Food

I heard from Pau in Barcelona, he’s glad that I’m back in Spain. My final paper is done, Alicia (the mom) was a great help. She explained to me the arab influence on food and words in Spain, especially in Andalucía. No one in Andalucía used ovens because its too hot and there was never good firewood. Today most people have modern ovens and microwaves, but in small towns spanish women still prepare their baked goods and then take them to a bakery to bake them there. Most meat and fish is fried because for centuries people slowly cooked food on stone or tiles heated by coals. Baking was not done. Our oven, like most other ovens in Andalucia, is rarely used for baking, instead it’s used to store pots and pans. She also gave me her gazpacho recipe. Its obviously a recipe she knows from memory and makes to taste. Her recipe calls for half a glass of olive oil and half a glass of vinager. I had to ask her to be more specific. What size glass? The amount of salt in the recipe is “lo que cabe in la mano cerrada” (what you can hold in your closed hand).

On Thursday night we played basketball at a public park nearby with the dad, Pedro, Ernesto (a 19 year old who lives nearby and has an american student), one of my classmates and two other young guys who are friends of the family. It was three against four. We played a halfcourt game to 40 points, win by two. The court was really small, with a fence around it and the hoops were only 9 feet above the ground. I scored most of my teams points, lots of layups, dunks and putbacks. We had a solid lead for most of the game, but I was spent after reaching 37 points. We lost 42 – 40. The game lasted over an hour, I was exhausted. I had dinner and showered around 11:30. After watching the end of the Real Madrid – Atlético Bilbao game, I went to the Carbonería bar for my friend’s 21st birthday. It was my first time at the Carbonería, I had heard a lot about it, its the most well known bar in Sevilla. It used to be a place that sold coal, hence the name, now it’s a huge sprawling bar. The front is an unmarked, big red wooden door. I wasn’t sure it was the Carbonería until I walked in a ways. The front area is like a cave with a piano and lots of art covering the walls. Behind that is a long bar and a bunch of long tables, like a cafeteria. The back is a nice outdoor terrace full of trees and vines. We hung out there for awhile and then went to the front where two guys were playing the piano and clapping and singing. A few people danced sevillana, which is very similar to flamenco.

The last day of class went well on Friday. I am done with 1 of 5 classes this semester. Amancio and Alicia taught me how to make mojo picón on Friday. It’s a really good, spicy sauce used on roasted or grilled meat and potatoes. Two jars of tomato sauce, half a jar of water, half a jar of olive oil or sunflower oil, one whole garlic, two cayenne peppers (I think they were cayenne), some salt and pepper, and two little jars of oregano, blended. I ate about half a baguette just dipping it in the sauce. She said that it can be stored at room temperature for months in a sealed jar if you add a layer of oil to the top of the jar.

I am going to Granada at 9 am tomorrow morning. We are also going to a beach 30 minutes south of Granada on Sunday.