Author: Ben

Links – Racism and Grumpy Waiters

Post author By Ben
Post date May 26, 2007

Ken talks about very very grumpy Spanish waiters in the forum (should that read racist?)

… whilst there is a very definitely racist encounter with waiters described at the Symphony in D blog.

The latter tale is horrific, but shouldn’t be taken as representative of attitudes across Spain. Immigration by anyone other that South Americans and Europeans is a very recent phenomenon in Spain, yet the odd few Spaniards that come out with racist bile are the exception rather than the rule. Most educated Spaniards don’t seem bothered at all, not yet at least, and certainly not when compared with the ‘Rivers of Blood‘ type attitudes that were common in Britain in the sixties and seventies when the UK was experiencing similar changes.

Spanish Culture and News

The rain in Spain…

Post author By Ben
Post date May 25, 2007

Seem like all the sayings about Spain are coming true… “The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain” – well, I’m not sure what’s happening on the coasts, but it’s been pouring here for days (¡Madre mia como cae! says Marina, on an hourly basis…)

A favourite phrase in Madrid at this time of year is “Hasta el 40 de Mayo, no te quites el sayo” – Don’t take your coat off until the the 40th of May, meaning, obviously, that you can’t bet on non-stop good weather until at least June 10th.

And… Frases raras en Español, strange phrases in Spanish, is bizzarely one of the google searches that brings most people to this site every month!

Spanish Food and Drink Tapas of the week

Tocino Iberico – Tapas of the week

Post author By Ben
Post date May 24, 2007

tocino iberico

Forget tapas of the week, this could be tapas of the year!

How to describe tocino? The dictionary says ‘fat’, but that is like describing caviar simply as ‘fish eggs’. Let’s see, you know the white around the edge of ham that your mum always tried to persuade you was the best bit when you were young? It’s the same stuff, and guess what, it turns out she was right.

Tocino Iberico, however, the delicate fat that warms the flanks of Iberian pigs as they forage for acorns in cork forests, is in a league of its own. The photo above was taken in the wonderful Cumbres Mayores tapas bar in Cadiz, where these inconceivably thin slices of tocino, streaked with a fissure of ham, were warmed slightly in the oven and served on curled up bread sticks. The tocino literally melted on the tounge, a smokey, acorney, subtle delight. Forget the fish eggs, you can give me pig fat like this any day of the week.

Would you eat the white around this ham?

Notes from Spain Podcast Spain Travel

Feria de Caballos, Jerez – Podcast 59

Post author By Ben
Post date May 22, 2007

[Download MP3]

Feria de Caballos, Cadiz

The image above perfectly sums up the horse fair in Jerez: proud men on beautiful horses, huge barrels of Fino wine, and attractive Andalusian women in wild Sevillanas dresses…

Feria de Caballos, Cadiz

Listen to the podcast, see all the photos in Flickr and check out the short video below…

The Feria de Caballos in Jerez (map) takes place every year at the beginning of May. We found details of exact dates at Andalucia.org
. You can also see a Spanish video blog from the event here.

Spain Travel

Off the main road….

Post author By Ben
Post date May 21, 2007

Living in Spain

Moving to Spain: Mistakes you can make… The big one.

Post author By Ben
Post date May 19, 2007

Talking about moving to Spain and making mistakes in the same sentence is a bit of a contradiction in terms. In fact, if you have been dreaming of moving to Spain for a long time, then the only real mistake you can make is not doing so. What’s the worst thing that can happen after all? You take a huge cut in wages or risk a big career regression? You miss all your friends? None of these or similar perceived disasters are as terrible as staying where you are and always wondering "What ifâ€ you had actually made the move to Spain instead of staying at home and never giving yourself a chance to just do it. Remember, if it all goes wrong, you can go home and feel good about having had the guts to have tried it in the first place.

Anyway, let’s skip a step and imagine that you have done yourself an enormous favour and fulfilled your desire to move to Spain. What, in my 9 years experience in Spain, do I consider to be my single greatest mistake?

