Hola tod@s, espero que ustedes estén bien. I have used the “usted” format here to demonstrate that there is more than one way to address a group of people and it always depends on context. For example, “usted” tends to be used in formal situations, such as speaking with the headteacher, or when you do not know someone. If you decide to study Spanish as a Higher or at university, you will learn more about this type of format and when you should use “Usted”. I hope that you all enjoyed the Easter holidays and that you are still enjoying studying Spanish. I am aware that the topic that you are working on the topic of Spanish food (la comida española) and this next post will be dedicated to food. I will explain to you what myself and Spanish people eat in a day and when typical meal times are.
El Desayuno – Breakfast
Spanish people tend to wake up between 06:00 and 07:00 for work and school. School starts between 08:00 and 08:30 and many children will tend to have a tostada, cereales or frutas before departing for school. The same goes for teachers and the rest of the workforce. A tostada is toasted baguette bread with olive oil, butter or another topping spread on top of it. Children will then have breakfast again at school during their recreo (break) and will either have another tostada, a baguette or a montadito – a toasted sandwich with a filling such as cheese, ham or sausage. Some teachers will also have breakfast again at around 11 and this is when I will eat my breakfast. I do not have a very early breakfast as I prefer to wait until recreo to have a tostada or a baguette.
El Almuerzo – Lunch
Lunch in Spain is usually eaten between 14:00 and 17:00. This is a massive meal for Spanish people with many people usually ordering tapas (small portions) or platos (big plates). I have been out for lunch with many Spanish people and the biggest difference between their lunch and ours is that they like to order big plates to share with everyone instead of everyone ordering one plate each like we do back home. They will usually order around 5 plates of food and these can either be carne (meat) dishes or seafood dishes (los mariscos). Personally, I do not like seafood so I will always go for meat dishes. My favourite dish is solomillo (steak). I also really like anything including pollo (chicken) and most other types of ternera (beef). If people are eating lunch at home, they may also cook meat or seafood. Sometimes, Spanish people will have side dishes such as tortilla española (Spanish omelette) with their lunch and they will almost always have pan y picos (bread and breadsticks) on the side. I usually have my lunch around 16:00 as I normally finish work at 15:00.
La Cena – Dinner
As everyone probably knows, dinner is traditionally eaten very late in Spain with many people not eating until around 21:00 or 22:00. This is one of the things that I have struggled with the most since moving here and I have very rarely had my dinner at this time. I normally eat around 19:30 and 20:00. However, if I am playing football, then I will eat once I get home and this will normally be around 21:00 but I find it very difficult to eat late on when I don’t have football. Spanish people will again choose to have meat, seafood or maybe even paella. Paella is a mixture of rice, vegetables, saffron, seafood and meat. You can also get specific seafood or meat paellas where the other type of food is omitted and more of the specified food is added. I tend to have meat for my dinner and I like to have chicken or beef. It ii important to remember that Spain also has an international food culture with fast-food, burgers and pizza being a popular choice for many people.
Unas Meriendas – Snacks
Meriendas are afternoon snacks and are usually eaten between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner. I mentioned that tortilla española can be classed as a side dish but it can also be a merienda. Other snacks such as cakes, biscuits and pastries can also be classed as meriendas. The verb merendar means to have a snack and I love to have some meriendas to get me through the day. I like Spanish cakes and pastries and eating them sometimes gives me the nostalgic feeling of being in Greggs – although nothing will ever beat a cake and a sausage roll from Greggs. You can also get healthy meriendas which include fruit. For example, a low fat cake or pastry can be made with fruit. Spanish people also sometimes have fruit on its own as a merienda and I love having strawberries on their own.
I hope that you have all enjoyed reading this latest blog post and that you have learned about different types of food that Spanish people eat in a day and what different meal times are. I will leave you all with a couple of things to think about. Are there any Spanish foods that you know that I haven’t mentioned? Can you compare Spanish foods to what we have back home? What do you think about Spanish meal times?
Mark in Spain 