My Trip to Spain (Part 2 of 3)--The Food

Monday, March 10

Unless you can read a menu in Spanish, you are likely to get something exotic like tripe soup, or shrimp that resemble crawfish, or pickled octopus, or kidneys in sherry sauce, or reconstituted dried salted cod, things that I fortunately like, but may not excite the average American palate.

The typical Spanish market features standard cuts of meat, but all parts of the animal are displayed, including more daunting delicacies like hearts, kidneys, testicles, feet, and even whole heads with sightless eyes.

It would be tough to be a vegetarian here, although Madrid has some vegetarian restaurants. But meat portions, while delicious and wonderfully flavored with sauces, tend to be smaller than in the States. The concepts of the 22 ounce sirloin steak, or the double cheeseburger, are decidedly American.

Iberian ham is big here, and it's totally different than the American kind. Top of the line "jamon" fetches over 100 Euros per kilo (over $150 for 2.2 pounds), but it's so rich you only need to eat a couple of slices with beer or wine for a light snack. I tried some that was touted as having been raised exclusively on s diet of chestnuts and found it marvelously flavorful.

The food is uniformly tasty and of high quality. The fare in the dingiest little corner tapas bars is as good as the food in many expensive American restaurants. When you buy a bag of oranges or an apple in a Spanish supermarket, the fruit is fresh and flavorful, unlike some of the ersatz produce that is palmed off on U.S. consumers. There is almost no such thing as tasteless bread served with meals, and it's always fresh from a bakery a few doors down the street.

In case you're a fan of Mexican food, pretty much forget about it in Spain. If you make the mistake of ordering a tortilla in hopes of getting a burrito with spicy beans or meat in a flour wrapper, you'll be disappointed to receive what looks like a fluffy slice of omelette, which actually is light and delicious. It's somewhat reminiscent of potato kugel. And tacos are nowhere to be seen, so please don't risk seeming gauche by asking for them. They speak Spanish here, but hey, this is Spain, not Mexico, you norteamericanos!

Candy is popular in Spain, including excellent marzipan, which is a specialty of Toledo. It was said to have been invented by nuns in 1212 when famine swept the country. Toledan marzipan became the caloric non-perishable K-ration of its day that could easily be stored for months at a time, and shipped across mountainous roads by donkey to allay starvation.

Flan is a popular dessert--it's like rich cream caramel, and, while high calorie, it's probably a rich source of quality egg protein. I got the impression that Spaniards devour less processed cookies and candy bars than we do, but this could be changing.

And they like Coke, but probably don't yet consume liters per week like we do. While riding subways or while watching TV, I didn't see any ads for miracle diet programs.

Check back here soon for more on my trip to Spain!