domingo, 15 de junio de 2014
Buying and Cooking Food in Spain
Following a short interview with my senora I found out a lot more about what its like to live in Spain in terms of food and cooking. My senora prefers to shop at a super market instead of the nearby small tiendas. She specifically likes to go to Mercadona which is a large chain super market thats quite successful and popular. She visits the supermarket about 3 to 4 times a week which is a lot more than the weekly visits we typically do in the states. Shes also noticed a notable increase in the food prices of pretty much everything. She said that is much more expensive now than it was. She also typically has in mind exactly what she wants before heading to the market and for what dish its for. She spends about an hour to cook each meal and her favorite dish is seafood paella which she makes really well! I always really like her paella. She learned how to cook from her ex husband and doesn't really watch cooking shows.
Maria Mi Cocinera!
Tonight, I had the opportunity to go grocery shopping with my host mother and talk with her about what it's like to be a Spanish cook. She is a FABULOUS cook, so I would definitely take her word for it!
The supermercado: Because this was a mid-week stop, we only bought a few fresh fruits and vegetables from a nearby supermarket. In some ways it was similar to a American chain grochery, though a bit smaller and the workers wear wonderful green-and-white pinstripes! The most interesting difference, for me, was that the produce was an entirely separate, roped-off section of the store. Customers buy just produce here after completing the rest of their shopping, and are assisted by fruit package-rs and weigh-ers. My señora loves to chat and had the worker laughing with her silly diatribe on potato quality! We bought potatoes, cauliflower, and celery.
Where? My señora shops at both the supermarket and the local neighborhood shop a few doors down from our building.
How often? Usually three times per week - a big trip each Friday small supplemental (mostly fruits and veggies) trips throughout the week.
How expensive? My señora agrees that prices are indeed MUCH higher than they were even just a few years ago.
With a plan? My señora always enters the supermarket knowing exactly what meals she needs to prepare that week and which ingredients she needs. It's a science!
How much time? Maria usually spends an hour to an hour and a half per day cooking, depending on what dishes she's making. It's a lot of work!
Favorites? Her favorite dish to eat is patatas fritas con huevos (think-cut French fries with eggs on top - in definitely a fan too!). She can't pick a favorite food to cook because she likes to make them all (well, especially desserts!). She absolutely loves to cook and takes a lot of pride in it.
From whom? My señora learned to cook from her mom, who was also a wonderful cook.
Food television?? My señora is not a fan of cooking TV shows!
And finally, tortillas de patatas!! Without a doubt these are my favorite plate in Spain, and my host mother is teaching me. Here's a good recipe so that you in the States can enjoy this wonderful meal too! : http://www.recetatortilladepatatas.com
The supermercado: Because this was a mid-week stop, we only bought a few fresh fruits and vegetables from a nearby supermarket. In some ways it was similar to a American chain grochery, though a bit smaller and the workers wear wonderful green-and-white pinstripes! The most interesting difference, for me, was that the produce was an entirely separate, roped-off section of the store. Customers buy just produce here after completing the rest of their shopping, and are assisted by fruit package-rs and weigh-ers. My señora loves to chat and had the worker laughing with her silly diatribe on potato quality! We bought potatoes, cauliflower, and celery.
Where? My señora shops at both the supermarket and the local neighborhood shop a few doors down from our building.
How often? Usually three times per week - a big trip each Friday small supplemental (mostly fruits and veggies) trips throughout the week.
How expensive? My señora agrees that prices are indeed MUCH higher than they were even just a few years ago.
With a plan? My señora always enters the supermarket knowing exactly what meals she needs to prepare that week and which ingredients she needs. It's a science!
How much time? Maria usually spends an hour to an hour and a half per day cooking, depending on what dishes she's making. It's a lot of work!
Favorites? Her favorite dish to eat is patatas fritas con huevos (think-cut French fries with eggs on top - in definitely a fan too!). She can't pick a favorite food to cook because she likes to make them all (well, especially desserts!). She absolutely loves to cook and takes a lot of pride in it.
From whom? My señora learned to cook from her mom, who was also a wonderful cook.
Food television?? My señora is not a fan of cooking TV shows!
And finally, tortillas de patatas!! Without a doubt these are my favorite plate in Spain, and my host mother is teaching me. Here's a good recipe so that you in the States can enjoy this wonderful meal too! : http://www.recetatortilladepatatas.com
My Casa.
