Yes! Happy provisioning! That's how you say 'Bon appétit' in Spanish. And so provision we did during this trip. Many many times and very, very well.
I fell madly in love with one particular specialty, so it's the very first photo. A platter full of 'boquerones' - Mediterranean white anchovies, lightly battered and fried.
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| Boquerones fritos |
It was the meal of my dreams. They are also delicious marinated with seasonings and olive oil as shown below:
Because Andalucía - a large province in the south of Spain - produces lots of very fine olives, the equally fine oil is an ingredient in many dishes, as you can see above.
I didn't really believe that we'd adapt to Spanish meal times quickly. Or at all. But from Day One, we had no problem with late breakfasts, very late lunches, and dinners that kept us out after midnight.
We arrived to one of our favorite cafés at 10 AM only to be told that the food wasn't available yet. By the young woman who was putting out the breakfast menu posters. A couple of cafés dobles kept us alive for the necessary 15 minute wait. But, oh, the coffee was good.
Elements of a typical Spanish - or I should
say 'Andalucian' - breakfast were: bread,
tomatoes, and olive oil. The tomatoes
could be sliced, or pureed as in the
container next to my coffee. I usually
asked for both.
Add to that whatever you like: for us,
cheese and/or ham was usual.
Andalucianos seem to really love sweets
for breakfast well. Churros were available
all day long - served with hot chocolate so
thick the spoon stands up in the cup.
Churros come in different forms,
plain,
or with extra icing on top.
My teeth itched just looking at these.
Restaurants in Andalucía serve some of their dishes in 3 different size portions: tapas (small plates), media ración (half portion), or ración (full portion). In many places you are offered a tapas plate free when you order a drink. Margaret and I would usually order a selection of tapas to share - a great way to taste as many specialties of the region as possible. One common starter is salmorejo - a soup-like puree of tomatoes, olive oil and bread for thickener. It was usually served with a topping of Iberian ham & hardboiled egg. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture. Too hungry, I guess.
There's also a white almond soup that is absolutely wonderful.
Another specialty was flamenquín. Rolled pork loin with cheese and Iberian ham inside. Another of my favorites.
Iberian ham comes up a lot on restaurant menues here. The best kind comes from pigs who who roamed in oak forests eating acorns.
In some cafés and restaurants - even simple neighborhood places - we saw ham ready for slicing. Cured but still on the leg.
It took some skill to create this platter full of very thin-sliced ham.
Here are some tapas that we enjoyed:
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| Something quiche-like and beautiful olives. |
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| Sucking pig on a bed of sweet potatoes. The waiter's gestures to explain this item were hilarious. |
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| Taquillos |
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| Something good was inside I'm sure. |
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| Lovely croquettes everywhere. |
For me there were two things lacking in the Andualusian diet. The first was black pepper. Never saw it on a table anywhere. And the second was GREENS! Not much in evidence. There was a restaurant in Málaga called 'Lechuga' - lettuce! We think the name seemed exotic in that context. One place we found offered the salad below, which did have greenery under all the other stuff.
The white tubular items are hearts of palm - a local product that comes from low shrubby palm trees like the one in this photo. This palm is native to Andalucía.
The tall elegant palms that one sees everywhere in southern Europe were imported from the Middle East by the first Moslem rulers of Al-Andalus in the 700's. So said one of our guides.
One time we found 'lechuga frita' - fried lettuce on a menu. Of course we had to try that! It was really good, and came with shredded Iberian ham on top. Of course.
How about dessert? Here are a couple that showed up on our table.
I admit that I preferred my dessert in liquid form - and there were many different sherries to try.
This is a good one, an oloroso cream. The good news is that I can get this here at home. So stop by some time for a taste.
Until next post, I'll say "Salud!" Which is Spanish for "Here's lookin' at you kid"
