My mornings are quick. While I would love to have time to eat a huge, heaping breakfast, that just isn’t practical. It also wouldn’t be very Spanish of me.
Here on the island (the same as on the peninsula), people generally have a small breakfast while they leave the house, followed by a cafecito (coffee) or other treat around 11 a.m. The schedule here doesn’t include a big meal until lunch, which happens at about 2 p.m.. Lunch can last anywhere from 1 to 4 hours. I went to a teachers' welcome lunch last month and I didn’t leave until almost 6 p.m.! Usually, lunch will be followed by a small snack in the early evening and a light dinner sometime after 9 p.m.
Instead of the big breakfasts I was used to in the United States, I have usually just have gofio.
Gofio, a type of baked flour made from millo (corn) or trigo (wheat), is a type of catch-all additive here on the islands. What I mean is that it can be used in or added to pretty much anything you can think of. Soup? Sure, it thickens a broth to make a gravy. Milk? Now you have a smoothie! By itself? Of course, and it can be sweet or savory!
Gofio is extremely nutrient-rich. Unlike raw flour, it is safe to eat without being cooked.
