Vegetarians of the world Unite!

[scruffy1]

Prepared food on the Camino is abundant, nutritious, often delicious, sometimes boring (how many times have I been offered the ubiquitous lomo?) and there are many albergues with good enough self cooking facilities. The only real problem hides from vegetarians. There is apparently no word in Spanish for cholesterol, you will find meat in almost everything. Vegetable soup sopa de verdure(s) will always have some fatty meat in it; caldo gallego has collard greens or rape grelos (that tall strange looking stalky plant you see all along the Camino) for sure and while there may be no meat visible, it is prepared from ham hocks; Lentils, lentejas, more like a stew than a soup, meat stock for sure; chick peas potaje de garbanzo-more meat; green beans judios despite the name are better when cooked with some fatty pork; all of the myriad forms of cocido; many of the recipes with bacalao have just that much chorizo included in order to spice the dish; tapas? Patatas bravos are traditionally quartered potatoes made with a spicy sauce of tomatoes, sweet red peppers, and cayenne, don’t be surprised by the odd bit of chorizo among the potatoes or hidden within the sauce; feijoada or bean stew in Portuguese and in Gallego frijolada in Spanish is loaded lots of different kinds of meat too; manteca is rendered pork fat lard in Spanish or a mixture of butter and animal fats great for cooking many many dishes, not if you are vegetarian; and do remember not just to wash the pots, pans, and skillets in the albergue kitchens, a generation of steaks, chops, pork chops, chorizos, and manteca have gone before you, scrub them very well.

Eggs? Found in most soups as “noodles” or garnish a special favorite in the legendary garlic soup; a foundation found in mixed salad (en)salada mista; liberally added to Russian salad ensaladilla ruse; in tuna salad salada atun; a garnish for many bean/pulse dishes, and of course in flan.

Fish? next time

 

[migolito]

Your descriptions are making me hungry! umm Chorizo...

 

[duncan pm]

I understand yor premise entirely. I am a great fan of Spanish cuisine. Whilst living in Spain I had the misfortune of having to entertain my sister from Scotland who at the time had eschewed eating meat. Eating out was at best problematic and served only to strain an already difficult relationship.
I do not eat meat and I agree that many of the fundamentals of Spanish cuisine are underpinned by meat or meat derived products. On the other hand the wealth of exceptional quality fruit and veg, spectacular in quality and entirely seasonal more than makes good this problem.
I do eat fish and seafood and, for me, this is another highlight of cuisine throughout Spain. The freshness is often superb even far from the sea - the abundance of transport carrying this used to make my hitch-hiking so much easier very early in the day.
I feel that appropriate preparation and forethought can overcome many of the matters you highlight, especially in albergues where one can prepare one's own food.
All the best,
Duncan.

 

[scruffy1]

Duncan
Your are so right - please see my second post "Beep Beep" where I introduce fish and shellfish, starting from Roncesvalles and the little white fish vans found all along the Camino and until the market of Santiago, neglecting however the wonderful markets of Pontevedre and Padron on the Camino Portugues. I prefer to walk Early Spring Late Fall, a good hearty soup served with something carnivorous are often a highlight of a long slog on a rainy day.
Scruffy