i love eclairs: Andalusian Food

One of the many ways to enjoy your vacation is to eat well.  You can eat fabulously and andventurously in Spain, which has one of the most mouthwatering cuisines in Western Europe.

First things first - Spanish eat a lot of ham.  It's called jamon and it's everywhere: sliced, cured, cubed and added to stews, eaten on open-faced sandwiches, mixed in spanish omelet tortilla, in empanadas and often times i saw Madrillenos eating thin slices of it right out of the deli paper wrapper.

Secondly - tapas.  I love sheer variety, fun and lightness of tapas.  Idea of tapas is exactly the same as arabic mezze: lots of little (1 to 2 serving dishes) to give you a taste but not weigh you down.

And then there's andalusian cuisine: cold tomato soup gazpacho, which often times is not eaten with the spoon, but is drunk out of the glass, paella, ox tail stew, grilled eggplants and really delicioso fried seafood, sometimes marinated beforehand in lemony adobo marinate.

And finally, dessert.  I have a bone to pick with dessert in Spain - it's excruciatingly sweet!  It's either covered in obscene amount of powdered sugar, or drenched in sugar sirup or just baked by some kind of sugar-crazed baker.  It's much more sweeter than any arabic sweets.  And that's saying a lot!

One of the most famous Spanish desserts is churros - long sticks of deep fried sweet dough, which either comes powedered with sugar or you can dip them in hot sweet chocolatel.   Or both!

Allow me to take you on my personal gastronomic adventure in Spain:



Spanish ham "jamon".  The lard drips into small white plastic cups on the bottom.



Cheese selection @ "Il Corte Ingles" (Spanish Supermarket)

Typical Tapas Bar in Madrid. Lunch hour.



Pallela Marisco.  Seafood Pallela



Lubina a la plancha. Grilled sea bass.  Eyes and all!

The Hoof!  Server would slice the jamon right on that board.

Gazpacho

Caracoles/Escargot.  I didn't eat them. I couldn't!

Churros con Chocolate and also My Husband's Arm

Arabic Pastries and Yammas (top left).  Yammas tasted like egg yolk mixed with copius amount of , yes you guessed it! SUGAR!