steviedeluxe

Plenty of trendy restaurants in places like Madrid and Barcelona that offer that type of dish and description.
I was just responding to the "lack of variety" claim with my observations of the general stuff offered in most average places that offer MDD. A starter choice of say stuffed aubergine or mixed salad or garlic prawns or sopa de cocido, may not be to your tastes, but they are hardly all the same...

agoreira

In one list I saw, men were the same in Spain and UK, it's the women that seem to do better. Another list, like you say, gives a year's difference between the men, hardly anything to get excited about. And don't forget the eighty year olds in Spain have generally had a decent diet, the next generation will be a different story, Spain has the third highest child obesity level in the world. Most Club Med countries have gone from sensible eating to rubbish junk food in a very short time.
http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-ne...my-number-one/

jackytoo

I wonder where you get the imoression that because I don't like Spanish food much that I don't like exotic food I can stuff an aubergine very well, or slice and cook in tempura batter. You won't get stuffed aubergine on MDD menus on the coast Usually it is a watery soup or salad for starter (and the salad will be a couple of small leaves, 1 tomato and onion). Main will be the usual dubious looking piece of yellowing fish, a pork chop which defies the trades description Act or the usual chicken leg. Pudding, a pot of yogurt type thing, an apple etc.

Yes you can get good trendy restaurants on the coast. Everyone I have been to is either foreign owned or has a foreign chef. This was our favourite as we were within 15 mins walk away. They have Spanish staff but almost all have gained experience in other countries.

http://www.restauranteellago.com/en/staff/

Dick Dasterdly

The younger generation of Spanish seem to be taking to fast junk food like ducks to water.
IMHO they look upon it as a special treat in comparison to the blandness of the typical traditional food presented to them by their parents in their early days.

When they eventually catch up and are brave enough to sample the vast range of international food popular with many UK youngsters, paella and gazpacho could well be consigned to the history books.

jackytoo

It was in the Malaga news last week that 3000 people are to go on some weight reducing programme for the obese which has been put on by the health authority.

As I have said before, glance at what Spanish families have in their trolleys in the super queue. lots of sweet chocolate type stuff.

steviedeluxe

I never mentioned "exotic food" or your desire to eat it J2! Please stop putting words into my mouth!
As for your comment regarding MDD menus on the coast - yes you may be right. My comments are generally based on Spanish cities such as Madrid or Barcelona (although that is on the coast too). I saw a television interview with a hotel chef in a resort a few years back - he said that basically they'd stopped doing most Spanish dishes as the tourists wanted the pork chop/chicken and chips type of meal.

PS berenjena (aubergine) isn't an exotic food to me. Ok it's far more common in Med countries, than back home, but to me that doesn't make it exotic. Maybe I've misunderstood that word?

Rosemary

In my area it is one of the standard items on a MDD, always popular. I did not use so many when in the UK because they are best eaten on the same day as they are picked. The coast around here is frequented by the Spanish and French so the MDD´s tend to stay more traditional.

Rosemary

agoreira

I think you have been here, we've stayed here 3 times now and love the food, but maybe because it's Moroccan type food, it's different to what most of the rest churn out.
http://jardin.lacasadelcalifa.com/en/the-menu

jackytoo

Yes, the Califa is great, nice ambience too. We were hoping to get there this June but ran out of time...why do people have to get married

Exotic may have been the wrong choice of word...it wasn't referring to aubergines...I used to live in Africa remember! However if you stuck to MDD's on the coat even a stuffed aubergine would seem exotic

HBG

I consider myself quite healthy, despite some terrible eating habits in my early to middle working life. And that's not only my own, biased opinion, it's what various medical tests have proved too.

I've often wondered why and have reached a firm conclusion.

During my teenage years I ate porridge every single day.

pete_l

That's someting I've been doing with interest (and horror) for some months now. The nearest large town (pop. 20,000) to me has 3 supermarkets: Mercadona, Consum and Lidl. In Lidl espesh. the spanish seem to fill up their trolleys with cheap beer, long-life milk, cheese (bland), cakes&sweets, some sort of pink goop in transparent sausage-like tubes and olive oil ... gallons and gallons of olive oil - I think they must be using it instead of diesel as no family could every want, need or use the amount they seem to buy.

What were you in for?

steviedeluxe

I'm not sure that monitoring spending habits in Lidl is representative of anyone - except Lidl customers. Any more than monitoring OpenCor customers (or Waitrose customers in the UK) ? Or markets for that matter.

pete_l

Indeed. However, where there are only 3 supermarkets (and Lidl seems by far the most crowded) it is pretty representative of what a significant proportion of the local populace is eating.

steviedeluxe

I do agree with one point though. You rarely see skinny people anymore, whether in London or Madrid, Blackpool or Benidorm. Is it just the availability of cheap junk food, or is it that we all exercise less nowadays?

jackytoo

Porridge isn't fattening, it also fills you up and stops snacking on biscuits etc. later.

Men seem to have a sweeter tooth than women. If any tradesmen come to the house they all seem to take sugar young or old. Also salads have been proved to be more fattening than the average meat and two veg meals because of the dressings used and the bread to accompany it.