I am proud to announce that I had my first solo kitchen experience in San Sebastián. I decided to make my host
family one of my favorite soups from home. The hardest part of making it at
home is being patient enough to let the macaroni cook before digging in. In
Spain, the hardest part is grocery shopping! I spent about 10 minutes looking
for chicken broth and another 10 looking for garlic. I ended up frustrated and with chicken bouillon instead.
The other interesting twist was that the only spice we had at home was oregano.
Luckily the recipe called for oregano, but I had to do without the other
spices. Spices are not extremely popular here and Kepa prides himself on being
futuristic by using spices (although I am finding out only oregano!). The soup seemed
to be a success with the family. I was worried that it wouldn’t be healthy or
pretty enough for Kepa, but it seemed to do the trick! It is stressful cooking
for such a wonderful chef!
As
part of my cooking class, we went to a sidreriá (cider house). The cider houses
are very typical of the Basque Country. The cider is made from apples and
stored at the sidrería before it is bottled because it has to be consumed in
the same year. Originally it was produced for sailors because it gave them
nutrients and kept them from drinking dirty water. Cider season is between
February and April and during that time, people go to the cider house to have
dinner. The typical menu is tortilla de bacalao (eggs with fish), bacalao
(white fish served with green peppers and crunchy onions), meat chops and dessert.
Dessert consists of walnuts, almond cookies, a hard cheese and membrillo.
Membrillo is a fruit (quince in English) that is used to make a gelatin like
substance. It reminds me of applesauce jello and has a sweet flavor. It goes
really well with the cheese. The dessert was my favorite part, and in my
excitement, I forgot to take a picture!
Bacalao con green peppers and crunchy onions.
When eating at the cider house, it is customary to stand at tables (instead of sit) and go into the cellar between courses to get more cider. The barrels have a small hole from where the cider flows and people line up to fill their glasses. It is bad form to fill your glass all of the way because cider is supposed to have a layer of foam on it. If there is no foam, it is no good. Each barrel produces a uniquely flavored cider. They vary in levels of bitterness. I am sad to say that overall the cider was too bitter for me, but the experience made up for the cider!
The cider coming out of the barrels. People line up as to not waste any cider. The man in the center of the picture is the chef that teaches our class.
Today I spent time with my intercambio. We meet once a week to talk in English and Spanish. She took me to a café where we got hot chocolate. It was like drinking chocolate pudding! We took it to go and sat at the port and enjoyed the scenery. Sitting there drinking hot chocolate felt like a scene out of a movie. It was like being in a completely different world!
That seems to be all for now! The weekend weather looks promising, so I am hoping for some outdoor adventures!
Besos,
Erin
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