Adventures In Mediterranean Cuisine

My favorite spanish idioma is: "Barriga llena, corozón contento" because for me it speaks the truth (ask my husband).

It’s no secret that one of the best things about Spain is LA COMIDA! In fact much of the day revolves around eating (and being together with family and friends) - two things I highly value in life.

Here’s the daily meal schedule:

• Desayuno (7-8am) Light breakfast when you wake up in the morning before school/work
• Almuerzo (10-11am) Technically lunch but not really lunch (perhaps a bocadillo/sandwich)
• Comer (2-3pm) The main 3 course meal of the day
• Merienda (4-5pm) Snack time
• Cena (9-10pm) While this is technically ‘dinner', spaniards don’t eat much (usually something light like ensalada or shared tapas)

As most of you know, our family didn’t eat a typical American diet in the the states: no meat or dairy (we did eat fish and eggs). We knew it would be a challenge to find our  “normal” food/products here in Spain, but of course in their place, we’ve found new foods that we really enjoy. While we aren’t devouring the beloved jamón serrano like typical spaniards, we love all of the seafood options: sepia, octopus, squid, hake, salmon, shrimp and clams.

My first attempt at "pulpo a la gallega"

The signature dish of the region we live (Valencia) is paella. It is a beautiful and delicious rice dish that is a challenge to master. The key flavor/spice is ‘saffron’ which is the most expensive crop in the world because it is so labor intensive to grow and harvest.  

I’ve only had one go at a vegetable paella on my own. I plan to learn how to make paella de mariscos (seafood) but want to learn from a spaniard who knows the ropes.

Paella vegetariana

There are two foods that I went from absolutely hating… to loving...since moving to Spain: tomatoes and olives. It is so weird to all of the sudden crave foods that used to disgust you! Olives are now my go-to snack between meals and it was easy to fall in love with them when accompanied by a cerveza!

Mahou is our beer

After Volly was born (6 years ago) we dropped dairy from our diet. Saying goodbye to cheese was difficult but luckily over time our tastebuds change and companies like Daiya have produced vegan cheese substitutes that do the trick. Of course you can’t find these in Spain. We did some research and discovered that manchego (queso de oveja) is made without casein (the binding agent used in all dairy products… and wood glue) which is the reason we dropped dairy. SO… after 6 years, we bought fresh manchego and reveled in it! It was a glorious moment. Now we enjoy manchego often and mostly with fresh bread and wine- YUM!

I don’t love to cook. I find it can be fun but usually I dread the entire process of preparing a meal: planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning. I am trying to challenge myself to make new recipes in Spain. To make it interesting I decided I’d make a few videos of Spanish recipes so that I can use them later remember what I did. However, in the midst of my fury to learn the language (Spanish lessons, homework, flashcards, and practice) I decided to challenge myself to make the video (bum, bom, bom) in Spanish. While I’m learning a lot, the speaking part is very slow and far from natural -as you’ll see in this video. Hopefully, as I continue to make more of these videos throughout the year, I will see language progress and even be able to laugh at my Spanish in this first video.  

It’s far from perfect - My head is barely in the frame, I cut my finger in the process, and the camera cut me off in the middle-  but the ending is good!

Receta de Tostada con Tomate