Culinary Adventures in Spain

Spanish food is yum. Paella, Croquettes, and Allioli are everywhere, even in the supermarkets. In my house there is a pan kept in the oven for deep-frying things, like frozen croquettes. It is awesome but dangerous for my health... :)

Some Asian foods are surprisingly easy to find and others are more elusive. Looking in the right places, which seem to be the big gourmet grocery store, El Corte Ingles, and in the small Alimentos which are often Asian owned and therefore carry a few ethnic products, I can find every kind of noodle imaginable, dozens of types of soy sauce and ramen, etc... but I haven't been able to find fish sauce or curry paste (I did snag a jar in Barcelona, that with proper use may last me until winter) or bamboo shoots. For fish sauce I can substitute soy sauce, or maybe oyster sauce. But I don't know about bamboo shoots. It's not just a seasoning, so I feel bad having Allan ship them to me. I may try to stock up if I take a trip to a nearby, larger city.

I'm somehow addicted to yogurt now, but packaging it with little candies etc isn't as common here as it was in the U.K. - almost all of them are marketed towards kids, so it's a bit embarrassing. But oh well. :P Other supermarket staples of mine in Spain so far are spreadable Camembert cheese and Nutella on krisprolls. Major yum.

I already have a favourite block for food here in Pamplona, just west of the Plaza Castillo. There is a restaurant there called Don Lluis which I ate at last night - an incredible meal, and for 12 euros, whereas similar menus in the area were at least twice that price. I had seafood paella and Navarran trout (fresh, cooked to perfection, covered in salty ham), and Allan got some sort of pasta, and then tender pieces of bull meat cooked in onions etc. For dessert there was this unbelievable flan, made there at the restaurant. It was all food from the region of Navarra, if not Pamplona itself, and was just incredibly appropriate, especially after watching The Sun Also Rises... Allan: I'm glad we're both eating tables. ^^

Almost next door is an ice cream shop called Larramendi. It's so good, reasonably priced, and they even sell you big tubs for you to take home! Very tempting. Allan ate three scoops of Dulce de Leche, and I got a scoop of Chocolate con Trozos and a scoop of Chocolate Blanco con Trozos.