When deciding to move to Granada to study abroad, food was not really something that crossed my mind. I'm a vegetarian and that is something that, in the USA, never has been an issue. There is almost always a vegetarian option on every menu, most menus even give you multiple choices. Now eating out in Granada hasn't been an issue for me at all, almost everywhere I have been has had multiple options and there are even a few vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Granada that are AMAZING (I'll list a few great restaurants at the end of this post), however, eating at home with my host mom has presented somewhat of an issue (BUT DON'T WORRY, everything has worked itself out and I have never been hungry here!)
The food and meal situation in Granada is VERY different than in the USA. The types of food are different as well as the eating schedule itself. For example, Spanish people eat a very small breakfast (maybe some fruit or yogurt or sometimes a tostada with tomato), then they have a small snack between breakfast and lunch which typically includes the same foods as breakfast or a pastry of some kind. Lunch occurs much later than in the USA, around 2:30pm or 3:00pm and everything closes down (except restaurants, obviously) until later in the day. Spanish people really do take siestas! Lunch is the big meal of the day and Spanish people usually spend a lot of time eating and talking with their families. The meal usually consists of fish or meat. It is the equivalent of American dinner. Then dinner is a lot later as well, usually around 9:30pm or 10:00pm. It is a lot smaller. My host mom almost always just eats a tostada for dinner.
Typical Spanish dishes include paella, jamon, chorizo, gazpacho, croquetas, tortilla espanola, seafood, tostadas, soups and loads more. However, a lot of this includes meat. When I arrived in Spain and told my host mom that I was vegetarian, she was shocked. She had no clue what kinds of foods to make for me because she was not a vegetarian herself. She made me the Spanish foods that she could without meat and they were delicious however she kept asking me if I was sure that I was vegetarian. After a while, my food became really repetitive (and it still is). I basically eat the same foods (maybe with some slight variation) everyday. Her favorite to make me are soups, tortilla espanola (sometimes with spinach or green beans, and other times plain), spinach croquetas, pasta and that's basically it.
Another thing about Spanish food is the portions. They are massive. I love to eat but the servings in Spain are huge. My host mom is constantly telling me that I don't eat enough but by the time I'm halfway through my plate, I'm so full I could burst open. AND on top of that, she gives my an entire loaf of bread with every meal, I'm not kidding.
However, all of that being said, eating the same foods over and over again is nothing in comparison to the AMAZING experiences I'm having here. I wouldn't change it for the world.
Now for some of my favorite restaurants and cafe's:
Restaurante Hicuri Art Vegan - Plaza de los Girones, 4, 18009 Granada
Terra Bar - Plaza del Realejo, 11, 18009 Granada
Restaurante la Cantina Mejicana - Cuesta del Realejo, 1, 18009 Granada
Thanks for reading,
Kelly
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