Madrid pictures

[Stan Sakai]

There are a couple of photos and a report, I think (it's in Spanish) over at:

http://www.expocomic.com/tapasfeb.htm

[ziritrion]

And here's yet another clumsy translation by ziritrion! Hope you enjoy it!

Cañas and Tapas, by Miguel Angel Domínguez.
Chapter 1
February 2005

Being the manager of the Expocomic artists is the coolest job of all of the rganization. Lots of people have tried to take it from me, but I won't let it go easily.

Choosing the best part about being the artists' manager is rather difficult. Even at the risk of raising ill jealouslies, I'm gonna make a list of the tasks that one must do as a host. In first place, making the invitation to come to Madrid. This is usually at the San Diego Comic-con or at Angouleme, where I must go every year, and then have lunch with the artists, talk to them... Afterwards, back in Madrid, my task is to take them along to have tapas, to shows, to Toledo, to museums, to cool restaurants... It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

At the interviews with the media, or at public meetings, once the 2 mandatory questions have been answered ("where do you get the inspiration?" and "how long does a page take to draw?"), the most usual questions have little to do with comics. Fans are usually more interested in knowing about that do the artists enjoy more of our local folklore, what they have seen, what they have done in Madrid, if they like the food, those mundane things.

That's why I'd like to start a series of articles in which I'm gonna describe the guests of past years 'Expocómic through their favourite food, drinks and places of Madrid. The title itself, Cañas [Spanish measure of beer, about a pint] and Tapas [elaborate appetityzers which can compose a full meal], should give you a hint about the culinary tastes of our visitors. I hope you like it.

To begin with, I think that the most recent artists can be interesting. Americans in particular, because they usually are the ones who enjoy the most of the visits, or at least, the most shocked by some aspects of our culture.

At the Expocómic 2004 we had Stan Sakai and his wife, Sharon, as well as Neal Adams and his family. Stan and Sharon knew Madrid already, but they had only spent one day in the city, so on one side they liked to remember what they had already seen, and on the other they enjoyed discovering new things. They wanted to try/taste [ambiguous] everything, and so they did. Stan carried a photographic diary of all the food they tasted, and in his camera images of mixed paella [fried rice with saffron, vegetals and meat or seafood], black rice [rice with squid ink], all kind of tapas, seafood, pork, Segovian lamb, squid "a la romana" [fried squid, previously cut in rings], lentils, and a load of desserts. If I recall, the only thing they didn't taste was "callos a la madrileña" [typical dish from Madrid, consisting in pork guts]. Stan also has a preference for Bitter [soft drink], and enjoyed of it in every meal, since he can only do so in Spain. And I can confirm that paella was without a doubt his favourite dish
of the visit, judging from the many times they had it.

Stan has been well warned that a good feast awaited for him in Madrid. As a good ambassador of Spanish gastronomy, at the 2004 San Diego Comic-con, I brought to Stan as a gift a package of jamón serrano ["cured" ham, treated in a special way, giving it its taste] which both him and his wife thanked me for and enjoyed.

Neal Adams defines himself as an "American country [field? farm?] boy". I don't really know to what country [again] he's talking about, because he was born and raised in New York, but he told me what he meant when
he said "Don't give me any fish nor vegetables, let's go to a rib place."

The first meal in Madrid was a breakfast at 8:30 am at the Nebraska coffee in Gran Vía [street]. Fried eggs with panceta [I don't know how to explain this one, it's always seemed like pure and condensed fat to me] and coffee. Typical Spanish. Although they tasted tapas, most of the melas consisted of Planet Hollywood hamburguers, thoroughly emptied of salad [he means lettuce and probably tomato], steaks, ribs and other red meats.

Besides Amreicans, we also has guests from other nationalities. Paul Grist and Jamie Delano, both British, didn't reply to that nationality's stereotyped idea I have in my head.To begin with, Paul doesn't drink [note: because alcohol prices are less than half that in the UK and standard measures are twice as much, a big part of British tourism consists of people who come here just to get drunk; there even are one day two-way flights just to buy drinks. Many Spaniards have the stereotyped idea that most Brits are drunks.] And I think Jamie has left behind the times of excess that characterized him. Paul is a vegetarian, which is a somewhat important issue in Spain. Because no, lamb is not a vegetable [note: almost all of Spanish dishes consist of either meat or fish. Vegetables are almost always included in these dishes, but they rarely are the main dish, and there aren't many vegetarian
restaurants yet.] Sadly, the garlic revuelto [fried garlic, with unspecified condiment, perhaps other vegetables or egg] will be the only souvenir that Paul got from Spanish cuisine. Jamie did taste everything tough, and even if he wasn't convinced by "cefalópodos" [cephalopods? Anyway, he means most seafood] (some stereotypes were confirmed,) he enjoyed thorughly of everything else. I recall that he found both stuffed mushrooms and hallibut "a la gallega" wonderful.

The French Alain Brion doesn't add much to the article. He enjoyed everything, but because he is French and is already used to a Mediterranean diet (snails and frogs excluded,) the gastronomic wasn't one of the strong points of his visit.

Should I include Carlos Pacheco in this text? He came as an international guest, but he lives in Cádiz [southern Spanish city, in Andalucia]. Well, I can say that he doesn't like cheese, he says it's a subproduct.

In the next issue, we'll find out the favourite dish of Tim Sale, discovered the night before leaving Madrid, or the Thanksgiving menu in Segovia of the Anderson family.

See you then!

First picture text: Miguel Ángel with Stan, and tapas.

Second picture text: the translators Gema and Álex with the Sakai and Adams families.

This was a nice article . My sister's husband is half-American, and whenever relatives come here, the first thing we do is go to a tapas restaurant to taste some seafood. They always freak out at fist ("you're telling me to eat this? This grows on boats' bottoms and we always throw it away!") but almost always end loving it .

[Stan Sakai]

Thank you so much for translating the page.

My hosts are usually amused when I take photos of my meals. For me, the food is an important part of the culture I visit, besides I like to each. The picture taking started when Sharon and I went to Japan as guests of Tezuka Studios. In Japan, the presentation of the meal is as important as the food itself, so I started taking pictures of our meals. It continued to Norway, when we were each served a sheep's head and turnip for supper one evening. I had to take a picture of that.

Now, it's developed into a habit to take photos before a meal.

[Blambot]

But the REAL question is...did you manage to eat the sheep's head?

~N

[Stan Sakai]

But the REAL question is...did you manage to eat the sheep's head?

~N

Yes, I did. It was the best sheep's head I ever had.

[Steve Hubbell]

Thank you so much for translating the page.

I agree, very nice job and much appreciated...

Now, it's developed into a habit to take photos before a meal.

As long as you don't start touching your food to your chin before placing it in your mouth... (i.e. Robert from Everybody Loves Raymond)

Abayo...