N.N.-D.
CHAPTER X
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
Food and wines of the country--Barcelona--San
Sebastian--Bilbao--Madrid--Seville--Bobadilla--Grenada--Jerez--
Algeciras--Lisbon--Estoril.
A candid Frenchman, who had lived long in Spain, asked as to the cookery
of Spain compared with that of other nations, replied, "It is worse even
than that of the English, which is the next worst." That Frenchman was,
however, rather ungrateful, for the Spaniards taught the French how to
stuff turkeys with chestnuts. The Spanish cooks also first understood
that an orange salad is the proper accompaniment to a wild duck, and the
Spanish hams are excellent. The lower orders in Spain have too great a
partiality for _ajo_ and _aceite_ for oil and garlic. Their oil, which
they use greatly even with fish, is not the refined oil of Genoa or the
south of France, but is a coarse liquid, the ill taste of which remains
all day in one's mouth. Garlic is an excellent seasoning in its proper
place and quantity, and the upper classes of the Spaniards have their
meat lightly rubbed with it before being cooked, but the lower classes
use it in the cooking to an intolerable extent. Capsicum is much eaten
in Spain, being sometimes stuffed, but in any quantity it is very
indigestible.
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