Food Glorious Food!

The touring Chancel Choir is sampling all kinds of foods during their trip to Spain.
One of the wonderful things that happens while sharing with another culture is sampling the different foods. In Spain there are many traditional dishes as well as foods which can be found easily in Houston. The important thing to do is to be brave and taste the variety. Today was another travel day as we said "adios" to Granada, and "hola" to Seville, or Sevilla which is the spanish spelling. On the way we had lunch in a wonderful restaurant which is a converted church. The owner turned the sanctuary into a museum, and the other buildings into a dining area. The food was excellent, especially the house specialties. While many of the dishes might be found in Houston, the sauces and spices are different. For example I enjoyed a pork dish which was skewered and toasted over a grill, but the taste was much different than what I expected. My wife Hazel enjoyed Pachuga de Pollo, a chicken dish which can be found at many Mexican restaurants in Houston, but the white sauce was seasoned much differently and very tasty.


As I mentioned last night we were treated to a wonderful meal at a fund raiser for the local school in Niguelas. Literally the food was paraded before us including tapas which are a staple of spanish dining. Tapas are snacks, but more than that, they fit the daily spanish cycle which is much different than both the rest of Europe and the United States. While in some places, the working periods are changing, for the most part shops close at 1:30 to 4:30 for a siesta. Often a nice lunch is served, meaning a later meal may be a snack, tapas, at 7 p.m. with a hearty meal at 9:30. After last night's concert we didn't leave the Niguelas until midnight, and yes the restaurants were still open as the spanish lifestyle dictates. So an evening meal may consist of a number of tapas, like a ham and cheese sandwhich, shell fish, or a seasoned rice dish in a small bowl. So as I write this the group is getting ready for a meal here in Seville, and we've already been told the menu, it will be tapas!