The day of the Mona is a very special day for many Spanish regions. A festivity that has a lot to do with Lent and that puts an end, culinary speaking, to the period of abstinence that Holy Week has meant. If you want to know more about the Mona Day 2022: When is it and how is it celebrated?its origin or in which regions it is celebrated, we explain it below.
What is Mona’s Day
It’s about a public holiday that could not be understood without Holy Week, since Mona’s Day is called in Christianity, Easter monday. That is, it is the Monday following Easter Sunday. The Day of the Mona has two related meanings, which we are now going to explain to you.
The Carnival festivities give way to Lentthat is, 40 days in which Christians around the world begin a fasting period, food is restricted and especially food based on animal meat. A period that ends with the Resurrection of Jesus on the so-called Easter Sunday.
For this reason, the Mona’s Day is a holidayIt means the end of the fast. Jesus has risen and Christians return to their normal lives, eating all kinds of food. Then the two meanings to which we previously referred are: Resurrection of Christ and the end of the fasting period levied for Lent.
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When is Mona’s Day 2022 celebrated?
the festival of Mona Day 2022 will be Monday, April 5. A day when family and friends gather to end a period of recollection and fasting, with a good meal in the field. It is a very special day because takes its name from the typical sweets of these dates, the Easter Mona.
The Mona de Pascua was originally a bun or sweet cake, whose ingredients are flour, egg, sugar and salt. A sweet that is very reminiscent of the typical roscón de reyes. These sweets were delivered on Easter Sunday, after leaving mass, by the godparents to the godchildren. A long-awaited and desired bun by all children.
The next day, Monday, is When is Mona’s Day celebrated?with family and friends where this delicious sweet is tasted as a family. A tradition that, although it has practically lost its religious content, continues to exist in different Spanish autonomous communities. A much loved and celebrated holiday.
Where is Mona’s Day celebrated?
The Mona’s Day celebration is mainly typical of Murcia, Valencia, Castile-La Mancha, Aragon, the Balearic Islands and Catalonia. Although each community includes different variants and names, the purpose is the same.
As we have seen so far, the day of the mona is a day whose main element is to taste the famous Mona de Pascua. Bearing in mind that it is a day to celebrate and eat with the family, the biggest difference is found in the type of mona that is made.
In Valencia On the Day of the Mona or Easter Monday, a cake is consumed that is made with flour, egg, sugar and salt, in the traditional style. this one carries one or two eggs depending on the size, with painted shell.
The eggs are introduced both to shape the cake and as a decorative element. Then add on top colored anises that embellish the sweet.
In other regions like Catalonia or the Balearic Islands, tradition rules and although the ingredients are the same, what varies are the forms. Being the most traditional crown shaped monkeys.
Depending on the regions, there are other traditions in which the base of the sweet is sponge cake filled with cream and chocolateother variants is to add jam instead of chocolate.
Then the whole cake is covered with Catalan cream at the top and add almonds on the sides. in minorcathe monkey is covered by a good meringue layer.
If we move to Basque Countrywe will take the opilla, a dessert that is consumed on Saint Mark’s Day. Another variation is that it is given by the godmothers instead of the godfather.
However, it is a special dessert that is consumed practically throughout Spain, although each region designates it differently. In the Basque Country, as we have seen it is called Opilla, however if we go to Jaen Mona’s Day is celebrated with the hornazo from Jaen. In Asturias is called Bollawhile in Galicia is called easter donut.
We must also say that little by little traditions are changing and if before, the eggs that were decorated were chicken, now they are chocolate. Every year pastry chefs innovate with new shapes coming to create real sculptures to adorn this delicious sweet or dessert. Now the Monas de Pascua that are taken on the day of the Mona, we can find them adorned with chocolate sprinkles, feathers, chicks, crocodiles, bunnies, etc.
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How is Mona’s Day celebrated?
It is tradition that the Easter monday, families or friends gather to eat the mona all together, usually in a country setting.
Meals are usually abundant, including lamb chops, paella, grilled rabbit and wine. Each family will bring a dish which is then consumed by the entire group.
As a general rule, the monkey is consumed at snack and it is very typical that eggs hatch on someone else’s foreheadthen they are consumed yes, accompanied by a good wine and the traditional Easter sausage.
Afterwards, family groups will spend the afternoon playing cards, flying kites or chatting animatedly.
So much importance was given to this rich and nutritious dessert that it has reached change the denomination of Easter Monday for Mona’s Day.
Origin of Mona’s Day
Its exact origin is unknown.it seems that the word Mona comes from the Arabic word Munna or Mouna, whose meaning is “provision of the mouth”. It was a gift that the Muslim people made to their lords.
Other currents maintain that the word Mona derives from the Greek Munus, whose meaning is gift. The Munuses were painted eggs that were given away in colors like red or yellow.
To know its tradition we must go back to antiquity. Among the Christians they were in the habit of bless the eggs which were collected from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. These were jealously guarded shared among family and friends the day of Easter.
Throughout the centuries, master chefs prepared buns with flour, eggs and sugar. These buns included hard-boiled eggs that were inserted into the surface of the bun.
After this tradition became a gift from the godparents for godchildren, where as many eggs as the age of the child were included. This sweet gift ceased to be the day the child made his first communion. It was understood that after communion the child ceased to be a child to become a young man.
Today, and with increasing frequency, sweets are being replaced by various chocolate figures, where we can find from the typical chocolate egg to impressive figures. It is not uncommon to find funny figures, movie characters or any other reason that arises from the imagination.
How to prepare the Mona de Pascua
Talking so much about the Mona de Pascua, surely you have wanted to try it. If you are good at baking and dare to get into the kitchen, here is the recipe for you to prepare yourself. Before we start, we will tell you that the mona is similar to a brioche, only that it is shaped like a bun and a donut and that one or more boiled eggs are added in the center. So if you like brioches, you will like the mona.
The preparation of the mona has some work, because it requires two doughs: first the sourdough and, later, the dough of the mona. We will have to prepare the sourdough the night before, dissolving fresh yeast (about 10 grams) in warm water. In a bowl, place 100 grams of flour. Mix the ingredients until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
The next day, mix about 400 grams of strong flour with 10 grams of fresh yeast. Add the mother dough and 3 previously beaten eggs. Also add 140 grams of sugar, 80 grams of olive oil, lemon peel, a little orange blossom water and a pinch of salt. Knead well.
You will have to form a ball with the dough, wrap it in a cloth and leave it for 1 or 2 hours, without humidity or draughts, preferably in a warm place. This ball will grow.
We already have the dough ready. Now we cut it and we make the buns. Remember that you must make some holes in the center and add decorative motifs with more dough. Take it to the oven, and halfway through the fermentation, place the eggs.
Before putting it in the oven, paint with beaten egg and add sugar and colored anise. The oven must have heat up and down, at about 175º.
Now you know how to prepare the traditional Easter Mona and enjoy this party so popular in different parts of the world.
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