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Old 09-24-2008, 05:25 AM   #1 (permalink)
little_tippler
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Eating Habits Around the World

I have just been to Spain and was thinking about how differently the Spanish eat their food compared to the Portuguese. Also, Cynthetiq mentioned to me how different eating in Spain was from eating in the US.

It got me thinking how differently people eat all over the world, even in countries that are side by side. Still confused? I know we all eat the same, and can eat the same foods, but there are differences.

Here are some thinks that struck me while in Spain:
  • In Spain, a typical lunch or dinner could be tapas (small plates with bits of this and that to pick and choose) or you can have a primero and segundo. This is like a 1st and 2nd courses. But not typical ones. In some places it means a first dish of fish then a second dish of meat. But usually it means, a first of carbs and veggies, and a second of just meat or fish. Which is weird and frustrating to me. Why would I want to have a plate of tomato rice, all on its own, then have a plate of fried fish, all on its own? Or a plate of potatoes in mayonnaise, then a plate of shrimp? Always separately. In fact, some of my Spanish friends who come to Portugal will make a point of eating the rice/pasta/potatoes first, then eat the “protein” totally separately. Personally, I like the Portuguese habit of being served one plate with a bit of “protein”, a bit of “carbs” and a bit of vegetables. Makes it more interesting, not to mention more nutritionally balanced. To me anyway.
  • Often times, the tapas dishes don’t really go together. I saw a group of three people eating tapas and here is what they ordered: first, a plate of scrambled eggs, to split between them. Then, a plate of cheese and ham croquetes (small breaded sausage shaped rolls that are fried, made from a smooth paste of cheese, flour, eggs and bits of ham – in portugal we make them with meat and chorizo) between them. Then a place of some cubed stewed meat in a sauce. I found this sequence quite weird. Maybe it’s just me.
  • In Spain, eating hours are different to Portugal. They are flexible in most places (in Madrid you can eat at any time though lunch is typically at 2pm and dinner at 9-10pm; in Portugal lunch is from 1pm and dinner from 8pm), but in others it can be strange. Once I was in a café and sat down for a meal with a friend. We saw some small plates of presunto (similar to prosciutto but the Spanish/Portuguese version) and we pointed out to the waiter we'd like to eat that before our meal. To which he swiftly replied: "no, that no". We inquired why not, and he said "this is not the right time to eat that". We were stumped but took his word for it. You see, it was sitting there, we could pay for it, wanted to eat it, but weren't allowed to. I never did figure out what this meant.

What are the eating habits in your country? When you have travelled, have you ever noticed strange eating habits in foreign lands?
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We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.


Fernando Pessoa, 1918
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