Pintxos in Donostia

 

This place was in the old quarter of Donostia aka San Sebastian. Pintxos restaurants in the U.S. tend to be run by culinary school graduates, and can be over-thought, precious and expensive. Here, they're just bars with a bunch of (good!) food on the counter. It doesn't take exquisite skill, just good ingredients and some tradition. This particular place had really good ingredients. I had one with smoked salmon and anchovy, and one with Iberian ham, roasted green pepper, and anchovy. Each item is generally betwee 1.50 euros and 2.50 euros. In some bars they hand you a plate and you take what you want, and in others, the bartender serves what you request. No table service, just take your food to a table if you don't want to eat standing up.

Duck: It's What's for Dinner

 

Cooked rare and served with baby vegetables and a garlic cream. I had this at Le Chalet in Ax-les-Thermes. The amuse-bouche was a "creme brulee" of mushrooms with a parmesan crumble. For a first course I had white asparagus with morels in a light cream sauce. Local cheese (this is in the Ariege valley) for dessert. If you're ever in the area, the restaurant was excellent.

Perhaps the ugliest modernization ever undertaken

 

In Ax-les-Thermes, France. The 19th century bath house gets an "upgrade."

Warm Goat Cheese Salad in the Pyrenees

 

Wrapped in bacon with lardons, butter lettuce, pine nuts, apple, and mustard dressing.

Lightning over Donostia

 

Taken from my hotel window.

Dinner

 

 

 

Turns out the tapas place at which I stopped for dinner is a small chain. The other two include the one I stopped at for lunch and another one just a block from the first one, so a very local chain. This time I had a salad of goat cheese, brown heirloom tomatoes, and sunflower seeds with a honey vinagrette. Then I had some Iberian pork with green pepper sauce, which was brown and flavorful, and grilled oyster mushrooms with Catalan sausages. The last dish was not bad, but the mushrooms could have used a bit of seasoning. The photos are taken with the iPhone, they look more appealing in real life.

There are several places in Europe where you can walk into what looks like a good restaurant and be almost assured of a good meal. Most of France is like that, and much of Italy (Venice excepted). But Madrid isn't like that--there seems to be a lot of indifferent tapas, taken out of a tin and put in a microwave. Next time I go I'd want to research things more. On the other hand, I haven't had anything disappointing in Barcelona. Of course my sample size is small, so it could just be luck. Last night I went to a little place where I had some white asparagus with mayonnaise followed by grilled rabbit. All very simple and reasonably priced, but the rabbit was seasoned and cooked just right--cooked but not dry, which is easy to do with rabbit.

Lunch in Barcelona

 

At a place in El Born near the Picasso museum: grilled scallops with Iberico ham, trout eggs, and asparagus, along with bacalao croquettes.

Olive Tree

 

Olive tree in Retiro Park, Madrid. This was on a path that spiraled up a smallish mound, planted with olive and cypress trees.

At the Museo de Jamon

 

A starter of Iberian Ham and Melon at the Museo de Jamon on the Plaza Mayor, Madrid.

Pica on the Plaza Real

 

On the Plaza Real in Barcelona: Almonds and Boquerones (anchovies in vinegar)

 

Entrance to the Prado Museum, Madrid