It took me 4 Caminos until I understood how to get away from same old same old on the Camino, and that was on the Norte, where the bulk of those walking were Spanish: menu del dia around 2-3 pm after arriving at the albergue. In fact, if you expected much to eat at 7pm you were out of luck. So changing one's walking schedule is part of the solution. The other is avoiding the Frances....
Recently purchased this cook book of Basque cuisine. And it is just as much of a read as it is recipes.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607747618/?tag=casaivar02-20
So, if I was to walk day after day at home, in small villages, what would I find to eat? Horrible dishwater people call coffeee to start with. Yikes! Never order regular coffee in Canada, and especially not Tim Horton's. At least Mc Donald's now has esprssos and lattes. Then for breakfast I would have to eat 2 fried eggs, with frenchfries and white toasts. Lunch would be a poutine or 2 hotdogs with a coke and fries. Dinner: a hamburger with fries and a coke. No thanks. And not a veggie or fruit in sight. Would not even be able to find a small shop that would sell them, and the larger grocery stores would have imported them from abroad. And bread woukd be that slice white rectangle. No good...
Eating out three meals a day in a rural area day after day after day will get old no matter where you are, no matter what the local cusine is. But it does get worse if you don't know what to look for, as is the case when we keep ordering the pilgrim menu. There are ways around it. Ask for alternatives, ask them to add tomato, lettuce, mayo, etc. in the otherwise stale bocadillo.
I always eat in reataurants in Spain, only shop for food in grocery stores when I am spending the night in an albergue where there is no alternative, and may even have to bring food in from the town before. And in those cases take a look at the frozen food section and pick up a huge lazagna for 2€, or thin slices of pork, prepackaged, that you can grill with a red pepper for example. Just look at what the Spaniards are able to cook in an albergue: magic with little next to nothing. I find it is as expensive to eat out than buy a at the grocery store for ine person. And 10€ for your main meal, often only addidng breakfast, for a menu del dia does not make the Camino expensive.
But let's admit it, there is a place in the Camino market for more variety, so many new albergues, so few curry shops. I have visions of working as a cooking hospy and bringing kilos of curry spices to prepare a different evening meal. Potatoes, chick peas, frozen peas, aubergines, tomatoes, all staples for different Indian dishes easily found in Spanish villages ...
)
it is cheaply produced bland fodder provided to a customer who will never be seen again. At least sample the 'menu del dia' even if that means eating your main meal between 1 & 3pm. Or try 'que hay para comer?' or look at what the locals are eating and try 'Voy a tener un poco de ese'.
) but it made them happy, so it was all good
seriously could eat it every day for the rest of my life, especially like the one I had at the caballo de salto [edit...salto caballo? the one with the big horse statue and sea views near onton...]
