Spanish food habits

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Index

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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

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1. Rituals and habits around food: Bar

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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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Chipirones, a fried squid tapa.

Siesta: how does it refer to lunch?

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.

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.

2. Traditional Dishes: Tapas

Some examples of Tapas:

· 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.