Food Revelations in Barcelona

1.     Peanut butter is practically non-existent in Spain. I went two weeks without it when I first arrived here (the horror), but finally hunted it down in a random supermarket after some serious investigation.

2.     Spanish people love their baked goods.

3.     Supermarkets are around but pale in comparison to ours in terms of quality. To get good food, you have to go to one of many markets around the city, bakeries, and places that specialize in meat/cheese (or just ham – yes, they have that).

4.     Spanish people are obsessed with cured ham. While I love it, after four months I may have to take a small break from this.

5.     Even the cheapest sandwich sold at a convenient store is made on baguette. And it is next to impossible to find ham AND cheese on a sandwich – one or the other. Or a Spanish omelette sandwich (potato omelette).

6.     Spanish people eat everything on this baguette – lasagna, fish, omelettes, potatoes, etc.

7.     They hardly have breakfast. Just a croissant and café con leche (coffee with milk).

8.     Lunch really is around 3pm and dinner really is around 10pm.

9.     Good paella is harder to find in Barcelona, as this is characteristic of the south.

10. Candy stores and Nutella are everywhere.

11. The meat/fish at any market includes pig hooves, brains, whole rabbit (with or without fur), massive whole fish, chicken without the feathers removed, and some other unidentifiable meat/fish that I am not sure I want the translation for.

12. Mushrooms aren’t half-bad.

13. My new favorite sandwich addition is olive oil (with good quality cheese on baguette … oh my).

14. There is no such thing as whole wheat in Spain. They laugh, and say (in Spanish): “my dear, you’re in Spain!”

15. The variety of food is (perhaps obviously) not the same as in Toronto. It is a lot harder to find good food that isn’t Catalan, Spanish or Italian. Please send some sushi in the mail.

16. Apparently only tourists order Sangria. I am still not past that stage.

17. There is a whole new world of restaurants that have come to my attention with Mum and Dad here.

18. Barcelonans have a season for donuts, or banyols – it is now. I didn’t know donuts had such healthy, seasonal ingredients? (Yes, they have them in bakeries every other month of the year … but now they are cinnamon/orange flavoured).

19. Waiters in Barcelona never rush you to leave – it is actually very hard to get your bill. They expect you to linger like the Spanish do and have a 2-3 hour lunch.

20. Lunch pretty much always includes dessert, wine, and café con leche, as these are included in the daily menu (ie. the best deal, usually 10 euros and the freshest food).