Four-Course Meal

At a random restaurant in Madrid, we stopped and got their menu del dia, which looked okay from the window. My only complaint was my salad, which came covered in tuna, which I absolutely despise. Even the mere hint of tuna-flavoring can make me gag, which I did several times while trying to pick through the salad to eat the few untainted bits. The real kicker came when I bit into a tomato (which I don't particularly like but they are better than tuna), only to discover that the tomato was covered in tuna water. I seriously almost threw up on the table, but I managed to overcome my disgust.

Anyway... enough about that, you don't want to know about what I ate, you want to know what Brendan ate. The top picture was the first course, crusty bread and a glass of wine. Not particularly interesting, but I thought it was a cool picture. Then the second course was some sort of soup, which was much better than my salad. I am not sure what was in it, I think some ham and peas, and maybe some sort of seafood? Then the main course, which I didn't get a picture of but it was delicious, grilled sea bass. Then the third picture is dessert, which was supposed to be some sort of lemon tart (if I understood correctly what the waiter was saying, which is questionable), but did not taste in the least bit lemony but was delicious nonetheless.

And I think that does it for the Spain pictures, although if I unearth some more from Brendan's camera I'll be sure to post them at a later date. Adios!

Street Potatoes

As you probably guessed from the bad pun in the title, this post is about sweet potatoes. That we bought from a street vendor. They were selling grilled corn on the cob also. If I remember right, we were really hungry and these were conveniently there, so we bought some. And they were pretty delicious, Brendan even ate the skins.

Soo... not much else I can think of to say about sweet potatoes...

El Museo de Jamón

If this doesn't look appetizing to you, then rest assured you are not alone. I will admit that I am not a big fan of ham. I might eat a bite or two at Thanksgiving along with my mountain of mashed potatoes, but for the most part I stay away from it. However, the ham in Spain was the most ham-flavored ham you could imagine. I mean, you would have to be a giant ham fan to enjoy this stuff, it was so hammy. And in most restaurants there were just giant legs of ham hanging all over.

At this particular restaurant, the Museum of Ham, I actually sat against a wall covered in ham legs. In fact, my hair probably brushed it, along with the hundreds of other peoples' hair. And this is the ham they serve to people also... a little gross I think.

That being said, the picture is Brendan's first course, ham with melon. Not complicated, that's just what it was: a large slice of ham draped over some honeydew melon. I say gross, Brendan says delicious.

We Three Kings of Deliciousness

All I can say about this thing is Mmmmmm...

The big Christmas-like holiday in Spain is called Dia De Los Tres Reyes, or Three Kings' Day. Children get presents, there are parades, etc. But the best part about said holiday is the donuts (Called Roscones de Reyes)! If you can even call that massive behemoth of fried dough a donut. These are only made for about a week every year, and it is a large donut filled with whipped cream and covered in candied fruit. We paid 13 Euro for this, but we ate it for dinner and breakfast and a snack, so I think it was well worth the money. Also, inside every Roscon is a "toy," which in our case was a tiny ceramic Santa which Brendan almost swallowed.

I will probably never eat another one in my life, but it was very delicious!

All-You-Can-Eat Nasty Buffet!

We went to a buffet in Madrid, because we passed about 5 million people handing out flyers for it. It was expensive, about 11 Euro, but we figured that if it was all you can eat, why not? At least we'd get to try some stuff that we had been seeing in other restaurants.

While the food was not horrible, it was not that great either. A giant vat of what looked like mashed potatoes was actually cold, like they chilled it. And there was a large amount of unidentifiable seafood, which I steered clear of although Brendan partook generously, as you can see from the above picture.

I'd like to identify what is on that plate, but I'm afraid I can't. I know the top thing is paella, and I think a meatball, but as for the other stuff your guess is as good as mine. Maybe squid tentacles, and potato wrapped in lobster? I don't know. All I know is that the buffet was definitely not worth 11 Euro.

Apparently, "Flamenquito" is Spanish for "Fried Hot Dog"

Well, for once Brendan's bravery and curiosity about trying new foods did not turn out in his favor. At a small bar/restaurant in Seville, we got to choose from about 5 dishes on the Menu of the day. Some we knew, like veal and paella, but others were a mystery. What is a "San Jacoba?" And the waiter didn't speak English, so we couldn't really ask. Brendan decided to try one of the mystery items, a Flamenquito. Much to his surprise, it turned out to be just a breaded and fried hot dog. Go figure. So, not such a great choice for Brendan, but it sure was funny.

Spanish Breakfast

I'm back, hopefully, to the blogging world. I took a hiatus, mostly because Brendan wasn't eating anything cool, but also because I am lazy.

Anyway... I never finished posting all of the food pictures from Spain, so I'll try to do that. And if Brendan makes something cool to eat, you can be sure I'll post it!

This is what we had for breakfast most days, some sort of flaky pasty filled with chocolate (or sometimes Crema Catalana, muy delicioso!) It is called a Napolitana Chocolate.

Chinese Food in Spain?!

Yes... I know, we ate Chinese food in Spain. But the menu was awesome, and I think we both agreed that it was the best restaurant we ate at the whole trip, it was that good. The first thing they served us, in the top picture, was some sort of fried MSG. It really didn't taste like anything but MSG on a flat cheese puff without cheese.

The second course was some sort of vegetable salad, which Brendan ate. Then, the main course was chicken with mushrooms. After dinner, we got flan for dessert (with cream!), and Brendan still had his entire pitcher of Sangria to drink.

Then, after we were stuffed already, they brought us a whole bottle of Chinese wine, which was the best wine I've ever had. It was like mead, very sweet. They served it in little thimble glasses, and we didn't even have to pay for it, it was free with the meal apparently.

Paella!

Perhaps the most traditional Spanish meal that many people have heard of is paella, the conglomeration of saffron rice with a mix of everything from seafood to vegetables and other kinds of meat. We tried it in Barcelona, and Brendan got his blackened with squid ink. It looked unappetizing, but he said it was okay. It had mussels and peas and peppers, and I think a few shrimp too. Mine was Paella Valenciana, which was just chicken and beans and peppers.

Spanish Omlettes

This was our dinner one night in Barcelona, a plate of assorted "Tortillas," which is what the Spanish call their baked omlettes. The one on the right is the most common, a tortilla patata, which has potatoes and onions. The middle is spinach, and the right one is mixed vegetable. The bread on top is rubbed with olive oil and tomatoes, and served chilled. Overall, pretty good.

Back from Spain!

Well, we are back from Spain, and I can say that it was a culinary adventure. Not so much for myself, but Brendan was very adventurous in his dining. The above picture on the top is a Spanish tradition, churros dipped in hot chocolate. People eat it for breakfast, a late night snack, dessert, you name it. It was served pretty much everywhere, and it was definitely one of my favorite dishes there!

The bottom picture is almost the same thing, only it is larger than a churro, and is called a porro. The cup on the right is cafe con leche (coffee with steamed milk). Spanish coffee is pretty much espresso, it is so strong. Even with half milk it was as strong as our coffee, but very delicious along with hot chocolate and fried dough. Mmmm....