Plant Based in a Meat Lovin Culture
“Have you tried the Jamón?” our realtor asked on our first trip to Spain. “ No we’re vegetarians”, but it’s “Jamón”, he exclaimed.
Historically, meat has always been a part of Spaniards' diet. Turns out it was the Spanish who brought cows, pigs, and sheep over to America in an effort to colonize agriculture to support their carnivorous lifestyle. Spain also used meat as a weapon in religious warfare.
During the Spanish inquisition they would use ham as a way to persecute false converts. One way to avoid persecution was to eat pork, as this was forbidden for both Jews and Muslims. People would also hang hams in their windows to show Christians lived there during that time to avoid being tortured.
According to statista, generally speaking around 110 lbs/50 kg of meat is consumed per person every year in Spain. Out of all the European countries, Spaniards are leading the top of meat consumption in Europe!
In a recent study, only 4% of the population in Spain are vegetarian and only .8% are vegan.
So what are two vegetarians like ourselves doing in Spain! Well, luckily we didn’t move here for the food!
Needless to say, being vegetarian in Spain isn’t as convenient as it is back in Denver. Vegetarian restaurants don’t typically exist and plant based options aren’t readily available at a supermercados. Finding plant-based options is like discovering the holy grail!
Given the limited number of plant-based individuals in Spain, it just doesn’t seem financially viable for restaurants to offer a vegetarian menu or for supermarkets to stock up on plant-based alternatives.
Not only is it difficult to find food options, when you finally do find a restaurant that has options, they’re kitchen might be closed, or they are no longer in business and they just haven’t updated their google listing. Yes this happens often enough to mention it in this blog!
If you're committed to a plant-based lifestyle and unwilling to resort to meat even when you’re hangry, what should you do? When on vacation here in Spain, it's wise to adjust your food expectations and always be ready. I've found it helpful to bring along snacks like fruit, granola, nuts, and sandwiches, if we're out and about. Planning ahead is key, especially if heading to a restaurant during siesta or when they're not serving meals. Avoid going hungry and stay prepared! Of course if you are visiting places like Barcelona or Madrid, like with any big city you’ll have more diverse options, and they typically don’t close during siesta. We had some delicious plant-based food in both Madrid and Barcelona, and even in Toledo! I could have lived at Flax & Kale in Barcelona, not only did they have a variety of pressed juices, kombucha, their food was all organic, and sourced from their farm. They are also a Certified B corporation which in summary means they went through rigorous tests to ensure they are putting people and planet over profits. If you are ever in Barcelona, Flax & Kale and Honest Greens is a must!
On our recent trip to Segovia, our friend warned us that they have a tradition of eating suckling pig.
In wikipedia a suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother’s milk hence, a piglet which is still suckling. In culinary, a suckling pig is slaughtered between the ages of two and six weeks. It is traditionally cooked whole, often roasted. The meat from a suckling pig is pale and tender and the cooked skin is crisp and can be used for pork rinds. The texture of the meat can be somewhat gelatinous due to the amount of collagen in a young pig.
If that description made your mouth water, you’ll fit right in here in Spain! However, if you find yourself wanting to puke in your mouth, you will have to put in some effort to discover alternatives and toughen up against the sight of ham legs dangling from the ceilings.
When we were living in Denver, we took for granted that you could easily purchase Seitan, or go to a place called “Fire on the Mountain” and get some amazing Seitan wings and tots. For our Spanish and European friends reading this, it’s not Satan, it’s a vital wheat protein, and tots are delicious little balls of crispy fried potato goodness. We’ll figure out how to make those soon here too!
The takeaway here is that when accessibility is limited, resourcefulness kicks in, and that can ignite innovation and creativity! With unlimited online recipes, the ability to cook whatever your heart desires is nearly endless. Kyle mastered making Seitan and sriracha from scratch, while I learned how to make our favorite Mexican dishes, including homemade refried beans using dried beans. In the States, running to the store for missing ingredients was a quick fix. Here, we have learned to embrace the challenge, finding alternatives and coming up with our own creations. It's been a lot of fun to craft unique recipes and share vegetarian meals with friends, using ingredients straight from our garden.
Most of the meals we’ve made we make a larger batch of and preserve by freezing or canning to have them readily available. The wonderful thing about living in Europe is there are a lot of farmers markets that carry a variety of spices, vegetables and dried goods at a really affordable price. We typically stock up on dried beans, lentils, rice, and grains like quinoa.
It’s much easier to find those items at the farmers markets than at the supermercado.
With Kyle’s massive pepper harvest, he roasted all of the green chilis and froze them, made single portions and froze green chili stew, and canned lots of different types of jalapenos, banana peppers. He also preserved tomatoes to have stewed ready to use for pasta sauce, Spanish rice, chili and lots more.
Here are a few of our favorite pages on instagram we visit often for incredible recipes. Follow us on Instagram, we also share some recipes.
@Veganmeal_recipe
@rabbitandwolves
@vegnews
@mob
@turkuazkitchen
@bonappetmag
@forksoverknives
While meat continues to hold a significant place in Spain's culinary tradition, there's a noticeable shift in the food offerings as the climate continues to change. This evolution is evident when visiting restaurants like Emma's Tapas & Brunch in Tui, where the menu features items like hummus with pita and babaganoush & peppers taco.
Similarly, at La Genuina, the option to add plant-based chicken to salads reflects a changing culinary scene. Despite there being one baby animal too many on the plates in Segovia, there are restaurants like Selfish Poke offering tofu poke bowls. Unfortunately, we missed out on trying Yum's food due to the cook being out, but the menu seemed very promising and worth the recommendation. We found the holy grail of plant based cuisine in Toledo, called Street & Soul. Their menu inspired us to try things like black garbanzo beans to make a beautifully balanced hummus, they also had a wonderful ambiance and friendly customer service.
Recently I discovered a plant-based travel community called Veg Visits for vegetarians and vegans to book air bnb accommodations. The Air bnb’s may provide vegetarian dishes, recommendations and you can prepare your meals in their meat free kitchens.
Here are a few restaurants with veg options we recommend if you are one of the 4% plant-based population living in Spain!
Mercado do Bolhāo outdoor market - Porto
While navigating a meat-loving country as sin carne (without meat) may make us feel like we have a third eyeball, our love for the plant-based lifestyle is going strong. Where there’s a will there’s always a way!
