Eating in Spain
 

One of the wonders of travel is the cuisine, but since my last international trip I have been treated with radiation for cancer of the tonsil. It has impaired my ability to swallow; I have a great deal of difficulty with meat and bread and what I can eat, I do slowly with lots of water. I have finally gotten the courage to try a new adventure, but I am worried about finding enough to eat. Any thoughts or advice? I plan to fly into Madrid then head South through Andalucia.

Eating in Spain is not rushed (as in the USA where you get the check when you are still chewing). You can take as much time as you want. The natives go to dinner never before 9.00 p.m., more often around 10 p.m. and spend several hours for a meal with many tiny courses.

If you want to eat earlier, tapas will serve your needs. Originally, tapas started as a slice of sausage or ham, but nowadays tapas have become quite sophisticated dishes, however in tiny portions. If you want a bigger portion, order a "racion".

In traditional bars, tapas are on display and you can select them by pointing at them. The more sophisticated restaurants have a menu, but it will take some time (and a special dictionary) to find out what it means.

Thanks, Traveller. I'll never make it till 9! Since my treatment, my energy is not as good, but tapas would do fine as I can only eat small amounts at a time. What about finding enough food for a person who cannot eat meat/sea food/poulty or bread. Fresh fruit is also out. Anything with a lot of fiber just won't go down!

mybellarose - hard luck! it sounds horrible, and i admire you for taking to the road again.

but i agree with traveller that you could hardly have chosen a better place to go to find food that will suit you. Spain is great for travellers in that although their actual meal times are a bit odd, because of the availability of tapas, you can normally get something to eat any time of the day or night. also, they really don't care if you sit in the tapas bar for ages, slowing chomping your way through their offerings.

if there is any meat it is likely to be very well cooked, but you will find eggs, fish, cheese, seafood in plentiful supply. vegetables too cooked in myriad ways.

good luck with your trip!

I think you may be challenged in Spain, actually, if you cannot eat meat, seafood or bread. I don't eat dinner super early, but like it around 8-8:30 pm and had no trouble in Spain finding places to eat. And I wasn't eating solely in tourist joints, either. Restaurants are open earlier, at least plenty of them for my needs.

In southern Spain, I remember getting gazpacho several times as I love that. I imagine you might from some time of North African cuisine in southern Spain or from Morocco, although I wasn't looking for it, just guessing. Then maybe you good eat cous-cous. For some odd reason, there seemed to be lots of Italian restaurants in both Madrid and Seville if that is better (and I would guess pasta could be better than bread). And I seem to remember lots of restaurants would have some kind of main dish with rice, either as a side or part of the main dish.

check out http://www.exploreseville.com/pda/moroccan.htm

Thanks to all. Chritina, you are right, I can eat pasta if it has lots of sauce [Maybe I should go to Italy :-)]
And soups are always good though I have to leave out the big chunks of meat. Vegetables and fruit are good if well cooked--the exact opposite of the al dente I preferred before I got sick. Rice is good if it has a lot of sauce, otherwise I aspirate the little individual grains. Funny to discover that brocolli has the same problem because of the little floretts.
So hearing/reading this, is there anyone that thinks it is a bad idea for me to go. (Note, I will be traveling alone since my husband left me after the cancer.)

hmmm. well, the rice I was thinking of didn't have sauces on it, as I recall. But certainly Italian restaurants will have something with sauces. It may seem weird to go to Spain and eat in Italian restaurants, but if you have to, there are other things you can enjoy in Spain than the food. Spanish cuisine wasn't one of the highlights of my trip, I can tell you. Some of the fish I had was terrible as it was fried a lot with a really heavy exterior. I don't remember a lot of cooked vegetables, but I think there were some. And I think they overcooked their vegetables, actually, I sort of remember that, so that should suit you.

