Touching Spanish Soil: A Synopsis: Spain's Mediterranean Diet

Still laying low and lazing around to recharge myself after the past two days. Still not sure what knocked me flat, but I am on the mend. Instead of a travel adventure post, I will list the different foods I have eaten and beverages I have imbibed during my almost three months in Spain.

I've heard over the years that a Mediterranean diet was healthy, but I can now say I've lived it here. One of the first facts about food here in southern Spain was "don't eat their beef because they don't hang it long enough to drain all the blood off properly and it's tough." That wasn't a problem since I rarely eat beef, but I found it strange; if I'm told that and it's true, why don't they hang it longer and serve it more?

First and foremost: Café con leche alongside toast with either marmalade or tomato spread. The tomato spread is not like jam and it's thicker than tomato juice. It's full of chopped tomatoes and when you spread it on toast in the morning (yum) it is lumpy and delicious. Funny how it is often offered on a special for a breakfast with this coffee and usually the combination is less than 2 euros. The marmalade here is delicious and made of bitter oranges like the trees grown in Córdoba.

TORTILLA ESPAÑOLA - One of the best breakfasts I had on my first trip to Spain. I will always remember taking that first bite of hot potato and egg into my mouth. It was soft, not eggy, and melted in my mouth. I could hardly wait to eat it again. English call it Spanish omelet. Here in Spain it is often called tortilla de patties. It's sometime made with onions, not always. It's sometimes served cold. I can eat it either way. But warm is best. Was it as good as it was in 2012? Absolutamente!
Photo: CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=233965

SALMOREJO - This is a cold tomato-based soup, similar to gazpacho. I was told in April, it was too soon for the tomatoes to make a good gazpacho, so when I was in Sevilla during the recent Féria, my friend Karen McCann suggested I try it. It includes stale bread, hard boiled egg and diced serrano ham served on top. Unlike gazpacho, served in a glass, salmorejo is served in a bowl. It doesn't include the onions and peppers of gazpacho, but instead only tomatoes and a clove of garlic. It was delicious, but different from gazpacho. When I return home, I will make it and will remember my lunch date with Karen and Rina as we sat outside a restaurant in the Plaza Alfalfa area of Seville.

ENSALADA MALAGUEÑA - My favorite new potato salad was introduced to me by my friend Vicky Martin in Malaga at El Pimpi restaurant in a large square next to the Roman ruins. She told me it was her favorite and that is exactly why I ordered it when we shared the day a few weeks ago. It is a cold potato salad that includes bacalao (salt cod) mixed with olives and oranges. It tasted like ambrosia, especially with the orange sauce drizzled over the top and a bit of balsamic vinegar decorating the sides of the dish. It sounds odd to add fish to potato salad but in the heat of summer, it's perfect because it can be prepared ahead of time. Since Vicky suggested this salad to me, I think I've eaten it 5 or 6 times and each time that first forkful hits my mouth, my tongue curls around the potatoes. Yes, I will definitely think of Vicky and her bright smile when I eat it again.

GAMBAS PIL-PIL - Tapas! These are prawns served in a hot, sizzling sauce of garlic, chili and olive oil. It is typically served in a terra-cotta dish for individual servings. My friend Lyn Murphy says she usually orders this dish, so of course I tried it. When it arrived, it was sizzling hot with a plate over the top to keep the heat in. Another time I ordered it, my friend Paco Rosa caught my hand when I started to lift the plate covering off the dish. "Quema," he said. He motioned to wait a minute or two to let it cool down or it was burn me (quemar = to burn).

BOQUERONES - These are European anchovies, different from the kind I've tasted (and didn't like) in America. It is related to the herring. My brother Steven introduced me to crispy, fried boquerones in 2012 on my first trip to Spain. I wasn't thrilled and didn't eat more than one. THIS TIME, I changed my mind. In fact, when Rina was here visiting me, she introduced me to boquerones en vinagre. These are not fried, but fresh anchovies literally drowning in vinegar and oil. Delicious.

ENSALADA MIXTA - This is more than a simple green salad because it is usually a large salad with shredded carrots, corn kernels, tomatoes, various vegetables -- all topped with a large dollop of tuna. It is just more than a salad and every time it is served with only olive oil (the best is in Spain I'm told...) and vinegar.

GOAT CHEESE SALAD - It is a round of goat cheese, warm and slightly melted on top of a green salad. I have eaten this several times and it is always "the best I've ever eaten...."

MENU DE UN DÍA - One price for a full meal that includes a starter, main dish, dessert and beverage. It is usually way too much for me to eat and the menu varies at each restaurant. It is usually at a cost of anywhere from $8 - $12 per person. I've eaten bacalao several ways (cod) and sea bass and white fish I can't even name. Here in the south of Spain, fish is fresh and plentiful so I have tried to eat as much as possible. In fact, it seems that all I do is eat when I'm not running in El Carro somewhere.

SANGRÍA - of course! And shared with brothers = maravillosa (marvelous)

TINTO VERANO CON LIMÓN - This is wine mixed with sprite or 7-up / half and half typically. It is light and cool in this hot climate. At home, I usually drink chardonnay - nicely chilled, but here in Spain I haven't had a single glass of white wine.

When I asked for a glass of tinto verano at the little bar in the village on Friday, I saw the barman pour half red wine and then fill it up with tonic water. NOT so good as carbonated soda...but he plopped in a slice of lemon and called it good. Most of the men were drinking beer and I'm still not quite there...

OLIVES! Big, fat green olives everywhere! Oh, if only I could find these at home.

RIBERA DEL DUERO - This is a red wine that is now my absolute favorite, suggested by my friend Rina Rien from home. It is a rich, red that tickles the taste buds and never gives me a headache. Here, that is. At home? I'm not so sure but I will look for this wine and try it when I leave Spain.

CHOCOLATE - Lyn Murphy began my addiction to a piece (or two) of dark chocolate with my red wine of an evening. So far, I have a little piece every evening and may continue that tradition when I get home...

MARMITE - This is a spread or paté that Lyn introduced me to that is from the UK. I'd heard of it several times from my We Love Memoirs FB friends. So, of course, I wanted to taste it. YUK. Not for me.

DESSERT? Well, I tried to ignore dessert while I was in Spain, but I did give in when the restaurants nearly shoved it at me (right?). This is flan - sort of an egg custard. There were other desserts but I won't fill the page. Other types of dessert, I stayed away from though...