She lives in Barcelona with her husband and son.Originally published in 1997, and now available in Spanish for the first time, this acclaimed novel has lasting appeal. Lindsay Patterson is the creator, producer, and co-host of Tumble, a science podcast for kids. No turrón – it appeared separately, on a plate, and it was delicious. When the blanket was lifted, there was a small set of watercolors, a Kinder egg, and a bottle of beer for the parents. My Catalan friend sang the traditional song and my son hit Caga Tió with a wooden spoon. We then headed to see another Tió at a small Christmas party. He had just returned from a field trip to go'find' Caga Tió in a park on the edge of the city. 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.Īfter leaving the archives, I picked up my 3-year-old son from school.

'It's just a thing we do,' said Busquets. 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.īut why does it have to 'poop' the turrón? I asked. They'd burn it throughout the winter, and honor it as Tió de Nadal. In rural villages, Catalans would choose a large tree trunk to set aflame in a bonfire. 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. 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.' 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. It was clear that turrón was highly valued, at least in Alicante. '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.' 'There are also documents that associate turrón with salary,' Manes wrote. It was served during the holiday by King Phillip II, and spread through the country by the nobility. Manes says that it's likely that turróns were reserved for special occasions due to their high cost. 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.' But Tió is implored to poop turrón, specifically, because it's the traditional Christmas sweet – not just in Catalonia, but across all of Spain.Īs 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. '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. The origins of both Caga Tió and turrón are hazy, and their marriage appears to be one of convenience. 'We are Catalan,' she said, as if that was explanation enough. But I wanted to connect the dots.Ĭaga 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.

You take the presents, you don't ask 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.

'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!'Ĭaga 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!) A new friend's teenage daughter was telling us about the Catalan traditions she celebrates in school. 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. Caga Tiós, Catalan Christmas logs stacked up at a market in Girona, Spain.

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