Hey Malc!

[DanStokes]

You're the only guy I know who lives in Spain so I'll ask the question of you:

There's a restaurant called Tapas just down the street from my temporary domicile here in Jacksonville and it's supposed to be authentic Spanish cuisine. I was by myself and they only make paella for 2 or more people (4 meals for me) and I'm allergic to shellfish so I went with Cocido Madrileno. It was yummy but I'm wondering if I picked something that no Spaniard ever heard of. It was brand new to me but then I'm not very sophisticated (just a hick).

Non-Spain dwellers - this was a sort of stew with garbanzos, cabbage, small chunks of beef, Spanish sausage, and other yummy stuff in a red (tomato?) base.

If I can get someone to go with me the chef (a very pretty lady) said she can build the paella w/o shellfish so I'm hoping to try that next time - but is it still paella w/o shellfish?

Thanks for any input - or are you still eating Bangers and Mash?

Dan

[malc]

My misses, who has been a cook in several restaurants, told me a paella can be what you like, she tends to call it "Arroz" or rice, I suppose because thereīs a lot of it in there.
As I donīt like any of the traditional paella ingredients she cooks them for me with chicken and sometimes rabbit for her.

Even here where Thursday is paella day most restaurants donīt do a good paella, throwing in all sorts of fishy substances to pack it out.

Tourists or "Giris" haveīnt a clue........so what they get they assume is paella.

I still eat bangers and mash, traditional roast beef, curries and of course my favorite fried English breakfasts as most restaurants call it.

You can take the man out of his country but his eating habits stay firmly put.

[Monster]

Mmmmm, love me a good English breakfast !

[DanStokes]

Malc - can you ask the bride about the Cocido Madrileno? Like, is it REALLY Spanish. Was yummy, though.

Somehow it's reassuring that you still eat like an Englishman. I'm pretty much willing to try anything as long as I'm not allergic to the ingredients (a growing list, darn it).

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

Do they have Taco Tuesday in Spain?

[malc]

Cocido Madrileno is Madrid stew, I suppose you could name any stew what you like.
We never have two stews the same....depends what's on hand at the time.

"Taco Tuesday"....err no.
Tacos are Mexican.....ain't they ?

I know fish Friday and there is'nt much out of
sea world that I like.

[Monster]

Everything I like is bad for me. I just love a big, thick Swordfish steak with heaps of heavy Mercury !

[DanStokes]

Everything I like is bad for me. I just love a big, thick Swordfish steak with heaps of heavy Mercury !

Not me, Steve - I like mine deluxe, with Lincoln! Besides, Mercury is getting harder to find.

Dan

[67 Malibu]

"Taco Tuesday"....err no.
Tacos are Mexican.....ain't they ?

Maybe he is suffering from a form of "language dyslexia"? Since they both speak Spanish...............or maybe he thinks that they both speak Mexican?

[malc]

There are language differences, like many exported languages they drift away from their origens.

I've not come across tacos here in restaurants,
supermarkets yes.

As for fish....I'll eat salmon but the king dish for a Brit is fish and chips (french fries)....cod in batter
is rather yummy.

I'm surprised I've not been asked about tea,
given the choice I take coffee everytime.
The day doesn't start for me until I've downed a coffee.

[DanStokes]

There are language differences, like many exported languages they drift away from their origens.

As for fish....I'll eat salmon but the king dish for a Brit is fish and chips (french fries)....cod in batter
is rather yummy.

Malc, you're SO right - here in America we haven't used English in decades, maybe centuries. GOOD fish and chips is hard to come by here but fish-shaped grease sponges are common.

And pardon my manners, I forgot to say "THANKS" for the Spanish food info. I don't know where else I could learn this info.

Dan

[malc]

Had "fish & chips" on Santa Monica pier, Los
Angeles, missed the mark by a mile.
Problem is good Cod is pretty scarce.

[Monster]

Yummy ... English fish & chips doused with vinegar and wrapped in newspaper !

[Loren]

We had a fish & chips open up near us when I was a kid in L.A., became a staple like Kentucky Fried Chicken and whatever local taco, pizza or burger shops, eating out twice a week. Never McDonalds...Dad hated McDonalds! Five Billion people (that was the number at the time) can be wrong! But I was never much of a fan of the fish & chips...

...but in that same Santa Monica CA, at the end of last summer I met a friend/associate at a sidewalk place a stone's throw from the beach and had what I'd call the best fish & chips possible, ever. Whatever they needed to do it right, they did. Maybe that IPA they were serving and some of the sights and atmosphere of the place helped. I would choose fish & chips again if I thought it was going to be like that.

In 1992 when Gail knew she was going to Barcelona to work for a couple months (and I'd be joining her after to go drive around for a week), we had a "practice" paella meal at a place in Burbank people said to go to...we had to order ahead of time, it took hours to cook, cost a bunch of money and you could see the cooks peering out to see how we were liking it. It was kinda an event, they obviously didn't make it often but I thought "man if this is what food is like in Spain, I'm going". When we got there and accustomed to how all the shops close up in the early afternoon, re-open at six and then everybody parties into the night we had the paella (literally, "frying pan", so you really don't know what you are going to get) again out on a street, 11pm, people everywhere. If in fact it's just something they slop together cheap for tourists who don't know any better, fine with me! The stuff was great. But it was a lot different than what we got in Burbank that day.

Same w/ language. Spanish there ain't like Spanish here. And in Barcelona there were those who'd prefer the tourists respect that they don't necessarily regard themselves as being part of Spain proper and try using the Catalan instead...part Spanish, part Italian, part it's own thing.

[malc]

Yummy ... English fish & chips doused with vinegar and wrapped in newspaper !

The health & safety brigade put a stop to
the wrapping in newspaper years ago.
Now you get it in those iffy plastic foam
shallow trays....who knows what chemical
dangers they hold.
To go with the fish ' n chips doused in vinegar
you need several pickled onions and a
pickled egg.
As a teenager I used to hang out at the "Chippy"
some evenings.