For example, my host dad loves making gnocchi because they’re his favorite food. My host brother loves making strawberry milkshakes (sometimes we freeze them and turn them into ice pops... absolutely delicious) and my host sister enjoys making pancakes. In Spain, the condiments and food combinations are different than in the U.S. Many people put ketchup on everything, especially on eggs! We use chocolate syrup with pancakes instead of syrup, which is surprisingly a great combination. They love combining eggs with French fries or potatoes for lunch, don’t use peanut butter, and eat hot dogs without buns. Another difference is that my family cooks with olive oil instead of butter.
Breakfast is really basic. There are muffins, cereal and hot chocolate in the kitchen for everyone to help themselves to whenever they’re hungry. We eat lunch around 2:30 p.m. every day, which my host mom prepares. The kids eat a snack around 6:30 p.m., but dinner isn’t until 9:30 p.m. every night. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and dinner is usually smaller. In restaurants, tapas are a lot more common than meals. "Tapas" means a small portion meal that can be shared among friends, and anything can be turned into tapas.
Many of the foods that we eat in Spain are local to the country. For example, fruits are super popular and many are grown right here in Spain--especially strawberries. They also grow a lot of olive trees here in Spain, which explains why all the families enjoy cooking with olive oil so much! Two of the most popular dishes in Spain, especially in Andalucia, are Iberian ham and paella.
