August 14, 2023 Lunch — La Casa Indiano Dinner - Cachalote, Santander
The two most exciting food events happened before breakfast and dinner.
While Suzette was still asleep I dressed and walked the three blocks to the Luga Mini supermercado and bought some essentials, including Serrano ham, Iberico cheese, goat cheese, fresh figs, a pear, an onion, a bottle of water, a jar of artichokes, a jar of tomato sauce, a bottle of olive oil, milk, eggs, yogurt, butter, and a potato.
When I returned Suzette made a serrano ham and Iberico cheese omelette and toasted four pieces of bread while I ate a few spoonfuls of yogurt.
The omelette was excellent and after we ate it, we walked to the park and boarded the City sightseeing bus. We took the entire ride back to the cathedral and walked to the artisans tents in a plaza by the church.
Suzette soon found glass paperweight key chains and I found a talented porcelain artist who inscribed her well thrown thin ware with fish and some verbiage covered by a clear glaze. So, I bought a tea cup.
We then went back to La Casa Indiano in Mercado de Este for lunch. This lunch was a disaster. We ordered three dishes. I had hoped for fried anchovies and we were served smoked anchovies out of a can with an olive oil and pineapple dressing. Then we got 5 ham croquettes that were delicious; a coating of fried bread crumbs with melted cream and cheese inside that filled your mouth with a warm cream when bitten into. They are a new favorite.
Finally the langostino came and they were a real disappointment. Instead of a small lobster there were about a dozen shrimp cooked in a strong garlic and olive oil sauce. I felt cheated for the 43 € we spent, but we ate everything and returned to the bus stop to take the bus to the Royal Castle on Magdelana Peninsula. The city sightseeing bus seemed to run slower in the afternoon but after a 30 minute wait it took us to the castle stop where I discovered that I had left my sugar pills in my bluejeans when I changed to shorts in the morning. So I bought and drank a cold coke and felt better Immediately and walked down hill to the palace gate to the small tram that circumnavigated the peninsula. The castle was impressive, but the crowds were incredible. I felt like the interest in an empty building now owned by the City of Santander that had not been a castle for almost 100 years was undeserving of all of the interest. I feel the same way about the statue of the Little Mermaid at the end of the quay in Copenhagen harbor that is on visitors’ bucket list and is visited by droves of tourists from all over the world. I struggle to understand how such attractions deserve such attention.
We stayed on the tram to conserve energy and returned to the palace gate WHERE THE MoST iNTERESTing event of the day occurred. There was an automatic toilet with a sliding door that cleaned and disinfected after each use that cost .3 € that could be paid with a credit card. We stood in line and then Suzette and I used it together after a family of three preceded us. It easily accommodated both of us. It was a clean dry fully functioning bathroom.
After we finished our eliminations we pushed a green button and the door slid open and closed behind us to start its automatic cleaning process for the next family.
We walked back up the hill to the bus stop with the aid is a small bottle of water type at I drank on the way.
After waiting at least forty minutes the bus came and took us back to the Cathedral in downtown Santander.
We walked about four blocks to Tivoli bar where we stopped for drink there were bars everywhere but we picked Tivoli because it was about halfway to the apartment. Suzette rank another vermouth and I drank another coke and took another dose of Collagen, Tylenol, and. Turmeric and after a few minutes felt better and walked across the street to a fine pastry bakery that specialized in tea cakes. We had a wonderful shopping experience buying a croissant for breakfast, a chocolate covered meringue for dessert, a bottle of red Tempranillo Ribera del duero wine, and a jar of fancy Spanish orange marmalade at La Antigua pasteleria across the street from Tivoli bar.
Then we walked the four blocks back to the apartment by 8:00.
After resting I showered and Suzette did a load of laundry and at 9:00 we walked the two blocks to the plaza where Cachalote restaurant was located. Luckily we had a reservation so in a few minutes we were shown to a table in the middle of a sea of tables outside in the plaza.
We ordered a bottle of Albariño and were served a bottle of 2022 Sergel, which we had not heard of before but was deliciously smooth with just a hint of spiciness on the finish that cut through the olive oil and salt in much of the seafood. We ordered steamed mussels and grilled octopus. Both were excellent the mussels were huge and tender and their shells were covered with the white casings of sea worms and barnacles. The mussels were served with lemon wedges and a creamy white sauce that our waiter told us was made by whipping olive oil, vinegar, garlic, and salt with an immersion blender. So, we discovered a new way to make a delicious creamy aioli sauce.
After we gulped down the mussels our waiter brought a single large grilled octopus tentacle ala plancha on a stone tray on a thin swipe of viscous salted mash potato sauce that Suzette thought may have been thickened with corn starch. Suzette sliced the octopus and we ate bites of Art smothered with the sticky mashed potato sauce. I found both the cooking medium of the mussels and the thick potato sauce to be a little salty for my taste, but the liberal use of salt seems to be the mode of cooking in less elegant restaurants. The service was fast and by 10:00 we had finished dinner and the bottle of Albariño and walked back to the apartment.
Suzette checked the laundry while I made a cup of tea with milk and Moreno sugar and unwrapped the chocolate covered meringue thar we shared at the small table on the balcony.
The meringue turned out to be very interesting. Instead of the firmly baked meringues on finds in most French patisseries, this meringue was creamy like a viscous amorphous marshmallow sitting on a puff pastry crust and coated with a thin shell of a hard chocolate. In a word, fabulous.
We went to bed a little after 11:00 and I slept until 2:20 when I awakened to finish this blog entry. Now it is 3:30 and the cacophony of boisterous drinkers is just now subsiding in the street below, so I shall insert my ear plugs and try to go back to sleep. Thank goodness Suzette seems to be able to sleep through anything.
I simply do not know how the folks in Santander develop the stamina to party most of the night. I guess if you work from 10:00 to 2:00 and then eat lunch and take a nap and then work from 5:00 to 9:00 and then start drinking and eating dinner you can keep going until 3:30 a.m. and then sleep 5 to 6 hours and you can do it again and again and catch up on sleep on Sundays.
We pick up the rental car and drive to Oviedo tomorrow.
Bon Appetit
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