andaluz problems, or There Are No Tostadas in Barcelona*
I usually fly into Madrid. But, this time, I had to fly into BCN and connect to MAD. This is relevant for the following story:
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| Tostada de jamón con queso |
Getting off the airplane in Barcelona after a long transatlantic flight, I was hungry for a good Spanish breakfast of tostada, café con leche, and a fresh-squeezed orange juice before hopping on the puente aéreo to Madrid. El Andaluz was supervising Don Loco on the playground in the terminal, so me encargué de pedir el desayuno. Cut to me standing in front of the Pans & Company menu, confused.
I cannot find the tostada on the menu. I mean, I do not speak Catalan but I did not see "torrada" on the menu board. There are a lot of what look like baguette sandwiches behind glass. I see pots of granolas and yogurt. But where is my mollete de pan drizzled with olive oil and tomato puree with a slice of jamón serrano??
I retreated to one of the (many, many) airport playgrounds, where Don Loco has made fast friends with a fellow traveling kid. They are competing to see who can go down the slide faster, powered by the energy of people who have slept soundly for hours in a giant white noise machine.
"They don't have breakfast," I reported tersely to El Andaluz. "It's just a bunch of sandwiches."
"What?"
"I looked and they don't have tostadas."
"Oh, tostadas are more of a southern Spain thing," el Andaluz said.
"I just really want a tostada," I said.
"Well it's Barcelona," el Andaluz said. "Tostadas are just not something you will really find on the menu here."
Understanding dawned on my face.
"This is like the time you ordered a bagel in Los Angeles," I said. "What is the breakfast burrito of Barcelona?"
"I'll get you a pan amb tomat."
Pan amb tomat. It's like a tostada, but not a tostada. Torrada. Whatever. It still hit the spot after the arduous journey.
*Obviously my title is an exaggeration, but what is the internet for if not for making wild statements unsupported by facts?
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