taking food abroad

[les&graham]

what food cant i take to spain

[jrtv]

I know this is not the answer you are after but I would love to know why you want to take food to Spain .

[ajmmac]

check online with spanish tourist board or customs--beware tho'--my brother has been going to gran canaria for years and always takes packets of frozen chicken--uncooked--couple of yrs back his luggage got lost and ended up in greece--10 days later it finally arrived in gran canaria--boy did it and all his clothes stink

[jrtv]

I really don't get this, why on earth would someone take frozen chicken to Spain, am I missing the point ?

Why not buy it when he got there, it's cheaper and he could have bought fresh, frozen or ready from the BBQ

[ajmmac]

i agree with u jrtv and have pressed my brother on this who maintains the chicken there is not as good and doesn't trust their production standards--doh!!--personally i don't know but they can't be any worse than the disgusting battery chicken breeding and forced feeding we have in the supermarket chicken we get in this country

[KARL]

I have just returned from a short stay in Spain and saw no indication that imports of limited quantities from another EU country is in any way restricted. However, I was not interested in the matter and therefore did not research the precise legal position but would agree with previous respondees that in many/most ways food in Spain is every bit as good (if not better) than in the UK. For those who are inseperably attached to bangers, baked beans, etc. it is possible to buy almost anything in Spain anyway. If the matter centres on the risk of children having a fit when their "favourite" is unobtainable then it is worth noting that they are highly unlikely to starve to the point of doing themselves harm and giving them the choice might be just what that sort of children need.

[Will__]

I believe the only thing you can't take to Spain would be meats that aren't vacuum packed.

But like I do both ways (spain to uk and vice versa), if they don't catch you why not try it? The most they'll do is confiscate it anyway.

The Spanish don't really care, but the UK are of course totally anal about this and would confiscate some food it they found it, but they never do. I live in Spain and take food to my family in the UK all the time. Butifarras (delicious sausage), fantastic jamon serrano, all the good stuff. Never been touched. And so what if they did? It's not like smuggling drugs, they'd just confiscate it and dispose of it.

The best one yet was when a friend opened a gastro pub in the UK and we came back through Gatwick with an entire leg of jamon in a tennis racket cover. Even funnier after he'd paid for it and realised his general liability insurance wouldn't cover it and all his friends had to eat what they could since he couldn't sell it........

As someone else said here most british food's available in either special UK supermarkets or in good food halls like the biggest Corte Ingles (spanish equiv. of m&s or john lewis)

But what really cracked me here up was the guy who said he didn't trust spanish chicken production techniques. Spanish chicken is so much better! Not only does it taste better (like chicken, unlike most UK supermarket chicken) but it has far fewer preservatives in it and therefore is loads better for you (the reason I know this is that when we first moved here we lost quite a few chicken breasts to the hungry dustbin in "oh it's only been in the fridge a couple of days it'll be fine for tomorrow's lunch" type events.

Food in general tastes better here, and has fewer chemicals and preservatives. Why bother bringing your own food when it's so good here?

[bubblebubble]

not paella!

[Will__]

ah well, if you don't like paella then you've obviously never had a good one. Paella is a bit like some british food in that it's very hard to do in a restaurant - roast beef and yourshire pudding are next to impossible in a restaurant, but delicious when my mother makes 'em.

Similarly, over here I've had some incredible paella and some paella which is basically boiled rice with meat in it and not worthy of the name. You should try it again in a good place....!