So Morroccan food should be good as they do have sauces. I think there are some tapas that have potatoes or something that maybe you could it. I don't eat tapas that much but the ones I remember had meat or seafood, or some kind of vegetable that wasn't soft. Maybe this will give you some ideas of what to expect http://www.seville-traveller.com/spain-tapas.html

http://www.travelandleisure.com/trip...les-tapas-bars

In short, I wouldn't say it is a bad idea for you to go if you feel okay and it may just be a little difficult finding food you can eat. I don't think you will go hungry, as I said, you should be able to find something to eat. And there are some soups, also, that don't have big chunks of meat in them. I think you'll do fine and dining out could probably be a challenge for you in lots of places, so why not go somewhere you want to go. There will be some scrambled eggs available in places, also, but maybe not for dinner. You might want to look for some vegetarian restaurants, although their stuff may have lots of fiber (like beans).

Most, if not all, major cities in Spain have a department store, El Corte Inglés, which has a large grocery store in the basement. I sometimes buy foods to eat in the room--cheeses, puddings, yogurts, etc., because I'm not up to eating three meals a day in restaurants. There's also lots of ice cream available--and milk shakes at fast food places.

Most hotels also have a big breakfast buffet with cheese, sliced meats, yogurt, cereal, eggs, and the like. There's occasionally fruit available of the kind you can eat--canned peaches and fruit cocktail. You can eat enough there to keep you going through the morning and much of the afternoon.

For several years I traveled with my sister, who was a wonderful travel companion but is now unable to travel, so I travel solo. (I'm 76 years old.) I bought a little digital recorder into which I make comments about things that strike me or things I want to remember. It's not as good as having a really compatible travel companion, but it's better than talking to myself. I love listening to it when I return home.

Good for you that you are striking out on an adventure like this. Be sure to write a report when you return, letting us know how the trip went.

Spain is, among many other things, also a soup country. In the South (Andalucía) the tomato/vegetable soup gazpacho mentioned by Christina is a kind of a regional favourite. Delicious and no chunks of nothing in them (except the topping which might be some finely chopped cured ham, chopped eggs, peppers etc). Comes in different regional variants , but is commom all over Spain in the warmer months. Gazpacho is the most well known, but I like even better the richer and smoother variants Salmorejo (from Córdoba and very common in Sevilla) and Porra (from Antequera).

Salmorejo: http://www.google.no/search?q=Salmor...w=1600&bih=805

Porra: http://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_...ra_Antequerana

In the South, especially in Sevilla, try the delicious espinacas con garbanzos, spinach and chickpeas with a wonderful North African-inspired seasoning. A true Sevilla speciality: http://www.google.no/search?q=espina...w=1600&bih=805

The creamy Ensaladilla Rusa (Russian Salad) is very popular: http://www.easy-spanish-recipes.com/...illa-rusa.html

Some 21 different Spanish soups, most of them would be easy to swallow: http://spanishfood.about.com/od/hots...nish_Soups.htm

And the tapas scene will give you several choices. You can see what's on offer in the bar counter, and many things will be "saucy" and easier to swallow.

In Madrid, you should try to avoid leaving the Plaza del Sol to eat if you can't have anything meat-like. The entirety of Plaza Mayor is devoted to meat restaurants, and you'll have difficulty eating there. In Sol, however, a range of vegetarian restaurants exist, so you should have no problem there. I recommend getting a falafel from Maoz- it'll be one of the freshest falafels you'll ever taste.

I can't help you with Alicante, however. Sorry!

I see Kimhe has given you a great list.

you want to have broths and cream soups.

Caldo
sopas cremosas sin tropezones ( without chunks of anything)

Yogurt is readily available.

Flan
Pudin ( actually a bread type flan .. not creamy pudding)

batidos ( milk shakes)

How about soft omelettes? Tortilla blanda.. no muy hecha.

I wish you well. Enjoy your trip.

<Vegetables and fruit are good if well cooked>.

I also normally prefer the vegetables al dente, but the smooth and very well cooked Menestra de Verduras (Vegetable stew) is just delicious: http://www.google.no/search?q=Menest...w=1600&bih=805

Mmmm. You all are making me hungry! People think sometimes I don't get hungry since I have difficulty swallowing. Wrong. All the food still smells as good, I just can't eat all of it.

