Doing things the traditional way!

As we strolled out yesterday afternoon, we passed two women having a full-blown argument in the street, at one point almost coming to fisticuffs. One made a lunge to snatch something off the other, who then set off down the road shouting at the top of her lungs, "¡No se lo doy! ¡No se lo doy!" Which means "I won't give it to him/her/(polite form of) you!" I doubt that the polite form of you was being used in the circumstances but you never know!

I have no idea what they were arguing about, although the one who ran off appeared to be waving a mobile phone around. It was the kind of slanging match you might expect over-excited early-teens to have, or perhaps overtired toddlers, but these were two grown women. Amazing!

Later, in the local cafe, taking advantage of their wifi to check our mail and so on, we sat a table near three man having a conversation. A perfectly amicable conversation. At the level of volume they might have needed if they had been sitting each one in a separate corner of a field. Maybe they all came from huge families where everyone talked at once and had always had to shout to make themselves heard. Or maybe they were just Spanish!

The UK's ambassador to Madrid has apparently been having an argument on television with a celebrity cook, Mikel Iturriaga, about the Spanish tortilla. Simon Manley defended people like Jamie Oliver for adding stuff like chorizo and coriander to the traditional omelette but Mr Iturriaga was having none of it. I don't think they got to shouting at each other though and in the end the cook made a tortilla, traditional style, for the ambassador.

Now, I know that my friend Colin has persuaded Spaniards to add ginger to the tortilla but I am with Mikel Iturriaga on this; traditional recipes should be left as they are. No tweaking! I have fond memories of almost living on bocadillos de tortilla as a student in Spain back in the sixties. A tortilla sandwich with added ginger, chorizo, cheese or whatever would just not be the same.


All this reminds me of when my mother became very ill and my father took over the kitchen. He was very good at it, it has to be said. However he had been on numerous visits to my sister, the one who lives in Andalucía, and had acquired a taste for garlic. So he added it to just about everything. "He even puts in in shepherd's pie!" complained my mother, "We have to stop him!"

Traditions have to be maintained and really should not be messed with. Even traditional shouting!