Spanish Food and Drink Tapas of the week

Tapas of the week: Motadito de Jamon Iberico

Post author By Ben
Post date May 16, 2007

Motado de Jamon

Motados, often called by the diminutive term Montaditos, are a mini-meal in themselves. Take a palm-sized baguette and insert almost any tasty morsel you can imagine – from squid to tortilla, pork fillet to slices of Manchego cheese – and that’s it, the perfect snack! The photo above shows my personal favourite, the elite, the unbeatable montadito de jamon iberico: several slices of Spain’s finest Iberian ham lovingly clasped in slightly warmed bread. And what better accompaniment than a glass of Andalusia’s finest Cruzcampo beer? Heaven.

What would you put in your dream montadito?

Spain Travel

Cadiz: tapas bars, hotel and photos

Post author By Ben
Post date May 15, 2007

Cadiz streets

Photo: Cadiz steets near the market (large version)

Cadiz: surrounded by sea, a city of faded glory conjuring ideas of pirates, bustling streets full of 18th Century traders, and secret assignations in hidden rooms at the top of crumbling staircases. There are kids on scooters with no helmets, white-washed roof tops straight from Morocco, and a regional accent so thick it almost gets stuck on the locals’ palate.

Cadiz streets

Photo: Men selling octopus (large version)

As promised in our Cadiz podcast, we have now uploaded photos of Cadiz, as well as a video blog over at Notesinspanish.com

Tapas Bars in Cadiz: Cumbres Mayors

Terracotta stone floors, wooded ceilings, and legs of ham hanging all over the walls, this is one of the finest tapas bars I have every visited in Spain. As soon as you step through the door a barman finds you a spot at the bar and presents you with a plate of crushed olives while you decide what to eat.

The best thing about eating out in this part of Spain is that you don’t have to buy a huge plate of any one thing. Portions come as Tapas (a small plate), Media Raciones (half a plate), and Raciones (a full plate). So by choosing several Tapas at the ridiculously low price of 1.50 Euros each, you get to try a bit of everything – in our a case fillet of pork with Roquefort sauce and mini roast potatoes, smoked salmon rolled around salmon pate, and Tocino… (more on the last one soon!) A near empty glass promted a ‘No me gusta ver a la gente seca‘ (I hate to see people dry) from the waiter, who quickly refilled our glasses. Heaven.

Cumbres Mayores is at Calle Zorrilla 4, just off the Plaza de Mina (Map)

A good Cadiz Hotel

We stayed in, and highly recommend, the Hotel Las Cortes de Cadiz (Details and Map). A very clean, very friendly 3 star establishment right in the heart of the old town, where each room is named after a famous politician. Internet connectivity in the rooms is excellent if you come with a laptop. Parking however is a bit of a nightmare – speak to the hotel first about getting a place in, and finding, their garage.

Spanish Food and Drink

Weird Spanish drinks – Non-alcoholic peach liquor?!

Post author By Ben
Post date May 14, 2007

weird Spanish drinks

First of all, what kind of a name for a drink is Sabex, let alone Sabex Sin? It sounds like some sort of demonic brand of glue. The Sin stands for Sin alcohol, alcohol free, but who is likely to walk into a working man’s bar in Cadiz (where this photo was taken) and order a non-alcoholic Acorn (Bellota), Hazelnut (Avellana) or Peach (Melocotón) liquor?!

At least the bottle on the right sounds pretty appealing: Beso Extremeño, an Extremaduran Kiss – far more interesting that the Glaswegian variety!

notes

Spain links this week…

Post author By Ben
Post date May 13, 2007

Counting the Costa – Buy to let Brits in trouble on the coast (thanks Omeyas for the link)

Guirilandia reflects on Catalans and Jews

BBC: Expats a political force in Spain (comment in the forum. More at The Big Chorizo and The Bad Rash).

Loads of Spanish video blogging going on in the forum, keep them coming, the competition is still running!