These are some wonderful suggestions. And any other dishes you can think of or hints will be appreciated. S

Do you think if I took a little Spanish translation of my difficulty, they might let me order a smaller portion? Here I just order the regular size and take the remainder to go. One American size dinner usually is good for three dinners for me.

tapas do come in small portions, sometimes only a mouthful or so.

if you want more, you can ask for raciones.

no, I don't think you can make special requests to restaurants to change their meal size for you. I mean, you are wanting them to charge you less for doing that, right? So you are asking them to make up a special size and pricing list for you, which I would not do in any restaurant any where, actually. Because otherwise you could just not finish the dish. I understand that may seem like spoilage to you (and to me), but in a lot of places I ate in Spain, the portions were not humongous, anyway. In fact, I think they were fairly small as I tend to go to cheap places (and some of them don't give you as much). If you order some small side dish maybe and some soup, you will have a small meal. Or the tapas that will work would be great.

mybellarosa,

in Seville we stayed round the corner from what is allegedly the oldest bar in the city.

i thought it might help you to look at the sort of things that are on offer:

http://en.elrinconcillo.es/?portfolio=tapas

they come out from the kitchen on small plates and you can have as many or as few as you like. you can also walk round the corner to 5 or 6 other tapas bars where you can do the same thing. so you can make quite an interesting evening of it, going from one bar to another, trying the dishes that you think may suit you.

most are quite cheap - a few € per plate. the serrano ham tends to be more expensive but i anticipate that that's one of the things you can't manage. we generally eat like this when we are in Spain and it works fine, no-one expects you to eat a whole meal in these sorts of places.

available everywhere is a dessert called "flan" which is simply creme caramel. it is not expensive and should slip down pretty easily.

The ordinary tapas portions are generally small: a codfish ball or two (mashed potatoes and reconstituted cod and garlic). I know you don't eat fish or meat, but the size is typical. You would need four to six plates to make a meal. As above, if you want a larger portion, you would ask for a racion (ra-thee-own). Two of these would make a dinner.

Because they are served all day, you could have a plate or two at one, another at three, and so on rather than overtax your system. It will be hard, though, if you can't eat either meat or seafood. You will be dependent on cheese and egg dishes for protein. This is nice because you can eat tortillas, which are nothing like Western Hemisphere tortillas but rather like an omelet, though often sold at room temperature.

You can live on patatas bravas and pulpo gallego w/ vino tinto and blanco.

The food in Italy doesn't come close to the excellent food in Spain! After visiting Italy last year, we can't wait to return to Spain. Our first trip was to Madrid, then Seville, Ronda, Grenada, and Cordoba. You've already received some terrific food recommendations, although I don't know if Paella is another option for you. I'm looking forward to enjoying Spanish tortillas myself this fall, which is the most commonly available food for breakfast - even in train stations cafes. As Ackislander said, it is very like an omelet with thinly sliced potatoes. And it sounds like you may be able to experience many of the tapas that are served, too. Migas (scrambled eggs, crumbled chorizo sausage) was our favorite meal in Ronda.
I don't think you'll have any problems as long as you don't try to eat American-style.

Patatas bravas with a dicy throat? Probably not.

As many have noted there is a variety of foods. Some of the following are repeats.

As also noted above there are different sizes at tapas bars and they are called tapas, pinxtos, and raciones. I will leave the argument as to the differences to the Spaniards and the purists, but for the sake of this discussion raciones are larger but still much smaller than a meal.

The ubiquitous tortilla espanola is but eggs, potatoes, and onions. The potatoes are cut thin and you can cut as small pieces as you wish. This can be found all times of the day.

TAPAS
As tapas bars you get plates of mushrooms- champiñones.
Meatballs are chopped finely-albóndigas
Croquettes -Croqetta-they come in many varieties, but they are easy to eat.
Olives-aceitunas
Tuna-atún (as a tapa will appear as the chuck type)
Fish and shell fish come in many varietes
There are various cheeses-tetilla is among the softest.
And patatas bravas (also patacas bravas) are deep fried little chuncks of potato with a hot sauce, so that might not be the best.

For main courses there is flat fish which
Hake has the unfortunate of name of rape RAP-a(hard a)

Trying to think of items with a very smooth, soft consistency:

As I recall, scrambled eggs (revuelto) are often on menus; usually with a variety of things in them, or even plain. Looking at some menus from our trip, I even saw scrambled eggs with foie gras

We found that tapas in Madrid were more commonly served on toast or bread, so just check that as you look at menus, as you'd problems with the bread.

