The “Guiri” Gourmet has lived in Spain for 16 years. He must like it.
He lives with his second wife, Rita, a German, near Ronda (Málaga).
Both the GG and Rita love Spanish food, but Rita, an excellent cook, nevertheless rustles up the odd German dish from time to time.
If he were allowed to, the GG would cook the occasional English meal, but it’s rare that he gets the chance. A Sunday roast; liver and onions; toad-in-the-hole; fish, chips and mushy peas; scouse; Yorkshire pud and gravy; bangers and mash; a breakfast fry-up; tripe and onions (ONLY JOKING! The smell alone is enough to make you throw up!) would all hit the spot!
Hardly cordon bleu cooking, nor even healthy, but hey! Very British.
Spanish cuisine
To be 
truthful, I don’t really miss English food. La cocina española (Spanish cuisine) is very varied, very regional and very tasty. There are few dishes which are truly national. Paella, for example, is a regional dish from Valencia, fabada is from Asturias and migas are from Ronda.
What about French cuisine? Well, it’s delicious, but less healthy than Spanish cooking because the French use more saturated fat and those delicious sauces that accompany every dish are distinctly fattening and unhealthy.
Life expectancy in Spain, along with Greece, is among the longest in Europe.
What do we miss from home?
There are a handful of products that I like to have in the cupboard or pantry. These are, in alphabetical order, baked beans, Bovril, clotted cream, Guinness, HP Sauce, Marmite, and peanut butter.
Most are available in Spain, but not consistently in Ronda, so occasionally we have to go to the coast to top up supplies. Other British folk go to Gibraltar to shop at Morrisons. Not me, I hate the place! Gibraltar, I mean; Morrisons is OK.
There are also a few things Rita misses from Germany. Bockwurst, Bratwurst and Schwarzbrot are readily available in Aldi or LIDL. She sometimes finds the odd thing on the coast, but there are several things she either picks up when she visits Germany or gets sent by post.
These include Currypulver, Gemüsebrühe, German cheeses, Hühnerbrühe, mango chutney and various spices and condiments. Plus, her downfall, Toffifee.
Things she gets sent include food supplements and natural medicinal products, such as Omega 3 capsules and Magnesium tablets for her gout.
Also, make-up and hair-care products.
Drinks
I love English real ales. Before I emigrated, I was a member of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), and often went to beer festivals. Several local pubs in the Warrington (Cheshire) area, where I used to live, were free houses and sold an ever-changing range of bitters, milds, pale ales, lagers and stouts.
Even the big brewers produced cask ales and the regionals also. And the number of small micro-breweries in the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands was astonishing.
Decent beer was one of the things I really missed living in Andalucia.
Yet micro-breweries are catching on here too, with a few dotted around Ronda, Cádiz, Córdoba and Sevilla.
For more on good beers (and wines), check out my Eye on Spain blog, The Merry Tippler, and my Facebook Group, CAMCAC.
CAMCAC Facebook Group [Photo: Paul Whitelock]
My second-favourite beers come from Germany. Fortunately, there’s a good range available at the afore-mentioned discounters, Aldi and LIDL.
Both Rita and I love wines from Baden-Württemberg. They are occasionally to be found in Spain but are prohibitively expensive.
Iceland
We went to Iceland last week. Not the country in the frozen north above Scandinavia, but the UK supermarket that has a branch in Marbella. I’d never been in my life, but Rita had been a couple of times with her English friend Jill.
Well, Iceland is no longer there. It’s got a new name – The Food Co. It still stocks Iceland products, but the new company (since 2019) has added Tesco, Waitrose and Co-op products.
I only went to get my staples, as listed above, but “What an Aladdin’s Cave?” I ended up buying a load of British products that I don’t really use or miss.
But, I thought, I’m “de Rodríguez” (on my own) for Christmas*, so why not get a few traditional English/British Christmas products?
Mince pies, shortbread, Stilton, Port, horseradish sauce, a number of Heinz products and a Christmas pudding went into our trolley!
Rita helped herself to tacos, poppadums, and other delights not always available in the mountains. Not German products, but she likes to cook Mexican and Indian food too.
Endpiece
Look, I’m slightly embarrassed to say this, but I enjoyed being able to get hold of these British products, even though I’m pretty hispañolizado after a more than 50-year relationship with Spain.
To the extent that, after Christmas and New Year are "done and dusted" and everybody gets back to work, I shall be starting the process to become a Spanish national with a Spanish passport.
I’ve checked, and my state and private pensions are safe, and I shall no longer have to stand in the long queue at passport control at airports and ports.
I can even travel to one more country without needing a visa than I can with my blue British passport! I don’t know which country that is, but that’s not the point!
Watch this space!
© The “Guiri” Gourmet
Links:
Christmas "de Rodríguez" - Rita’s alternative Christmas Dinner
De Rodríguez – at Christmas?
... de Rodríguez? - Secret Serrania de Ronda
Photos and Images:
Facebook
Full Suitcase
Paul Whitelock
RH Nuttall
The Food Co.
Wikipedia
Acknowledgements:
Paul Whitelock
The “Guiri” Gourmet
www.secretserrania.com
Tags:
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