Spain is ranked #2 in world pork consumption per capita, after Denmark and before Hong Kong. I was shocked because I thought the Chinese ate a lot of pork! Someone told me that one possible reason why the Spanish eat so much pork might be that for 800 or so years they were ruled by the Muslims, who do not eat pork at all. The Christian reconquest by Ferdinand and Isabella was the birthplace of modern Spain. The Catholic conquerors knocked down all of the mosques and built their cathedrals right on top of the ashes. Perhaps likewise culturally they stuck it to the Muslims by making pork their food of choice. The few Muslims who did not get killed or driven out converted to Christianity, or at least pretended to. What better way to test whether a Muslim has truly converted than to offer him a nice slice of ham? But that may just be a good story...
A friend of ours owns a sausage factory, and she showed me a mind-boggling array of sausages-- fresh ones, dry ones, dark ones, white ones, red ones, etc. I think they are OK. Quite mild flavored, not usually smoked, and not very sweet.
The locals like to slice their cured meats into very thin slices and place them inside split french bread. No mustard, no lettuce, no tomato, no onion, just meat and bread, and perhaps a little cheese. I find it rather dry and boring, but the kids' classmates bring these for breakfast and wolf them down during 5pm snack. Bocadillos are standard fast food.
One by-product of raising so much pork is lard. Lard is used in cookies and croissants. It's not easy to be vegan here, especially when eating out at local restaurants. The vegetarian options tend to be egg and cheesy.
There are a handful of vegetarian restaurants, mostly in the city center. I can buy vegetarian patties, tofu, and seitan in organic and upscale grocery stores. The fake meat here is not very good. Soymilk is easy to find in the market, but not in restaurants. There are tons of bad Chinese restaurants. Not very many Thai, Vietnamese, or Korean places. A fair amount of Indian and Middle Eastern restaurants.
Spaniards love to eat out, even though I find it rather expensive. It is normal to eat breakfast at a bar (café). Thank goodness for wide sidewalks in our area because the cafe seating takes up most of the space, and pedestrians must beware to dodge waiters laden with food crossing the path.
Restaurants do not open for lunch until 1pm or 1:30, and lunch is taken leisurely in three courses, frequently lasting a good two hours. People commonly eat off the menu of the day, which is a set price for bread, a choice of first and second plates, plus dessert and a beverage, which can be wine, beer, or water. And to top off that big meal and keep you from dozing off at work you drink a coffee afterwards. I like that a dessert option is always fresh fruit like a slice or melon or pineapple. Another common dessert option is plain yogurt, which is creamier, less sour, and less sweet than in the US.
There is no free water here. You have to buy it by the bottle, with or without gas (carbonation). Wine is as cheap as water. Soft drinks are not commonly imbibed. Drink portions are tiny by American standards. No big gulps here. Soda cans are smaller, and juice bottles can be miniscule.
It is hard to find a restaurant which serves dinner before 8pm. We have not yet adjusted to the crazy Spanish schedule, so we eat at home around 6:30 and the kids go to bed between 8:30-9:30pm. So we never eat out for dinner.
The produce here is excellent. Fresh and high-quality. The fruits in particular tend to be seasonal and wonderful. The watermelon and bollo melon in the late summer make my mouth water. The tangerines are sweet and juicy. The pomegranite is not tart at all, and relatively cheap. Tomatoes are amazingly cheap. Carrots are sweet and crunchy. There are traditional produce markets all over the city which are housed in beautiful buildings. Inside a cavernous hall you find various little stands. You approach the counter and they ask you what you want and how much. You do not choose your own produce. They bag and weigh it for you. It took a bit of getting used to, but I like seeing the same person every week and chatting about what is in season.
In order to find asian vegetables and condiments I need to make a special trip to an asian grocery store. I know of only one Korean store where I can buy kimchee. But there are numerous Chinese stores which stock pan-asian goods so I can get frozen dumplings and bao, noodles of all kinds, seaweed and curry paste and all that. I also frequent the Indian market for spices. However, all of these delicacies are pricey.
Spaniards eat a lot of refined bread products. Every block has a bakery, full of various subtle iterations on French and Italian breads. One can find multigrain or whole wheat breads, but most people eat white bread. In the supermarket there is an entire aisle devoted to galletas or biscuits, which are sweet crackers generally eaten for breakfast dunked in milk. They also like magdalenas, which is their word for muffins. Another whole shelf displays various toasts (pan tostado) -- mini slices of white bread which have been crisped. Toasters are not used much. People like their bread pre-toasted and they spread cheese on it and pile ham on top. I like these giant croutons.
How I miss Trader Joe's! Living without a car makes it harder to buy large quantities, so I find myself shopping about every two or three days. At the cash register they ask whether you want bags, and charge you for them. Yet strangely I see few people bringing cloth bags with them to the store. I can't live without my rolling shopping trolley, which makes lugging groceries much easier and makes shopping bags obsolete.
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