I'm not sure about patatas bravas or torta Espagnol; the potatos in them may not be soft enough - but you could order a portion and see. Croquettes, the fried outside might not work for you, but again, give it a try.

Berengenas (sometimes spelled in slightly different ways) are eggplant, fried and served with honey. They were delicious! The eggplant were very soft, but again, the fried outside may be not soft enough for you; I recall some that were very soft (partly due to the honey soaking through), and some that were less so.

Bacalao is salted cod, reconstituted and cooked and usually served all mashed up. I've had it before, in Spain and Italy, a little bland, but it may work very well for you and is definitely a dish you won't see in North America.

And foie gras is often seen on menus - that texture may work!

Do not hesitate to go - you deserve such a wonderful experience, and even if you can't eat all that you used to, you'll find plenty to eat, and plenty of local Spanish dishes to eat! And we did find many places offered tapas-sized dishes, even in places that billed themselves as restaurants. Our 12yo daughter doesn't eat a huge amount, and the ability to choose different sizes of dishes was especially nice for her.

-pisto.. a tomato based dish of fried vegetables until they are mushy
-hummus is found many places

-puré de patata.. mashed potatoes

"Bacalao is salted cod, reconstituted and cooked and usually served all mashed up. I've had it before, in Spain and Italy, a little bland, but it may work very well for you and is definitely a dish you won't see in North America."

Well, you will see it wherever there are people of Portugese, Italian, or French descent. We have a lot of those in New England, fortunately for those of us who love bacalao. In Richmond, VA, we find it in Hispanic groceries.

I wish I had thought of croquetas, since many of them have centers that are very nearly liquid. Yum.

You have some good suggestions here. I think your best bests are going to be the soups, tortilla, and flan.

I have some general advice based my own experience with an eating challenge. A couple of weeks before a trip to Italy, I injured my jaw. I could not chew anything, so my restrictions were a bit similar to yours - no bread, pasta, meat, etc. I know I missed out on some wonderful food, but the trip was fantastic and I was very glad I went. I ordered soups and fish (sole) mostly and ate what I could in restaurants. Several times, I ended up getting food that I just could not eat. I was concerned about seeming rude for leaving so much on my plate, so I figured out how to say it was good but that I had a sore jaw. I had yogurt and a jar of peanut butter in the room in case I was still hungry.

Good for you for getting back to travel. I am sure you will have a wonderful time. Please post a report when you get back and let us know.

Thank you all so much for your helpful and encouraging replies. I am getting more enthusiastic about this each day!! And less fearful because of you!

I am planning a 2 week trip to Span. I speak Span. I would love to rent a villa, et, Does anyone have any exp on this? ANy tips on Granada, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid, Barc. would be apped. Thks

We found omelets on many menus in Spain.

Mybellarose,

First of all, you're awesome because you are persuing your interest despite some challenges!

Secondly, as a worst case, how about stocking your hotel room with flavored yogurts, cheese, ready-to-eat potato mash packs, tetra-pack single-serving tropicana kind of juices, etc bought from local supermarkets? Or, ordering only sides (grilled veggies / potato mash) in restaurants? This should solve your portion size as well as food type constraints. Further, you could have a lot of milkshakes, smoothies in the smaller cafes. Out of all the wonderful suggestions shared above, I loved the idea of Gazpacho!

I do not have any health constraint, but I am a vegetarian. While my issue is miniscual in front of yours. But, I too plan to visit the supermarkets often to stock up on basic items.

When are you going? I could give you more feedback once am back in September first week this year.

chime107
I think you'll get more response if you post this as a new topic.

Thanks to all of you. I'm making a list to take with me with translations to Spanish!

rtwin80days, I am leaving September 10 and returning September 28.

Thanks for the advice, crckwc1.

cheese, ready-to-eat potato mash packs, tetra-pack single-serving tropicana kind of juices, etc bought from local supermarkets?
____
I think others have mentioned this but please note that there are very few American style supermarkets within cities and another difference is that all sorts of foods are available in department stores such as Corte Inglés. And in Madrid and Barcelona there are a few locations.