Spanish Food

When thinking about my year abroad in Spain, all I thought about was how I going to travel to many places and enjoy the lovely sun and hot weather, but I never really thought a lot about the food I was going to eat. During my time in Spain, I've been able to try quite a few Spanish dishes, even though I'm a picky eater. Spain has a lot to offer food-wise, and I'm glad I've had the chance to try Spanish cuisine. Here's a list of the Spanish dishes I've eaten, some of  their ingredients and what I think about them.

Paella

Now, I think this is the most well known Spanish dish, because I've heard British people talk about it before and I've seen them eat it; even my housemate used to buy paella all the time, and when I first started learning Spanish, at 13, the first thing that popped up when I looked for Spanish food was paella. I generally like this dish, although whether I like it or not depends on its ingredients, as there are many different types of paella. My favourite kind of paella so far is actually a vegetarian one. I don't like the kinds of paella with too much seafood or fish with bones in it. However, apparently the best type is made in Valencia, its city of origin, but I have yet to try paella valenciano.

Some of the ingredients:
Chorizo - which is a type of Spanish pork sausage and is very popular in Spain!

Chicken (pollo)
Prawns (gambas)
Mussels (mejillones)
Rice (arroz)

Cocido

As I said, I'm a picky eater. I'm so bad that even if I don't like the way something looks I won't eat it , and the first time I saw cocido, which is like a kind of stew, I didn't like the look of it and didn't really want to eat it. However, I decided that because I was in Spain and this dish was being served to me then I must try it, and it turned out that I did like it. It actually reminded me of my grandma's soups, but my grandma's soups are better - everything my grandma cooks is always better, actually. This dish is also a great representation of how healthy the Spanish diet is because it's full of vegetables.

Some of the ingredients:
Chorizo
Chick Peas (garbanzos)
Ham (jamón)
Chicken (pollo)
Cabbage (repollo)
Carrots (zanahorias)
Noodles (fideos)
Tomatoes (tomates)

Lentejas

The funny thing about this lentil soup is that I keep on calling it lentillas,  which actually means contact lenses. It's not my favourite dish, but is certainly interesting.

Some ingredients:
Lentils (lentejas)
Potatoes (patatas- patatas is also a colloquial way of saying chips)
Chorizo (again?!!)
Carrots (zanahorias)

Celery (apio)



Judias Blancas 

The texture of this dish reminds me of lentejas, but I prefer this dish because this is basically like white bean soup, and I like white beans as they're very similar to baked beans and kidney beans, which I love.

List of possible ingredients:
White beans - (Judias/Alubias blancas)
Chorizo (still popular!)
1 onion (una cebolla)
Garlic (ajo)






Fideuà

Do you notice something? Maybe not, but this traditional Catalan dish looks a little bit like paella, and that's because it is very similar to it, but the rice in paella is substituted with noodles that are made out of pasta, and it tends to mainly stick to using seafood for its main ingredients. However, like paella you can still have many different types of fideuà. I've only tried it once, but I liked what I tasted and will definitely try it again in the future!

Some ingredients:
Noodles (fideos)
Prawns (gambas)
Chorizo
Fish (pescado)
Squid (calamar)

Tortilla Espanola

This is essentially a Spanish omelette. I prefer this dish bland, without onions and with a lot of potato. It's my favourite safe choice when I go out for tapas, which are small dishes that are normally served with drinks at a bar (one of the best things about Spain, to be honest!).

List of possible ingredients:
Eggs (huevos)
Onions (cebollas)
Potatoes (patatas)

Crema Catalana

Also called Crema de Sant Josep, this dessert is the Catalan version of crème brulée,  but  there are people who argue that there are some differences between the dishes. It's  my favourite dessert to eat and I buy it at the Mercadona (a popular Spanish supermarket) every week, even though it's traditionally prepared on Saint Joseph's Day, the Spanish equivalent of Father's Day. You can eat it hot or cold.  I enjoy eating it both ways.

Some ingredients:

Milk (leche)

Eggs (huevos)

Cinnamon (canela)

Sugar (azúcar)

Chorizo

Behold the famous chorizo! This piece of food is so versatile! It can be put in so many dishes. That's why you've seen the name pop up several times before I got to say something about it. I think it's quite popular in England too. So what can you make with it? As I don't know how to cook Spanish food very well I try to use it in the food I normally eat in England. I love putting it on my pizzas, in my sandwiches, mixing it with rice and pasta and so on and so forth. It's so tasty!

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Mosto

Squash doesn't exist in Spain! You heard me: squash doesn't exist. So I just stick to drinking juice, water or tea, and one of my favourite Spanish juices is mosto, which is just grape juice (zumo de uva). When I go out with my friends, I prefer drinking this to drinking beer  (cerveza), which Spaniards are crazy about.

Churros con Chocolate

Now during my time in Spain I've had churros, which are fried dough pastries, several times only with sugar or even just on their own. When I ate them like that I never really enjoyed them, until I finally ate them in the proper way when I went to catch up with my university friend in Salamanca over breakfast. It was a heavy breakfast, so I couldn't eat everything but it was definitely worthwhile and now I shall be looking forward to eating churros con chocolate again!



As you can see, there are so many Spanish dishes that you can try. I've tried much more Spanish food than the food I've mentioned above, such as bizcocho, mazapán from Toledo, caricias de San Blas and a lot more, but I don't think I have enough space to write about them all! For me, trying Spanish food is one of the best things I've done during my year abroad, and I can't wait to have more food adventures!