Food & Drink
The Sun test-drives a selection of Spanish beers on sale in the UK
VENERABLE British institution, the good old “Currant Bun”, did a survey of Spanish beers currently on sale in UK outlets like Iceland and Tesco.
With its customary fervour for a good pun, it called its analysis, “Top of the Hops”. With its beer critic Hayley Minn on the job, we can be sure that “The Sun” employed the strictest scientific rigour throughout this investigation.
First up is “Madri”, which Hayley marked as 4 out of 5. She went to Morrisons, and bought a pack of four half-pint size bottles (440 mililitres) for £6.
Readers will be encouraged to learn that Hayley “really liked it”. Unfortunately, she discovered its guilty secret – it isn’t Spanish. It’s brewed in the UK.
“I definitely felt cheated,” says Hayley, “but I can’t pretend that I didn’t still feel like I was abroad when drinking it.”
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Next came San Miguel, Malaga’s own, but Hayley wasn’t unduly impressed. The slightly smaller bottles (330 mililitres – £5 for a fourpack, also from Morrisons) scored only 3 out of 5 on the “boozometer”.
“I’ve probably drunk it a million times before,” she tells us, “and I normally enjoy it a lot. But this time, comparing it to the others, it was a different story. It had a much fainter smell than some of the others and the taste was definitely more wishy-washy, too.”
Mahou did even worse, clocking up only 2 out of 5. A pack of four bottles, the same size as “Madri” retailed at the same £6 price.
And this is where Hayley’s unflinching scientific know-how paid off.
She figured out that, at 4.8% alcohol by volume, this was not a drink to be messed with. “Mahou is one the strongest beers of all the Spanish brews I tried. I could tell as soon as I opened the can.”
“It left a very bitter, unpleasant taste in my mouth. The flavour was definitely too strong for me. There is no way I would be able to have a whole pint of this.”
The Miss Marples of the Snug Bar goes on to offer this:
“But I can ¬imagine people liking it. I reckon this could be a fair choice for lager fans.”
Hayley – why not leave the beer-tasting to a lager fan, then?
Then she went to Waitrose, and picked up a fourpack of Estrella Galicia, the same size bottle as the San Miguel. She gave this one maximum points – 5 out of 5.
“As soon as I had my first sip of Estrella Galicia, all the memories of sun, sea and sand from my Spanish holidays came flooding back. It is a very refreshing beer that has a great balance of the bready flavours of malt and hops with the citrus notes.” So there you go.
And she’s done her research.
“This is an authentic Spanish beer, brewed by Hijos de Rivera, an independent, fourth-generation, family-owned brewery founded in 1906 in A Coruna, Galicia, where it still operates today.”
Beer Number Five (we hope she didn’t do this all in one day) was bought in Tesco. She purchased a pack of four bottles of “Rosa Blanca”.
On the face of it, this one looks like a bargain: the cans (not bottles this time) are the large-format 440 mililitres size, at the small-bottle price (£5).
But at a weak 3.4% alcohol by volume, it left Hayley underwhelmed. 2 out of 5.
While she was in Iceland, she picked up four small-format bottles of “Estrella Damm”, which, she tells us, “is a completely different beer” from “Estrella Galicia”.
They can’t pull the wool over our Hayley’s eyes!
She liked its 1876 vintage (“Spain’s oldest pint”), but found its taste too bitter. 3 out of 5.
Last, and certainly not least, she gives “Cruzcampo” 5 out of 5. Iceland offers four larger bottles for £5.75.
She loved the fruity taste which did not drown out the savour of hops. She felt like she was back in Sevilla. All that was missing, she says, was a plate of tapas!
The moral of “Top of the Hops” would seem to be, stick to “Estrella Galicia” and “Cruzcampo”.
Food & Drink
Ancient Rome’s Fast Food Revealed: Dig In Spain Uncovers Songbird Snacks – Olive Press News Spain
JUST as we may grab a hamburger, hotdog or kebab, ancient Romans reached for thrushes when they fancied a quick snack.
A recent study reveals that song thrushes, previously thought to be a luxury item, were a common and affordable fast food offering in 1st-century BC Roman street stalls.
Archaeologists examining a cesspit next to a taberna, or ancient Roman food shop, in the Roman city of Pollentia, on Mallorca, is challenging long-held assumptions about Roman culinary practices.
They have unearthed 165 bones of the migratory song thrush (Turdus philomelos). These remains were found amidst other food scraps such as pig bones, domesticated rabbit remains and chicken bones, indicating their inclusion in everyday meals rather than elite banquets.
The taberna itself, connected to a popina (Roman snack bar) with embedded amphorae on its countertop, suggests a bustling environment akin to modern fast-food establishments.