Granada, Spain is very different from the United States. Of course they have many similarities and fashion. However, in terms of living space building structure it is much different. I realize that many things in the United States have been "Super Sized." Meaning, our streets are huge, our stores are huge, our cars are huge, and our homes are HUGE! Join me as I take you on a tour through my home... you will see what I mean. Also, I apologize for not allowing you to see the full house - My Madre didn't feel comfortable with it. Nevertheless, I am sure you will be able to gain an great understanding of what I mean.
This is the entrance to my home - it is on the left side with the black and white stripes. Notice how small the streets are - for some reason, that seems to resonate with me.
One thing that I realized about Spanish homes is that they have doors to every room! They have a door to the hallway, to the hallway of the rooms, for the kitchen, the living room, and - well, of course for the bathrooms. The following pictures demonstrates what I'm talking about. Please forgive the directions of the pictures - I could not find how to rotate them upward.
This is where I go to study while I'm at home.... my bedroom. I like it because it is comfortable and cozy!!! It is also VERY colorful..... and I LOVE that! Although the bedroom is much different and smaller than what I am used to - I quickly made it my own. The bed is very comfortable as well. However, the one thing that I don't like about Spanish homes, in general, is that they don't have any carpet lol. I love carpet, so this is somewhat of a challenge for me lol. I learned that they don't have carpet in their homes because carpet holds heat - it gets extremely hot here, so I can def understand.
This is a collaboration of pictures that show all the different things that are in my room. If you look at the bed on the left side, you can see that there is an extra bed underneath - for guests or other company that comes over. I believe this was something that was used by her daughter when she was younger - and she used it for sleepovers with family. I also have a place to study - much smaller than my place back home, but it serves its purpose. I love the blinds that they have for their windows because it blocks out the sun very well - I of course have plants in the window so I am unable to close my blinds all the way. However, it keeps out enough light for me to sleep!
The bathrooms are also much smaller than I am used to. I have a very small bathroom. The tub is so small that it is hard for me to stretch out in it - I'm 5'1 lol. However, I realized later on that this was the "guest" bathroom. My Madre has her own bathroom. I spoke to her one day while she was cleaning in there and her bathroom is 3 times the size as mine lol. Nevertheless, this small bathroom is sufficient enough for me!
This is the living room. This is where we spend most of our time eating. It's interesting to experience the social and cultural differences here in Spain. The pictures below demonstrates the interesting differences between Americans and Spaniards. In the pictures below, you can see that the sofa and the dinner table sit right in front of the television - this is where we eat and talk politics for lunch and dinner.
I appreciate having the ability to experience these cultural differences. It helps me to realize and think about all the social constructions that exists within each society, and the things that are weird and different to me, is normal for them - and vise versa. It also helps me to have more patients with others from different cultures, and enables me to think more openly about the world. I feel that this experience is beginning to open me more as a person - and enabling me to think "big" about the world. I'm learning that America should not be the standard as to how each society should live their lives because we all have different standards, and different ways of living.
The Kitchen of The Villagrans
Lunch has especial significance in Spain. It is the largest meal, usually comprised of at least three courses, and is eaten around 2:30 in the afternoon. I usually spend the rest of my afternoons snoozing it off. The food is delicious. A lot of the meats and some vegetables are fried and served, at least in my family, with a salad of cabbage and diced tomatoes.
Usually, Juan, my Spanish home-stay father, likes to prepare for lunch gespacho or Salmorejo for the first course. Today, he diced about three large tomatoes and put them in his well-used blender. He added a little milk, some garlic and a little onion, and the leftovers of yesterday's bread. Then, brrrrriiiiiiiiing, and everything was turned into a fine pink goop, something comparable in appearance to a strawberry milkshake. Then the Salmorejo was placed in the fridge to cool.
El Mejor Cocina de España
The best food made in Spain is hands-down from the kitchen of my beautiful host mother. She spends many hours of her day cooking for her family and actually loves doing so. She is an absolutely phenomenal chef and says that she learned most of her abilities form her mother and grandmother. When they were young, my host mom, Ana, and all of her siblings use to love to help their grandma cook when they visited her. She has carried this tradition on with her own children teaching then how to cook at an young age as well. She also told me that she has a friend that cooks very well too and they have shared many tips and tricks in the kitchen.
My host father said that it is a good thing that Ana knows how to cook, because he know nothing about his way around a kitchen and would probably die from starvation if he did not have Ana.
Some of Ana's recopies have been used by local restaurants because they are that good!
