Home > People

What Do Spanish People Eat?

In: People. No comment. Add one?

People of Spain have longer working days and weeks than the people of any other European country. Therefore, the people of Spain deem it greatly important to eat well throughout the day. Generally, people around the globe consider breakfast as the most important food session of the day. A saying that originated in the Peruvian region goes like this, “you should eat breakfast like a King, lunch as a Prince and dinner as a pauper”. This approach never helps to describe the eating pattern at Spain.

Big breakfast

In majority of the cases, the typical Spain breakfast consists of a quick drink, which may be a cup of orange juice, coffee or chocolate milk. Sometimes, this may be accompanied by a pastry item like croissant. Most Spanish people have this quick breakfast either in a café or bar and never at home.

Before lunch

At about 11 am, they resort to what is known as a “merienda” or elevenses, when they commonly take a “bocadillo” or sandwich prepared from a baguette and stuffed with something like tuna fish, meat, cheese or cured ham. This is a sort of filler occurring between the breakfast and lunch sessions.

Lunch in Spain

In Spain, lunch or afternoon meal is an elaborate affair lasting for about an hour in major cases. The lunch time coincides with the timing for “siesta” and therefore, many establishments and shops remain closed at least for a couple of hours. The state laws in Spain mandate the restaurants provide a “menu del dia”. This is a sort of 3 course menu offered at a standardized price across the nation. This may contain seasonal ingredients and is often found economical than the actual value of the ingredients. The components of a typical “menu del dia” are two or three starters, two or three main courses based on choice, added up with desserts. Sometimes, the menu also includes drinks and bread or a coffee drink.

Dinner in Spain

In the evenings, Spanish people enjoy a coffee. When a typical working day closes at about 8pm, most Spanish people go for a drink to socialize. Most bars give free snack to keep the people coming. Most evening meals in Spain take place at homes at around 9pm or even later. Some of the popular food items consumed in Spain include paella, a dish made of rice and seafood, and tortilla espanola (something similar to cornbread). In most parts of Spain, the restaurants give an option between first dish and second dish with the former consisting of vegetables and the latter consisting of meat.