When deciding to put a title on my year spent in Madrid, I drew a large blank. What is going to "define" my time here? Will it be some proverb? A funny saying? A colloquial term? Instead I thought about what I am doing here, I am teaching English, I am learning about the Spanish language and culture, I am traveling and exploring both within and outside of Madrid, and I am learning about myself. I am not doing a million things at once, but taking each day at a time to really try to be present and live in the moment. I have already had plenty of mishaps and frusturations and I know that there will be many more to come. Likewise, I have had moments of elation and self satisfaction and these too will greet me again. But like I side, not everything is going to come at once. It will take much time and effort to get a better grasp on Spanish, to make friends and to find my nitch. I finally found a place to jog in and it has been almost three weeks!
Now to Cocido Madrileño. I chose this name because on a primary level, it is a principal dish of Madrid's gastronomy and I am here to eat and learn about Spanish cuisine. On a secondary level, this is a dish that you cannot have all at once. Eating cocido is a process, a progression, a single dish divided into multiple parts and it is taboo to serve the ingredients together. Each serving is known as vuelco (overturn), because during each serving the pot must be overturned to separate the ingredients. The first vuelco is the soup, which consists of the cocido's stock with noodles cooked in it. The second vuelco are the garbanzo beans and the vegetables. Finally the third vuelco is the meat. This dish does not end here, in fact, many other dishes are made from the leftovers of the cocido. Spanish croquettes are usually made with cocido stock for flavor, ropa vieja is a fried mix of garbanzo beans and meat, and pringá is made with the fried meat leftovers and bread. And if you think it takes a long time to eat cocido madrileño, just imagine how long it takes to cook the dish. I hope to eat a lot of this hearty dish during the cold winters in Madrid and I especially hope to partake in the cooking of cocido.
I don't want to get too symbolic or metaphorical but for me, cocido madrileño represents an ever-evolving event. I am known to relish prolonged meals, and I want to relish my extended adventure in Madid in just the same way--bite by bite and accompanied by good wine. Who knows, I may become a master at cocido and stay here indefinitely (just kidding Mom). So that's it, that's what's in a name.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Finalmente, el fin de semana
This weekend was the perfect mix of the life of a tourist and the life of a local. On Friday evening I stayed home and made croquetas with the kids, which are made by rolling mashed potato and ham dumplings in bread crumbs and then frying them in olive oil. I drifted off to the sounds of The Office, only to be awoken by the shuffle of Julia and Pablo's feet around the kitchen. I quickly helped the kids eat breakfast, made their beds and emptied the dishwasher. Once the family was off to Almovodar, I was free to explore for the day. I met up with my friend and set off for a tourist filled experience in Toledo. After some failed attempts to take the high-speed AVE train to Toledo, we made it to the local bus station, which was a longer ride but saved us some euros.
Although Toledo used to be the capital of Spain, it is a world apart from Madrid. Encased by an ancient wall, Toledo sits atop a hill and is surrounded on three sides by the Tajo River. Toledo is much smaller than Madrid and maintains a more traditional, Spanish countryside feel than the urban center. Once we entered inside the city walls, we sought out the main square, Plaza Zocodover and then found a place to eat for lunch. After gaining our energy from a a large jamón and mushroom pizza and typical ensaladas mixtas (iceberg lettuce, olives, tuna and tomatoes), we wandered throughout the town. The main sights were the Alcazar fortress, Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, Sinagoga del Transito, the Gothic Cathedral and the huge amazing gates connecting the city walls.
The synagogue was the most fascinating site because it truly represented the spirit of Toledo--a holy city where all religions come together. Toledo is a place of coexistence between Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures and this synagogue was commissioned by Christians for Jews and built by Muslims. Toledo is known as one of the holiest cities in Europe, and the expression "Holy Toledo" stems from the notion that this city was truly sacred to European Jews.
