7/30/2019 Romanians in Spain
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Romanians in Spain
Having recently bragged that Alcal played host to, em, a host of
Hollywood actors
and directors creating the epic Spartacus, I am delighted to
claim bragging rights for my
adopted town once more.
Alcal (drum roll) is the Romanian capital of Spain! One in ten
residents of the
town is from Romania. (Im not one of them, claro. Im not even in
anybodys book of
statistics).
The reason why so many Romanians reside in this town is unclear.
While the whole
of the Corredor del Henares (towns along the course of the River
Henares as well as the
railway line) has become popular with all immigrants because of
its proximity to Madrid,
Alcals greater drawing power for the rumanos is hard to
explain.
A biased person would argue that the former Arab fortification
of Alqala Nahar and
Roman city of Complutum is just downright fancier than the
functional dormitory towns
along the way to the capital.
Im that biased person. And we have storks, na na na na na!
Thorough and profound immigration theory over with, lets talk
shop. As in the
case of any substantial immigrant influx, Romanians must have
their grub. Moving to a
country with a culinary brilliance bordering on the divine has
not dampened their taste for
their own cooking. So Alcal has several Romanian-owned shops
catering to the nostalgia
for nosh from this former Communist State (and what a state it
was in).
Being British, I tend to think that bread is bread is bread, but
these fussy Romanians
demand their own pine. This leads to signs in Spanish panaderas
advertising Romanian
breadin Romanian. Not only this, but one of the big supermarket
chains, Ahorra Ms,
has a full line of produse romanesti. and Im sure theyre not
alone.
So what do they eat? I found out, paradoxically, a few years ago
when I went all the
way to Bucharest. I tried mici (pronounced meetch), little
sausages made of beef, lamb
and pork meat and absolutely to die for. I couldve saved myself
the Easyjet flight since I
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later discovered that my own butcher prepares this sausagemeat
for his Romanian
customers, but you live and learn. And see Bucharest!
Mici also seems to mean lil purritat so heres a photo of both
sausages and soft
kitties for your delight and delectation.
Along with a Romanian white wine that was a dead ringer for my
beloved Rueda, I
also had mamaliga which Yukipedia describes as a porridge made
out of yellow maize
flour. This sounds as awful as its Scottish relative, but its
actually pleasant. though not
as delicious as Scots Porridge Oats with water, milk and
salt!
So, to conclude. The Romanians, well-educated Latins, have
enriched Alcal with
their culture, of which Ill write more soon.
