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Home  >  Food • Haley's Corner  >  (Not a post about) Food From Spain
FoodHaley's Corner

(Not a post about) Food From Spain

Haley Sherman Posted onJanuary 16, 2017 Comments are off 2083 Views

Hello from Haley.

I didn’t expect the “Food From [Country]” blog posts to be a thing. I didn’t expect you to like it as much as you did. So, after considerable hesitation, I’ve decided to do this again. I say “hesitation” because Spanish food is very, very, VERY outside of my comfort zone. Spanish food consists of ham, seafood, eggs, and onions. All of which I do not eat, ever. Which brings me to my next point.

This food post will be different than the last because trying new food in Mexico was very different than trying new food here. In Mexico, the food was only slightly different than the food I’ve had before. Here in Spain the food is completely new for me. Shellfish in rice? Hard, rubbery ham leg with the hoof still on it? Eggs, potatoes and onions in a cake form for breakfast? I’ve never even heard of any of this! So, please forgive me when I say that this post will not be about traditional food in Spain, rather, it will be about the food that I’ve encountered in Spain, Spanish or not.

Tapas

Tapas are little appetizer-sized dishes that Spaniards have with their 2-5 PM coffee. They originated as sort of menu system for bars along the roads in early times. Not a lot of bartenders could write at the time, and not a lot of travelers could read at the time, so they had ‘tapas’ lined up alongside the road, and the travelers would sample them and order accordingly. They get their name from the bread and meat slices southern Spaniards would cover their sherry with in order to keep fruit flies out. The word is derived from the word tapar, meaning ‘to cover’ in Spanish. They are no longer used for that purpose, but that definitely does not mean tapas have died out. No, quite the opposite. They’re everywhere. There are cafes with a bajillion different types of tapas on every corner of Spain, and we’ve been to many of ’em. Here are some of the tapas we’ve tried:

Patatas bravas. The orange-y sauce is sweet but has a spicy kick to it. They’re pretty good.
This is just one side of a menu at one of the cafes we’ve been to. Everything listed is a tapa. What?????
This is a tapa that consists of their favorite meat: Iberian ham! (After tasting it, I can confirm that it is NOT my favorite meat.) Read more about Spain’s love of ham here.
Since I don’t eat ham, but Mom wanted me to try it, this was the amount I ate. I disliked it so much I immediately swallowed it when I tasted it.
Just your normal, everyday potato salad. It was good.
This one was something unusual. It was sandwiches in rolls with some potatoes. We weren’t able to find it anywhere else. I think it was because this tapa has Portuguese influences, because we found the little fries in Portugal too.
What’s a Spanish dish without olives? Or tiny slices of bread? This one has little slices of Tortilla Espanola on slices of bread with olives on the side.

Tea

Since arriving in Spain, I have been exposed to more tea than I ever have in my entire life. There are a lot of British expats here which means that the stores are chock full of tea. I’ve become hooked. I always saw tea as a weird-tasting drink that burns your mouth because it’s so hot. I never really understood it’s purpose. Now I do. And I have 2-4 cups a day.

My morning rooibos tea, which I drink in bed before homeschool.
Cup 2 is usually at a cafe or a Moroccan place, since they have so many of those here. This picture is funny because the waiter gave us the cups that match the color of our packing cubes. I’m blue, Mom is green, and Zoe is pink. (Zoe’s cup looks orange because she had already poured her tea). Dad is having Coca Cola Light (Diet Coke).

Everything Else

Now, I’ll just share with you some of the things we’ve had here, Spanish or not.

Moroccan Pancakes: Basically crepes. Basically delicious. The one on the left is lemon, the one on the right is chocolate. [salivating]
We don’t even know what this was (kind of a brownie w/ ice cream thing), but it was great.
This is a little pumpkin-shaped carrot slice that Zoe made for the Halloween party. That bowl of carrots was probably the most popular item at the party.
These are some amazing traditional churros that are served with a cup of pure chocolate sauce. They’re the best on a cold day.
I got this from room service on the day we arrived in Spain. I was extremely confused, because I had ordered soup.
Then, after a good 3 minutes, I saw this pitcher of chicken broth sitting right next to it. What?????
These are jars of artichoke sauce and pumpkin sauce. I saw these in Malaga and it was my new mission to buy them. Funny thing is, I wasn’t able to buy them for weeks because of siesta. Then when I finally got them they turned out to taste pretty weird. Oh well.
We ordered a cheese sandwich to go. We thought it would be like a grilled cheese, but no. It was normal, un-toasted bread with slices of cold cheese on it. I don’t understand it, nor will I ever.
MnM and Twix milkshakes??? WHAT? Yes please!
These are shortbread cookies that we absolutely love here. We’re constantly buying them and eating the entire box in the same night! Another influence from the Brits.
This was Mom’s birthday present from me. I made her grilled cheese with chicken and a bull painting. She loved it.
For some odd reason, they serve coffee here in extremely small quantities. This is even one of the bigger cups we’ve seen. When you walk by cafes you see people drinking out of a cup the size of a thumb!
This is pizza with -you guessed it- egg! They love eggs here! I can’t wrap my head around it…

To put it nicely, Spain’s food is new and interesting. Did I like any of it? Not really. Did I enjoy trying all the weird and wacky new food? Absolutely! Would I do it again? Now that I’ve checked it off my to-do list, probably not. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try anything else! Stay tuned for more food posts from all around!

Haley, signing off.

 

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