Spain, Day 8

Fideua, along with Lemon Fanta, remains a prime reason I continue to return to Spain. I have even confessed this to my family, dropping not so subtle hints about how I enamoured I was with this dish. Consequently, I was surprised it was almost a week before this vermicelli pasta dish appeared on the table, actually prepared by an aunt who possessed no knowledge of my special affinity for this meal. Therefore, I was taken aback when I walked into the kitchen to examine lunch preparations and found my aunt gearing up for a traditional Spanish lunch.

I have realized of late, however, that though delicious, the tradition of large lunches presents an obstinate need for siestas, which are not among my favorite of hobbies. In true testimony to the caliber of food yesterday, I need only direct you towards the end of "Spain, Day 7," which I could not actually describe to you. I just know that somewhere in a dazed satiated state, I began to slip away into a pleasing world of slumber, and as my resistance petered out, I barely mustered the energy to post an entry. What is was that I was posting I have no idea.

But returning to Wednesday's Lunch, I must emphasize the degree to which an appetite is cultivated by sitting in a kitchen watching the cooking unfold over the span of two or three hours. I have never known myself to be happier setting a table, than after having spent a morning salivating over the ingredients that gradually coalesce into a meal (this excludes setting a table at Thanksgiving and other formal Dinners, which unfortunately trump if only because napkin folding is involved).

Fideua is a dish of vermicelli pasta cooked in a juice that is leached from freshly stewed fish and seafood, and then served decorated according to the tastes of the cook, whether with pieces of calamari and mussels, as my aunt served it, or with gambas or other bits of seafood, as is served in various other households and local restaurants.

The flavour of this apparently coastal dish can vary in its tangy seaful taste. Some prepare it more subtly, while for others strong flavors match bolder inclusion of actual pieces of seafood. My aunt prepared a rich but still mild in stark seafood flavour dish. This of course, to please her oldest son who detests the fishy taste and fish in general (despite having been raised on the coast). Nevertheless, these stylistic differences do not dampen the joy of the dish, in fact they enrich the culture of this tradition, as one explores the permutations of this dish.

Alongside the fiedeua, my aunt served fish steaks (emperador, similar to kingfish) broiled in a rich stewed tomato and vegetable sauce. The comforting white meat was pleasantly savoured by the sauce and they balanced each other well. To drink, there was fresh watermelon juice, which could have used a few more ice cubes to chill it. Nevertheless, the sweet watermelon and its embracing juice refreshed nicely after the ocean-heavy meal.

The lunch seemed to satiate down to my bones, as I struggled to even sit upright in my bed to check my email. Perhaps, my bed wasn't the correct choice, but I was already sagging so noticeably, there were few other places to go, except the floor.

I can't say that I awoke in my expected state of heightened crankiness, because I can't quite piece together the first 20 minutes I was awake. I know I awoke to the face of my cousin who was notifying me that it was past 5 and that we were now going to "Aqualandia," which sounded positively horrifying. Nevertheless, I mustered neither the focus nor energy to properly assimilate the news, nor protest it.

Suddenly, 20 minutes later, I was in my swimming trunks, in the car, on my way to Aqualandia. Unfortunately, for my cousin and his friend, the water fun park was closed when we got there. I should not have underestimated my cousin, however, who pulled out Plan B before I could even suggest returning home. Off we went to the "Municipal Pool," to which I drove with remarkable apprehension.

We arrived at the Benicarlo Sports Center, however, to pay for our pool use and I surprised myself with my own excitement. The pristinely clean facilities reminded me that I had survived public pool use in Chicago Parks, and that this was a few notches up. Then again, the prices we were charged testified to the level of quality I should expect. What really impressed me, however, was the degree of use and enjoyment the community seemed to take in this center. With one Olympic-sized pool, half reserved for Swim Classes, half roped off for lap swimming, and a smaller, shallower, warmer pool for the youngn's, a sauna, and second, hotter sauna. The real surprise of the afternoon, however, was my lap swimming. I justified it as necessary recompense for the physical stress I had been subjected too (or subjexted mysel, more dcccccccccccccdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddaccurately.