It's a small world afterall...

What are the chances? To be sitting in Andalucía watching a cookery / travel program... the narrator is talking about noodles. In a city of 12 million people, they happen to go into Akasaka Ramen. A ramen store opposite my old work that we would go to frequently.


It's a small world afterall....

Respect to:
Canal Viajar
Akasaka Ramen... a good noodle restaurant.

In Season in Spain

Well, it's been a long time. Just over a month. I feel like I'm talking to an old friend that I haven't seen since school. Either way, I'm back on the blog. It's going to be a little intermittent over the next while, we have made the move to Spain, but are still waiting the arrival of our the rest of our flat from London. I managed to forget our camera so this is going to be a pictureless blog.

For this blog, I thought I'd do some Spanish homework at the same time as researching a little bit about the food in season at the moment. The following list is from Simone Ortega's very good "1080 Recetas de Cocina". They are all the ingredients in season at the moment. I have asterisked those that I needed the dictionary to translate...

Verduras (vegetables)

Champiñon de París = button mushrooms
Acelgas = chard or beet*
Zanahorías = carrot
Puerros = leek
Lechuga = lettuce
Cebollas = onion
Cebillitas francesas = shallot*
Remolacha = beetroot*
Coliflor = cauliflower
Espinacas = spinach
Lombarda = red cabbage (based on google image search only)*
Repollo = cabbage*
Apio = celery
Tomates = tomatoes
Pimientos verdes y rojos = red and green peppers
Alcachofas = artichoke
Calabacines = courgette
Berenjenas = aubergine
Judías verdes = green beans
Calabaza = pumpkin ... or "to fail"*

14 of 20 without using the dictionary

Pescado y mariscos = fish and shellfish

Merluza = hake*
Pescadilla = whiting*
Rape = monkfish
Lubina = sea bass
Lenguado = sole
Gallo = rooster* (eh, not really a fish?)
Breca = sea bream? courtesy of www.fishbase.org via google images Pagellus erythrinus*
Rodaballo = turbot or flounder*
Congrio = conger eel*
Sardinas = sardines
Boquerones = anchovies*
Besugo = sea bream*
Pez espada = sword fish
Calamares = squid
Cigales = crayfish (dublin bay prawn)
Gambas = shrimp
Chirlas = something like baby clams, may not have an English name?*
Langosta = lobster
Langostinos = languistine
Bogavante = hake*
Carabineros = a little crustacean, this is a somewhat vague translation from blancs*
Almejas = clams
Mejillones = mussels
Ostras = oysters

13 of 24 without the use of dictionary*

Frutas = fruit

Piña = pineapple
Manzanas = apples
Peras amarillas = yellow pears
Peras de agua = water pears
Limones = lemons
Naranjas = oranges
Pomelos = a pomelo?*
Melón = melon
Uvas = grapes
Ciruelas = plums
Chirimoyas = chirimoya*
Plátanos = bananas
Membrillos (desde medio mes) = quince (from the middle of the month)
Aquacates = avocado
Kiwis = kiwis

13 out of 15 without using dictionary. Both pomelos and chirimoyas are new to me, but I have eaten both previously... if you know what I mean.

Carnes = meat

Pollo = chicken
Gallina = hen
Conejo = rabbit
Vaca = cow
Ternera = veal*
Cerdo = pig
Cordero = lamb
Mollejas de ternera = fried sweetbreads*
Cochinillo = suckling pig
Perdices = partridges*
Liebre = hare*
Codornices = quail*
Becada = a game bird, but I don't know what the English name is
Faisán = pheasant
Aves acuáticas = aquatic birds?
Venado = veniso*
Jabalí = wild boar*

8 of 17 without dictionary

A few things that the above tells us:
- I understand about 63% of the food in Spain. That makes me a C student, I reckon that is about right.
- I have learnt more fruit and vegetable names over the past years of coming to Spain (87% and 70% respectively). This could either point towards their strong role in the mediterranean diet or, maybe you shouldn't trust my translations.
- Meat and fish let me down (47% and 54% respectively). Alan Davidson would be disappointed. I guess any low cholesterol diet would have mixed feelings on it...

Either way, you can expect the above to feature heavily in recipes over the next month... I'm now going out for something that I can understand; tinto de verano y tapas.

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