Posted in Autumn, beans, Castilla y Léon, Castilla-La Mancha, Castillano, castille, Chorizo, Europe, French, history, Madrid, Meat, pigs, pork, Restaurant Review, Segovia, soup, Spain, suckling pig, sweetbreads, tourism, tradition, travel, Uncategorized, unhealthy on Mar 24th, 2016
It must go down among the biggest porkies a man ever told a woman – right after Christopher Columbus telling his mother he wouldn’t be long; he and a few friends were just taking their boats out for a spin. And, never has the term “farm”* been used more euphemistically than when Felipe V of […]
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Posted in Castilla y Léon, Castillano, castille, Chorizo, Fall, Madrid, Meat, morcilla, octopus, offal, pigs, pork, pulpo, racione, Restaurant Review, Segovia, Spain, Spanish, suckling pig, tourism, tradition, travel on Jan 4th, 2016
Five years in the making, and after at least six months’ meticulous planning, this was not an auspicious start. Within twenty minutes of claiming our luggage off the futuristically-plastic baggage carousel at Madrid-Barajas, and after spending the few coins we brought with us on a pair of sorely-needed cortados, we stood, incredulous and cash-less, in […]
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Posted in acorns, America, animals, Asturias, bacon, ban, book review, Castillano, castille, Chorizo, Galician, Gallego, ground meat, Madrid, Meat, morcilla, offal, pimenton, prosciutto, Spain, tradition on Apr 3rd, 2014
With some cookbooks, you just open them, find something that looks good and go straight into your kitchen and start cooking. Charcutería – The Soul of Spain, the new book from Jeffrey Weiss, is not that kind of book. This is partly intentional in that the book is structured in such a way as to […]
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Posted in almond, Barcelona, broiled, calamari, Chorizo, cuttlefish, fish, Garlic, Madrid, Murcia, noodles, nuts, Olive Oil, Pasta, pepper, peppers, pulpo, Spain, Squid, tradition, travel, Valencia, wine on Nov 14th, 2012
For centuries, mankind and cuttlefish have had something of a difficult relationship, certainly from the latter’s perspective. Even prior to the development of the photographic tint known as sepia – a brownish hue that makes the late 19th century appear to have been an unusually dusty period – the ink of the cuttlefish was prized […]
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Posted in appetizer, Barcelona, fried, Garlic, ham, history, Madrid, pimenton, pinchos, pintxos, Potato, prosciutto, racione, side dish, Spain, spicy, tapas, tourism, tradition, travel on Nov 17th, 2010
Towards the end of what is, in my opinion, his finest work, Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell tells of the bitter street fighting he witnessed in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War when the delicate alliance between communist, socialist, and anarchist factions of the Republican army finally collapsed. While certainly not the bloodiest scene in […]
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****Ahhh, the old dippy egg automatic food p*rn shot I remember the night in Madrid Jonny and I thought it would be a good idea to do a tapas crawl after having many, many drinks. We weren’t yet at that “I’m so drunk I must shovel food in my mouth now” place, but were maybe […]
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Posted in Asturias, blood, boiled, caldo, carrots, Castillano, chick peas, chicken stock, chickpeas, Chorizo, cocido, Madrid, pork, Recipe, Spain on Mar 28th, 2009
Many of European countries have a one-pot dish into which odds and ends of the beast and various cheap vegetables are thrown, and cooked until all components sit fall-apart tender in a rich broth. Examples include Lancashire hot-pot in the UK, the famed French pot-au-feu, and the various cocidos of Spain.
