(copy) Spanish food habits

Chalkboard

Rituals and habits around food: Breakfast, lunch and dinner differences

                                                                                                       Lunch     

Lunch time in Spain usually takes place from 2 PM to 4 PM. It's the biggest meal of the day and consists of two or three courses. A traditional Spanish lunch is one of Europe's most nutrious.

The first course it's a light one, usually a soup or a salad, any kind of vegetables. The second one is typically fish or meat (chicken, beef and pork are the most common). Most people like a dessert. Some fruit or yoghurt are usually the final bite.

Some typical spanish lunch meals may be ''croquetas'', ''tortilla de patata'' and of course, ''paella''.

                            Did you know?     

In Spain, it is typical to have lunch with bread. Also, it's typical to have a glass of wine next to the paella and some other special traditional meals.

                                                                                                          Dinner        

Because of the large lunches, dinner is typically a much lighter and smaller meal. It usually consists of salads, tapas or some grilled meat or fish. Meanwhile for lunch it's typical to get through two or three courses, dinner is only one course and sometimes a light dessert.

           Tapas                                                                                                           

Grilled fish with vegetables, a light dinner meal.

Tapas are small portions of different snacks or meals. These typical plates are usually given for free when you have a drink at a bar, but you can also order them to share different tapas at once with your companions. Tapas are really popular and loved in the spanish culture and lots of people have tapas for lunch or dinner. The king Alfonso X of Castilla ordered to serve free food along with alcohol to the soldiers. For saving ingredients, the servers made these snacks small.

In Spain it is really common to find bars, in fact, it's the country with the biggest quantity of them. A Spanish bar consists of a dinning or sitting area which serves drinks and little meals and tapas. They usually do menus but they don't have such a great variety as a regular restaurant does. We usually sit in the outside dinning area and drink some beer, coffee or fuzzy beverages along with some tapas.

It is typical to go with family and friends especially on the weekends and summer holidays.

The word tapa comes from the verb tapar, which means "to cover". It consists of a group of small Spanish savory dishes. They are normally served at bars to accompany a drink. Tapas can be taken as an appetizer before the main dishes or directly as lunch or dinner.

· Croquetas are tapas that consist of a thick binder combined with a filing , which are breaded and deep-fried, and served as a side dish.

· Pinchos are an appetizer typically served on top of breads, especially common in Spain's northern Basque Country. They are often served with skewer or toothpick.

· Patatas bravas are potatoes accompanied by a spicy sauce called “salsa brava”. The name alludes to the power of the spicy sauce.

                                                                           Breakfast           

We don't have breakfast as a family meeting as many of European countries do, usually we have a coffee or cereals before going to work and maybe a little "almuerzo" between 10 and 11 AM where we have a little sandwich or some fruit.

Some people, usually on the weekends, go out for having breakfast. One of the typical Spanish breakfast menu may be a coffee with toasts and ham. On Sunday mornings you can visit a churrería and buy some hot chocolate and, of course, the well known churros.

Spanish people have a flexible timetable and customs but mostly we have breakfast at 8:30 AM, lunch at 2 PM and dinner at 9 PM. 

1- RITUALS AND HABITS AROUND FOOD · Bar · Breakfast, lunch and dinner differences · Siesta 2- TRADITIONAL DISHES · Tapas · Special meals · Desserts 3- DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION OF THE CUSTOMS · Vegetarian and vegan alternatives · Foreign food becoming typical

Everybody knows about the tradition to have a rest during the day after having lunch. The purpose of the siesta is mainly to avoid extreme heat and let the organism relax after the big meal of the day. It's not only common in Spain, but also in Greece and Italy. The Spanish siesta takes place between 3 PM and 5 PM. In some places like Andalucia, shops close between these hours so employees have time to have lunch with their families and rest.

Vegetarian &amp; vegan alternatives to typical dishes: Vegan cachopo

Soy steaks, vegan cheese, onion, mushrooms, oil, salt and a few drops of soy sauce.

The first thing is to soak the soy steaks. For a cachopo (since they have to be big, by tradition) I used two. When they are hydrated, they increase the volume a lot, so I carefully opened them in half without cutting them into two parts, like a book. While it hydrates, we can prepare the filling: we peel the onion and cut it into very thin strips. We put it in the pan with olive oil and a little salt and a rather gentle heat, so that it is done little by little and is soft. I used canned mushrooms, from the rolled ones, so I added them when the onion was almost done. While you can go cutting the cheese, thinly sliced better. When everything is ready, with the steaks well drained, place the cheese and then with a spoon the onion and mushrooms. When you have it placed, you go through the end of the fillet that is open with a toothpick, you close it as if sewing it, go. The same with the other (or the others) and to the pan. It does not have to have a lot of oil, a few drops. The original cachopos are battered, but I did not batter them. Fry until they are a little golden, when they were almost ready I added a few drops of soy sauce, mostly to give it color and so that the fillets were not too pale and that's it!

Some global dishes have become really popular between Spaniards, here we got some examples:

· Crema catalana is a kind of pastry cream or custard with a crunchy crust based on caramelized sugar. The first crema catalana appears in the Catalan cookbooks Llibre de sent sovi (14th century) and Llibre de Coch (16th century).

· Torta de santiago or Tarta de santiago, meaning cake of St. James, is an almond cake or pie from Galicia with origin in the Middle Ages.

· Arroz con leche is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and other ingredients such as cinnamon, vanilla and raisins.

One of the cities that have experienced most of these food habits changes is Barcelona. BCN is known as one of the vegan capital cities of Europe (alongside Amsterdam). As a notorious vegan city, Barcelona has loads of places where vegetarians and vegans can enjoy their favourite dishes and others they may have never heard about. These are some of the best vegan locals of "Ciutat Comptal": Hotels (not 100% vegan yet): - Grand Hotel Central - Eco Boutique Hostal Grau Restaurants: - Bar Celoneta (all kind of vegan tapas available) - Vegetart deli (cheap but quality vegan food)

How to (not) cook a Spanish omelette (tortilla de patatas)

3. Development and evolution of the customs

As many other nations all over the world, Spain has changed their eating costums. In fact, we are still changing our habits around food. The most significants are the ones related to vegetarian and vegan food, in order to avoid the consumption of meet and be more friendly and careful with our animals. Here you got some examples of which alternatives have appeared. They are definitely more inclusive and delicious.

· Cocido madrileño is a traditional chickpea-based stew from Madrid, Spain. A substantial dish prepared with meat and vegetables, it is most popular during the winter , to keep the body warm.

· Paella is a saffron-flavored dish containing rice, meat, seafood, and vegetables. It is a Spanish dish originally from Valencia and also, one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine.

· Caldo de Navidad is a meat stock usually made with vegetables, ham and beef knee bones, and both veal and poultry. It is a comforting and nutritious starter that marks the beginning of a Christmas lunch or dinner with the family.

Name

Safari may block some audio or video from playing automatically and ‘read to me’ will skip these. You can configure this in Safari’s preferences.