through rhymes. Another refined Carnival is that of Cobres, in the province of Pontevedra. Here men and women dress up as Madamas e Galáns. These fake aristocrats have extremely elaborate costumes with large headgear adorned with flowers and ribbons. Both traditions seem to be relatively new, only around two hundred years old.

Everywhere else in Galicia there exists the tradition of dressing up in bought or homemade costumes. Whatever a person dresses up as, he's called a choqueiro, a generic name for a disguised person. Where I live, the strongest days of Carnival are Saturday night and all day Tuesday. On Tuesday homemade floats gather in the big plaza of town, where the best wins a prize, generally cash. People in costumes also participate and some come away with a little extra money. On Ash Wednesday in towns along the west coast we celebrate the Enterro da Sardiña. The effigy of a sardine, made of cardboard and paper, is carried through the streets on a bier. Grieving and weeping people following, crying out their pain and grief at the loss of Don Carnal. The Sardiña is ceremoniously thrown into the sea as part of the burial and the wild celebrations of excesses are buried until the next year.

Part of the celebrations are always gastronomic. In Galicia the popular dish is the cocido galego. Made with all different kinds of ingredients, it's a staple in many homes. It can be made with chick peas, potatoes, greens such as cabbage or rabbi, salt pork of all kinds and chourizos, a pork sausage colored with paprika. Salt pork used to be the only meat people would have in their homes, from the fall butchering time. So, at Carnival it would have to be eaten up before Lent came. The meat prohibition during Lent would also extend to fats. Once upon a time, common households couldn't use oil for cooking because it was too expensive, so they would use animal fat. Even desserts were made with fat, such as filloas, or thin crepes made from a batter of flour, milk or water, and eggs. Filloas are made using a sartaña, a flat circular iron placed directly on the fire. A piece of pork fat on a stick is rubbed over the sartaña and a ladle of the batter is poured on the surface. As soon as one side is brown, it's quickly turned over. The best are practically lace-thin and have crispy edges.  

Another dessert is orellas, which are a lot like fried dough. They're generally perfumed with aniseed and lemon peel. They can be the size of a plate, or the size of a dog's ear. It all depends on who's cutting the dough. Most people make them crisp, but mine come out softer. They're my favorite Carnival dessert. Probably because they're the only ones I can make. My filloas look more like pancakes.

Schools also celebrate these days. Next week students get off from Monday through Wednesday. But all over Spain students will dress up on this Friday to get into the spirit of things. Primary schools generally have everything organized by grade. Our local school will have a small parade of kindergartners through sixth graders up and down the local road with the help of local cops. High schools tend to be more independent. There students can organize themselves or go solo. My daughter once searched for a large cardboard box which she then cut up (with Mom's help, of course) and reassembled to make a coffin. She rigged it so she could wear it and went off to school with it. We still have it stashed away somewhere. In a pinch it can be used whenever a cardboard coffin is needed.

So, since it's past midnight I don't think I'll go make orellas right now, but tomorrow I'd better get all the ingredients. Because Carnival is approaching and my people are demanding them.  It's that crazy time of year again.