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My host mother, Soledad, shows off a monolithic jug of olive oil |
Spaniards,
it is said, are not afraid of salt.
Nor would they
appear to harbor any misgivings towards lavish quantities of olive oil.
Having traveled
to South America—home to countries which long desperately to appear European (Argentina, cough cough!)—I thought I had
an idea of Spanish cuisine, coming in. Bland
food, by and large, inevitably piled with French fries and a fried egg. Lots of rice; an unending supply of potatoes
in various forms. Carbs reign
supreme. Breakfast, the same every day:
bread with butter and jam. Bananas and…more
bananas. Mayonnaise slathering
everything it can get its gooey white fingers on, maybe a bit of avocado. Perros calientes aplenty!
Spain was at
once a disappointment and a pleasant surprise.
That is, the food is very similar to what I expected, to what I had seen
in places like Perú, Argentina, Bolivia.
But what happened to turn me on my head was Spain’s amazing combination
of an overall Spanish theme, that serves as a foundation to most if not all its
cooking, paired with a delightful tendency to source locally.
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A homemade dish of rice, peppers, mariscos, olive oil, garlic, and salt |
It is true,
I weary a bit of every meal beginning with ajo—garlic—continuing on with aceite
de oliva, coming to close with the inevitable fistful of salt. But the regions of Spain have adapted this
simple culinary trio to whatever it is they make best with finesse. For Salamanca and the rest of Castile y León,
this of course makes for a delicious salty, alioli-drenched bocadillo of Spain’s
finest pork. For others, it means
sumptuous paella, high-end goat and sheep cheese, mariscos, cocidos…La lista
sigue.
In short,
Spain is a mix of the utterly expected and the carefully crafted. I may personally prefer a greater variety
(and quantity, moreover!) of spices and ingredients, but I cannot say that the
Spanish do not put together what they have in masterful ways.