United Statesian

Suckling pig... crispy, but not dry Dear Citizens of the world! In one of my last posts -- Eating my way through Spain -- I mentioned the fact that Spanish tourism is centred around food. Segovia is no different. The "task" of visiting monuments, sights and museums is purely a way to work up an appetite. Visiting the Disney-like castle...working up an appetite! In Segovia, people most often walk around the centre, check out the aqueduct and tour the castle that locals claim to be the source of inspiration for Disneyland's logo. Then, if you have walked around enough (stopping to sample local delicacies between each monument), you can sit down, unbutton the trousers and dig in. I'm already in the pan and ready to go! Don't worry if you don't speak Spanish...most restaurants decorate their windows with cute versions of your meal... De aproveche! - The United Statesian PS Next week... Fallas I ( Fallas II) in Valencia. A good reason to eat Paella!

A weathered door from the Cathedral in Morella Dear Citizens of the World, Tourism in Spain is equivalent to eating. Most destinations are known for their gastronomy as much as their monuments. Morella, a mountain village in the North of Castellon (along the Med between Barcelona and Valencia), is no different. Local "rosemary" honey from Morella During our visit to Morella we did spend some time walking around the area and checking out the monuments; however, the focus of the day was really the lunch and specialty shopping for local foodstuffs. Local sweet wine/spirts... we decided on the Garnatxa The day did not come without it's challenges. We ate so much for lunch that it was tough to complete a proper cheese tasting -- we ended up with three types of cheese... and we normally avoid lactose! Reflection of the sky and street in a large decanter full of red wine Remember, when visiting a Spanish village there are three rules to follow: 1. Get advice on a good restaurant...

Dear Citizens of the world! It's Spring...time for Spanish country weddings! I have been to a few weddings but this one took the cake for length and for... rowdyness. Any celebration in Spain involves food. The wedding was three days of eating, but with a ceremony and white dress somewhere in the middle. The white dress The festivities started with a long dinner, dancing and drinking until the wee hours on Friday. Saturday morning's ceremony was "traditional" but the tossing of rice and rose pedals became a pumelling that had everyone diving for cover. After a snack of rosquilas (the local version of donuts, but with more grease), we headed off to lunch. In between the various courses, the bride and groom were "forced" by their rowdy friends to do all manner of rituals. The groom being paraded around the reception wearing only a diaper.. . After lunch came dancing, drinking, a siesta and then more eating that evening. The grooms friends cutting his t...

Dear citizens of the world, Almond harvest time has come and gone. We spent a couple days in the pueblo , collecting almonds. It is hard work, but I like it -- well, once a year. This is a photo of the almonds while they are still on the tree with both the outer soft shell and the inner hard shell (as seen in the first picture above). Why is collecting them fun? The process starts by laying large nets under the tree, then I get to use a long stick to whack the tree until it gives up all its' almonds. End of fun part... Then the outer shells have to be taken off (sometimes not so easy). There is then a drying-out period and the last leg is to break the hard inner shell to get the "almond meat" out... careful to not crush the almond in the process. Eat and enjoy all year long. The harvest this year has been bad because there was not enough rain. Many almonds are "fruitless." And a violent downpoor at the end of the season stripped some trees of the fruit just be...

Fresh tomatoes and Mushrooms the size of a baby's head! ..................... Dear citizens of the world, Wine is definitely important in the Rioja region... and the pilgrimage. But it is only part of the balanced diet. Food from this part of Spain is important as well. We were lucky to see the end of the wine harvest ( see last blog ), but it was also mushroom season. The hills and forests are infested with mushroom pickers. I don't collect shrooms since I can't tell a delicious boletus edulis from a poisonous Boletus reticulatus ! I just enjoy eating them, especially when they are sauteed with olive oil and garlic. Yummy! "Tortilla" Spanish egg and potato omlette We did have some Spanish Tortilla - probably the most common cooked dish that you can find all around Spain, but we did try many other local delights: Blood Sausage from Burgos with bell pepper garnishing I highly recomend the blood sausage. The variation from Burgos is made with rice. This specifi...

"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." --Proverbs 31:6-7 The origins of the " Addictive" Santiago Trail are religious, but the reasons for doing the trail have mulitipied - drinking great wine is one of those reasons. Our last stretch of the trail just happened to be through the Rioja region of Spain. Rioja is the most famous wine region in Spain and outside the country. Therefore, following scripture - and good taste - we decided to try as many glasses (and bottles) as possible. Grapes going to waste ! We crossed the Rioja region at the end of the harvest season. There were tons of sweet grapes for us to pick and eat as we went along. However, it became harder and harder to bear the sight of so many grapes going to waste. The wine growers have limits and they are punished if they pick too much. This means that on most years there a...

Citizens of the world, Today, the topic is the Spanish " Pueblo " (Village). El Pueblo is a very important part of Spanish culture - almost everyone has one, but nobody seems to actually live there. Most Spaniards live in big or medium sized cities, but that was not always the case. Urban areas have expanded greatly over the past two generations, but there is still a strong link to the pueblo. The average age of some pueblos is over 60 - a few smaller villages have died out completely. However, there are still thousands of Pueblos that survive, in most part, thanks to the strong family and cultural bonds. When we are not climbing mountains or traveling, we go to Torrico, our pueblo. The main reason is to visit family, but it is also a way to get away from the pollution and stress of the big city, relax, disconnect, and to get your hands dirty in the fields. El pueblo also survives for practical reasons. For many families the pueblo and the extended family serve as a cheap ba...