February 2008
8 posts
Maybe Next Time...
At first I was devastated. When I came home from class for the big meal of the day—comida—I was greeted by a large pot of eels. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted a large, steamy pot of eels, but I also wanted to help make it. Unfortunately, my senora’s daughter swung by the house, saw the goodies in the fridge and made up the all I pebre all by herself. I was distraught. I was upset. I wanted to...
9:30 - Coffee and Eels
It’s 9:48am and I have just returned home with this bag. Its contents? Eels. Tonight I am making all I pebre, a traditional eels stew with my senora. I plan on documenting the whole things but having eels in the house made me too excited to wait until later. I have no idea how to make it, but I do know that I was informed to go to the market and purchase 2 kilos of potatos, 2 cebollas and 3...
The Search Begins...
Seville is known to most as a lovely, old town in the southern Spanish communidad of Andalusia. It is a city famous for it cathedral—which is the third largest in the world—as well as its flamenco, bull fighting and most importantly, its tapas. Like most cities in Spain with strong ties to bull fighting, there are lots of bulls to be eaten. Since Spaniards don’t want these animals to go to waste...
Force Feeding
I never thought I’d do it, but I finally cracked. A month ago I would have never agreed to eat at a noodle bar while in Spain, but a few things forced me to this point. Spanish food is fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but I feel that it is a natural human tendency to desire change once in a while. Combine this with the fact I was feeling too lazy to engage in Spanish conversation before filling my...
Sausage Fest
February 9, 2008 Tales from festival Embutido Artesano y de Calidad This morning I traveled to an old Spanish town called Requena for a food and wine festival. In my head were visions of me chomping suckling pork, huge plates of paella and succulent seafoods. I was totally wrong. I soon found out that Spanish food revolves around one thing—the almighty pig sausage. Now don’t think I dislike pork...
Measuring Progress with Cheese
February 8, 2008 A breakthrough occurred on my daily market trip today. I arrived at my cheese counter, Botique del Queso, at the usual time and was happily surprised at the lack of customers. Instead of the usual throngs of cheese loving Spaniards, there was only a cluster of charming old ladies. As soon as I ordered a savory hunk of cheese I knew this trip was different. The cheese lady now...
Bare Bones
This post will be short. I apologize but I desperately need a nap. I just experienced my first traditional Spanish lunch, or as they say here, Comida. Grandpa and Grandma were there too; it was magical. The reason for the big feast is the second birthday of Cecelia, my senora’s granddaughter. Luckily, there will be another feast—the birthday feast—in a few hours but until then I will happily nap...
A Delicious Defense
This weekend I took the time to visit a tiny town south of Valencia called El Palmar. There were a few decent reasons for the trip—there is a large nature preserve committed to the preservation of La Albufera—but most important was the Paella. Unfortunately, I haven’t eaten much Paella here yet, but from what many people tell me the lakeside town of El Palmar is a great place to try the...