[Gocamino] Food in Andalucia

[blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,

A quick word about food in Andalucia (wherein the Via de la Plata commences).

In my experience, Andalucia is the place par excellence of tapas.  In Seville each bar has its own kitchen and the food is cooked there, and the tapas changed, by the hour. The best food will be posted on blackboards…. It is quite inexpensive, and delicious.

Now…. A “Racion” is a full plate which would be sufficient for a grown man. A “media racion” is half of it and it costs also half, a“tapa” is one quarter of a “racion” and it will cost much less.  They are all served with a generous portion of bread at no extra charge.  The most common type of meat is “lomo” which is beef, and when “guisado” it is served as a form of casserole.  There are “guisados” of vegetables and other things.  The most popular fish is “merluza” which is hake, served in a variety of ways.  Some times the bars have cold tapas on display…. I, for one, am not crazy about them.

The eggs in Seville test like the eggs of one’s childhood.  There are no “fried” eggs except as part of a combination place meant for tourists.  But the scrambled eggs (“revueltos”), may be ordered in a variety of combinations at most bars. Seville has a very popular dish made of spinach and chick-peas (which, I think, requires a cultivated taste).  In addition, there is no end of “mariscos” in all sort of varieties… and, often, a combination dish of mariscos fritos which consists of all sorts of little sea things fried.

The asparagus in Andalucia are to die for, and they are served with mayonnaise, but tend to be quite expensive.

Most bars have “ham” legs of dead animals hanging from the ceiling with a little waxed cone underneath them to catch the dripping fat.  There are a various types, depending on whether the leg is from the front, or back, or whether the animal was male or female.  My meat-eating friends believe that the usual ham served as tapas, preferably “Serrano” is superb. 

Whereas most hotels offer breakfast, one is better off going out to a bar and having fresh squeezed orange juice (zumo de naranja NATURAL…… if you say “fresco” you’ll get an orange soda), a tostada (small baguette cut in half, buttered, and pressed down on a grill),. Or a “media tostada”, and coffee. They have seventeen different types of coffee, but you’ll be safe ordering “café con leche en vaso” (in a glass), because then you can see the color and ask for more milk, coffee, etc.

Similarly, I would stay away from those beautiful and beguiling restaurants with the tables under the trees of gorgeous squares. They are mostly for tourists and the food reveals the purpose.

Seville has a famous brewery, but the beer is sold mostly as a draft.  A glass of draft beer is a “canha”…. And you can also ask for a little glass which is “media canha”.  The local drink is “Manzanilla” which is a dry sherry. The word for sherry is “Jerez”, named after the nearby town of “Jerez de la Frontera” where it originated.  But you have better ask for a glass of “fino”, which is how the Manzanilla sherry is known there. If you ask for Manzanilla, you may get Camomile tea.  By the way, while there is a perfectly good word for tea in Spanish, “te”, it is mostly referred to as “infusion”.

And…. Do not forget the gazpacho.  Andalucian gazpacho has no peer. It was originally created by the Roman as a form of nutritious hydrant for its soldiers. The Romans built a great city in Seville, “Italica”, which ruins can still be visited. The place was a favorite of both Julius and Augustus Caesar, and, in fact, two Roman emperors came from there.

And, lastly, what the Andalucians say is historically true.. The Via de la Plata was the first “Camino” since it was built by the Romans to connect the north and south shores of the peninsula, as attested to by the myriad Roman bridges, theaters, arenas, aqueducts and other monuments throughout it.

 

I hope that the above information helps a little.  Stick to the “tapes”, you’ll not be sorry…. And you will not find their like a anywhere else.

 

Hugs

 
Rosina 
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