Ana also goes food shopping every day! She told me that fresh meat, fruit and everything else is supper important to her cooking and she wouldn't be able to cook so well if she did not shop every day. She doesn't go to a single supermarket though to get all of the necessities on one stop. She goes to individual meat, fish, fruit, vegetable and bread stores every day to get exactly what she wants from people that she knows around the neighborhood. The craziest thing though is that when she does the shopping, Ana does not even know what she is going to cook that day. She only thinks about what she wants to buy, and then that afternoon and evening for lunch and dinner she wipe some amazing dish together with the fresh ingredients that she bought. She obviously knows how to cook a plethora of different foods if this is her shopping/cooking tactic (I can personally attest to this fact because I have not had the same dish here more than once in my 5 weeks thus far). She also doesn't have a favorite dish to cook because she cooks so many dishes and variations, she never thinks that two time can be the same.
I had the honor of being able to help prepare a dinner and clean up after the meal with Ana. It was a very great experience and she truly knows her way around the kitchen. We made a dish very similar to chicken cordon bleu with salad and hard boiled eggs. I wasn't able to help a whole lot because she likes things to be pretty perfect in her kitchen and I'm no experienced chef.
When I asked Ana if she liked the show MasterChef, a very popular cooking competition show here in Spain, she said she doesn't watch it much, but thinks that she could probably win it... I have no doubt in my mind that she would take home the gold.
Keeping It Hot, Steamy and Tasty in Granada.
Do you ever feel lonely in Granada? Want that significant other to keep you company at night when those desires are at their peak? I know your problems and I have got the solution! Here is a guide on how to satisfy all your (food) desires in Granada and not break the bank! I have interviewed my host mom and she has given me some top notch information on getting a bang for your buck and fulfilling your appetite in Granada.
In Granada there are two main places where the locals buy food. Las tiendas in el barrio (The stores in the neighborhood) and los supermercados (yep you guessed it--supermarkets. You're smart!). The supermercados are bigger stores that have more food options than the neighborhood store with fruit, and drinks and assorted necessities. My house mom said that she buys most of her food, such as veggies, fruits, meats and milk--which she buys in bulks of 8 cartons. However when it comes to buying more commercialized things like water and Coca Cola, she goes to the supermarket. She goes to the supermarket 15 times a month and neighborhood stores 4 times a month. This ratio is due to the fact when she buys at the neighborhood stores, she really goes hard and buys alot of food.
In recent years, she has noticed that there has definitely been an increase in the price of groceries. She says about 5-10 years ago it was possible to spent 70-80 euros on a grocery trip, but now its about 150...Que lastima! (What a shame). When she goes to buy food, she uses a list that is kept on the side of the refrigerator for convenience. The foods that she buys every time she shops are foods that I have consumed everyday since I got here: bread and cheese. Her favorite food to cook and eat is called Rabo de coro, which is a sort of ox tail stew from what I have seen from online. She said it takes a time to cook Unfortunately, I have not been able to experience this because ya girl does not mess with beef. :(
On an average day, my house mom spends two hours a day cooking. Even though she works and it is only her and my sister that lives here, I can tell that she takes pride in cooking and talking about her cooking. My house mom's advice is to save money, but also enjoy food and culture in Granada.
Her advice: Shop in neighborhood stores, eat home cooked meals and get free tapas!
In Granada there are two main places where the locals buy food. Las tiendas in el barrio (The stores in the neighborhood) and los supermercados (yep you guessed it--supermarkets. You're smart!). The supermercados are bigger stores that have more food options than the neighborhood store with fruit, and drinks and assorted necessities. My house mom said that she buys most of her food, such as veggies, fruits, meats and milk--which she buys in bulks of 8 cartons. However when it comes to buying more commercialized things like water and Coca Cola, she goes to the supermarket. She goes to the supermarket 15 times a month and neighborhood stores 4 times a month. This ratio is due to the fact when she buys at the neighborhood stores, she really goes hard and buys alot of food.
In recent years, she has noticed that there has definitely been an increase in the price of groceries. She says about 5-10 years ago it was possible to spent 70-80 euros on a grocery trip, but now its about 150...Que lastima! (What a shame). When she goes to buy food, she uses a list that is kept on the side of the refrigerator for convenience. The foods that she buys every time she shops are foods that I have consumed everyday since I got here: bread and cheese. Her favorite food to cook and eat is called Rabo de coro, which is a sort of ox tail stew from what I have seen from online. She said it takes a time to cook Unfortunately, I have not been able to experience this because ya girl does not mess with beef. :(
On an average day, my house mom spends two hours a day cooking. Even though she works and it is only her and my sister that lives here, I can tell that she takes pride in cooking and talking about her cooking. My house mom's advice is to save money, but also enjoy food and culture in Granada.