Although we ate on a student budget, we were still able to sample Toledo's finest food product, Marzipan and Toledanas. The marzipan did not disappoint and my Toledana, a crumbly pastry filled with a squash jam, was surprisingly tasty and not as dry as I imagined it would be. All in all, Toledo was a quality visit, and I am sure it would be quite a romantic getaway for a Madrileno couple looking to escape the noise of the city.
Juxtaposing my day trip, I spent the evening getting copious amounts of free tapas with my sole purchase of a large clara (beer/lemonade) beverage at Boñar de Leon with some other au pairs from Madrid. This bar is a college students or poor travelers dream, literally one beer buys you a three course meal with bread included, however, the food is definitely of questionable quality. One of our Tapas included "Cocido Madrileño", the title of my blog. This dish is a traditional garbanzo bean based stew from Madrid. It is prepared with vegetables, potatoes and meat and typically served in 3 courses--we had it all at once in the same pot. The idea that a stew takes 3 courses shows the Mediterranean tendency for drawn out meals; however, Spaniards are known to eat to live, rather than to live to eat. It looks like I will be somewhat of a misfit when it comes to obsessing over gastronomic delights.
On Sunday I decided to get do some wear and tear on my sneakers and take a run around Casa de Campo, formerly the royal hunting estate, measuring more than 6.6 square miles. Finally I was able to be in my element, a huge park full of people being active, whether it be rowing a boat in the lake, mountain bike riding or rollerblading. I have a feeling that I am going to spend many Sunday mornings in this park. After my run I planned the perfect day of relaxation and site seeing--a picnic and tour of the Royal Botanical Gardens. I assembled my lunch of a typical Elvidge salad; greens accompanied by half of the refrigerator's contents.
The Botanical gardens are beautiful and it was fun to learn different plant names in Spanish. I ate my lunch in the shade of huge conifer trees and next to the display of different food crops such as peppers, tomatoes, tobacco, and tomatillos. It felt so good to be surrounded by natural beauty and with endless opportunities to study the plant world. The garden even had displays to show the evolution of plants and separated the species into their own kingdoms to show the progression. The garden was a great way to have fun with my passion for plants and the environment while also committing myself to a plan to explore on my own. When you travel and site see on your own, you truly call the shots and can make your own schedule and do what you find to be most interesting. No one can be as flexible as you can be for yourself, and I believe that everyone should spend some time traveling on their own.
From here my day became much more social. I met up with some other Auxiliares de Conversación (and hostal friends) for dinner at Maoz Fallafel, one of my favorite inexpensive, all you can eat, Middle Eastern fast food joints. The group turned out to be really fun and diverse, we had people from California, New Mexico, Australia, England, Germany and Italy! In fact, I met a very attractive Italian guy who is studying in Madrid to get his Masters in Engineering. It was just my luck that it turns out he is a huge foodie and traveled to Alba to try their white truffles and had "the most amazing meal of his entire life." I asked him what he ate and he started crying, he wasn't even able to describe it, some sort of risotto; all I know is that it was "so simple" yet so "rich with flavor and aroma." He definitely won me over, and he liked that I had Piemontaise blood.
After dinner we followed the "social coordinator" of their hostel to a Brazilian center for music and dancing. Wow. Can Brazilians move or what! Even their children have got it going on. The people were so beautiful and full of life. I finally had the moves when they played the Macarena to entertain us and got a bit of liquid courage to stand up from my tasty Caipirnha. A motley crew of students, thrown into a non-English speaking country, surrounded by Brazilians, sure knew how to make the most of the situation. We had to much fun absorbing the atmosphere and living in the moment. I felt so comfortable with these people because I know that we really are all in the same boat right now. The Metro ride home was full of laughs and new energy, pienso que va a ser un buen año.
Although Toledo used to be the capital of Spain, it is a world apart from Madrid. Encased by an ancient wall, Toledo sits atop a hill and is surrounded on three sides by the Tajo River. Toledo is much smaller than Madrid and maintains a more traditional, Spanish countryside feel than the urban center. Once we entered inside the city walls, we sought out the main square, Plaza Zocodover and then found a place to eat for lunch. After gaining our energy from a a large jamón and mushroom pizza and typical ensaladas mixtas (iceberg lettuce, olives, tuna and tomatoes), we wandered throughout the town. The main sights were the Alcazar fortress, Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, Sinagoga del Transito, the Gothic Cathedral and the huge amazing gates connecting the city walls.
