Hungry?

My recent blog posts have been a bit of a guide book. Perhaps I should be working for Lonely Planet.

Let’s get back to basics. Food.

We’ve been beginning the day as the Spanish do. In a coffee shop. Emily’s boyfriend wouldn’t consider eating breakfast at home, and neither do we. A huge glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Maybe a roll, with jamon, or cheese, or sobrasada (a Mallorcan spreading sausage) or simply olive oil, then lightly toasted. Coffee, obviously.

Our favourite camareros from Los Siete Gatos in Granada.

It’s hard to resist tapas later on. Order a drink, and you’ll be served with a tapa too. Olives maybe, or patatas bravas. You may get a choice. Maybe not. It’s easy to knock up enough food for a light meal by ordering another drink.

A busy tapas bar.

We’ve been struck by the difference between the food in Granada and that in Córdoba. Granada celebrates making delicious treats out of very little: patatas a lo pobre – potatoes with onions and peppers. Migas – fried stale breadcrumbs with peppers, onion, garlic and fatty bacon. Both simple. Both good.

Both cities celebrate the pig and lamb in many forms: lots of piggy sausage dishes. Lots of chick peas too.

Córdoba pushes you in the direction of berenjenas – aubergine slices deep fried in batter and drizzled in honey. Every restaurant here has an oxtail dish, and is proud to tell you that the city is a foodie capital.

Berenjenas con miel.

Every shopping street has a selection of independent greengrocers. Just as well. After all that stomach-lining food, a piece or two of fruit is more than welcome.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

27 thoughts on “Hungry?”

  2. The supermarkets are packed full of cereal boxes – are these for children, and adults ‘eat out’ for breakfast? We are eating (and drinking) very well. Love the fresh orange juice although I have to go easy on that. Favourite tapas so far has to be the sizzling prawns. Weather fabulous – looks like we are escaping Freya! x

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    1. Well, Miquel nips into his local bar on the way to work, as do many others. Parents catch up with friends after the school run… and so on. It’s a cheap treat. In Barcelona and Valencia, we loved the wholemeal croissants, but they don’t seem to have them here.

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  5. When we were in London a couple years ago renting a flat, one of my favorite parts of the day was passing the green grocers along the street we were walking and getting some beautiful fresh fruit to take “home” for a late night snack. I miss our two weeks in London!

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  9. OMG…. those aubergine slices! They look heavenly although I cannot, for the life of me, see what are those crystals?! Sugar? I mean, a batter is OK but are they being covered in sugar after the batter? AND honey? Maybe I would have to refrain after all – or only just ONE (she said…. ha ha).
    The simple, but well made food, is one of the greatest pleasures of many of my trips. Since knowing the word tapas, my life has become better…. honestly. I already fell in love with those ‘nibbles’ (well, a lot more than nibbles) when I visited Crete and Cyprus, or when we are invited at our neighbours (he is Greek, her Brasilian…. a hot mix and wonderful friends/food/drama). We never go away happier, or more ‘stuffed to the gills’ – how THEY manage to stay slim and trim, is one other miracle to me and totally unfair! 🙂

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      1. I know – I just wish I had known them before….. As I do love the mezzes – I mean, we do the same thing but with less enthusiasm (often!) and maybe less imagination, although I wd claim to be pretty innovative and daring. But I have found so many countries where they do things just slightly differently, like stuffed courgette flowers, or even unstuffed ones, in Italy. THIS was a major revelation – just pop them in some delicious olive oil and ever so slightly (snowflake lightly) salt them, pop them in your mouth still warm – HEAVEN ON A TONGUE!

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  10. I love this style of eating – so simple and social and so delicious. I am intrigued by the honey with the aubergines as I had not seen that before – must try it but I guess the type of honey makes a difference? I tend to roast aubergine slices after brushing them with garlic and olive oil, so hope that might do?

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