Researcher Alejandro Valenzuela from the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA), who led the detailed bone analysis, commented: “Historically, thrushes were often mentioned in ancient texts as a delicacy, sometimes even fattened with figs for elaborate sauces.
“However, the context here – a modest commercial setting, not a lavish villa – strongly suggests these birds were accessible to ordinary Romans.”
Further analysis of the bones revealed preparation methods consistent with quick-serve food. The absence of femurs and humeri, alongside broken breastbones, indicates the birds were likely flattened and pan-fried in oil rather than roasted.
This fast-cooking technique aligns with the demands of a busy street food environment.
Valenzuela added that these birds were likely wild, seasonal catches, providing an efficient and cheap source of protein for the working classes.
This discovery at Pollentia provides a more nuanced picture of Roman urban diets and street food culture, reinforcing similar findings from other Roman sites and highlighting the diverse and adaptable nature of ancient Roman cuisine.
New archaeological findings are reshaping our understanding of ancient Roman cuisine, suggesting that song thrushes, rather than being an exclusive delicacy, were a popular and accessible fast food item for ordinary citizens.
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Food & Drink
Spanish tavern challenges Hemingway’s favourite Madrid eatery for title of World’s Oldest Restaurant – but Italy also has a challenger
FOR years Madrid’s legendary Sobrino de Botin has proudly held the Guinness World Record for being the planet’s oldest restaurant – but now it is being challenged.
Founded in 1725, this culinary icon – a favourite of literary giants like Ernest Hemingway – celebrated 300 years of serving up classic Spanish fare earlier this year.
Its famous wood-fire oven and prime spot near Plaza Mayor have long cemented its place in history.
But now, another Madrid eatery, Casa Pedro, is making a daring claim: “We’re even older!”
The restaurant’s owners are convinced their establishment survived the brutal War of Spanish Succession in the early 1700s, which would put its opening date firmly before Botin’s.
“It’s really frustrating when you say, ‘Yes, we’ve been around since 1702’, but… you can’t prove it,” admits Irene Guiñales, the eighth-generation owner and manager, whose family has run the place for centuries.
“If you look at the restaurant’s logo, it says ‘Casa Pedro, since 1702,’ so we said, ‘Damn it, let’s try to prove it!’,” she told Euronews.
The Guiñales family has now hired a historian, who has unearthed documents proving Casa Pedro was cooking as far back as 1750. But the hunt is on for that crucial evidence pushing the date back to 1702.
But just when you thought this Spanish showdown couldn’t get spicier, a sneaky Italian rival has entered the ring. La Campana, a trattoria in Rome’s historic centre, boasts ‘more than 500 years of operation’, citing ancient documents and its own self-published history.
Its owners are now reportedly compiling all the necessary paperwork to challenge both Spanish contenders for the world’s oldest title.
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Food & Drink
Spanish Tavern Challenges Hemingway’s Favourite Madrid Eatery For Title Of World’s Oldest Restaurant – But Italy Also Has A Challenger – Olive Press News Spain
FOR years Madrid’s legendary Sobrino de Botin has proudly held the Guinness World Record for being the planet’s oldest restaurant – but now it is being challenged.
Founded in 1725, this culinary icon – a favourite of literary giants like Ernest Hemingway – celebrated 300 years of serving up classic Spanish fare earlier this year.
Its famous wood-fire oven and prime spot near Plaza Mayor have long cemented its place in history.
But now, another Madrid eatery, Casa Pedro, is making a daring claim: “We’re even older!”
The restaurant’s owners are convinced their establishment survived the brutal War of Spanish Succession in the early 1700s, which would put its opening date firmly before Botin’s.
“It’s really frustrating when you say, ‘Yes, we’ve been around since 1702’, but… you can’t prove it,” admits Irene Guiñales, the eighth-generation owner and manager, whose family has run the place for centuries.
“If you look at the restaurant’s logo, it says ‘Casa Pedro, since 1702,’ so we said, ‘Damn it, let’s try to prove it!’,” she told Euronews.
The Guiñales family has now hired a historian, who has unearthed documents proving Casa Pedro was cooking as far back as 1750. But the hunt is on for that crucial evidence pushing the date back to 1702.
But just when you thought this Spanish showdown couldn’t get spicier, a sneaky Italian rival has entered the ring. La Campana, a trattoria in Rome’s historic centre, boasts ‘more than 500 years of operation’, citing ancient documents and its own self-published history.
Its owners are now reportedly compiling all the necessary paperwork to challenge both Spanish contenders for the world’s oldest title.
READ MORE:
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