Lessons Learned About Food, Dining, and Eating from Living in Spain
Socializing over good food is what Spaniards do best. Let’s live more.
In Spain, we have a saying about the essentials of life: good food, good wine, good sex, good sleep. ~Antonio Banderas
There is a saying in Spain that life is what happens between meals. Food is a social activity and is to be savored and shared with others. I never saw the family I lived with eating at the kitchen counter or in front of the tv.
Living abroad during in Spain undergrad was often a culture shock, but the food and eating customs were always a delight. I did not drink coffee before living in Spain, but I converted after enjoying endless hours with friends in cafés and restaurants.
One of my favorite dining stories of all time was on a trip to Toledo. A friend was an Ernest Hemmingway fan, and we had to eat in every place Hemmingway visited. I have a picture of my friend snoozing off his meal and wine in Plaza de Zocodover. I think he was dreaming happily of chasing windmills with Don Quixote.
My favorite Spanish meal is paella. It is a stew made ade mainly of seafood (mussels and shrimp), chicken, prosciutto, sausage, saffron, and Arborio rice that is cooked in a two-handled pan that also used for serving.Arborio rice. It is common in Spain to…
