Britain's Mediterranean Empire

Last autumn, the authors spent time in Gibraltar, that famous three-mile rock whose 20,000-odd inhabitants, ultra-British in allegiance, are a unique and admirable mingling of Spanish, Genoese, Maltese, Portuguese, Moorish, Irish, and English forebears, with resilient threads of Sephardic Judaism and Indian commerce among a population as complex as its tangled and tumultuous history. The streets feel Spanish, the languages switch between Spanish and English, and the Timid British Tourist - searching for sun without hazard - arrives by the thousand. In April, Spain is due to reopen its border with 'Gib' and 'suspend' the restrictions which have isolated the country since 1969. Before the frontier shut, Gibraltar- which has virtually no local produce- bought good foodstuffs from Spain, but for the last twelve and a half years has been forced to deal for most perishables with Morocco, across the Straits, and as a captive audience, gets supplies of a take-it-or-leave-it quality. What will happen now remains to be seen, but within this temporarily artificial situation the authors found a thriving - If hidden - gastronomy, part of the Mediterranean tradition of oil, garlic, saffron, tomatoes, chick-peas, rice, marjoram, pimientos, almonds, dates, and sugar, unaffected in essence by over a decade's isolation.