5-27-2007
I must say that one of my favorite parts of traveling is the opportunity to try new foods. However, at times, I would be the first one to say in the same breath that I do not like to try new foods. Countless times on my holiday, I did not remember my translation book and it so happens the restaurants did not have a menu in English. Therefore, I found myself looking at a big bowl of fish heads, eyeballs, and little tentacles of some squid type creature or a feast of all the imaginable editable remains of a cow or pig. Not my favorite thing to eat…well I did not eat any of it, but elected to eat more bread and hide the uneaten food with a napkin so I did not offend anyone. I had more room for dessert and more wine anyway. I guess this may be a factor in how I could of gained 10 pounds in 2 months on a cycling holiday. The tour de pastry in Portugal, the tour de tiramisu in Italy, and the tour de Tapa in Spain resulted in what Americans would call putting more “junk in the trunk”.
My previous regiment of oatmeal, peanut butter, eggs, protein shakes, veggie burgers, pudding snacks, salad, and splenda was replaced with the most wonderful cuisine; my favorite is the Spanish. I guess I enjoy the Spanish food because of the Mediterranean influence. Fish, vegetables, rice, dates, and nuts is a great portion of their diet. However, like in American there is also a world influence, food from many cultures.
I did have the opportunity to learn many of these traditional Spanish dishes from Ruben. He was very happy to give me my very own cooking lessons. He guided me through making my very first Spanish omelet that consists of potatoes, eggs, onions, and a lot of olive oil. The Spanish omelet is not traditionally eaten at breakfast, as in America, but on bread for lunch, in little slices for tapas, or in big pieces for dinner. He also whipped up some fresh gazpacho, usually served as a cold soup, but Ruben drinks it like it is tomato juice practically at every meal.
Paella, a traditional rice dish that is cooked and served in a special frying pan, is a wonderful combination of fish and vegetables, if you can waite long enough in order to actually get to eat it. The name paella is the word for "frying pan" in Valencian (from Latin patella). The pan is similar to how we southerners take pride in our old iron skillet that has never been placed in the dishwasher, and get its very own oil bath after a good scrub. Paella, mimics the Mediterranean mind set; slower is better. Good paella takes time, but it is worth the wait. Ruben made it for me and we had this along with the Spanish omelet, gazpacho, and a “un-traditional” spinage, walnut, and strawberry salad, dressed with a sweet balsamic vinaigrette that I introduced to Ruben. This is very different from the Spanish mixed salad that consists of lettuce, canned corn, carrots, tuna, and dressed with…ah…. you got it… more olive oil. It was so pretty that I had to take a picture of it. I actually have all the recipes, but have not translated them in English yet, one on my first homework assignments form my tour guide/cooking instructor.
In return, I wanted to fix ruben some American dishes. I soon realized that many of the food that I know how to cook is world food and not traditional; or for that matter from scratch, like all the things ruben made. I did not know how to make greens, fried chicken, biscuits and gravy from scratch (I do not think canned biscuits exist in spain) and well…could not think of anything besides hamburgers that would be distinctly “American”. There is peanut butter, something that I had been eating everyday on toast for breakfast and ruben did not understand how I could stand the stuff. (I actually would search hours for the it and seemed to consume 4 jars in a 2 month time frame). However, I had been craving pancakes and a vegetable omelet with lots of cheese, and strawberry shortcake. So we went to a large grocery store and I scored some Canadian maple syrup and some French crepe mix that worked just as good as bisquick. I added a little katelyn twist and mixed in some oatmeal, berries, nuts, and cinnamon. I think ruben liked it, he said it was like dessert and mentioned it would be good with chocolate, a chocolate crème that is similar to nutella without the hazelnut. I agreed that chocolate would make it much better, but chocolate makes all better. I made the omelet and strawberry shortcake over the next few days. He liked it so much that he said I should move to spain and cook for him. hhhmmmm…. I disagree, he was a much better cook than what I was, but I liked the compliment. He could move to America and cook for me.
I guess what made the cooking lesson so great, in addition to the company, is the view from Ruben’s Kitchen Window…the mountains.
My previous regiment of oatmeal, peanut butter, eggs, protein shakes, veggie burgers, pudding snacks, salad, and splenda was replaced with the most wonderful cuisine; my favorite is the Spanish. I guess I enjoy the Spanish food because of the Mediterranean influence. Fish, vegetables, rice, dates, and nuts is a great portion of their diet. However, like in American there is also a world influence, food from many cultures.
I did have the opportunity to learn many of these traditional Spanish dishes from Ruben. He was very happy to give me my very own cooking lessons. He guided me through making my very first Spanish omelet that consists of potatoes, eggs, onions, and a lot of olive oil. The Spanish omelet is not traditionally eaten at breakfast, as in America, but on bread for lunch, in little slices for tapas, or in big pieces for dinner. He also whipped up some fresh gazpacho, usually served as a cold soup, but Ruben drinks it like it is tomato juice practically at every meal.
Paella, a traditional rice dish that is cooked and served in a special frying pan, is a wonderful combination of fish and vegetables, if you can waite long enough in order to actually get to eat it. The name paella is the word for "frying pan" in Valencian (from Latin patella). The pan is similar to how we southerners take pride in our old iron skillet that has never been placed in the dishwasher, and get its very own oil bath after a good scrub. Paella, mimics the Mediterranean mind set; slower is better. Good paella takes time, but it is worth the wait. Ruben made it for me and we had this along with the Spanish omelet, gazpacho, and a “un-traditional” spinage, walnut, and strawberry salad, dressed with a sweet balsamic vinaigrette that I introduced to Ruben. This is very different from the Spanish mixed salad that consists of lettuce, canned corn, carrots, tuna, and dressed with…ah…. you got it… more olive oil. It was so pretty that I had to take a picture of it. I actually have all the recipes, but have not translated them in English yet, one on my first homework assignments form my tour guide/cooking instructor.
In return, I wanted to fix ruben some American dishes. I soon realized that many of the food that I know how to cook is world food and not traditional; or for that matter from scratch, like all the things ruben made. I did not know how to make greens, fried chicken, biscuits and gravy from scratch (I do not think canned biscuits exist in spain) and well…could not think of anything besides hamburgers that would be distinctly “American”. There is peanut butter, something that I had been eating everyday on toast for breakfast and ruben did not understand how I could stand the stuff. (I actually would search hours for the it and seemed to consume 4 jars in a 2 month time frame). However, I had been craving pancakes and a vegetable omelet with lots of cheese, and strawberry shortcake. So we went to a large grocery store and I scored some Canadian maple syrup and some French crepe mix that worked just as good as bisquick. I added a little katelyn twist and mixed in some oatmeal, berries, nuts, and cinnamon. I think ruben liked it, he said it was like dessert and mentioned it would be good with chocolate, a chocolate crème that is similar to nutella without the hazelnut. I agreed that chocolate would make it much better, but chocolate makes all better. I made the omelet and strawberry shortcake over the next few days. He liked it so much that he said I should move to spain and cook for him. hhhmmmm…. I disagree, he was a much better cook than what I was, but I liked the compliment. He could move to America and cook for me.
I guess what made the cooking lesson so great, in addition to the company, is the view from Ruben’s Kitchen Window…the mountains.
Amore, Katelyn
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