As a Cuban-American, every year my family and I look forward to Noche Buena, Christmas Eve. I have the best memories of Noche Buena growing up. While I love my American traditions, there are things that are unique to my Cuban culture, of which I am very proud of. You see, many Latin families make a bigger deal sometimes about Noche Buena than Christmas Day. On Noche Buena, we gather our huge families, while enjoying our traditional recipes and celebrate the holiday. However, we never want to overlook the importance of Christmas Day, so of course we meet again on the 25th after attending mass, to open gifts, celebrate the birth of Jesus and of course, eat the leftovers from the previous evening. Noche Buena meals consist of some very important staples, such as, lechon asado (roast pork), rice and beans, yuca and fried plantains. After dinner, we all drink my aunt’s Creme de Vie, a sweet Cuban version of egg nog, (I would give you the recipe but then I would have to kill you…as our family’s recipe has a secret ingredient that I have not seen in any other recipe I have come across. But here’s a similar one). And last but certainly not least, comes dessert, where some eat flan, but most eat turrónes (Pronounced TOO-RON-EHS). What are turrónes you say? Turrón is a nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. Growing up I remember the simple ones made of almonds, nuts and egg yolk (my hubby’s favorite, yema), but nowadays there are many more varieties, from chocolate coated to fruit filled.
Here are my family’s favorite turrónes for the holidays!
Have you ever tried turrón? If you have, I would love to know which one you liked most…
I love them too, especially the modern ones with the chocolate!
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I love the way that it’s displayed. But let’s face it, anytime that there’s chocolate involved….. 😀
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I have seen those around at parties I have gone to, but I never knew what they were called. They are really yummy!
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I’ve never had turrones before, but I think I’ve had something similar. They look delicious. My family gets together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, we have soup, sandwiches and party foods.
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I love learning about the way different cultures use food at holidays. I’d like to try these.
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Well i love christmas is especially for all these sweets and choccolates and food.i am just addict t them
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Todo eso es cierto la costumbre cubana de noche buena es el lechon asado arroz blanco frijoles negros yuca hervida con mojo (limon ajo y cebolla caliente puesto arriba despues de que la yuca esta hecha) y ensalada de tomate lechuga y rabanos el poste turrones de yema , masapan con fruta, jijona que es requisimo con queso amarillo y algunos mas depende del gusto de cada familia y el 25 de Dec. es algo parecido Feliz Navidad para todos
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I haven’t had those before. They look good! I think I’d love the chocolate ones, too!!
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I’ve never had turrones before, nor seen any before to be totally honest with you. They look like they would be delicious! Normally Christmas Eve we order pizza and watch movies trying to keep the kids a sleep as long as possible. This year will be a little harder if you ask me….
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I have never tried Turrone before! We are going to a Christmas celebration with our Latino friends on Christmas Day though so hopefully I will get to try them! They always have so many great foods I have never tried.
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I want to come to your house! Everything looks delicious.
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I have never tried it but it sure sounds like I am missing out!
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I have never tried the Turrone, but it looks and sounds like something my Mother in Law buys every year at this time.
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I haven’t tried turrones before but I would be willing to. The different varieties sound really nice. The almond ones sound really good.
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I have never seen or heard of any of these before. They all look so good though, I would love to give them a try. I love trying new things around Christimas time!
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I haven’t heard of these before but would love to try them. I love learning about different Christmas traditions.
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I have never tried them before but would love to! It is so interesting seeing how people celebrate the holidays around the world.
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Unfortunately I have never tried them but they look and sound delicious. Your Christmas eve celebration sounds wonderful. I love any excuse to get together with family and eat good food. Happy Holidays to you and yours.
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I have never heard of this, but I would definitely like to try turrones!
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no! I have never tried it before! But now, I really, really want to! Maybe this year it will happen!
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I haven’t ever had them but I have seen photos of them before. They look really tasty! Merry Christmas to you and yours.
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Those would make a good dessert! They all look lovely and so yummy as well. I would love to serve those for Christmas!
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I have never heard of these before!! I love to try food from different parts of the world these sound good!
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I have never heard of turrones but would love to try them. We also celebrate Christmas Eve with family and in many ways, much more elaborate than Christmas Day.
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I have never even heard of turrones later on tried it but I am loving your family traditions, with MOH they made Christmas Eve a big deal too.
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I never had these or heard of them! I love trying new things from different cultures thanks for sharing!
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I have never tried Turron before but I would love to try any variety. They sound amazing. When we were younger our whole family would gather at my grandmother’s house Christmas Eve. It was always my favorite day during the holidays. I come from an Italian family so we all filled every room in the house. It was so festive. Thanks for sharing your traditions.
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ooh, looks like this foods are so awesome, would love to try them sometime
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Ohh I’ve never done turrones before but they look amazing, love how they are set out. x
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I have never tried it before but they sure do look delicious. I would love to give it a try if I can get it.
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We love torrone! It’s not a tradition in my home but it is for my husband (who’s from Italy). We always buy a ton of local torrone to bring back home every year!
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I have never tried turron, but all of that food looks really good. The egg nogg sounds delicious too. Thanks for sharing your traditions with us.
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Yummy. I have not seen these but they do look great. I will have to check it out.
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Yummm…I love them too and also love the way it’s displayed
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I have never heard of turrón before. I will have to pick some up for the holidays.
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I have come across many different recipes over the years during Christmas & these are some delicious looking recipes as well. Anything with chocolate is something I would love right away.
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I never had any turrones or was even aware of it. Thanks for posting about it. However, I have tried Guave paste and love those.
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I’ve never heard of turrones, but I’ve also never been one down to turn down dessert. Those look yummy.
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Oh boy that’s some good eats there. Making me hungry at 8 in the morning, lol!
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What a beautiful tradition! We had a friend who celebrated in a similar way, but I am not sure of their heritage.
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Turron is such a beloved part of Christmas for me. When I was a little girl in Spain, I remember my grandparents serving it on Christmas Eve.
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Like the first photo 🙂
Maria V.
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