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Posted in Madrid, pepper, peppers, Potato, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, Spain, vegetables, vegetarian on Feb 19th, 2009
Over a year ago when we were in Madrid, Spain we had two dining experiences that were particularly memorable. They were memorable because these were the spots we ended up just doing an eenie-meenie-minee-moe way to pick it. Sometimes those restaurants, the type that involve zero research or reading of reviews, that end up being the best. The first experience […]
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Posted in bread, breakfast, castille, cheese, Chorizo, Christmas, egg, Food Commentary, ham, holiday, holidays, iberico, jamon, Madrid, Olive Oil, salami, sausage, Spain, tomato, tortilla, tourism, travel, weight on Dec 17th, 2008
It’s nearly a year now since we were in Madrid, and while during that time we’ve managed to shed some of the excess poundage we gained there, we’ve lost none of our longing to be back there. And, it’s a strange thing about longing that all your memories become more vivid, and you remember even […]
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Posted in boiled, culture, Galician, Gallego, healthy, Jose Andres, Madrid, octopus, Olive Oil, paprika, pimenton, pulpo, racione, Recipe, seafood, soccer, Spain, tapas, tourism, travel on Oct 23rd, 2008
The first time I ate pulpo a la gallega was at a very disreputable-looking food stand not far from the Estadio Balaídos in Vigo, Spain, before watching a soccer match between Celta de Vigo and Racing Santander (it finished 2-2). It was served on a slightly wilted plastic plate with a toothpick that looked suspiciously […]
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Posted in acorns, anchovies, appetizer, bread, culture, delicacy, easy, Europe, Garlic, grilled, grilling, ham, holiday, iberico, jamon, Madrid, pigs, pinchos, piquillo peppers, racione, Recipe, Recipes, Spain, tapas, tomato, tourism, tradition, travel on Jul 18th, 2008
Not long ago our good friend Nuria at Recipes Pic by Pic offered to do a food exchange with us, knowing both how obsessed we are with Spanish food and their comparative scarcity over here in the States. In return she asked that we send her some typical American products of our choice as well […]
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Posted in calamari, Clams, easy, fish, healthy, lemon, Madrid, meal, peppers, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, rice, soup, Spain, spices, Squid, tomato, vegetarian on May 5th, 2008
On our final day in Madrid, it was pissing down with rain. We spent about 4 hours walking around the Reina Sofia drooling over Picasso’s Guernica (the size of a giant museum wall) and the large amount of Dali and Miro works. We’re not really artsy-fartsy folks, but that museum made me wet myself with […]
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Posted in alcohol, alcoholic drink, appetizer, Asturias, beans, beverage, blood, chops, Chorizo, embarrassment, Europe, fabada, Food Commentary, indulgent meal, lunch, Madrid, morcilla, offal, pigs, pork, sausage, Spain, tapas, tourism, tradition, travel, unhealthy on Mar 7th, 2008
“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.” – William Blake Have you ever thought, as you sit red-faced, breathing shallowly, “just… one… more… bite”? Have you ever then taken that extra bite and thought to yourself — in your blood-starved brain — “maybe, after all, I could manage another one”? And, finally, […]
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Posted in chickpeas, Chorizo, Food Commentary, Madrid, pork, Rachel Ray, rant, Spain, stew, travel on Feb 19th, 2008
I know, guys… yet again, another Ray-Ray complaint. I just can NOT stop. I try, kids… I REALLY freaking try. I put her show on and within 30 seconds, I put her on mute. Within a minute, the channel is changed. I can’t do it. I try over and over again, and over and over […]
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Posted in acorns, Castillano, castille, delicacy, ham, healthy, history, holiday, iberico, important details, jamon, language, Madrid, pigs, pork, racione, serrano, Spain, tapas, tourism, tradition, travel on Feb 5th, 2008
Penelope Cruz’s “break-out” film was a lusty, comedic tale called Jamon, Jamon in which one of her suitors tells her that her breasts taste like serrano ham. Throughout the film (in which Cruz frequently appears partially clothed) there are many shots of legs of jamon serrano and iberico hanging in store windows, and the film […]
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You might not think it from the contents of this blog, but we are big fans of cheese. In fact, the only post on the subject of cheeses was written back in June and even then it only really dealt with cheese in brief, offhand kind of way. However, nothing could be further from the […]
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I usually wouldn’t bore readers with non-food-related things on our blog, but I figured some of you may be stopping by looking for some travel-related items. So, here are some pictures we took in Madrid. You can click on each to get a bigger view. I hope you will consider a vacation to Spain soon […]
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Posted in Europe, Food Commentary, grilled, indulgent meal, Madrid, offal, pigs, pinchos, pintxos, pork, Spain, spicy, tapas, tourism, tradition, travel, tripe, unhealthy on Jan 26th, 2008
As my wife accurately put it in her post of the other day, we ate a lot of interesting tapas during our time in Madrid. Several of these are specialities of the city and cannot be found elsewhere. We felt it our duty then, to give at least some of them a try. Long-term readers […]
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Posted in cheap meal, Chorizo, culture, egg, Europe, Food Commentary, fried, grilled, history, leek, Madrid, meatballs, Olive Oil, paprika, Potato, Recipe, Recipes, sauce, sausage, seafood, Spain, Squid, tapas, tourism, tradition, travel, vegetarian, wine on Jan 24th, 2008
In a later post, the husband will write about all the, shall we say, interesting tapas we ate while in Madrid. When I use the word interesting, I mean that many may find some of these tapas to be gross and/or bizarre. Personally, I am always willing to try something new. Only then can I […]
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Posted in alcohol, alcoholic drink, beverage, Castillano, castille, culture, drink, entertainment, Europe, holiday, Madrid, Spain, tapas, tourism, tradition, travel, vermouth, vermut on Jan 17th, 2008
As regular readers will know, we recently visited Madrid and gorged ourselves at its myriad restaurants, tascas, bars and any other hostelry we could find. Because of this excessive consumption, we’re currently going through what can only be described as a traumatic process of catharsis, in which we’re avoiding all meat and all booze for […]
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