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Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:05 am
  #31  
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by Biffta
I think the British are probably the most adventurous when it comes to eating. The restaurants serving British, Chinese, Italian, Indian and Thai food for example rarely seem patronised by the Spanish who largely seem to stick to their own traditional 'cuisine'.
And as a matter of interest taking two humble items of food, the potato and bread, do the Spanish ever eat mashed potato, IMO one of the finest ways to present this vegetable? Well mashed, with butter, perhaps a dab of cream and a sprinkling of white pepper - wonderful! Same could be said for the baked potato.
Also, do the Spanish ever buy white or brown sliced bread and enjoy the wonders of the 'humble' sandwich? The only time I seem to see sliced bread served in Spanish cafes is that dreadful (IMO) Bimbo stuff, served as a toasted sandwich.
So that's my question, do the Spanish eat mashed potato and sandwiches?
Mashed potato, yes quite often. At least in this house. Surely there is nothing more bland though than mashed potato? It is the very definition of bland.

My wife thought baked potatoes were a British thing, but they are something of a speciality in the Malaga province, among Spaniards

Sandwiches, well bocatas are an institution in Spain, that is a sandwich made with a baguette. Most cafeterias also serve sandwiches made out of white sliced bread which has been toasted. A sandwich mixto is the most common i.e. with ham and cheese, but some placed specialise in a whoe variety of them
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:07 am
  #32  
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by Larana
Ever tried (substitute bacon) Serrano ham with eggs?

Yuck!
A friend of ours once bought some very expensive jamon from a specialist shop in Ronda, carved with great ceremony. He took it home and put it in the fridge, looking forward to enjoying it as a reminder of his holiday. The next morning he got up to find his elderly father, who lived with them, with an empty breakfast plate in front of him. "Didn't think much of that bacon you got" said the old chap - he'd fried the lot up with eggs!
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:09 am
  #33  
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by jimenato
Fifteen years on, we eat what we want rather than what we think we should.
Of course you should

My point is we don't want to eat British food! We only do whatever we like. For Christ sake there are no rules saying what someone should eat!

British food on the Costa Del Sol was awful anyway, much worse than what you would get in Britain.

We loved the food in London and our weekly shop at Waitrose. We would not shop at Iceland ever, it is God awful food, sorry guys
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:11 am
  #34  
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by crookesey
No, you don't mean that you guys don't wear traditional Spanish dress
There are few things more cringeworthy than the sight of foreigners wearing traditional Spanish fiesta dress!
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:27 am
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by cricketman
But why would you do that? You can get good bacon in Spain from the butcher. In Malaga I used to have the most amazing tocino sandwiches, big thick juicy bacon

You should never ever fry serrano ham! It would be even worse than frying the embutido version of chorizo

Me me, you can't get English muffins for eggs benedict, you can have it with normal bread but its not the same. Same thing with English breakfast. Spanish sausages are nice but have a very different flavour. Anyway, when we go back to the UK t is good to be able to look forward to something you haven't had for a while
I said that an English breakfast does not have to have all the components.

So what you are saying is, that if you fancy an English brekkie, and there are no sausages, you would rather have cereal.

Veggies have English brekkie without sausages, and it is no less, they just adapt it to their style of living

Thank god I am a bit less anal than that, Because I would still enjoy the eggs, bacon, mushroom, grilled tomatoes and toast.

Also if there are no muffins for the eggs benedict, I would still rather have it with some sort of bread, than have a donut instead.

Also cooking has evolved through people using different ingredients, when I was a child, getting chorizo in the UK was nearly impossible, family or friends had to bring it back from Spain. Now it is widely used and readily available in most supermarkets.


That is the joy of having a "shades of grey" attitude. Adaptability. You should try it, because whatever your scope in life is, with a bit of flexibility it is a lot better.
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:28 am
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Smile Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by cricketman
Of course you should

My point is we don't want to eat British food! We only do whatever we like. For Christ sake there are no rules saying what someone should eat!

British food on the Costa Del Sol was awful anyway, much worse than what you would get in Britain.

We loved the food in London and our weekly shop at Waitrose. We would not shop at Iceland ever, it is God awful food, sorry guys
Iceland near here sell Waitrose food!
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:30 am
  #37  
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by Lynn R
There are few things more cringeworthy than the sight of foreigners wearing traditional Spanish fiesta dress!
During one of the main religious fiestas in Torrevieja a hundred expats, they call them Costaleros, dressed in Spanish outfits, carry a heavy religious statue through the streets.

They always get the loudest cheer from the watching Spanish crowds and do more to help Spanish/English relations than a whole gaggle of ambassadors.

And you wouldn't mock them for their outfits, they're all big lads, they have to be to carry the heavy statue.
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:33 am
  #38  
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by me me

That is the joy of having a "shades of grey" attitude. Adaptability. You should try it, because whatever your scope in life is, with a bit of flexibility it is a lot better.
Well yes, but it doesnt really work for us

The other thing is the eating pattern. When do you eat an English breakfast in Spain? There really is no place for it because lunch is always a very big meal

Also, in Oviedo there is a big culture of having a pincho (small bocata) mid-morning. We tend to do that at the weekend as part of the morning paseo. In the week the wife often gets some bollos de chorizo for elevenses. So often we only have a very small breakfast, a coffee and muesli or toast

There is no space for English breakfast in our timetable. In the UK there was because we lived to a very different lifestyle, especially during the winter. An English breakfast is wonderful when it is cold and miserable on a Sunday morning
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:35 am
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Smile Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by cricketman
Well yes, but it doesnt really work for us

The other thing is the eating pattern. When do you eat an English breakfast in Spain? There really is no place for it because lunch is always a very big meal
Saturday BRUNCH a real treat once a month!
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:39 am
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by cricketman
Sandwiches, well bocatas are an institution in Spain, that is a sandwich made with a baguette.
Oh no it isn't!!
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 9:44 am
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by Biffta
Oh no it isn't!!
Are you saying that bocatas and bocadillos aren't an institution in Spain?

They are most definitely made with a baguette or barra

What are you questioning?
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 10:01 am
  #42  
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by cricketman
That's absolute rubbish, you are just showing off your own ignorance.

But then again, I should know better than to talk about food on this forum!
No, it is true. Our local restaurant whilst very good has the same menu since when we arrived 10 years agod. It hasn´t changed one iota but then neither have the prices. My gripe bottled vegetables with everything.
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 10:23 am
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by Chiclanagir
No, it is true. Our local restaurant whilst very good has the same menu since when we arrived 10 years agod. It hasn´t changed one iota but then neither have the prices. My gripe bottled vegetables with everything.
That is obviously a cr*p restaurant. Plenty of them in every country. Why don't you look for a better one? I ate in some good places in Chiclana, a nice seafood place right on the beach

You can't beat some nice papas alinyadas and chopitos. The food in Cádiz province is very good

Last edited by cricketman; Oct 29th 2013 at 10:25 am.
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 10:28 am
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

These threads do make me laugh
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Old Oct 29th 2013, 10:29 am
  #45  
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Default Re: Do you eat 'Spanish' food when you are in Spain?

Originally Posted by jimenato
Fifteen years on, we eat what we want rather than what we think we should.
Quite right too. I love a full English breakfast. Why should I stop when I am in Spain?
Doesn't stop me eating Spanish as well.
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