Camino comida

Large town supermarcado

Small town tienda (super-market? I don't think so...)

Food on the camino-our eating routine varies every day, but the food doesn´t vary enough.  Let´s start when we wake up and get packed and ready to walk.  If the albergue offers desayuno (breakfast) it´s usually toast with jelly and coffee.  If we´re in a village the cafes are rarely open, so if we've planned ahead, we have juice and leftover baguette from the day before.  After a couple hours of walking we´re ready for a stop and some food, and usually pass through a village around mid morning, meaning coffee and on good days, a place is open that has tortilla patata, probably our favorite food find here.  It´s served from a pie shaped dish, and frittata is the closest word I can think of to describe it-lots of egg and potato.  Our larder (plastic grocery bag in my backpack) by now is stocked from the tienda, so our mid afternoon meal (lunch?) is usually a baguette with cured meat and cheese, pear, a few Spanish olives (another favorite) and a bite or two of chocolate.  This usually carries us through to dinner, after we´re settled in our lodging.  Another gustatory discovery is one they call caña con limon, which is draft beer with lemon soda...very refreshing, enjoyed after a long day´s walk.  Some albergues offer communal meals, and they´ve been the most enjoyable-prepared by the host or hostess, sometimes with Pilgrim help-usually green salad, with soup and bread.  Last night we enjoyed an exceptional paella.  If we´re wandering about, looking for dinner, most places offer Pilgrim meals for around 10 euros ($15), and from day one, the menu has been remarkably similar and uninspired-a choice of first course, usually salad or pasta, second course is another choice of 4 items, two of which are probably not available. We´re soon entering the Galicia region, which promises at least a change of menu items. Pretty exciting, huh? Can you tell that dinner is a high point of our day?

Jed