Bicultural, or confused, or something…
by Ben Curtis
It only occurred to me halfway through my dinner that I might have a split personality thing going on. Left alone for the evening I didn’t rustle up a very British Bangers and Mash but, instead, and without a second thought, prepared myself Chorizo sausage in white wine… and mash! Nothing wrong with a good bit of Chorizo al Vino, but with mashed potato? Surely neither the true Spaniard nor the true Brit would go for that combination, but to my culturally schizoid mind it was absolutely delicious.
It’s not the first sign of the confusion of my cultural roots: when one old friend realised she had lost my email address recently, she was quite surprised to discover that I came out in the top spot when Googling for Spanish Ben!
Where will it all end?
Posted: June 5th, 2007 under Living in Spain.
Comments: 16
Comments
Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: June 5, 2007, 9:08 pm
Wow, you got Ben Hur beat!
Comment from Matthew
Time: June 5, 2007, 9:15 pm
I can definitely sympathize with this…
Comment from Pepino (Dave Hall)
Time: June 5, 2007, 9:32 pm
Ah but Ben, did you realise that Google asks the user if they actually meant to type “Spanish BEAN”??
Me parto…. ME PARTO! :-)))
Comment from luke
Time: June 5, 2007, 10:29 pm
This is how culture moves on; I’ve done the chorizo and mash too and I’ve made kids who are half English and half Spanish. Mixing it up makes for a better future than keeping cultures protected. William Blake said something like “still water becomes poison”. From mash to Blake, how did that happen?
Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: June 5, 2007, 11:15 pm
So your bangers (chorizo) are a little more prepared. How about bubble n’ squeak tapas next?
Comment from Pamela
Time: June 6, 2007, 2:50 am
Well, since I couldn’t get Chinese roast pork here here, I decided that a bit of chorizo would add flavor to my Special Friend Rice. And it did the job just fine.
Comment from PattyN
Time: June 6, 2007, 2:50 am
I think it’s called fusion food. I’m 4th generation Japanes-American and there were a couple of times in Madrid when I had nice deep fried anchovies and thought to myself, “Boy, these would be really good with a bowl of rice and a little soy sauce.”
Comment from Ben
Time: June 6, 2007, 7:31 am
@Dave - yes, that did make me laugh somewhat as well 
@Luke - Blake, wow, this site has just reached new cultural highs! And you’re right, nothing wrong with mixing it up a bit!
@VS - and think of all the possibilities for Spanishifying fish’n'chips!
@Pamela - and why not - in fact who knew that Chorizo was so versatile!
@PattyN - That’s exactly it, fusion food - a concept which, however, could take a hell of a long time to catch on in Spain…
Comment from Theresa
Time: June 6, 2007, 6:52 pm
Ben, I got the “Spanish Bean” thing too….We could just start calling you Señor Bean. Hey, you should start a new trend and open up a restaurant - La Cocina del Señor Bean.
Comment from greytop
Time: June 6, 2007, 6:52 pm
For real fusion food Ben you’d have needed baked beans with that!
Comment from Gary
Time: June 7, 2007, 4:55 pm
How about adding a sde order of garbanzos con jamón iberico… That eay youd have sausage mash and peas…. actually, now you mention it…..
Comment from Graham
Time: June 7, 2007, 5:57 pm
Sounds a bit like when I do Bratwurst with Knödel (dumpling-type things from Bavaria) and…. baked beans!
Comment from Edith
Time: June 8, 2007, 8:25 am
At home we ate hutspot (Dutch-style mashed potatoes, onions and carrots) with lots of parsley in them, and I still prefer it that way! Don’t expect typical Dutch cuisine at my home, I love fusion cooking. Another example: I will put a bit of Indonesian kecap manis (soy sauce) in my Dutch pea soup! Most Dutch people add a little Maggi’s (a liquid condiment which tastes a bit like Marmite). And red bell pepper already was one of my favorite vegetables before I ‘discovered’ Spain! 
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Time: August 2, 2007, 6:27 pm
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Comment from maki
Time: December 15, 2007, 11:35 pm
Prueba el chorizo a la sidra, man.
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