October 28th - Sunday. Deb’s disjointed thoughts on Spanish food

 

 

 

 

So many things to eat – so little time! Segovia was a wonderful place to try new things. We tried to get something we hadn’t tried before at each meal, sometimes more than one at the same meal. So, forthwith, some impressions:

·         Warren got a tortilla (kind of a potato omelet that is ubiquitous in Spain) at breakfast in a nifty little bar he found (complete with friendly barman/waiter in black tie, dazzling white shirt, black apron). It was so much tastier than what we had made as an experiment in Denver. Where did we go wrong?

·         I tried the local breakfast specialty of fresh tomato rubbed across a warm grilled baguette half. It was yummy, but amazingly cost markedly more than a hot ham-and-cheese. Go figure.

·         I tried a couple of unknowns at lunch. One was a revuelta, which ties into Warren telling the docent at the Foundation Juan March that we were going to have lunch, then revolt. Turns out he might have said we were going to have lunch and then scramble. A revuelta also means scrambled as in eggs, so I had a dish of green beans done in an egg sauce that was very nice. Revuelta  

 

       Then some empanadillas with some sort of fish filling in a pimenton sauce, also very nice. Warren had tiny lamb ribs which he enjoyed – so thanks to Jose for recommending it and a tip

      of the hat to Sunny who would have loved it.

    Empanadillas

·         Warren just got a mixed bag of holiday sweets that he picked out of big bins at the market. We had no idea what they were, but loved trying each one in their fancy little different wrappers. Some names like “angel’s hair”… I thought they’d last a week, but Warren made short work of them.

·         Have now tried three different Sherries (Jerez) for which Spain is famous. Each one better than the last. Sadly they get better with price. Sigh. Had the best one so far at the Jose Maria bar that Norm, our language instructor recommended.

·         We’ve been finding out that several things we had heard before we came to Spain just aren’t true. We’d heard that good tea was hard to find, and, heck, there are little tea stores all over. We’d heard that good bread wasn’t common, and we’ve been getting dandy, inexpensive, fresh, crusty baguettes every day. Can’t believe everything you read on the web…

·         Trying to get better at cooking whole fish. Don’t often get whole fish at home. This is being a bit of a challenge for me.

·         We’re just sliding into the Spanish schedule. Seldom eat lunch before 2:30, but we’re just ridiculously early dinner-eaters, dining around 8:30. The Spanish are just starting on tapas then.

·         Tried three local soups in Segovia, all good. The roast suckling pig is legendary, and with good reason. Felt sorry for the piglet, but forged on. No regrets.

 

        Sopa Castillana (aka Garlic soup)

·         Warren has probably said it repeatedly but we’re drinking some really pleasant wines VERY inexpensively. Found a little wine store nearby, and the lady had been giving us some pleasant suggestions. She struggles along, trying to get us to understand. Sort of like explaining wine to the cat, except that we’re interested and the cat isn’t. Drinking lots of Navarras to replace the lovely Navarros my brother buys us.

·         The local dessert specialty is a cakey-thing called poncho segovia. Get this: an angel food-like cake with a custardy filling wrapped in solid marzipan for icing. Warren ordered a second one! (He said it was just to photograph, but he ate every crumb and the waiter was so amused he refused to charge us for it.) Interestingly, the cake tasted definitely but not unpleasantly of having been cooking in a wood burning oven. So far I think that Spanish sweets are much like the French: much lighter, much less sweet, and much more reasonably sized than American. But Spanish desserts favor eggs and almond over the French favorites, fruit and pastry. Gail, the natillas are the best I’ve ever tasted. And with a tiny cookie crust on top.

Just one last sort of unrelated thought. We enjoyed seeing quite a few cats in Segovia, since we’re missing our own feline (who is under the capable care of her cousin Elizabeth). These little cat-folk are presumably feral, but we were pleased to see that Segovians put out food and water for them wherever they know that they’re likely to come for it. We saw a pair of youngsters come stealthily out of some dense ivy, down to where the food had been put out for them, and another pair come under the gate to a deserted ruin. Just outside the gate of a museum garden was a similar offering for the little black garden-guardian we saw hunched up in a warm corner of the wall, inside the garden and out of the rain. He kept a semi-wary eye on us, but apparently didn’t think we looked like much of a threat. Anyway, just another pleasant memory of Segovia.