The synagogue was the most fascinating site because it truly represented the spirit of Toledo--a holy city where all religions come together. Toledo is a place of coexistence between Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures and this synagogue was commissioned by Christians for Jews and built by Muslims. Toledo is known as one of the holiest cities in Europe, and the expression "Holy Toledo" stems from the notion that this city was truly sacred to European Jews.
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| Marzipan |
Juxtaposing my day trip, I spent the evening getting copious amounts of free tapas with my sole purchase of a large clara (beer/lemonade) beverage at Boñar de Leon with some other au pairs from Madrid. This bar is a college students or poor travelers dream, literally one beer buys you a three course meal with bread included, however, the food is definitely of questionable quality. One of our Tapas included "Cocido Madrileño", the title of my blog. This dish is a traditional garbanzo bean based stew from Madrid. It is prepared with vegetables, potatoes and meat and typically served in 3 courses--we had it all at once in the same pot. The idea that a stew takes 3 courses shows the Mediterranean tendency for drawn out meals; however, Spaniards are known to eat to live, rather than to live to eat. It looks like I will be somewhat of a misfit when it comes to obsessing over gastronomic delights.
On Sunday I decided to get do some wear and tear on my sneakers and take a run around Casa de Campo, formerly the royal hunting estate, measuring more than 6.6 square miles. Finally I was able to be in my element, a huge park full of people being active, whether it be rowing a boat in the lake, mountain bike riding or rollerblading. I have a feeling that I am going to spend many Sunday mornings in this park. After my run I planned the perfect day of relaxation and site seeing--a picnic and tour of the Royal Botanical Gardens. I assembled my lunch of a typical Elvidge salad; greens accompanied by half of the refrigerator's contents.
The Botanical gardens are beautiful and it was fun to learn different plant names in Spanish. I ate my lunch in the shade of huge conifer trees and next to the display of different food crops such as peppers, tomatoes, tobacco, and tomatillos. It felt so good to be surrounded by natural beauty and with endless opportunities to study the plant world. The garden even had displays to show the evolution of plants and separated the species into their own kingdoms to show the progression. The garden was a great way to have fun with my passion for plants and the environment while also committing myself to a plan to explore on my own. When you travel and site see on your own, you truly call the shots and can make your own schedule and do what you find to be most interesting. No one can be as flexible as you can be for yourself, and I believe that everyone should spend some time traveling on their own.
From here my day became much more social. I met up with some other Auxiliares de Conversación (and hostal friends) for dinner at Maoz Fallafel, one of my favorite inexpensive, all you can eat, Middle Eastern fast food joints. The group turned out to be really fun and diverse, we had people from California, New Mexico, Australia, England, Germany and Italy! In fact, I met a very attractive Italian guy who is studying in Madrid to get his Masters in Engineering. It was just my luck that it turns out he is a huge foodie and traveled to Alba to try their white truffles and had "the most amazing meal of his entire life." I asked him what he ate and he started crying, he wasn't even able to describe it, some sort of risotto; all I know is that it was "so simple" yet so "rich with flavor and aroma." He definitely won me over, and he liked that I had Piemontaise blood.
After dinner we followed the "social coordinator" of their hostel to a Brazilian center for music and dancing. Wow. Can Brazilians move or what! Even their children have got it going on. The people were so beautiful and full of life. I finally had the moves when they played the Macarena to entertain us and got a bit of liquid courage to stand up from my tasty Caipirnha. A motley crew of students, thrown into a non-English speaking country, surrounded by Brazilians, sure knew how to make the most of the situation. We had to much fun absorbing the atmosphere and living in the moment. I felt so comfortable with these people because I know that we really are all in the same boat right now. The Metro ride home was full of laughs and new energy, pienso que va a ser un buen año.
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