Page 28 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL EATING IBERIA

.Our goal was a culinary exploration of the wine and food enthusiasts – beautiful locales, rich in
Iberian Peninsula, which includes Spain, Portugal, history, and some of the best and most exciting food
and Gibraltar. We planned to revisit Lisbon and, scenes in the world. There are definite similarities in
more specifically, Cascais, the upscale, unpro- both countries' cuisines, but there also are subtle
nounceablebeachtown20-mileswestofthecityfor and sometimes distinctive differences as well. The
a week, then move on to explore the Spanish people of Spain and Portugal are passionate about
Mediterranean coast from Gibraltar to the French how, when, and what they eat – and do not look fa-
border. We also would spend time in Spain's An- vorably at tourists (or ex-pats) who don't make an
dalucía region with visits to Seville and Granada. effort to understand their customs.
Because of previous trips to Portugal and Spain, In both countries, a multitude of eateries serve
we had an idea of what to expect – exciting regional traditionaldishes.Still,thereisnearlyanequalnum-
dishes featuring fresh local products. Both coun- ber of top-notch restaurants that offer a wide range
tries offer a traveler – especially those who are avid of international cuisines – from Japanese to Mexi-

28 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020