Weds am.

An interesting item in Monday's Guardian discusses the German position of power in Europe, and wondering about the difference not having a colonial history makes to its cultural impact and presumably its cultural diversity. (It's amazing how much you can glean from one paper if you only have the one.) Anyway it relates to the pride one time colonial powers have in their achievements and identity.

In that context I've been surprised by the continuing strength of local food traditions here.  Somehow the paprika inveigled its way onto the Spanish cuisine along with potatoes (claro),  red peppers of the capsicum variety, chocolate and tomatoes. But of chillies there are none. My point being there are a lot of Spanish restaurants .

Grette  and I went for a long walk tonight tracing down a Mexican restaurant mentioned on a guide site. Passed through a patch of Indian and Chinese places but we were too early - 7:30 pm - and they were all closed so I'm not yet sure who their clientele are or what the food is like. But we then traipsed past a number of classic tapas bars filled with fairly young loud people, found the Mexican cafe and didn't really like the look of it, and so we ended up eating hummus with carrot sticks and listening to Kylie Minogue, The Seekers, and Men at Work among others in a quiet kind of too cool to be hip cafe in the tapas bar area. Hence the photo featuring paprika below.

I think I'll need to keep chasing a bit of South American food here, because that makes an interesting circle  and also investigate if there is any museum or art exhibitions dedicated to say cochineal or more likely chocolate which were a couple of Spain's big American gifts to Europe.


After many hours everyday I now have some transportable blog connectivity. I used some time chasing a chocolate museum - one in Astorga and one in Barcelona, and a cochineal museum of which there appears or be none. Well, we'll see.

racion of carrots hummus and corn chips with paprika although not chilli

racion of carrots hummus and corn chips with paprika although not chilli

Madrid hoy

This episode of the chilli world tour - the Spanish, Portuguese, Moroccan bit - is starting slowly.

Partly because this blog itself  won't be paste for a day to, when I have local SIM card and account to connect the iPad.

I find it surprisingly hard to relax without any news of the world, distressing Australian politics or internet connections. Easter Day today, while scandalously full of open shops and businesses, appeared  rather light when it came to Internet and telephone connection services.

I try to turn it to my advantage by  focussing a bit extra on mindful breathing. But somehow  the lure of this agitated disconnection and the unfulfilled desire of listening to the sports reports, watching television of any kind, and checking my emails - is stronger than the world of the momentary breath. I'Ve got no doubt there's an opportunity for me there.

Today in Madrid, (Grette's and my first day) after watching a spot of traditional Easter competitive community drumming,  we ate a very satisfying menu del dia ( menu of the day) which had no sign of chilli. Im not surprised . but i noticed. im going to have a look around over the next week or so to see if where the chillies show their face.  I am anticipating our visit to Portugal so I can compare. On a strictly menu del dia basis of course.  

Of course it was the Portuguese who managed to spread the Chilli, in a few short years, right across the world, to almost no economic advantage that I am aware of. Whereas the Spanish claim responsibility I think for chocolate, vanilla and cochineal. All very profitable in their day. Anyway, the Spanish people I know are proud of their role in international chocolate marketing. So I am looking forward to testing out the comparative Portuguese knowledge and pride in the chilli.

Finally I hear the president of Ecuador was recently in Spain inviting recent medical graduates or come on over  to Ecuador where they are needed and wanted. Given the economy here in Southern Europe, Latin America probably looks very appealing.maybe the is a kind of  reverse colonisation, where the growing newer countries can now foster a brain  drain in their direction to suit themselves.

No new blogs until I solve my connectivity problem.
 Spain is great but no signs of chillies yet.
I think I will need to search out Latin American cuisine.
 Phot0s and comments once these two key issues are resolved.

Chilli and bratwurst in New York

The tricky thing about being in the US is that it doesn’t fit in to the concept of the Chilli World Tour, in terms of unpicking the chilli’s 50 yr reverse colonisation of the world via the Portuguese.

The fact that in both San Francisco and New York, Spanish is a very strong and evident 2^nd language and that Mexican food in all its diversity is one of the underpinnings of everyday culture makes the ubiquity of the chilli something that is inevitable on a number of fronts. And a function of the past four hundred years or so here. I would guess. The culinary history of the rest of the world notwithstanding.

Mind you, seeing a vinegary green chilli poking its nose out of my sauerkraut, bratwurst and mustard at lunch at the Met on Friday really suggested one part of the chilli presence in New York certainly has taken a European journey.

Is this the kind of circle being almost completed here? …There are Thai restaurants on the lower East side, and presumably there are in Mexico and Brazil as well. The trade in cuisine as it were has an almost universal reach, even if its spread has taken longer than Portuguese took with their gold and chocolate and spice trade in the 16^th Century.

Mexican salsas in downtown SF after mission mural adventure. West coast is a shortcut for the chilli world tour.

Organic chillies for sale Wharf market SF CA