Madrid’s “Stew”
In fact, the full name of Madrid’s Vera restaurant “Stew” is “Madrid Chickpea Stew” Meat, also known as "smorgasbord". However, the ingredients here are indeed abundant: chicken breasts, chicken legs, lean meat, pork rinds, fat meat, mud sausage and Spanish chorizo. After all, lean meat alone does not taste good, it must be oily and watery to be delicious. Pickled cucumbers, pickled peppers, and raw scallions are used as appetizers before meals, and they can also be used as ingredients to supplement the main course, otherwise it will definitely be greasy. In addition, the store also provides mixed olives as a gift. In addition to the common olive oil, the seasoning also includes vinegar. However, although the appearance of this vinegar looks darker, very similar to the balsamic vinegar or mature vinegar commonly used in our country, its taste is very strong, and there is a strong smell of white vinegar when you smell it.
After the side dishes are served, there is soup. In fact, we didn’t know the ingredients of the stew at that time, but the rich aroma of the soup seemed to indicate the taste of the main course. Italian macaroni is also added to the example soup, but it is a thinner one, much like the domestic "dragon whisker noodles". However, the dragon's whiskers here are not long. A short one can hold a lot in one spoon. Let's call it "short-tailed dragon's whiskers noodle soup". When the main course arrived, I realized how heavy the ingredients were: half a pound of chicken breasts and chicken legs, half a pound of lean meat, half a pound of pork rinds and fat meat, half a pound of mud sausage and Spanish sausage, and half a pound of translucent stewed meat. Potatoes and carrots, a pound of Madrid chickpeas and Chinese cabbage, and half a pound of bread for free. This is not enough for two people, I'm afraid it's enough for four people. Not only that, there are also chocolate balls and potato chip-shaped biscuit desserts given after the meal, which are crispy and delicious.
Barcelona’s Sausage and Ham?
What I never expected is that some of the dishes in Barcelona are somewhat similar to Sichuan cuisine. Thousands of miles away, the taste of my hometown seems to come here. There are restaurants near Plaza Catalunya and the City Hall. We chose a restaurant that was packed with customers and went in to taste it.
The sausages here also look dark red from a distance, hanging in the center of the lobby. The same goes for ham, which looks very tempting. Not only that, there is a small upside-down umbrella added to the bottom of each ham. At first we thought it was for decoration, but then we thought it had other wonderful uses? That is to catch dripping oil and water. However, compared to Sichuan sausages, the sausage here tastes saltier and is suitable for eating with bread. Although chili is added, it is not that spicy. Therefore, smart stores also make sausage bread skewers, skewered with toothpicks, and cost 1 euro per skewer, which is also very popular.
The restaurant’s menu also includes roasted peppers and roasted vegetables, and we also tried them. The peppers are green, small in size, and have thick meat. They are sprinkled with large grains of coarse salt. They taste good, but they are not spicy enough. Perhaps compared to Dechuan natives like us, ordinary chili peppers are already unsatisfactory. Roasted vegetables also taste good, full of fragrance, and the combination is reasonable. Onions, tomatoes, eggplants, green peppers, red peppers, and potatoes are all top choices. However, compared to the 1 yuan per skewer barbecue you can get on the streets in Chengdu, a serving of 5 skewers here costs 10 euros, which is equivalent to 80 yuan, about 16 times the price in China. Even so, we still gave the elderly waiter enough money, and he smiled and thanked us profusely.
Madrid’s fried dough sticks and soy milk?
It’s incredible that you can still eat fried dough sticks in Madrid. ?If you ask a local Chinese, he will probably give this answer. But the fact is that there are fried dough sticks in Madrid, but they are made according to the local method in Spain.
In fact, before arriving in Madrid, we discovered this fried dough stick shop in the city center from the guide, but we didn’t pay much attention at first and went straight to the next attraction. However, the aroma of fried dough sticks still reached our noses, like a smell from a distant motherland. So, we turned back again. Although it was just after noon and there was really limited room in our stomachs, we decided to order one to try it out. This old shop called St. Kings Chocolate is located in the alley behind St. Kings Church. It is very inconspicuous, but it is famous in many classic guides such as "Lonely Planet". The old store is not big, but it has two floors. The lower level is the basement. Around the entrance, there are records of many celebrities coming to the store to taste, and many of the photos have turned yellow. Not only that, there are extra seats at the door. The standard configuration is two chairs and a coffee table. The only two seats with sunlight are already occupied.
A set meal includes 6 fried dough sticks and a cup of hot chocolate, which is not expensive. After paying the bill, the waiter will bring the churros dipped in hot chocolate to the seat of your choice. The fried dough sticks here are not very long, about 30 centimeters, and some in China can even reach 50 centimeters. They are solid and relatively thin, only one-third of those in China, but they taste very fragrant and are paired with rich hot chocolate. Very sweet.
However, I think it is slightly inferior to the Chinese pairing of fried dough sticks with soy milk. After all, soy milk is light, so you won’t get tired of eating the two together. And this, if you eat too much, it will taste a bit boring. Sure enough, none of the surrounding customers had finished eating. Perhaps it was fate that the hotel where we stayed provided soy milk for breakfast the next morning? It tasted just like soy milk, but it was unfortunately cold.
Mallorca’s “Papas”
Spain’s “PAPAS” has a long-standing reputation. It seems that there are also papas in South America. I wonder if they were introduced to Spain from the Americas. , or the Americas colonized by Spain? To put it bluntly, papas is a kind of flatbread with vegetables. In Italy, we call it "pizza"; in China, especially the Northeast, we call it green onion pancake and egg pancake. In fact, the definition of cake determines that they have the same main ingredients, which are mainly noodles; the chopped green onions and eggs in front are modifiers and should be regarded as auxiliary ingredients. The ingredients of Pappas are different from pizza, which is mainly meat, such as beef, pork, and even seafood. The first time we tasted papas was in the small town of Soller in Mallorca. It was noon and the Spanish restaurants were not open. The occasional two only provided cold bread, which made people accustomed to eating at noon. How can the Chinese people be so embarrassed? So, unwilling to be hungry, we chose Pappas. Although it's already prepared, like a "cold dish", the papas topped with shredded red peppers still taste delicious. The red pepper seems to have been roasted and has become soft and delicate, the salt is just right, and the bread as a base is also very good, enough to fill the stomach.
In addition, the price of papas is not expensive. They are sold in pieces. Two pieces of papas are about half a catty and the asking price is 5 euros. They are cheap and good quality. The second time I tasted papas was in Parma. The papas here are made into skewers, with shrimp, red sausage, eel, olives, etc. added to small pieces of toast. The skewer is 1 euro, which is also very good.
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