Dining
in Spain is truly a gastronomic experience, and one of the biggest
reasons we love Spain so much. A trip through the local market reveals
a spread of meat, so varied... Here they relish all bits of the
animal, pictured above here, are the delicacies of cow tongue and
testis. Unfortunately we don't have a nice grill set up in our
apartment, just one small burner on the stove is working so we'll have
to give the fresh meat bits a miss. But the litres of sangria we'll
suck down all day and all night, along with the cold, local cervesa.
The market has an amazing variety of pescado (fish), cheese
(especially manchego and other wonderful varieties of goat cheese) and
veggies. It's been so long since we've been in a country where we can
eat raw veggies and fruit, so we're keen to indulge. Our favorite,
however, is the fresh manchego cheese and cured serrano ham, a
specialty of Spain. Shops have big pig legs hanging en masse from the
ceilings, some sell for up to 400 Euros... The Spaniards really like
their ham, and they slice it up fresh in cafes and restaurants - a
common sight is a big pig leg extended out a shop window on a carving
stand, where they finely slice off think, delicate slivers. We are
quick to buy up a big block of manchego and fresh bread to enjoy with
the fine slices of serrano ham and the many bottles of tasty,
inexpensive, vino tinto.
The
red wine here flows abundantly, some produced as close as 30 minutes
away from Barcelona, others up from the Northern Rioja region. Good
drinkable bottles that don't leave a nasty hangover, cost only a few
Euros - like "2 Buck Chuck" but far better quality and taste. So we've
stocked up on a varietal pack to sample before going out to restaurants
at night. Deanna found a quaint little cheese and wine shop while out
exploring today, and brought back some excellent selections of
specialty cheese after having the luxury of doing a "cheese tasting"
right there in the shop. The other delight that Spain is know for is
the paella. You can order it with mariscos (seafood), meat or
squid-ink blackened rice. Any mixture you select, its sure to be a
dish you won't forget. And to cap off the fine food, there are gelato
shops every few meters, a taste of Italy in Spain that Deanna and I
don't miss a beat with.
Lest
I forget the tapas... Tapas bars are a feature of the social fabric
here in Spain. Entering a tapas bar is like going into any regular
bar, however, besides the flowing draught, wine and sangria, there are
artfully prepared tapas, which consist of a small slice of baguette
with various toppings like serrano ham, manchego cheese, sardines and
peppers, croquettes, and a variety of platos: albondigas (small
meatballs), mejillones a la marina (sauteed muscles), tortilla de la
espanola (spanish omelette), patatas bravas, and calamares... All
things we could eat for months here if our budget would allow it. For
right now, we'll enjoy good food, wine and friends!
