Do Spaniards srsly eat this much tuna?

[ilbestro12]

I can't avoid the tuna. It is in tapa sandwiches. Salads. Even some cold pasta dish with boiled eggs and tuna, served cold.

I'm done with tuna. How do I avoid it?

And do Spanish really eat that much of it, or is it just a cheap ingredient to push on pilgrims?

 

[NicP]

I’m not sure that what we get as pilgrims eating pilgrims menus reflects much of the local food culture in Spain- rather, I think it’s likely to be cheap nutritious food that pilgrims get in pilgrims menus, enabling those pilgrims that couldn’t otherwise be away a month or more and eat out for much of that time, to participate in this crazy beautiful camino experience….

 

[Icacos]

I had a serving of delicious tuna empanada in Molinaseca “made by mama this morning.” It was much appreciated after the trek down from El Acebo.

 

[Tincatinker]

I'm done with tuna. How do I avoid it?

And do Spanish really eat that much of it, or is it just a cheap ingredient to push on pilgrims?

Well, you could just master up enough Spanish to ask for "***" "sin atún". The Beloved cruises Spain despite her Alium intolerance by simply requesting "Insalada mixta sin cebolla". I've always thought that sin was a useful word in Spain. And, no, Tuna is not a cheap ingredient. People die catching it. If you want cheap ingredients in Spain go for those parts of a pig that don't make Jamon or Secreto or Morcilla. Oh, yeh, thats called Lomo and it'll give your jaw muscles the work-out in the evening that your legs have had all day.

 

[ilbestro12]

Well, you could just master up enough Spanish to ask for "***" "sin atún". The Beloved cruises Spain despite her Alium intolerance by simply requesting "Insalada mixta sin cebolla". I've always thought that sin was a useful word in Spain. And, no, Tuna is not a cheap ingredient. People die catching it. If you want cheap ingredients in Spain go for those parts of a pig that don't make Jamon or Secreto or Morcilla. Oh, yeh, thats called Lomo and it'll give your jaw muscles the work-out in the evening that your legs have had all day.

Is it also called bonita ? Or is atun the predominant word for it?

 

[NicP]

Well, you could just master up enough Spanish to ask for "***" "sin atún". The Beloved cruises Spain despite her Alium intolerance by simply requesting "Insalada mixta sin cebolla". I've always thought that sin was a useful word in Spain. And, no, Tuna is not a cheap ingredient. People die catching it. If you want cheap ingredients in Spain go for those parts of a pig that don't make Jamon or Secreto or Morcilla. Oh, yeh, thats called Lomo and it'll give your jaw muscles the work-out in the evening that your legs have had all day.

You’re so right…. @Tincatinker - being able to speak a little Spanish has made a massive difference to my experience on the camino, in lots of ways, some big and some small…. not the least of which is being able to ask for exactly what I want (or don’t want) to eat and drink.

Where would I be without the occasional glass of “orujo de hierbas” after dinner!

 

[Pafayac]

Is it also called bonita ? Or is atun the predominant word for it?

Skipjack is "listado".
"bonita" is an adjective meaning beautiful.

 

[Tincatinker]

sin Atun will be understood.

 

[alexwalker]

Tuna is good for you. It is part of the Mediterranian diet which allows people to live longer, leaner and healthier lives than most other places in the world, none named here.

Edit: I follow the Mediterranian diet as best I can (tuna/fish, olives, lean meat (calf/lamb/sheep), olive oil, vegetables, etc), and at 69, I am lean, mean and healthy.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I love love LOVE the tuna!
So easy to carry in those little pop-top cans, and gives me energy.
Plus it's not the ground up "crap" we get here in the USA.
It's beautiful, chunky white meat.
Anyway, suggestions for avoiding are plenty above.
But me... Creo que es delicioso!

 

[ilbestro12]

Skipjack is "listado".
"bonita" is an adjective meaning beautiful.

I think it was bonito. Tastes like tuna i. The same family

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I think it was bonito. Tastes like tuna i. The same family

Yes, it is tuna.

 

[Former member 92300]

I am not a huge tuna fan - but I love the Ensalada Mixta as it often has a variety of vegetables and lots of protein. But yes - every once in a while I ordered Ensalada Mixta sin Atun and they always knew what I meant!

 

[oursonpolaire]

Yes they do. About once a week I eat off the carta in a restaurant, and various forms of tuna-- usually bonito or ventresca-- can be had. As well, aficionadi of Spanish grocery and food shops will often note the presence of very pricey tinned tuna-- in private houses, one often finds them as a tapa or racion, and brought out as a treat for foreigners.

For me, the only problem with Spanish tuna is that its higher quality has pretty well destroyed North American tuna for me.

 

[Tincatinker]

In El Rocio with various chums. Bird-botherers, Butterfly fanciers, Botanists and even some waiting for the revelation and trying not to fall off their horse. 25 - 28 May will be a lot of fun around here and yet we can get just about anything “sin” just about anything except sand. Sand features a lot in El Rocio and when the winds blow (always) sand features in just about anything that doesn’t have a cork.

