Time for another recap on that most important of subjects here at de-I Sandia Outfitters Mediterranean Vacations - FOOD, EATING, AND DRINKING! (Maybe that is three subjects actually). This post is going to focus on the five days with our niece and special guest blogger RMG! RMG moved to Spain over a year ago so this is our first chance seeing here since then. Plus she has spent most of her time in the real world of Madrid. So this was her first experience with the pseudo-real world of retirees, expats, and vacationers on the Spanish coast. Plus she is a vegetarian so staying and eating with us is like an anthropologist going out into the field to see how another culture lives.
As luck would have it, RMG arrived by train on one of the days before one of the holidays. Knowing the supermarkets would be closed we, stopped to shop on our way back. It was late by the time we got to the apartment so we just went along the beachfront to a place we know has decent pizza.
This is a 'revised' four seasons pizza. It has sausage. We were going to go with three seasons but our waiter would have none of it and insisted we choose another vegetable (onions) to complete the fourth season.
RMG and Wife
(It is amazing how peaceful RMG is considering the number of Sandia Outfitter experiences she has had. (Then again, she has survived them all.)
RMG loves cooking so we always cook together when we see her. (I gave RMG her first break at working professionally in the kitchen of a restaurant I part-owned decades ago when she thought that might be her career. Her spin on this is slightly different likening the experience to one of human servitude for the benefit of her capitalist masters.)
"Uncle de-I, this is so much better than the restaurant. At least, you give me wine before forcing me to do all the prep work."
We made a pasta with cheese sauce and a salad.
We also went to the local market, bought way too much produce and made a vegetarian stew with lentils
Learning the 'proper' way to have drinks in Spain
We were informed that one is expected to sit down with one's drink for at least and hour to an hour and a half. That's before even thinking about getting a meal. I'm not sure if I've ever seen Wife sit that long with a drink, talking in my life.
We decided to experience this while we were in Alicante and needed a rest by the church. The place had this Brazilian soft drink.
A word on Costa Blanco ice cubes. I'm not sure if this the case for the rest of Spain, but all our drinks come with these cylindrical shaped ice cubes that have some kind of Feng Sui to them that just has you wanting to hang out. Somehow they don't seem to melt as fast.
While having our drinks, RMG demonstrates the approved way to have and enjoy an iced coffee in Spain.
Small Bits
An awful lot of eating in Spain can be like that whether they are called Tapas, Pinchos, Tostadas, Bocadillos. There are just lots of things you can have if you just want some food other than a full meal. BUT you need to have them sitting down with a drink. It has taken us a while to embrace this concept but we are finally getting the hang of it. Here is just a sampling of various things we've had over the week.
Albondigas en Salsa (Meatballs in Sauce)
More Ensalada Russa (every place I have it it is different. This version had more olives in it)
A vegetable sandwich for the vegetarian
Classic Spanish Tortilla (Egg Potato open omelet)
Back at our favorite Pinchos place.
Crab salad with shrimp & anchovy / Chorizo salad with quail egg and crispy onions
The beauty of solitary dining at our own place
A night at the Spanish fast food place on the waterfront
Clockwise from the top - Mini chicken sandwich with mayo, mini pepperoni pizza, mini egg sandwich with ham, mini tuna sandwich with mayo
The Menu del Dia
I spoke lovingly during our Spain trip last year about the glories of the menu del dia at most local places at lunch during the week. Good food and great prices with great portions. We'd not really done it in part because we'd eaten too much in Italy and have been trying to cut down. But we had a hankering for the experience again. As luck would have it, after one of our castle excursions, the closest thing to eat was a local place with the menu del dia on offer.
Yup, it was not part of the menu but I had to try their version of Ensalada Rusa. Sure enough. Way different. Almost more of an egg salad this time.
The 'regular' salad that is part of the menu. It included lettuce, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, onion, olives, sunflower seeds, pickles, raisins, and tuna. You dress it yourself with olive oil and vinegar on the table.
Wife's baked macaroni in a tomato, cream sauce with chicken
I ordered a pork rib dish that I thought were going to be braised ribs but turned out to be a soup!
Dessert included
My rice pudding and Wife's chocolate tart. Both were excellent
The menu price was 8.5 Euros or $9.40 each. It included a beverage. With an extra coffee and ensalada rusa, the total was 21.50 Euros or $24.00. Hard to beat.
2 comments:
Let this be a warning to you all, children, do not work in the windowless kitchens of your uncle's restaurants, for few return unscathed... Luckily I acquired useful cooking skills and then was wise enough to flee to physics.
I was super impressed how long the two of you were able to sit there with just a drink!
that menu del dia price is insane. That's why people retire there!!
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