A Happy Stomach
I'm just about to sit down to a plate of sushi. When I first arrived here almost twenty-five years ago there was no way I could have said that. In Boston I had been accustomed to food from different parts of the world. Here there was only Spanish food and the ingredients for Spanish food only. My palate had just begun to emerge from a childhood of "I don't want that. I hate that. I don't even want to look at that!" to an appreciation of different foods. Though here you will find the freshest food you can throw at a plate, I felt like a castaway, condemned to the food of yore with no difference in sight.
Gradually, though, it started to change. As Spain began to receive immigration from different parts of the world and people travelled, new things began appearing in supermarkets. Little things, like cole slaw. Only it's not called cole slaw, but ensalada americana (American salad). Once, looking at the usual refrigerated pizzas, etc, I noticed it but ignored it until one day I decided to look at the ingredients and discovered it for what it was. Other things gradually appeared, until now we have a plethora of foreign food. However, it's still not as widespread as in the United States. But now you can find a restaurant of or make Mexican, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Morrocan, Chinese, German, Greek, Turkish, Indian, or Russian food. And probably others. Of course, that's mostly in the larger cities. But even in Santiago I know of three places where I can buy take-out sushi at a decent price and one (expensive) Japanese restaurant.
Of course, Spanish food can be wonderful. Cheeses and wines of all kinds. Cured meats and sausages that will appease any carnivorous hunger. Locally grown fruits and vegetables that taste like what they're supposed to be and not paper. And dishes that can send an epicurean into temporal heaven. I wasn't bashing those when I first came here. I like most of our national cuisine. I just wanted to be able to reach out and taste something different from time to time. Now I can do so.
Gradually, though, it started to change. As Spain began to receive immigration from different parts of the world and people travelled, new things began appearing in supermarkets. Little things, like cole slaw. Only it's not called cole slaw, but ensalada americana (American salad). Once, looking at the usual refrigerated pizzas, etc, I noticed it but ignored it until one day I decided to look at the ingredients and discovered it for what it was. Other things gradually appeared, until now we have a plethora of foreign food. However, it's still not as widespread as in the United States. But now you can find a restaurant of or make Mexican, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Morrocan, Chinese, German, Greek, Turkish, Indian, or Russian food. And probably others. Of course, that's mostly in the larger cities. But even in Santiago I know of three places where I can buy take-out sushi at a decent price and one (expensive) Japanese restaurant.
Of course, Spanish food can be wonderful. Cheeses and wines of all kinds. Cured meats and sausages that will appease any carnivorous hunger. Locally grown fruits and vegetables that taste like what they're supposed to be and not paper. And dishes that can send an epicurean into temporal heaven. I wasn't bashing those when I first came here. I like most of our national cuisine. I just wanted to be able to reach out and taste something different from time to time. Now I can do so.
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