On Cosmopolitan Dining and Spain

Things have changed in Spain from when I was here in 2002. There is still the ubiquitous cafeteria/bar/restaurantes all over the place with the typical local spanish fare--and it depends on where you are as to what you will find but jamon is always available. But what is new is the proliferation of ethnic restaurants. Back in 2002 there were some various ethnic restaurants in Madrid and Sevilla but they were limited to the cheap chinese and kebap places or the really upscale places. Now you can find all manner of restaurants in the mid price range (there is still the cheap options but even those are more prolific). The big and happy surprise is the Indian restaurants--they are now numerous in Madrid and the ones I've sampled were really good (and they have actual spicy food!!). But there are now lots of Japanese restaurants, a few Thai places, many more Mexican and other Latin American places (I had some awesome Chiles en Nogada!). Oh, there were always a fair number of Italian places and those are still around as well--and some of them are quite good. The other thing that has been a happy find is that some places are now playing with Spanish cuisine, creating new versions of things that are kind what you might call nouveau--que guay. Another happy change is that in stores it is now possible to buy ingredients to make all sorts of things. I made a spicy thai soup for Esther at her apartment recently and was able to buy everything I needed right down to the fish sauce and lemon grass!! [an aside for inside readers--I actually bought the lemon grass in London and brought it back to Madrid--but after I was back in Madrid I found some lemon grass] It was fabulous by the way. So for someone like myself who likes to eat all sorts of foods--someone with a cosmopolitan palate--Spain has made huge leaps forward over the last handful of years, and happily so. Don't get me wrong, I love Spanish food and some of the ingredients they produce here (cheeses, chocolates, olives and oil, jamon, beef, wine) are as good as it gets. But I do like me some variety and after living here for 6 months I'm still a happy camper.