Leaving my preconcieved notions of Spain behind

During my time in Santander, in Cantabria, on the northern coast of Spain, I am staying with a local family. While there are many benefits to staying with locals, including continuous inoculation to the language, I have to say the best part is getting a taste of how locals really eat. This isn't some restaurant or chef's interpretation of Spanish food, this is real, stick to your bones home cooking. I'm not sitting in a four-star restaurant being bombarded by jazzed-up interpretations of what makes Spanish food uniquely Spanish, I am tasting what comes from the hands and hearts of people raised on the cuisine.

I have to say, I am constantly surprised by the variety of foods I am served here. I have had a classic soup from Burgos, pasta tossed lightly with hard-boiled eggs and white-fleshed fish, garlicky meatballs, steamed cabbage, fried sardines, chicken wings and roasted pumpkin soup. I guess I didn't really know what to expect in terms of a "theme" of Spanish food, but so far I haven't been able to grasp on to a strong common thread, besides the use of olives and olive oil, which I expected.

It seems people have a kind of "anything goes" type of mentality when it comes to preparing meals. What they have on hand, what they got at the local market, is what is served. Sometimes each part of the meal is separate and compartmentalized. Sometimes it seems there is no cohesion. But the strange thing is it works. I can't complain about anything I've had. And even though with my American-mentality I first questioned the pairing of certain foods (Why aren't we having pasta with the meatballs? Wouldn't pork go well with cabbage?) in the end everything was fluid and logical.

I am more than ready to encounter another odd couple and have my preconceived notions of what makes a meal "a meal" challenged again and again.

Madrid

El primer almuerzo

El primer día en España fue muy abrumador pero tenemos tiempo para un buen almuerzo. Fuimos a un restaurante poco en un paseo. El comida completa fue sólo 10 Euros y incluyendo ensalada o sopa, un plato principal, postre y bebidas. Comí una ensalada caprese primero. No fue como la ensalada caprese yo estoy familiarizada con. Claro hay fueron tomates y queso, pero no albahaca ni balsámico. También, la ensalada tuvo aceitunas y lechuga. Fue muy extraño. Por mi plato principal tuve lomo con un salsa picante y papas fritas. Las papas fueron muy delicioso. El lomo fue ordinario, no especial. Pero, lo mejor fue el vino. Nosotros tuvimos cuatro o cinco botellas de vino tinto y todo fue incluyendo con el precio y lo fue sabroso. Típicamente no bebo vino tinto, pero cuando en España!  Y no fue vino barato como se recibe por un precio económico en los estados unidos. ¡ En realidad, vino es la bebida más económico en España y es más barato que el refresco y a veces la agua!

The first day in Spain was really overwhelming, but we still had time for a good lunch. We went to a little restaurant in an alley. The whole meal was only 10 Euros and included salad or soup, a main entree, dessert and drinks. I had a Caprese salad for starters. It was not like the Caprese salad I am used to. Of course there were tomatoes and cheese but no basil or balsamic. Also, the salad had olives and lettuce. It was really weird. For my main dish I had pork loin with a spicy sauce and french fries. The fries were sooo good. The pork was pretty ordinary, nothing to write home about. But, the best part of all was the wine. We had four or five bottles of red wine and it was really good and included in Price. I usually don’t drink red wine, but when in Spain! And this was not cheap wine like you would get for a low price in the U.S. In fact, wine is the most economical drink in Spain and is less expensive than soda and sometimes water!

¡En Madrid!

¡Buenas! Estoy en Madrid. Llegué ayer mañana. El hotel tiene wi-fi, pero es sólo in recepción y es sólo para 30 minutos. No bueno. Pero, estoy usando el wi-fi gratis de Mcdonalds en mi cuarto. No es bien, pero es mejor de nada. También, en dos días voy a ir a Santander! Ojala que puedo usar la computadora más y es más fácil para conectar con el Internet. Bueno, me duelen las manos porque necesito tener la computadora en un posición incómodo para usar el wi-fi. Más después!

Hey! I am in Madrid. I got here yesterday morning. The hotel has wi-fi, but only in the lobby and you can only use it for 30 minutes at a time. It sucks. But, I am using (stealing) the free wi-fi from Mcdonalds in my room. It's not very good, but it's better than nothing. Also, in two days I am going to Santander. I really hope that I can use the computer more and have a better internet connection. Well, my hands are killing me from holding my computer up in the awkward position I need to get wi-fi. I will write much more later!