Girl in Granada: Food

Today marks the end of my fourth week in Spain! I can't believe that I've already been here for nearly a month; it's seriously flown by. One of the things I've wanted to do on here (since day one) is a post about food. In London, food was pretty much the same, because I bought what I wanted and prepared it in the way I was accustomed too.Here, not so much. I have food in the house for dinner, but lunch and breakfast are done the Spanish way. To make things easier, I'm gonna break it down by meal.

Breakfast: Breakfast here generally consists of toast with jam (or nutella), chocolate milk or coffee, and fruit. Then, due to the glaring lack of protein in this meal, people generally have a coffee break around 11, and usually eat a pastry, too. I don't want to gain 100 pounds, so I bring a granola bar and some juice milk to IES with me.

Juice milk, by the way, is something that I was told about by a former study abroad student, and have fallen in love with. It's just a mix of fruit juice (the best is peach) and skim milk, in a juice box, but it's delicious. Like a smoothie, but less cold and thick.

Lunch: Lunch is the main meal here, and is eaten between 2 and 4. We eat at 2:30. It usually has more than one course, starting with soup or fruit salad, or both, then followed by the main meal and usually dessert. We've had about 10 different kinds of soup, from vegetable purees to chicken and rice to something I can only equate to motzah ball soup. The main course can be anything: pasta and chicken, something like a ratatouille with fried eggs (did I mention eggs aren't a breakfast food here?), croquetas, salad, clams, lasagna, twice baked potatoes, fish, you get the point. The strangest thing I've had for lunch was probably a type of fish that, although it was served in slices, still had scales and bones. Also, my paella had tentacles one day. Not even joking. Dessert can be anything: fruit, cookies, cake, custard, apple tart, whatever. My host mom really likes cooking, so we typically have something homemade. Today is was something like custard, but with a layer of cake on the outside, strawberries on the bottom, and a strawberry puree (that tasted like a whole fruit popsicle!) on top. It was so delicious that she and I both ate two pieces. We always have bread with lunch, and usually don't have drinks at the table, with the exception of my host dad, who drinks tinto de verano (a mix of red wine and lemon fanta).

Dinner: Dinner varies, and I'm going to split it into two categories: home and tapas.

Home: I'm technically supposed to provide my own dinner, but my host mom pretty much always makes something and then says that there's extra (even though I know she makes it for me) and asks if I want it. This can be tortilla (Spanish version of an omelet), crepes, or pizza. Dinner in Spain is a very light meal, basically enough to ensure that you won't be trying to sleep on an empty stomach. When I make my own dinner, it's usually a bowl of cereal, a piece of fruit, pistachios, and juice.

Tapas: The tradition of tapas originated in Granada, and it is pretty much the only place where you can get them for free. There have been several cases of unhappiness when my friends and I have traveled outside of Granada, with IES, and had to actually pay for our food. How it works is you order a drink (alcoholic or otherwise) and, depending on the restaurant, you can choose your tapa or they just bring it to you. In most cases, you can pay to get an extra tapa, but why would you do that when you get them for free with a drink? Tapas I've had so far include: tortilla de patatas (potato omelet), fried rice, chicken wings, serrano ham, croquetas, manchego cheese, noodless, spring rolls, dumplings (yes, we frequent a Chinese tapas bar), bread with toppings ( I think it was meat?), and probably some other stuff in there.

In the future, I'm probably going to post more about food, since it's something I'll be experiencing all semester. Until then, here are some pictures of what I've been eating.