veggie pilgrims

[Adrienne Patton]

Hey Cherie & Gin et al,

Oooooh, this is tough.  Spain is not a very vegetarian
friendly country.  Most don't even know entirely what
that means.  I'm a vegetarian, though I do allow
myself fish sometimes, especially when I travel.

It was hard in Spain, as many didn't realize that
vegetarian meant NO meat - ham or tuna was often
considered a "condiment" and animal broth was not
thought of as "carne".  This was combined with the
fact that it was very difficult for me to find fresh
veggies.  I'm not a big fan of salad, but that was
where I generally had to go for something fresh.

You have to decide in advance how strict you will be.
I chose to allow myself fish (pescado), including
canned tuna (atun).  I said in restaurants "Soy
vegetariana.  No como carne (pero como pescado)." (I'm
a vegetarian.  I do not eat meat (but I eat fish).)  I
also learned, about halfway through, that I also had
to specify no animal broth/base. (grasa animal - "No
como carne o grasa animal.")  I also often added "no
jamon!" for good measure, as ham was sometime used in
salad, eggs or on top of fish.

I found I had to be not too uptight about grasa animal
though.  I could tell it was a natural soup base
there, as well as used for cooking.  My evening menu
choices were so limited, that if I did not want to
turn away my revueltas (scrambled eggs), I had to
ignore the grease.  Also, there are a few refugios
where they will cook for you.  They were always very
gracious when I told them in advance I was a
vegetarian (in Ruitelan & Ponferrada they were veggies
themselves), but again, I had to overlook some grasa
animal so as to not be rude about receiving their
well-intentioned gift to me.

Breakfast and lunch on the road were no problem.  I
bought food in tiendas or bars and ate my fill of
fruit, yogurt, bread & butter, galletas
(cookie/crackers), bocadillos de queso (cheese
sandwiches), atun (canned tuna), tortillas
(omelettes), potatoes, tomatoes and chocolate.

In the evening, you may have the opportunity to cook
if the refugio has a kitchen.  If that is important to
you, be sure to look ahead in your guide to see if the
town has a store or if you need to buy food earlier in
the day.  Also, if you plan to take a lot of advantage
of kitchens, bring a camping pan/utensils as many
refugios are lacking, and some pouches of salt, pepper
and your favorite herbs & spices.

I would cook pasta or rice dinners occasionally in the
refugios, but would generally eat a pilgrim's menu out
with my newly found companions in the evening.  A menu
comes with 2 courses, wine, bread & sometime dessert.
I usually found the macaroni, ensalada mixta (salad,
no jamon - o atun if you're strict!) alubias verdes
(green beans), sopa (soup but ask about grasa animal
if that bothers you) and sometimes esparrago
(asparagus - slimy white version - not fresh or
green!) or huevos relenos (stuffed eggs) to be OK for
the first plate.  For the second plate, the meat
course, I usually had the fish or heuvos revueltos
(scrambled, sometime w/ mushrooms -  con champinon),
but you could usually choose a second item from the
list of first plate choices if you will not eat fish.

Aside from cooking and restaurant menus, there is
always more bar food - tortillas, tapas, bocadillos -
but that gets old fast.

When I travel otherwise, I usually carry the budget
guide "Let's Go".  It is too heavy for a pilgrim's
backpack, but I tore out a few relevant pages before I
went last time.  "Let's Go Spain & Portugal" lists
vegetarian and veggie-friendly restaurants in the
larger cities you will walk through.  I took those
lists with me and they were helpful for a nice change
of culinary pace.

Good luck! Hope this helps!
Adrienne


--- cherie <cherielove7aWILDMAIL.COM> wrote:
> just a curiousity-anyone know about vegetarian food
> in spain and
> along the camino?
>
> http://www.care2.com - Get your Free e-mail account
> that helps save Wildlife!


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness
http://health.yahoo.com