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Along the Natchez Trace

Thursday, March 14, 2013

In a Pinch

I've written about the tapas that are so available...  and delicious...  here in Spain.  But there is another way of serving food that is popular in some restaurants here.

Pinchos...  the English translation is "skewers"

And that's exactly what Lizarran, the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday is famous for.
That's Bill...  standing in the entrance to the restaurant.

And..  here he is..
reading the menu...
Except we knew we didn't really need the menu, because we were here for the pinchos.

Pinchos are little slices of bread with something on top (kind of like a small open-faced sandwich), held together with a big "toothpick" or little skewer.
The picture at the top left shows the "showcase" of what's available.  You grab a plate and take whatever appeals to you.  I'm not even sure what some of the pinchos consisted of...  meat, fish, peppers, veggies, chicken...  everything!


The cold pinchos are in a cooling tray, much like in a cafeteria.  But... hot pinchos are also served...
This board explains how it works...
When you hear the bell ring another hot pincho is being brought out.
A waiter will bring them around on a tray and you take what you want.

These were our first choices
Bill & I each picked 3...  then we each ate half...
The upper left is a (hot) spicy chicken chunk; upper right is fresh tuna with some mayonaise.  Lower right is a shrimp salad (kind of like potato salad, except using shrimp instead), and the lower left is anchovies, peppers, some lettuce and some other kind of fish.  Yummy!

Here are a couple of others...
I can't remember what was in the pincho on the left, but on the right is the tuna.

This one was really good... 
A piece of fish with a roasted pepper on top.


Did I mention that when it's time to pay that they count your 
toothpicks?
Looks like we're up to 4 here...  and still going...

There are some funny signs on the walls...
It's a fun place to eat...  the atmosphere is quite cheerful and lively.

Another view of the serving line...
 We were there yesterday... Wednesday...  Good news... we saw that on Tuesdays and Wednesdays the pinchos each cost 1 euro.  (regularly around 1.50 euros)

And if you happen to live in one of these cities, you're in luck!
You, too, can indulge in these tasty treats!  Hey, Donna, next time you and Glenn go into the city you can stop by Rockefeller Center and see what your mama's talking about!

We're done...  time to pay the bill and go...
 We had a total of eight pinchos...  
and we each had a beer (CruzCampo of course)...
The total came to 9.50 euros...

Great lunch and a great time sampling the ware!

That's All For Today!

10 comments:

  1. I see there is a Lizzeran at Rock Center in NYC. There have probably been a lot of famous people who have shared your enthusiasm for pinchos. They look like little open-faced sandwiches with pizazz! I could happily have a couple of those.

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  2. Here it is, almost lunch time here in east Texas and you just made me extra, extra hungry!!

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  3. That looks just amazing! Who knows when I will get to Fullerton or Miami though. It reminds me of the Sushi boats that come by at the Japanese restaurant in downtown San Francisco. At the end, you pay by the number of little dishes you have piled up. I saw Japanese with huge stacks of little blue dishes when I was there last....maybe 20 years ago at least.

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  4. Yum!!
    I don't see one in Texas. We might have to plan our next volunteer assignment around Florida or California.
    Teri
    markteri.blogspot.com

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  5. Wow. That was just a couple of blocks from home and we never tried it.

    You've got to check out Catalina Casa de Comidas y Más before you leave! Plaza Padre Jerónimo de Córdoba, 12 (across from Plaza Ponce de León). Gonzalo is the chef. Elena is his wife. Albert is the manager. Sandra was our usual server. Tell them we sent you. You will NOT regret it.

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  6. Oh man, I haven't had Pinchos since our time in Puerto Rico. They all looked awesome.

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  7. Now that looks like a fun place to eat, and the food appears to be very tasty! Love how you pay - counting toothpicks: Priceless!

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  8. Thanks for showing us some very tasty food.

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  9. Delicious food at a very reasonable price.

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  10. What fun is this! Reckon anyone tries to hide a toothpick? lol ... Sevilla is civil... much crime there? Everyone walks and they trust you to produce yer toothpicks! they have one in New York? wonder if the same system is used there.

    That is truly fun. paying by your pincho sticks

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