A Tapas Dinner

Roast chicken

If you are a foodie like me, like many other places, Spain has a lot to offer too. Moreover, you will find food buffs like myself, leisurely enjoying their food and drinks on a week day evening on the streets of Seville or Madrid.

I mostly stuck to the items on the tapas menu during my stay in Spain. Tapas are small-sized portions (what some people would call snacks or appetizers), but can make a filling meal if you combine a few of them. Several restaurants that I went to specialized in tapas. One of my favorites was an old market called Mercado de San Miguel, located near Plaza Mayor, that had a variety of tapas joints serving an eclectic mix of hot and cold tapas to patrons who stood and ate, while reading a book or hanging out with friends.

Unlike my experience of the Spanish tapas bars in D.C. that are generally over-priced and serve really tiny portions, Spain had much more to offer – in terms of taste as well as worth for your money. 

Not being a big fan of cold food, I mostly had hot tapas on the menu – fried calamari, roasted chicken, paella, garlic shrimp, and a Spanish omelette.  Every thing I tried was delicious.

Seafood Paella

On Day 1, I had roasted chicken - mildly flavored with salt, pepper, garlic and other herbs for lunch. It was cooked just enough to make it moist, and served with potato wedges on the side. If you are a beer person, you could enjoy a glass a beer with your meal on a warm summery afternoon.  



On several occasions, I tried the seafood paella that I will fondly remember– rice cooked with calamari, mussels and shrimp. I had this with sangria (a Spanish fruit cocktail) – that was not overly sweet and went perfectly well with the mild spices.

On Day 3, while watching a flamenco performance, I tried the Spanish omelette – served as a tapas but could easily substitute for a meal that was perfect with  a glass of sangria.  This omelette is prepared from pretty basic ingredients you would generally find in any kitchen - eggs, cheese, potatoes, salt, pepper and other herbs if you would like.



Garlic Shrimp

On the last day of the trip, I had mildly flavored garlic shrimp cooked in olive oil, served in a pan along with some bread and crackers on the side. 

I combined this with a sweet crepe. Filled with Nutella, the crepe was served with whip cream on the side. Not being a big fan of whip cream, I preferred having the crepe by itself. 

All in all, this was a perfect trip when it came to food! I would go here again, just to eat!!

Exploring Portugal through food

As a daughter of Goa, I was very excited to visit Portugal. While growing up, I often heard stories of Portugal and its influence on our culture, including the cuisine. So this was my opportunity to see whether there was any truth to these stories during my week-long trip to Lisboa. Perhaps, not surprisingly, it seemed that the Goan cuisine is more influenced by the Indian cuisine, rather than the Portuguese.


A platter of tapas

A Portuguese dinner typically started with loaves of bread (pao), and olive oil. Calamari, prawn rissois, samosas, and spanish tapas were offered as appetizers. The calamari were deep fried with a blend of spices, just like the Goan way. However, the calamari were cut into long wedges instead of cylindrical rings and not served with any sauce. The rissois were bland but still edible. While the crust resembled a Goan rissois, the bland mixture of cheese and whole shrimp was not what I would call mouth-watering. Among all the appetizers I tried, a platter of tapas served during a Fado was my favorite. The platter came with mini-portions of cheese, tuna and pork pate, olives, crackers, and bread. Mostly, a glass of Porto, helped compensate for the mediocre appetizers.

Grilled Fish

For the main course, I tried several types of grilled, or baked fish. The fish, although not particularly spicy, was very good. The option of having it with olive oil mixed with garlic and onion also helped to mitigate the blandness of the fish. The main courses were typically served with sides of veggies, mostly mashed potatoes or whole boiled potatoes and a salad. On another occasion, I had chicken with a slightly sweet brown sauce, served with an interesting combination of potato wedges and pineapple slices.

Chicken Curry

Finally, the Indian cuisine in Portugal was mediocre. Not sure whether I picked the right restaurants in the tourist hubs of Cascais, Sintra and downtown Lisboa. The Indian restaurants also served Italian food, perhaps to widen their customer base. I was somewhat disappointed by the fact that all restaurants served butter chicken but none served Chicken Xacuti despite Portugal's historical connection to Goa. Of the several entrees I tried, there was little variation in taste: most were cooked with a heavy tomato base and were very creamy.

Every meal ended with a dessert - mostly custard tarts. While not very sweet, these were very good.

Custard Tart with Espresso