Eating here has been interesting. It’s possible to eat quite well, though not as cheaply as we could two years ago (no doubt a combo of inflation and bigger cities/more touristy areas). But overall we’ve found the food to be oilier, heavier, meatier, and less vegetably than either of us would otherwise choose.

It’s perhaps heresy to admit that Valencian paella is…ok. The olive oil used here is miles better than what we get at home, but I found it hard to enjoy when it thickly coated a thin layer of heavily salted rice dotted with bits of seafood, veg, and meat. When I say dotted, I do mean dotted. A paella for two might include 4 slices of artichoke, 6 fava beans, and 4 strips of roasted red pepper, plus maybe 10 protein tidbits. With a seafood paella you may get 2 shrimp plus assorted fish, calamari or cuttlefish pieces, with a few rabbit, pork or chicken nuggets.

Its not all about paella. There are other arroz dishes (wet or dry styles) and fideo (or fidueo or fideuado) depending on where you eat it. Fidueo, however you spell it, is essentially paella made with short noodle pieces (spaghetti or angel hair). Same issues apply.

Spain is known for its jamon, and it is pretty magical. Intense, though, and expensive, so you only eat a few slices at a time and its a special treat. In Morella we encountered a plate of mixed elaboraciones: in the mountains, they have access to beef and goat as well as pig, and cure them all beautifully. (Still, though, rich and intense and meaty. I was more ok with them than R.)

Because we ate a “menu del dia” most lunches, we regularly ate dessert (included in the price). Mostly they were familiar sweets, but cuajada was new to us. It’s essentially a plain milk pudding served chilled. I enjoyed the light sweetness of it; R preferred cheesecake. I also tested a number of tiramisus.