Sin Atun, Carne, Azucar, cafeína, cebolla, mariscos, ajo: none of these has been a problem other than for me as I try to translate and re-translate and yes, estofado de conejo does have rabbit in it but if I give them 24hrs notice and the cocinero isn’t too busy you can have one without chips…

Meanwhile the Manzanilla is crisp and salty as are the tortillas de camarone. We have warm showers, cold beer and a roof where from the Spotless Starlings chirp us into wakefulness in another sunny day.

 

[J Willhaus]

Yes a lot of recipes with tuna and not just for pilgrims.

 

[Tincatinker]

As a ps to the above: there are probably around 1000 residents, bird watchers, painters and decorators, plasterers and men who fix drains scattered about this township. In two weeks time there will be close to a million pilgrims here. If you think Sarria to Santiago is a bit busy….

 

[SabsP]

As a ps to the above: there are probably around 1000 residents, bird watchers, painters and decorators, plasterers and men who fix drains scattered about this township. In two weeks time there will be close to a million pilgrims here. If you think Sarria to Santiago is a bit busy….

Enjoy!
Which I could hear and experience the Salve Rociera. You are lucky.

 

[David61]

Any concerns regarding mercury levels and the amount of tuna eaten on Camino? The information seems rather misleading with US info rather more alarming than UK for example. I have read Alice in Wonderland and I do not want a tea party!

 

[henrythedog]

Enjoy!
Which I could hear and experience the Salve Rociera. You are lucky.

I’ve been when it was just about empty, and there’s a ‘presence’ which is hard to describe. It’s as though the huge empty space is awaiting the annual arrival, which is on a scale which I would previously only have associated with festivals in India.

As @Tincatinker says, being there in a couple of weeks time would put the annual ‘month of May whining’ on the Frances into perspective.

 

[Pathfinder075]

Where would I be without the occasional glass of “orujo de hierbas” after dinner!

Not slowly dying from drinking something that tastes like freshly mown grass.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Is it also called bonita

Probably why I got strange looks when I said "la mujer es bonita" to the beautiful woman in the bar

 

[VaughantownHiker]

I can't avoid the tuna. It is in tapa sandwiches. Salads. Even some cold pasta dish with boiled eggs and tuna, served cold.

I'm done with tuna. How do I avoid it?

And do Spanish really eat that much of it, or is it just a cheap ingredient to push on pilgrims?

One of my favorite parts of being in Spain is the tuna. Not just on the camino, but everywhere. I especially love ventresca tuna. Unfortunately, Americans are not big fans of this fatty section of a tuna so it’s difficult to find here. But I have found a place in Westport Washington that cans tuna right off the boat. Merino’s. Their ventresca is to die for! And they'll ship it anywhere in the U.S.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

I never, ever encountered tuna on a mixed salad until I started going to Spain.... But now a mixed salad sin atun seems downright naked.

(Oh,, and I think I agree with Annie, #10 supra. Tuna in the USA just isn't the same, somehow.)

 

[David Tallan]

And do Spanish really eat that much of it, or is it just a cheap ingredient to push on pilgrims?

They really do eat that much of it. It isn't just something they push on pilgrims. I was living in Madrid about 33 years ago. Not the tourist section of Madrid, the residential section far from where tourists are likely to venture. I still remember the tuna the local pizza place put on its pizzas because I had never previously seen tuna as a pizza topping.

 

[Rita Flower]

And if you are sick of the (to me delicious Spanish) tuna, try the canned pulpo - with an apple and some pan - for food on the road. The best!

 

[naplesdon]

Nothing better than tuna empanada!

 

[philleethomas]

I can't avoid the tuna. It is in tapa sandwiches. Salads. Even some cold pasta dish with boiled eggs and tuna, served cold.

I'm done with tuna. How do I avoid it?

And do Spanish really eat that much of it, or is it just a cheap ingredient to push on pilgrims?

Yes the frustration for my vegetarian co-pilgrim was that they would stick tuna on top of everything; 'vegetarian' macarrones, salads, etc.!

 

[naplesdon]

At San Anton, Oliver and I would buy a big pie and leave it out on the counter for days to munch on. No flies, no worries.

 

[Jaime Carrollo]

Look at the bright side. When your Camino is over and you’re back home again, you don’t ever have to eat tuna again! And a sin will be a sin.

 

[Nekai]

Tuna is good for you. It is part of the Mediterranian diet which allows people to live longer, leaner and healthier lives than most other places in the world, none named here.

Edit: I follow the Mediterranian diet as best I can (tuna/fish, olives, lean meat (calf/lamb/sheep), olive oil, vegetables, etc), and at 69, I am lean, mean and healthy.

The mercury in it is not so "good for you".

 

[Sandi Smith]

Tuna is good for you. It is part of the Mediterranian diet which allows people to live longer, leaner and healthier lives than most other places in the world, none named here.

Edit: I follow the Mediterranian diet as best I can (tuna/fish, olives, lean meat (calf/lamb/sheep), olive oil, vegetables, etc), and at 69, I am lean, mean and healthy.

