Día 17 en Valladolid: Las Sardinas Fritas

 La Comida

 La Ensalada de Pasta

A salad with hard boiled egg (huevo cocido), chicken (pollo), tomatoes (tomates), cucumber (pepino), and olive oil (aceite de oliva).  Chón made this before with green olives, which gives the salad a nice kick.

 Las Sardinas

Rebecca and I mentioned that fresh sardines are not very common in California and that we have only seen the canned versions.  Having fresh sardines was a fun treat!

They're a lot easier to prepare than regular sized fish because the bones are so tiny and therefore edible.  This makes sardines a great source of calcium.  

When I was in Madrid, I had boquerones (anchovies) which looked just like the sardines that Chón made. At first I thought the fish Chón served were anchovies, not sardines. However, after looking at more pictures of boquerones fritos on Google, I think the fish at the restaurant were mislabeled  since anchovies are extremely slender in comparison to sardines. 

Sardinas con Lomo de Cerdo

The sardines were addictive! I ate about 8 of them and just half of my pork. Lomo refers to the back of an animal.

Sardina con Pan

Chón said they are even better eaten with bread, and she was right. Felix, my 30 year old host brother, used to like sardines when he was a child, but not any more.  He doesn´t like seafood in general. That meant all the more for us!

Piel de Sapo

This melon is very common here, but I've never seen it in the U.S.  Its name means "Toad´s Skin."

Piel de Sapo

It tastes similar to honeydew and is wonderfully sweet! In Spain, melon con jamón is a common paring, similar to cantaloupe with prosciutto in Italy.