fionamw

..or (whisper it) Bimbo's Semilla de Oro Ingles - plastic sliced but acceptable plastic sliced, if you know what I mean. Or Car4's various seeded offerings....

Please believe this, someone:
There is at least one part of Spain (and many more judging from posts too numerous to mention) where the choice in restaurants, ventas, bars, you name it, is very limited. Not every restaurant, etc., obviously. There IS wonderful shellfish, fish, cheese.... there ARE crunchy lettuces.
However - a million trillion starters? Not in most places (even the more expensive) I've set foot in. Most choice is between pork & chicken, or rabbit on a good day, or about two sorts of fish, all with similar fairly greasy sauces, usually with chips - and no, I'm not talking costas here I'm talking inland Andalucian villages. How many cheeses or varied salads apart from ensalada mixta or de la casa or some hawaiian fruity type? Not a lot.
And supermarkets? Actually I see the point about international food choices being greater in UK shops. You don't get a bunch of choice of interesting spices/rosewaters etc even in Malaga's big supermarkets.
To finish, just a question. What is so special about Cheddar?........

lynnxa

have to say I can't stand Bimbo bread in any way shape or form

jdr

Yep, really nice, I don`t know what they put in the 7 but it`s not as nice as the 5. ;-)

fionamw

This particular one is just about acceptable.....

lynnxa

you're right - I'd forgotten about the 7 - I don't like that either

Veleta

For me, its versatility.

You can:

1 eat it on its own (tapa style),
2 put it into a seeded bread sandwich with a slice of tomato and some CRISPY lettuce (assuming you don't live in Spain).
3 or melt it and use it for cooking.

jdr

I thought you could do that with most cheeses from any country ?

Veleta

Not really. Queso curado is hideous if you melt it. And I don't like it very much in sandwiches either. Too dry.

I don't think a "tapa" of Mozzarella would be very interesting, or a sandwich made from Parmesan.

I could go on.

In fact if anyone know of a cheese that is suitable for tapas, sandwiches AND cooking I'd be interested to hear about it. I haven't found a good substitute for cheddar yet.

fionamw

Queso tierno, semi curado, curado & viejo will jointly fill all those spots, in my humble opinion...... oh, and for ricotta, how about queso fresco?

jo-ann

You have obviously never been to Venta Duquesa at Medina Sidonia, their goats cheese salad is delicious and many other tasty treats on the menu.

Veleta

You would cook with queso curado/viejo?? Apart from being a bit on the expensive side I don't like the way these cheeses taste when melted.

I could try queso fresco instead of ricotta - I get a bit nervous about deviating too far from recipes though.

rachelk

Right now I can't think of many UK restaurants where you'd find a wide variety of cheese on offer or more than 2 or 3 salads to choose from -if that.

I haven't yet thought of a spice I wanted and not been able to buy it here. And although I've never looked for rosewater, you can buy orange flower water quite easily as well - would that do instead or is that showing my inferior palate?

rugbymatt

and do you know how many times I wake up thankful of that Lynn?

steviedeluxe

Anyone who's bought ham or pork products recently in Ireland or the UK* should read this:
bbc link dioxins in pig products
* I've seen Irish hams and bacons on sale in Uk supermarkets previously.

Mitzyboy

I already suggested one long ago in the thread