Tapas y Vino

Spain, the Miniseries part 4

Spanish food, in general, seemed a little bland to me; bland in the sense that there wasn't a lot of seasoning and bland in the sense that it was a lot of the same thing all the time. They really love seafood and ham. I mean REALLY love it. They love ham so much, in fact, that there is a chain of stores called Museo de Jamon (Museum of Ham) where they sell various types of ham butcher-style, along with wine and beer to encourage good spirits and a jovial atmostphere while shopping. Everyone Museo de Jamon we passed was super crowded. By the end of the trip we were craving any other kind of food and inhaled burritos and Chinese during our layover on the way home.

The Spanish don’t really eat breakfast, as we know it. When they eat out they consume most of their meals in these café-bar concoctions that sell coffee, fresh squeezed OJ, liquor, beer, strange meat dishes, churros and the occasional sandwich from a bar. The Spanish eat small amounts all day and the “tapas” type meal is a very big part of the routine. It took awhile for KA and I to get into the pattern, to know what to order, when to order it, and where to get it. In the end we got our Spanish food-groove on and had our favorite dishes. For breakfast we ordered tostas (toast), zumo de naranja natural (fresh OJ) and café con leche (the nectar of the gods, in my opinion). For lunch we’d usually get bocadillos (sandwiches) or tortillas.

[Spainish tortillas are round, thick potato omelet things that are sliced into quiche-sized pieces. When we order we’d say, “Dos tortillas, por favor.” Then the server would look at us blankly. So we would say “tortillas” again, emphasizing a more Spanish style accent. And finally they would get what we were saying, and say “Ah…..tor-TIL-las!” We never thought we said it much differently than they did, but what do we know?]

Dinner was usually more adventurous but generally more of the same kind of thing (ham, seafood, tapas). One night I ordered vegetarian pasta at a touristy restaurant. The menu and the waiter confirmed that the dish had “no carne!” I ended up with a bowl of penne and shrimp floating in salt water. Yum.

Another thing to add about the Spanish dining experience: Tapas bars were kind of intimidating. People generally stand around near the bar, yelling what they want and throwing their trash on the floor. It’s hard to get space and hard to get attention from the servers. When you do get their attention, it’s scary to try and order something correctly with the limited time they give you. We were better about them in the end, but it took several days before we were brave enough to go in there and order with some authority.

While we got a bit tired of the some Spanish food, there are some really good things about their cuisine and the way they eat. I already mentioned we like tortillas. The café con leches are fantastic (the best one ever was in Bilbao). The availability of fresh OJ EVERYWHERE is something I could get used to. Seriously—every bar/café thing had a juicer and a big bowl of oranges next to it. They squeezed it when you ordered, and I made sure to drink the zumo every day. The arroz con leche (rice pudding) was great when we could find it. Same thing with paella. We went to a restaurant known for its paella on the last night and it was fantastic. I really liked the idea of eating small meals throughout the day. It’s good for the metabolism and it meant I rarely felt stuffed the way I do after an American meal out.

Another great thing about Spanish dining and food? The vino. Spanish wine is fan-freakin’-tastic. I never had a bad glass, even when it was just the house vino tinto (red wine). We tasted and bought a few bottles from an adorably passionate Galician man. He kept stumbling on his English and apologizing with the kind of drama I typically attribute to Italians. Spain is the third largest exporter of wine in the world, and according to the passionate Galician wine seller, Spanish wine is sold mature and ready to drink. Unlike French wine it doesn’t necessarily need to be stored prior to drinking. Others have since contested this idea saying that storage times depend on the bottle and grape, but I like the idea of it being ready for consumption right away. It seems appropriate, culturally, that Spanish wine is ready immediately while French wine needs to sit and wait awhile.