August 20, 2023 Lunch - Comida del Dia at Enol in Canges de Onis
Sometimes an adventure starts with a mis-adventure and that is what happened today.
Our plan was to cook an early breakfast and then leave Oviedo at 9:00 to drive to Cangas de Onis for its Sunday cheese market and then to the Parador in Corias. The area around Onis produces Cabrales cheese, one of Spain’s most famous cheeses, but we needed to replenishment our goat cheese.
We awakened at 7:30 and I thinly sliced the remaining 2/3 of the white potato and onion and Suzette made an excellent omelette by adding the remaining sardines and anchovies and egg to the sautéed onion and potato Plus she toasted three pieces of baguette that I spread butter and bitter orange marmalade on.
We were very organized and left the apartment by 8:45 with our gear, but as we walked to the parking garage Suzette realized that we had locked our back pack with pillows and other essential items in the apartment.
We loaded our grips and food into the car and then walked to the Rialto bakery, about one block from the car park, which opened at 9:00, so we were among its first customers. Suzette was able to make contact with our AirBNB hostess, Ana, who met us at Rialto as we drank coffee with hot milk and a glass of really delicious fresh orange juice.
I stayed at the table and read the Oppenheimer biography while Suzette and Ana returned to the apartment to fetch the back pack. We had heard glowing reports on Rialto’s pastries, so I ordered an eclair and it was wonderful.
When Suzette returned we loaded the back pack and left Orvieto around 10:30 and arrived at Cangas de Onis around noon. We had to park about 1/2 mile from the market and walked along a path by the River that flows through town The market was buzzing with activity with stalls selling not only cheese, but baked goods, meats, produce, t-shirts, and clothing.
We tasted several cheeses and settled on a super creamy somewhat aged goat cheese and Suzette bought 4 kilos (8.8 lb.) of fry Fabada beans for €56.
Then as we walked back toward the Main Street Suzette saw a lady with corked bottles and asked her what they were and when Sophie responded apple cider vinegar, we bought a bottle for around €3. We then stood in a line of folks waiting to buy baked goods and dried fruit. We bought a baguette and six dried dates that were soft and melted in our mouths when we ate one.
It was around 2:00 and we were getting hungry and thirsty, so we randomly picked a restaurant on the Main Street named Enol, which turned out to be a 100 year old restaurant with a Comida del Dia for €20.
Suzette ordered a Mahou Pilsner beer that she liked very much and I ordered a natural apple cider that seemed less yeasty and less dry, named Trabanco. The waitress brought an electric sidra server that we had never seen before. I had a tall tower with a tube in the back that fit into the bottle of cider and a spout and holder of the front that held a glass. When one pushed the button on top of the tower a stream of cider was sucked out of the bottle and sprayed into the glass in a manner that aerated the cider, which is the preferred way of pouring cider.
We watched the women’s World Cup final on Suzette’s phone.
I then ordered the Comida del Dia with Fabada as the first course, Hake loin as the second course, and caramelized rice pudding as dessert.
The lunch comes with bread, and a drink also for 20 €, so a lot of food.
Suzette ordered a Spanish tortilla for €9.
Before the first course we were served a vegetable mouse appetizer with four small square Melba toasts that was creamy and very delicious.
A bowl of Fabada was served next. It was really good with the obligatory large cooked Asturian white beans and a chunk of each of chorizo, morcilla and pork belly. The beans were creamier than yesterday, which I liked.
Suzette ate 1/2 of her Tortilla Espanol and then helped me eat the Comida.
The main course was really delicious also, a poached loin of Hake on a bed of sliced and fried potato rounds and smothered in a slightly sweet but delicious sauce of chopped zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers. We liked it a lot and the fresh poached hake was incredibly tender.
Finally, we were served the rice pudding with a caramelized crust. The pudding was soupier than Casa Gerardo and today’ rice was lumpier. We could taste the anise but could not tell what other flavor dominated, so we asked our waitress who told us with a smile, “It is Bailey’s Irish Cream.”
We would never have guessed that.
After lunch at around 3:00 we walked back along the River walk to the car and drove to the Parador in Caseras, arriving at 5:30.
After we checked in and unloaded we walked next door to a small neighborhood bar with a patio under a grape arbor.
We sat outside and ordered a beer for Suzette and a Trabanco cider for me.
The cider was fitted with a pouring spout that helped pour in a thin stream that helped aerate the cider. After a while the waitress served us a bowl of Spanish Valencia roasted peanuts and later small square sandwiches of Shredded chorizo in a BBQ sauce on waffle bread.
When we finished the sandwiches and cider walked back to the Parador next door and got ready for sleep.
Transitions are tough. We seem to have misplaced our adaptor, so this may be the last blog until we find or get an adaptor.
Bon Appetit
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