Spain's - Bizarre Foods

Spain has some very wierd food, so I thought I would pull together some of the most bizarre food I have come across during my time in Spain.

1. Sea Lamprey cooked in its own blood - Lamprea en su propia sangre - Galicia

2. Stewed Cockerel Crests – Crestas de gallo - Zamora

3. Lambs brains - Sesos de cordero – La Rioja

4. Testicles in Sauce – Criadillas en Salsa

5. Fried Cockeral and lamb stomach/intestine  - Gallinejas y entresijos – Madrid

6. Gooseneck barnacles – Percebes – Galicia  These are really nice if you like Mussels

7. Pigs' Ears – Oreja de Cerdo  OK but very chewie

8.  Elver (new born eels) and garlic – Anguilas   Lovely with scrambled egg

9.  Tripe Stew – Callos -  from Madrid   better than i expected

10.Sea Snails – Caracoles  de mar    Bit like Welks

Sangría is only sangría if it is made in Spain or Portugal, rules EU

THE term Sangría can only be used for the red-wine-based punch drink if it was made in Spain or Portugal, the European Parliament has ruled,

A popular and very potent summer refreshment, made with red wine, orange juice, chopped fruit and other ingredients including various types of alcohol, sangríais probably the greatest Spanish cliché after castanets and flamenco dancers – but if it is bought elsewhere in the world, it must not use the same name unless it has been imported from Spain or Portugal.

Mediterranean Diet May Protect from Diabetes

In the latest trial of the on going intervention study PREDIMED, Spanish researchers found that following a Mediterranean diet may cut the risk of diabetes by about 30 per cent compared to the control diet, which was characterized as a low fat diet.

The study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, involved 3,541 men and women who were a subgroup of the larger PREDIMED study that enrolled over 7,000 participants from seven communities in Spain since 2003. The men and women for this particular trial were between 55 and 80 years of age and at high risk for heart disease, but without diabetes

This is not the first time that the Mediterranean diet has been found to have a preventative effect against diabetes. In 2011 a smaller trial (418 participants) of the PREDIMED study showed that a Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of type II diabetes by almost 50 per cent compared to a low fat diet.

Spain's medical system in rude health

Spain health care system has weathered protests and spending to snatch fifth spot globally and first place in Europe in the latest edition of Bloomberg's health care spending efficiency rankings.

With a life expectancy of 82.3 years, a per capita health care cost of $3,027 (€2287), and overall health care spending at 10.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Spain clocked up an efficiency spending score of 68.3 out of 100.

Eel Island Stew…El Palmar

The pretty little village of El Palmar sits on an Island in the Albufera lake, a nature reserve to the South of Valencia. Here, protected from the sea, by a strip of land and connected by canals the local fishermen and restauranteurs of the town live cheek by jowl with the local wildlife. At weekends in particular much of Valencia descends on the town for a meal in one of the many restaurants which specialise in traditional Valencian paella, seafood rice dishes, seafood in general and alli pebre, the local eel and potato dish.

Visit Ribera del Duero

The past few years have been good to the Ribera del Duero wine region in North Central Spain; but much like Sonoma in California wine country, it has had to contend with a more popular older sibling, Rioja. That said, given the region’s much deserved recent international notoriety, things are changing

First Function at Maestrat Park

We held our first function at the park for 38 people of mixed nationality's and a very good time was had by all.