Her advice: Shop in neighborhood stores, eat home cooked meals and get free tapas!
Cooking in Spain
¡Hola!
I had a nice little chat with my host dad, Luis, about cooking. He does a lot of the cooking in the family, and it's quite evident that it's something that he's passionate about. All of our meals are so nicely prepared. By the way the dishes are presented sometimes, you'd think he picks up tips from a tv program like Master Chef, but he actually does not watch any sort of show like that. He does a lot of the food shopping while I'm at school, so I wasn't able to accompany him to the market. He also will generally go grocery shopping once a week.
If you didn't see my barrio blog (about the neighborhood), I should tell you that there are stores for anything you could possibly desire within a ten minute walking distance. There are six supermarkets in my neighborhood, and several stores with very specific products, like seafood, or meat, or bread. Luis will usually go to both the local stores and the supermarkets when grocery shopping, and he always has a list of exactly what he needs to buy. Whenever I grocery shop (the few instances that I do), I am usually pretty bad at following the list. I always end up getting more things than I planned. Oops!
Luis has noticed an increase in some of the prices in the markets, specifically in fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veggies are much fresher and cheaper than in the US, so we eat a lot of those. No wonder Spain's population is so healthy.
During a typical day, it takes about 1-1.5 hours to prepare lunch, the biggest meal of the day. That also depends on what is being made. We eat a lot of salads (not like a normal American salad, but more like tuna, pickles, onions, and olives in a vinegar sauce. It's delicious!), bread, gazpacho, pasta, y meat. Gazpacho is a cold tomato soup, and we actually have it every day for lunch. It's SO good, and Luis taught me how to make it! Gazpacho is Luis' favorite food to eat, and his favorite dish to make is carne estofada (braised meat) o carne guisada (stewed meat).
When Luis was my age, he made all of the standard simple foods that I am able to make- pasta, more pasta, lots of pasta, salad, and soup. He actually learned how to cook extravagant dishes with his mother in law, and let me say, I've eaten a la casa de mis abuelos several times, and she is a fantastic cook! I definitely need to come back with a recipe book.
Anyhoo, I'm eating very well over here in Granada. I'm going to try to keep up some of these cooking tips and habits that I've learned when I come back to the States.
Until next time,
Halie
I had a nice little chat with my host dad, Luis, about cooking. He does a lot of the cooking in the family, and it's quite evident that it's something that he's passionate about. All of our meals are so nicely prepared. By the way the dishes are presented sometimes, you'd think he picks up tips from a tv program like Master Chef, but he actually does not watch any sort of show like that. He does a lot of the food shopping while I'm at school, so I wasn't able to accompany him to the market. He also will generally go grocery shopping once a week.
If you didn't see my barrio blog (about the neighborhood), I should tell you that there are stores for anything you could possibly desire within a ten minute walking distance. There are six supermarkets in my neighborhood, and several stores with very specific products, like seafood, or meat, or bread. Luis will usually go to both the local stores and the supermarkets when grocery shopping, and he always has a list of exactly what he needs to buy. Whenever I grocery shop (the few instances that I do), I am usually pretty bad at following the list. I always end up getting more things than I planned. Oops!
Luis has noticed an increase in some of the prices in the markets, specifically in fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veggies are much fresher and cheaper than in the US, so we eat a lot of those. No wonder Spain's population is so healthy.
During a typical day, it takes about 1-1.5 hours to prepare lunch, the biggest meal of the day. That also depends on what is being made. We eat a lot of salads (not like a normal American salad, but more like tuna, pickles, onions, and olives in a vinegar sauce. It's delicious!), bread, gazpacho, pasta, y meat. Gazpacho is a cold tomato soup, and we actually have it every day for lunch. It's SO good, and Luis taught me how to make it! Gazpacho is Luis' favorite food to eat, and his favorite dish to make is carne estofada (braised meat) o carne guisada (stewed meat).
When Luis was my age, he made all of the standard simple foods that I am able to make- pasta, more pasta, lots of pasta, salad, and soup. He actually learned how to cook extravagant dishes with his mother in law, and let me say, I've eaten a la casa de mis abuelos several times, and she is a fantastic cook! I definitely need to come back with a recipe book.
Anyhoo, I'm eating very well over here in Granada. I'm going to try to keep up some of these cooking tips and habits that I've learned when I come back to the States.
Until next time,
Halie
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