People back home are often saying to me something along the lines of “Oh! Your life must be like a vacation!” or “Have you gone to [insert European country, city, place of interest or restaurant here] yet?” And I get it. If you’ve never lived abroad, it’s hard to imagine the experience as anything other …
Continue reading What They Don’t Tell You
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about language. I’m going through training* to teach English as a foreign language right now, so for the first time, I’m looking at English through the eyes of someone trying to learn it from square one. I’ve always considered myself someone with a brain for language — English grammar …
Continue reading Arroz Con Leche
Tourists coming to Spain for the first time are often shocked at how late the Spanish eat. Hungry and frustrated, they’re perplexed at 7:00 p.m. when they head out for dinner, only to realize that most restaurants don’t even open until 8:30 p.m. (To say nothing of the fact that the locals won’t be showing …
Continue reading (Really) Late Lunch: When to Eat in Spain
I have to admit that I haven’t totally figured out the vegetable situation in Madrid yet. The mercados I shop here — along with the ones I’ve wandered through as we travel around Spain — are absolutely piled high with incredible produce. I’ve seen some of the biggest and most colorful examples of so many …
Continue reading Puré de Verduras
I used to work for an American kitchenware retail chain (not the one you’re thinking of; the other one), and we sold all kinds of what were euphemistically called “gadgets,” but what some of us referred to as “money-wasters” or “takers-up-of-precious-kitchen-space.” You know what I’m talking about — tools that are marketed as being the …
Continue reading In Defense of Unitaskers
The fruit in Spain never fails to astonish me. It is just so good. I grew up in Southern California, and I’ve also lived in the Bay Area and Seattle — all places known for good-quality (though expensive) food selections and thriving local markets. So, you know, I never really thought much about the quality …
Continue reading Persimmon Cake (or Bread)
This post was supposed to be all about comfort—a favorite comfort food recipe from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi accompanied by a wise anecdote about finding the comforts of home no matter where you happen to be. But, oh, how things can get screwed up. First, I went to the pollería to get chicken …
Continue reading Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Cardamom Rice
The idea of making jam used to terrify me. You see, I’m not the most precise tool in the drawer. I tend to use recipes for inspiration rather than strict direction. And while I do own (and use) a scale and measuring spoons, I’m just as likely to resort to feel when measuring ingredients. If …
Continue reading Reine Claude Plum Jam, or Learning to Cook by Feel
This cake! Every year, I make it at least once or twice during the summer and then I scold myself for not making it all year long, with whatever fruit is in season. In fact, I’m not sure why I haven’t even bothered to try it with other summer fruit — raspberries or apricots, for …
Intense heat does strange things to you. It causes your appetite to go into hibernation, turns lying down in front of the AC wearing as little as possible into a perfectly reasonable thing to do for hours on end, and makes mixing delicious Spanish red wine with lemon soda sound like a damn good idea. …
Continue reading Tinto de Verano with Lemon Simple Syrup
