Mediterranean city Salou, where the service park of the Rallye de Espana is located, is a small coastal resort 100 kilometres south of Barcelona.
Alhough it was early October, even people wearing swimwear enjoyed pleasant sunshine on the beach. Whilst down at the marina there were a lot of yachts moored. The Mediterranean Sea must be crowded with so many yachts during peak vacation times! It is not uncommon for European people to charter a boat; it is just like a rental villa. Now we are sure it is a fabulous idea to spend your holidays on the sea!
Dinners on the Tuesday and the Wednesday during the rally week provided us invaluable opportunities to come into contact with the local cuisine. For your information, during each WRC event, team members take all meals prepared by the same catering company at the team hospitality tent from the Thursday.
Spain has large landmass, so the various provinces have their own specialties. Food culture is no exception. Catalunya has traditionally enjoyed blessings from both mountains and the sea. You can find both the traditional Spanish food and the exotic Mediterranean cuisine at the same dinner time!
Maybe most of you know some of the Spanish dishes.
For example, 'Jamón Serano' made in Spain account for about 90% of all the cured hams made in Spain. And some of you might hear of the name of 'Jamón ibérico de bellota'. It is the best brand of cured ham made of the hind leg of the Black Iberian Pig that roams oak forests (called 'la dehesa') along the southern border between Spain and Portugal, and eats only acorns during this last period. 'Bellota' means acorn. 'Calamares fritos' is another specialty. This is one of the typical Mediterranean dishes. You can have this dish as 'Calamari Fritti' in Italy, 'Calamari' in Greece. One of the most popular Spanish dishes must be paella. We had really great squid ink paella!We hope you will have a good time if you come to Salou to watch WR cars. Hasta luego!
