Hornazo de Salamanca, © Tara Shain.
Traditional Easter Foods in Spain
Easter holidays in Spain are filled with traditional recipes that reflect a history of strict dietary abstinence and great celebratory feasts. You can find dozens of recipes for the excessive days of Carnaval in which the once forbidden foods of the days ahead are used up to prepare for a period of fasting, such as the Catalan botifarra d’ou, coca de llardons and bunyols de vent. For the lean days of Quaresma (Lent) cod dishes like bacallà amb samfaina and bacallà amb allioli de mel take center stage in Catalunya as well as the rest of Spain.
Semana Santa brings with it the famous torrijas for which each region has its own version, as well as cod croquetas, and potaje de vigilia which are common throughout Spain and sopa de ajo from Castilla.
For Easter Monday, Catalunya's wildly intricate monas de Pasqua take the cake when it comes to the season's sweet treats. Once just a ring of lightly sweetened bread dough topped with hard cooked eggs much like the Italian pane di Pasqua, today the mona's humble origins have all but been forgotten.
But, when it comes to the story behind a recipe, the hornazo de Salamanca is the clear winner.
Prostitution, Abstinence and Partying
Believe it or not, the story starts with prostitution in the middle ages.
Unable to stamp it out entirely, the Spanish monarchy tried instead to control prostitution by limiting its practice to certain neighborhoods and even built casas de mancebía (brothels) in some towns stipulating that all prostitution had to take place within its walls. In Salamanca, a brothel was built in 1497 under license from Prince Juan, and, as you can imagine, those who resided within its walls had a host of strict regulations to follow about how and when they could conduct their business. One such rule banished them from the city to the other side of the Tormes River during Lent, lest their presence should entice a good Catholic citizen to have impure thoughts during this long period of abstinence from carnal desires.
Finally, on "Lunes de Aguas" (Easter Monday) they were once again allowed back into the city. Along the riverbanks a celebration awaited them on their return; they were greeted with wine, meat-stuffed hornazo and the many happy men who were thrilled to have the "ladies of the evening" among them again.
It is said that the day's unusual name, Lunes de Aguas (Monday of the waters) is a play on the word enagua which was a slip or petticoat worn by prostitutes. True or not, it's an amusing story!
In the middle ages the church required abstinence from meat and all animal-based products, including eggs, butter, cream, milk and cheese during Lent. While today practicing Catholics are only required to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and the Fridays of Lent, the traditional recipes for this time reflect the strict limits imposed centuries ago and remain steadfast favorites throughout Spain.
INGREDIENTS
For the Dough
- 60 ml whole milk (or water)
- 25 g fresh yeast, or 8 grams dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 300 g flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 g sweet paprika
- 2 eggs, used separately
- 30 g lard at room temperature
- 40 ml white wine
- 10 ml olive oil
For the Filling
- 8 thin slices of lomo (pork loin)
- 6 fresh chorizo sausages
- 6 fresh longaniza sausages
- 8-10 slices of jamón serrano or jamón ibérico
- 2-3 hard boiled eggs, sliced (optional)
METHOD
- Warm the milk (or water) slightly and mix in the sugar and the yeast. If using fresh yeast, break it apart in the milk; if using dry yeast stir it to break up any clumps. Set aside.
- In a large bowl sift together the flour, salt and paprika.
- Make a well in the center of the flour and add one egg, lard, wine, olive oil and yeast mixture.
- Start mixing together with a fork, gradually incorporating the flour into the liquid.
- When the dough becomes too thick to mix with the fork, use your hands to blend the ingredients together. (You can also use an electric stand mixer with a dough hook.) The dough should be firm, elastic and not sticky.
- Let the dough rest in a covered bowl in a warm area of your kitchen away from drafts—I like to warm the oven slightly for about 5 min and then turn it off and let my dough rise there. The dough should double in size in 30 minutes to an hour.
- While letting the dough rise, cook the chorizo and longaniza and then set aside to cool. Once cooled cut them in half lengthwise. You can cook the lomo before adding it to the dough, but it is not necessary.
- When your dough is ready, punch it down and divide in half. Place one half back in the bowl and cover. Roll the other half out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle of approximately 34 x 26 cm. Trim any excess dough and reserve for decorating. Gently place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 200ºC
- Lay on the meats! Making sure to leave a 2-3 cm border, place first the lomo, then layer the jamón on top, followed by the longaniza and chorizo together in the third layer. Top with sliced, hard boiled egg.
- Roll out the second ball of dough to the same size, trim any excess dough and set aside.
- Brush a bit of water around the edges of the base dough, then put the top layer of dough in place. Press the edges of the top dough gently into the edges of the bottom dough.
- To decorate, roll out your dough scraps and trim into long strips. Place them on top in any pattern you fancy.
- Once decorated, fold the edges of the dough over and press with a fork to seal. Brush the top with egg wash and then poke a few holes in the top dough to allow the steam to escape.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
The traditional meats for the filling are lomo adobado, chorizo from Salmanca and Spanish jamón often coupled with a layer of hard-boiled egg. In my research I discovered many variations—most use sliced, dry-cured chorizo. I chose to use fresh because I thought it would be both heartier and less dry. Also, since chorizo has such a strong flavor, I opted to use half fresh longaniza and half chorizo for the sausage layer. It's really up to you!
Published April 12, 2022, updated April 13, 2025.