Every year the appearance of “Pestiños” (honey-coated pastries), “ostiones” (local oysters) and “erizos” (sea urchins) on the streets is the tell-tale sign that the Cádiz Carnival is just around the corner. Placed between Christmas and carnival, three gastronomic events help satiate the hunger for carnival that locals and visitors alike begin to experience at the beginning of the new year. The free tasting of these local delicacies is accompanied by the first carnival rhythms of the year, with songs from previous years whetting appetites for the new ones to come at this year’s carnival from 16-25 of February.

These are mass gatherings where eating honey-coated pastries, sea urchins or oysters is just an excuse to get together and go out to listen to the first guitars, mandolins and drums. There’s enough to go round and it’s all free.

While oysters and sea urchins are fruits of the sea which are typical of Cádiz, “pestiños” are honey-coated Christmas pastries which serve as a reminder that Christmas itself is the prelude to Carnival. The religious mixes with the pagan, the family celebration of devotion merges with the pageant of ingenuity and good humour. It’s only possible in Cádiz!

In 2007 the “pestiñada” takes place on the 13 January, the “ostionada” one day later and the “erizada” on 21 January. These three events are the most festive gastronomic expressions of the carnival celebrations.

According to la Asociación Gastronomía y Cocina Gaditana (www.cocinagaditana.com ), before these three celebrations were introduced some 30 years ago, a traditional gastronomic content was largely absent from the carnival celebrations, with the exception of “las tortillas de carnival de Olvera and “buñelos”.

Andalusian sweets

The “pestiñada” always takes place in Plaza San Francisco on Saturday from 10.30pm to the early hours of the morning. It has been organised by the peña de Los Demócratas for the last 25 years and is the first date of the Carnival calendar, a reminder that the start of the official carnival competition is only a few days away.

“Coros”, carnival choirs with 40 or 50 members provide the music for the feast where some 12,000 “pestiños” are consumed, washed down with “anis”, an aniseed liquor which, like “pestiños” are strongly associated with Christmas. The honey-coated pastries are made from flour, yeast, salt, sherry, olive oil and sesame seeds.
For many, rather than welcoming in carnival, this celebration marks the final goodbye to Christmas.

“Ostiones” – the oysters from Cádiz

The following day, and with the sweet taste of “pestiños” still in the mouth, the “ostionada” takes place in Plaza San Antonio. Originally this event, which has been organised by the peña el Molino since 1986, took place in la Plaza de la Oca del Mentidero, however as the tradition grew in popularity the sheer number of people made it necessary to take the oysters to a larger stage.

San Antonio, one of the largest squares in Cádiz, fills with locals and visitors searching for a few warm rays of the February sun while they listen to the first carnival songs and rhythms. The star of the show, however, is the “ostión”, a local mollusc similar to the oyster but more intense in taste, which is eaten raw with a dash of lemon.

Having queued up for this delicacy and washed it down with a beer or wine (“fino”, “manzanilla&