Atlantic tuna

Photo by Tamorlan via Wikimedia Commons

Something you don't see every day is two workmen sitting down to split a $2 salad for lunch. But that's what I witnessed at a dockside restaurant in Santander when a heaping platter of tomato, onion and tuna was set in front of two burly workers in blue coveralls.

This was a long time ago, during my Fulbright year in Europe, and I would imagine the salad has gotten smaller and the price has gotten higher in the meantime. But that image has stayed with me and came to mind as I was preparing my Mediterranean light lunch today. I had canned Cento sardines on the side instead of tuna, but farmer's market tomatoes are great right now and lent themselves to a simple salad with red onion and Spanish olive oil.

The tuna in Santander was scooped out of a huge bucket of canned tuna kept in a refrigerator under the counter. The city has a picturesque fishing port on Spain's Atlantic coast (Bay of Biscay) and I had driven up there with friends from St. Louis University during my semester break stay in Madrid. The restaurant -- more of a pub, really -- was a simple bar with wood tables and benches, serving cheap bulk wine and these wonderful fresh salads. There was plenty of doughy Spanish bread to sop up the olive oil left on the plate. Needless to say, I managed to convey to the bartender that I wanted some of what these workmen were having.

I don't remember much else from our brief stop in Santander, except an impression of salty sea air, blue choppy ocean and a down-to-earth city with no resorts or tourists, but fishing boats and workmen in coveralls.