"spanish" news and stories

I don't know why we do this to ourselves - let ourselves surf the web and read about places we can't yet go, things we can't yet do, foods we can't yet try.

The New York Times' Travel section has a short piece on a small grocery store in Huesca, Spain called Ultramarinos La Confianza. Certainly an article about a grocery store, unless it's Trader Joe's opening in NYC, isn't all that exciting, but the story here is that Ultramarinos La Confianza is possibly Spain's oldest grocery store, built in 1868. It draws customers not only from around Spain, but all of Europe.

It is called a food lover's delight, and rightly so. I'd love to stand in front of its shelves and fill my basket with candied chestnuts, artisanal chocolate, and cheeses made in the local mountains. Could you imagine?!?! I imagine I'd certainly have no problem finding bacalao here to make croquetas.

However, it seems that the small store has been in business for long not for the things it carries, but the people behind the counters running the place for almost five generations - the Sanvicente family.

Source

One of the best ways I know how to learn about a culture is to cook the food. I learned a little more about Spain ths past weekend by slow cooking estofado catalan, as well as a whole table full of tapas-like dishes to go with sangria. One of the things I made was patatas bravas, or potatoes served with a tomato sauce. It's kind of like French fries and ketchup, but a million times better.