Extracts from the best selling book "In the Garlic" by Valerie Collins and Theresa O'Shea Stay a while in Spain, and beyond the sunshine, fiestas, Rioja and laidbackness you may find yourself drifting in an uncharted ocean of unwritten laws, linguistic minefields and mysterious quirks. You need to be In the Garlic – en el ajo – in the know.
Denominación de Origen (DO) For wines, this is the Spanish equivalent of the Appellation Controlée. As of 2006, there are 65 Spanish DOs, including Jerez (sherry), which is produced in and near the city of Jerez de la Frontera, in the province of Cádiz, and cava (meaning cellar), a sparkling wine made by the champenoise method mainly in the Penedès area in Cataluña. The special DOCa (Denominación de Origen Calificada) was introduced in 1991. For many years only Rioja held this lofty status, to be joined in 2001 by the marvellous Priorat, a sophisticated and sought-after red wine from the comarca of the same name in southern Cataluña.
Destinatario Recipient. Addressee of a letter or parcel. Payee of a draft or bank transfer. Can also be target, of insults, etc. Not to be confused with el recipiente, one of those false friends — it's a container or receptacle.
Detalle A little gift, a little something. A nice or thoughtful gesture. A nice touch. ¡Qué detalle! How sweet of her! Tiene muchos detalles…he's a very thoughtful person. But what about the expression al detalle? It means retail. So, vender al detalle means to retail, to sell retail. By the way, it was the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who said: “God is in the details.” Don't know what that has to do with Spain, except that he designed a superb pavilion in Barcelona for the 1929 Universal Exhibition which they restored for the 1992 Olympic Games.
Enchufe, enchufar Plug, to plug in, and one of the keys to grasping the mechanics of Spanish life. An enchufe is not only a lump of pronged plastic needed to start up your computer/toaster/television, it also comes in the shape of a life-size, strategically situated human being. This flesh-and-blood enchufe may work high up in the place where you have applied for a job. He or she may know a specialist you need to see. Or be on the board of governors of a select school. If your enchufe is high up enough, you may be able to jump the queue where it matters. Grossly unfair, of course, but no-one ever looks a gift-plug in the prongs.
EOI Escuela Oficial de Idiomas The Official School of Languages is a unique kind of school in Europe in that it offers heavily subsidised language classes in as many as 15 languages: everything from Japanese to Arabic and, of course, English and Spanish (and Catalan, Gallego and Basque). Classes tend to be on the large size, and when Theresa signed up at the Málaga EOI – many years ago – the emphasis was more on grammar than communication. We're not knocking it, though. If it hadn't been for two years slogging away at the notoriously difficult 5th level, we wouldn't be able to quip things like: “Cuando ves la barba de tu vecino quemar, pon la tuya a remojar” (When you see your neighbour's beard on fire, better put yours into soak).
In the Garlic: Your Informative, Fun Guide to Spain is published by Santana and is available at all good book shops (ISBN 13:978-84-89954
