In the south of Spain the heat is tropical in the summer, and the only
meat then available in any small town is generally goat. As in India,
the chicken which you order for your lunch is running about the yard of
the inn when the order is given. The principal dish of Spain is
_Puchero_, which consists of beef, very savoury sausages, bacon, fowl,
and plenty of the white haricot beans known as _garbanzos_, some leeks,
and a small onion, all put together into a pot to boil. The liquid is
carefully skimmed before it actually boils, and as the scum stops
forming hot water is added. The broth, _Caldo_, is used as soup; the
remainder, which has had most of the sustaining quality boiled out of
it, is the daily dish of the middle and upper classes, who call it
_Cocido_. _Gazpaco_ is a kind of cold soup much used in the southern and
hotter parts of Spain. It is made of bread crumbs, bonito fish, onions,
oil, vinegar, garlic, and cucumbers. All these are beaten into a pulp,
then diluted, and bread broken into the mixture. The better classes
drink this as we should afternoon tea. _Bacalas_, or dried cod, is one
of the staple dishes of the poor in the north, and the English in Spain
also often eat it. The favourite mode of preparation is to first soak
out the salt, then let the cod simmer, but not boil, adding afterwards
_pimientas dulces_ and chopped onion fried and pounded.
Pages:
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203