¡Hola!

Hello blog. It’s been a while. Partly because we’ve just returned from an awesome long-awaited holiday in Spain and Portugal, but mostly because of my studies that have kept me occupied for the last couple of months.

But enough of that, I’m back (at least until the next round of exams…) and I have a lot to write about!

I expected quite a lot from the Spanish food world and I came back with mixed feelings. On the one hand the quality and freshness of the typical street café food impressed me but on the other hand I was expecting more creativity and "prettier" plates of food. I went to Barcelona with this elBulli/Ferran Adria idea of the food scene there but soon realised that the gastronomy I was expecting is only to be found in expensive restaurants and that there is a big gap between that and the food on offer in the typical street café.

Spanish restaurants vs local South African restaurants

The Spaniards can learn a thing or two from us when it comes to friendly service in a restaurant – they are an arrogant bunch and leave you with the impression that they are doing you a favour to serve you food & drink even though you are paying a good penny for it! After all if it wasn’t for tourism half of these establishments would have to shut their doors.

Another thumbs-up for our local restaurants is the food presentation and restaurant decoration & layout in general.

They of course have the cobblestone streets going for them! Be warned you pay between 20% - 40% extra if you sit at one of the few tables outside on the street. But who wants to sit inside a stuffy, cramped little bar if you could sit outside admiring the old buildings and taking in the atmosphere!

Nevertheless it was an interesting experience and not all bad!

Some interesting facts

It’s common for restaurants to have a Menu del Dia (menu of the day) that they serve over lunch time ranging between 8 and 14 euros. This includes a three course meal as well as a drink so it’s good value for money even in Rand-terms.

Seeing that lunch is generally from 14h00 to 16h00 during which most places close for siesta and dinner only after 21h00, it takes some getting used to!

We soon realised that it is quite normal to have a beer or a glass of wine with breakfast at 8h00 in the morning. I didn’t see this myself but apparently it gets even better in Portugal where they’d have a bottle of wine with breakfast, another with lunch and 2 with dinner…per person!

A traditional breakfast option in Spain is Churros & Chocolate. Churros is a salty, deep-fried pastry served with a cup of warm, think chocolate… How bad can your day possibly be if you start it this way!

Jamon

Pronounced “gammon”

Jamon, Jamon, Jamon! Every second shop in Spain sells it, every single restaurant serves it and any meat-loving South African can’t get enough of it! My favourite Jamon spot was the Museo del Jamon in Madrid. Just like we have a lot of baker-turned-coffee shop places in SA, this is a butchery-turned-bar – what an awesome idea! There are a few different outlets around Madrid but the one in Calle Mayor was by far my favourite. Always packed, barmen running around like crazy, and legs of jamon literally hanging wall to wall from top to bottom. They serve it simply as shavings of this delicate meat on plate, or with a slice of Emmentaler on a bocadello (bread roll). Just like that. No butter, no mayonnaise, no salad.

To read more about Jamon go here 

Tapas

One can’t write about Spain without writing about tapas! It’s a great way to sample lots of different foods but it’s also very smart of the restaurants (many of which are only about the size of a bedroom) because they prepare all the food during the day and don’t need a big kitchen to cope with the dinner service nor do they need waiters plus the they can accommodate more people per night because food is served immediately.

It also makes it easier for us non Spanish-speaking tourists because you can browse the menu with your eyes.

If you are travelling through Spain on a tight budget adopt this as your plan-of-action: When you are hungry, you simply drink. Let me explain – most of the bars/restaurants bring you a complimentary tapa/snack when you order a drink!

Some other dishes we had that I would simply have to find recipes for were their Salmorejo (a cold tomato soup), paella of course and some of the more unusual tapas. More about this in the next couple of weeks!

Buenas noches!