Madrid's Food Culture
Food at different times of the day!!
One of the first things I noticed during my stay in Madrid was that food was a way for people to socialize and connect with others. In Spain, people do not eat at the same times we do in the United States. For example, they will have a pastry with coffee for breakfast which around 10 am. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day which starts at 2 pm and will last about 2 hours. Dinner starts at 9 pm, which for me was too long of a wait, but this usually consists of something called tapas. The food schedule was a shock to me in many ways. I had trouble eating small amounts in the morning and eating larger amounts in the afternoon. I felt that dinner was too late because I would start to get hungry again after 7 pm. At first, I thought that tapas were not filling since it was little plates of side dishes. A week later, I learned that was not the case because sometimes I would go out with a group of 6 people and were not able to finish all the tapas given to us. In the end, it took me a week to be able to adapt to the norms of the country in terms of food and loved it even more than the food norms in the U.S.
Menu del dia!!
My favorite part of Madrid’s food culture was the Menu del dia. This means the menu of the day in English. This is a 3-course meal with a drink served it most restaurants, this does not include fast-food restaurants. You are given the choice to choose a first and second plate which is essentially the appetizer and entre dish. The first plate is usually light such as a cold soup, vegetables, or small ration of pasta. The second plate is larger has a choice of meat or fish. After you are given the option to get a dessert or coffee. I have a sweet tooth so I always chose to eat dessert even if I was full. Besides getting a lot of food for lunch, another advantage to Menu del dia is that it was very economically friendly. Traveling is already expensive so saving on food is important. The most expensive menu del dia I had was 11,50 euros which is not bad in my opinion since the same amount of food would cost a lot more in the United States.
Must Trys!!
Of course, there is always the option of not getting Menu del dia if you want a dish from the restaurant's menu. This is always recommended when you go to a restaurant that serves food that is not available in America. For example, a dish my friends and I could not resist was Spain’s famous Paella. We all instantly fell in love with the flavor of the rice and the different Paellas they had. My favorite consisted of beef and chicken, but the rest of my friends loved the seafood Paella. After talking to locals, we realized that Madrid’s Paella was not the best compared to the Paella from coastal cities. As an outsider, I loved the Paella in Madrid regardless, but I want to return to Spain to try Paella from its coastal cities.
One of the first things I noticed during my stay in Madrid was that food was a way for people to socialize and connect with others. In Spain, people do not eat at the same times we do in the United States. For example, they will have a pastry with coffee for breakfast which around 10 am. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day which starts at 2 pm and will last about 2 hours. Dinner starts at 9 pm, which for me was too long of a wait, but this usually consists of something called tapas. The food schedule was a shock to me in many ways. I had trouble eating small amounts in the morning and eating larger amounts in the afternoon. I felt that dinner was too late because I would start to get hungry again after 7 pm. At first, I thought that tapas were not filling since it was little plates of side dishes. A week later, I learned that was not the case because sometimes I would go out with a group of 6 people and were not able to finish all the tapas given to us. In the end, it took me a week to be able to adapt to the norms of the country in terms of food and loved it even more than the food norms in the U.S.
Menu del dia!!
My favorite part of Madrid’s food culture was the Menu del dia. This means the menu of the day in English. This is a 3-course meal with a drink served it most restaurants, this does not include fast-food restaurants. You are given the choice to choose a first and second plate which is essentially the appetizer and entre dish. The first plate is usually light such as a cold soup, vegetables, or small ration of pasta. The second plate is larger has a choice of meat or fish. After you are given the option to get a dessert or coffee. I have a sweet tooth so I always chose to eat dessert even if I was full. Besides getting a lot of food for lunch, another advantage to Menu del dia is that it was very economically friendly. Traveling is already expensive so saving on food is important. The most expensive menu del dia I had was 11,50 euros which is not bad in my opinion since the same amount of food would cost a lot more in the United States.
Must Trys!!
Of course, there is always the option of not getting Menu del dia if you want a dish from the restaurant's menu. This is always recommended when you go to a restaurant that serves food that is not available in America. For example, a dish my friends and I could not resist was Spain’s famous Paella. We all instantly fell in love with the flavor of the rice and the different Paellas they had. My favorite consisted of beef and chicken, but the rest of my friends loved the seafood Paella. After talking to locals, we realized that Madrid’s Paella was not the best compared to the Paella from coastal cities. As an outsider, I loved the Paella in Madrid regardless, but I want to return to Spain to try Paella from its coastal cities.
For those who have a sweet tooth like me, I recommend trying churros with a cup of chocolate. You could tell the churros are freshly baked and the chocolate is not overpowering with sweetness. I had them more than once during my stay in Madrid and are missed now that I am back home.
By: Gisselle Santiago
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