I was soooo looking forward to eating the wonderful food of northern Spain. Food is probably the second most reason why I like travelling. I wanted so badly to like Spanish food, but unfortunately I haven’t. Don’t hate on me. I have been brave enough to come out, so hear me out. So far we have spent 4 days in Barcelona and 3 days in San Sebastian, both highly regarded in culinary circles and while the food has been great, I have not been woowed. Something as simple as a great cacio e pepe pasta would dwarf anything I have eaten in Spain so far. Sorry.
Maybe I am not the kind of guy that enjoys eating 4 entres for dinner. “That was great, I can’t wait for the main course”. But there is none. In Barcelona, we ate at some very highly rated Tapas bars (I use TripAdvisor as my travel bible) and I had to bury the dish in salt just to get some taste out of it. This happened at three different restaurants/bars. The food lacked taste and seasoning.
I know what your thinking “you are a biased towards all things Italian” and yes you are right. Ok, I will prove my point. I want you to go to your local delicatessen right now and buy a slice of Spanish Manchego cheese and a slice of Italian Provolone. Go on, I will wait for you……. Taste the salty, spicy, picante taste of the Provolone. Now try the unperfumed soap taste of the Manchego. At this point I should drop the microphone to the ground and walk off stage.
Off to San Sebastian, considered by some as the culinary capital of the world. I do love there pintxos. Very creative and look amazing. But why why why does everyting need to be served on a one inch piece of bread. Confession, I am not a great bread eater and I find in the case of pintxos the bread is padding and dilutes the flavours of the topping. Hey, great business idea- pintxos on water crackers. I have even thought of the name of the bar, “It’s all about the topping”.
While the Spanish food is a visual masterpiece (much like its amazing cities) I have been underwhelmed. Today we ate pintxos for lunch at the third highest rated restaurant in San Sebastian and all I remember is the bread base. Tonight we will go breadless for dinner somewhere.
I am intentionally trying to be controversial. I have not enjoyed a holiday or a country as much as I have enjoyed Spain so much (outside of Italy and Australia). We are already planning our return trip this time next year. Yo amo Espana