Country Article / Postcards
Surviving Spain's Carnivorous Ways
Date: 08/13/2007
The dreaded jamón that infiltrates Spanish cuisine.
"Ooh,they've got vegetable lasagna, I'll have that." But wise to the ways of Spain, my partner insisted we checked with the waitress who told us that jamón (Spanish-style ham) featured high on the list of ingredients.
Even though the vegetables are good quality you'll find ham tossed in with the garlic mushrooms (champiñones al ajillo), the judías verdes (green beans) and other vegetable dishes--"just to add a bit of flavor."
If it isn't ham, it'll be atún (tuna). If you order salad it may come topped with a spoonful of tinned tunafish. A toasted vegetable sandwich (where "toasted" means lightly fried, but let's not quibble) will usually contain egg, lettuce, tomato, white asparagus, mayo and tuna.
You need to be very clear. "No como carne" isn't enough. Instead, "No como carne, ni jamón, ni pescado, ni marisco" should work: "I don't eat meat, ham, fish or seafood."
Such dietary requirements are likely to take the waiter by surprise so it helps to have a few ideas of what you can eat. There are a few options which are fairly standard. In summer almost everywhere serves gazpacho--a cold tomato-based soup. Its all-year-round cousin is pisto, a tomato, onion, and zucchini dish sometimes served with a fried egg on top. Most bars offer tortilla española, the standard, inch-thick Spanish potato omelet cut into wedges and often served as a tapa. If you ask for una tortilla Francesa (French omlet), it will be made to order and can be flavored with queso (cheese) or champiñones (mushrooms).
A common bar snack is the sanwich mixto--the cheese and ham toasted sandwich--but you can order a mixto without ham. And although your doctor might not approve of a cheese and egg fried sandwich, a sanwich de queso y huevo is also an option.
Huevos con patatas - fried eggs with french fries - is available in almost every restaurant, and some offer verdura rebozada (vegetable fritters) - usually coliflor or berenjenas (cauliflower or eggplant). It's all a bit high on the cholesterol scale, but fortunately much of the frying is done in olive oil. Lighter options include verdura a la plancha (vegetables cooked on the grill) or simply un tomate partido (a plain tomato salad).
I've been based in Spain for many years and it is slowly getting easier for vegetarians. The encouraging thing about the lasagna story was that they were willing to make a ham-less version just for me. And the young waitress, presumably keen for her tip, even thought to check that I was ok with eggs which were also in the recipe.
Gwyneth Box
For International Living
Rate this Postcard:
Rating: 2.5/5 (27 votes cast)