“Good for you” doesn’t mean everyone can stomach it. I also ask for sin atún and I’m a healthy, happy, 64 year old. Enjoy your travels while eating what keeps your own, very unique body, healthy and happy. Buen Camino.

 

[Tincatinker]

The mercury in it is not so "good for you".

Minamata disease - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Your Bottled Water Probably Has Plastic In It. Should You Worry?

Unfortunately, bottled water is just the start

time.com

https://news.prairiepublic.org/show/dakota-datebook-archive/2022-05-30/strontium-90-found-in-cows-milk-in-north-dakota#:~:text=In%201959%2C%20radioactivity%20was%20found,Strontium%2D90%20in%20cow's%20milk.

Anything else you want to worry about? Just remember that in the last few decades we have fed dead chickens to live cows; sprayed biocides known to harm bees onto pollination dependent crops, and come to rely on a God called Gle as a source of all wisdom and truth.
Buying Tuna in Spain I’d be more worried about the arsenic in the tin… Except I’m not

 

[Lurch]

And if you are sick of the (to me delicious Spanish) tuna, try the canned pulpo - with an apple and some pan - for food on the road. The best!

Sardines yes…tuna no.

 

[polesneeded]

One of my favorite parts of being in Spain is the tuna. Not just on the camino, but everywhere. I especially love ventresca tuna. Unfortunately, Americans are not big fans of this fatty section of a tuna so it’s difficult to find here. But I have found a place in Westport Washington that cans tuna right off the boat. Merino’s. Their ventresca is to die for! And they'll ship it anywhere in the U.S.

We are very fortunate to live 40 minutes away from Westport (and Merino's). Love it!

 

[Phoebe]

I can't avoid the tuna. It is in tapa sandwiches. Salads. Even some cold pasta dish with boiled eggs and tuna, served cold.

I'm done with tuna. How do I avoid it?

And do Spanish really eat that much of it, or is it just a cheap ingredient to push on pilgrims?

Oh my g..! I remember this from my Camino back in 2005. Every salad had tuna in it, until I dreaded ordering any salad. Now I quite enjoy a green salad with a can of tuna (olive oil) thrown on top.

 

[JabbaPapa]

And do Spanish really eat that much of it

Not really, no.

The French eat more of it than anyone else in Mediterranean Western Europe, though the Italians are not that far behind.

But even among these peoples, it's hardly a staple !!

Mostly, it features in cheap and easy foodstuffs, between cheap sandwiches and quick home-cooked regardless.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Tuna is good for you. It is part of the Mediterranian diet

No it isn't -- tuna is caught in the Atlantic.

 

[alexwalker]

No it isn't -- tuna is caught in the Atlantic.

You are Edit: only partly correct.

And it doesn't matter where it is caught, although much in the Mediterranian: It is an important ingredient of the Mediterranean diet. Go to Greece or Italy, not to mention Spain, which this thread is all about, and you will find out.

TUNA SPECIES THAT BREED IN THE MEDITERRANEAN Which they are and how they get here

Tuna species that breed in the Mediterranean Which they are and how they get here __________________________ The Western Mediterranean: A Good Place to Start the Adventure of Life Warm waters with enough good for the largest possible number of larvae to survive: those are the key conditions...

planettuna.com

Atlantic, Mediterranian, Carribean, not to mention Japan (Pacific).

I have personally caught tuna in the North Atlantic (Norway), outside Florida in the Carribean, and in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in the Pacific. I have not been fishing in the Meditteranian, or I would have caught it there too. Good food everywhere.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I'm too tired for the full rant -- but the original so-called "Mediterranean diet" that was vaunted for its health benefits back in the late 1980s early 90s was in fact the diet of the French South-West.

And that is not tuna/fish, olives, lean meat (calf/lamb/sheep), olive oil, vegetables, etc ; but it is fatty meats stewed with various veg in season (beef, pork, rabbit, lamb, etc etc), sausages, pâtés, ham, other charcuteries, cheeses, yes lashings of olive oil, fish and poultry, conserves and pickles, and all manner of the heaviest French foodstuffs ; with little bread, and then wine with it and so on.

As to the fish, it's more likely to be cod, sardines, trout, mackerel, shellfish, crabs, and so on, rather than the more "noble" species like salmon or tuna. And even then, in any significant quantity only near the water.

Wrong region for olives, they have vineyards instead. Figs and other fruit trees though ...

----

Still, I am very glad to hear that your diet is treating you so well !!

 

[Lurch]

The mercury in it is not so "good for you".

Any concerns regarding mercury levels and the amount of tuna eaten on Camino? The information seems rather misleading with US info rather more alarming than UK for example. I have read Alice in Wonderland and I do not want a tea party!

I have read that the older the fish the higher the number of toxins, which makes sense. Sardines have a lifespan much shorter than tuna, so less bad stuff. Surprisingly, Orange Roughy, a small fish lives longer than we do, and this is worse for you than other rock fishes.