If you’ve ever wondered how Spaniards maintain their youthful figures, you need to look no further than the local Spanish mercado. Most English speakers think mercado is the Spanish word for market. It’s not. It’s actually roughly translated to, “Store full of Jamon (ham) and a couple of other things”. For lunch today we were offered Jamón (ham), Jamón bocadillo (ham sandwich) or Jamón Tortilla (Omlette with ham). Now, I know that bread isn’t technically part of the Atkins diet, but trust me, no one is fulling up their bellys with bread when there is so much Jamón to be eaten.
Other proof: Spaniards on the street don’t smile. Normally I would attribute this to a natural sense of reserve, but don’t be fooled. They’re all grumpy because of a lack of carbs and high ketone levels. In fact, there are no diabetics in Spain. They don’t eat enough glucose to trigger an episode.
But don’t despair. If you get sick of Jamón, you can indulge in some American style junk food. Like these Lay’s chips (below) which are, naturally, Jamón flavored. Well, you can’t win them all.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Weird. Lays markets those same chips here as something like Sabor Chileno. The bag is the same colors and similar design, and they’re also ham flavored. Interesting how a company takes a product and twists it a little bit to hit their target audience.
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July 9th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I love checking out all the random chip flavors in various countries. Then I inevitably become addicted to a flavor that they don’t sell in the U.S.
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July 9th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Hilarious! It’s like chile in Mexico. Chile on chips. Chile on corn. Chile on eggs. Chile on…cake.
Love the photo, too. I was looking for Spanish mercado photos on Flickr the other day and they were mostly terrible. This one has a great perspective.
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July 9th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Kyle: That figures, I’m sure they have whole marketing teams dedicated to repurposing their flavors for different countries. There’s probably a wasabi flavored chip in Japan.
Teresa: Not sure if I will get addicted to these though, I’m feeling a little Jamon-ed out.
Julie: I really, truly hope that you are just kidding about the chili cake thing. Especially since I will be in Mexico in a few months. Somethings are just sacred.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Yep, those Spaniards love their ham. In fact, there is a museum somewhere near Plaze del Sol, if I remember correctly dedicated to just that. And Christine, whatever people tell you about chile being on everything in Mexico, BELIEVE IT.
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July 9th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I was only in Spain for two weeks and that diet nearly killed me. Pastries and churros for breakfast? Meat the rest of the day? I just wanted to see a fruit or vegetable…
July 9th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
You know when I was in Spain I dont think I ever saw a meal without meat….
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July 9th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I love Spain… But hate pork. All they eat is meat meat meat meat! Yacky Even there meanu’s dont have salads.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
http://earthfrisk.com/profile.php?user=DaMan
July 9th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Anthony: Say it’s not true!!!!
Tatiana and Matt: Yes and I’m already starting to look for fresh fruits and veggies after just over a week.
DaMan: Not sure what happened, the quick link should pull your blog post link… maybe it couldn’t find your RSS? Also great site and thanks for visiting!
July 9th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Lay’s is adaptable. My fave flavor in China is Spicy Shrimp chips.
All the ham must be quite a change. The meat of China is pork, pork, and more pork, cut into small pieces.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Lays is adaptable. My fave flavor in China is Spicy Shrimp chips.
All the ham must be quite a change. The meat of China is pork, pork, and more pork, cut into small pieces.
Will the feed info work on this comment?
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July 9th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Spanish can’t cook. Horrible selection. I spent 3 weeks in Seville, Malaga & Cadiz in May and they really are at the absolute bottom of the barrel when it comes to cuisine. I think it is partly due to the lack of Asian immigration. Not entirely sure.
When I tell people the bit about the Spanish not being able to cook the first thing I hear is “What about the Paella???” What about it. Yeah, it’s OK. How often can you eat it though? I guess if you’re Spanish you eat it a lot. I had it on 4 separate meals - 3 were horrible, 1 was very good.
But seriously - try to find a Japanese restaurant, a half-decent Indian or Chinese restaurant … Vietnamese, French or even northern European restaurant. They don’t exist.
Don’t think I have something against the Spanish. I spent almost a year in South America and love the continent and the people. But they are a group who REALLY can’t cook.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:56 am
i just got back from spain (madrid, sevilla, cadiz, fuengirola) and must say that i loved the food. and it wasn’t just the jamon iberico (which was fantastic, by the way).
the seafood was so great (and i’m not just talking paella). boquerones (anchovies fried in olive oil), gambas pil pil (shrimp in olive oil), pulpo (octopus) served galician style (lots of paprika and olive oil), the grilled monkfish, tortillitas de camarones (shrimp pancakes), fried cuttlefish, and on and on. hey, the mediterranean diet, i.e., olive oil, is supposed to be good for you. lol. and don’t even get me started on the wines and sherries.
clearly, these were not asian or french or whatever else inspired dishes. but then again, i was in spain, not in asia (or france or anywhere else)…
July 17th, 2008 at 7:51 am
iheart2travel: Hmmm.. that sounds an awful like the Atkins diet to me! Seafood, meat, olive oil… Seriously though, I was just having a little fun and I do love the food here. I suppose if I was in the US writing this, I could easily point out our obsession with hamburgers. They are on every single menu. But when in Rome (or Spain)…
July 17th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
iheart2travel:
You’re just talking a lot of different fishes and seafood either fried or cooked in olive oil. Sure, it’s tasty … but compare that with something like west indian curried shrimp. There is effort there and it creates a very tasty meal.
There are only a handful of countries who can really cook - Thailand, India, France, Korea, Italy … and maybe China & Japan. The rest of the world’s general population eat a whole lotta crap. I’m not talking the 2% of the population that frequent unique restaurants.
Like I said above, I spent about a year in South America eating what the locals ate. Terrific countries, some of the best people on the planet, crazy potential, but the food? Crap.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:28 am
For those who haven’t researched the issue, one of the best cooks in the world today is Ferran Adria and he’s from Spain. He’s probably not as popular as some TV celebrity chefs but certainly admired by people on the know and so is Arzak, and others (the list is too long). Check out the Michelin guide to Spain and you will find Spain has quite a few restaurants with Michelin starts awarded to them. Food is taken very seriously in Spain, and very good restaurants exist. Unfortunately many tourists just end up eating in tourist traps which serve absolutely disgusting food by any standards. But you find the same thing in any country.
July 25th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Antipodes:
I completely agree. Although I did say the food in Spain was crap, there were a few Tapas bars we went to and they did experiment and I thought that food was superb.
One should spend a lot of time reading up (or surfing up) the good restaurants in an area before arriving. Trouble is, I enjoy the whole adventure thing and just ‘falling’ on cool places. Unfortunately on the last trip apart from the odd Tapas bar, there was nothing all that memorable.
I visited Cadiz, Sevilla, Torremolinos and Los Alamos. Cadiz had the best choices, the least number of tourists, easily the best beaches, nicest people, etc. Loved Cadiz.