Spanish people usually consume three meals a day, breakfast, late lunch and late dinner. Breakfast is usually coffee, milk or hot chocolate with pastries or “churros”, fried dough fingers that are usually dipped in the rich and thick hot chocolate.
Spanish diet is very rich based on the Mediterranean products, food is normally prepared with olive oil, other ingredients are garlic, olives, chicken, vegetables, fish and shellfish. Tapas, small servings of food are very popular and, together with a glass of wine, represent an important aspect of socializing. Tapas are especially popular in the evening when Spanish people may hop from place to place savouring a tapas dish in every bar. Popular tapas are the Spanish tortilla, a thick omelette with potatoes and onions, “boccadillos”, marinated fresh anchovies, Serrano ham, grilled chorizo, olives, garlic chicken, grilled prawns, pork ribs served with aioli (a garlic based dip) and octopus salad.
Paella is the other very popular traditional food, a rich rice dish with vegetables, fish, shellfish and meat that takes the name from the pan is cooked in, the paella.
Vegetarian paella, seafood or meat only versions are variations of the original Paella Valenciana.
Spain is a large producer of wine that in recent years have become very popular worldwide such as Rioja, Valdepenas, Toro and the sparkling wine Cava. Spain is a producer of fine sherry wine, especially in the Jeres region where the famous Manzanilla sherry comes from.
Other well known Spanish drinks are the Malaga dessert wine and the Sangria, red wine with added sugar and fresh fruit that invites you to drink a glass after another as it mistakenly doesn’t seem strong at all.