Foodie in Spain

I spent the last part of the month of June and all of July in Spain this summer through an immersion program with Middlebury Interactive Language Academy. My time in the program was spent in Granada and afterwards, my parents and brother travelled to Spain and as a family we toured around Andalucía. As an avid food lover I thought I'd start my blogging here with a recount of my favorite food places we ate at. First stop; Granada.

Granada

Coffee - Coffe House Duran

So some people walking by laughed at me for taking this picture but I'm comfortable with my basic-ness

This coffee shop is right next to the Plaza de los Tristes and if you look up you can see the Alhambra. In fact as I was standing on the Alhambra, I could see the coffee shop as well. The coffee shop offers a breakfast buffet in the morning and coffee all day long. I must confess I only ordered one type of coffee both times I went and that was a Frappuccino with chocolate. Now this may sound very typical American city girl, but let me tell you, this was the best gosh darn Frappucchino I have ever had in my life. Starbucks doesn't have anything on this. Normally I don't even like Frappuccinos but the first time I went it was a hot day and the order board advertised an "Iced Cappuccino", a Frappuccino, and for some reason I had never made the connection that a Frappuccino was a cold Cappuccino. And I love Cappuccinos. Anyways, I loved it so much that I dragged my family there when they came over and they also enjoyed it thoroughly, so when in Granada (specifically the Albycin because at the school we weren't allowed to leave that area) try this place out!

Dinner - Il Gondoliere

I was clearly overwhelmed

This whole thing was gone by the end of the meal, not entirely by me though

This was a resturaunte that I went to with my group from my program. We decided on Italian food for one of our nights out in the city and ended up here. The food was delicious, but huge. Let me tell you, my friend Lauren and I split the largest Caprese salad I have ever seen and then I ordered this calzone because I didn't feel like eating a whole pizza and was quite astounded when they brought it out. But the food was delicious and we all shared the food we ordered so I tried a bunch of dishes. It was all very good and a solid Italian place in my book.

Dinner - El Trillo

It took us some time to find this resturaunt since cabs can't take you to the street, they drop you off and you have to walk down through the neighborhoods to find it, but the search is worth it. My family went here on the first night after my program and the food was delectable! I made my family try the salmorejo since I had been telling them so much about our cooking classes, and everything was just as good. The ambiance is charming and the server was the sweetest guy who talked to us about American baseball the whole time.

Pastries - Arab Street near Plaza Nuevo

So as terrible as it is I can't remember the name of the pastry store I fell in love with in the Arab street with all the tea shops near Plaza Nuevo. I even did extensive searches and couldn't come up with anything. It was a small store but they had my favorite piononos that I tried during my time there! Piononos are a sweet pastry native to the Granada region and to me seem like a cinnamon roll topped with toasted cream and drenched in sweet syrup. I fell in love with these small sweats and went to this store a few times to get them. This shop also had really yummy chocolate pie with dried apricots and figs. A dessert after my own heart. I'll try to give the best directions to the store as I can, all I can give it that you walk down the street with all the tea shops and its very near the end. Its a tea, chocolate, coffee, and pasty store. Delicious!

Pastries - Café Fútbol

Only the best food ever

Complete concentration for my first taste

What would a trip to Granada be without chocolate y churros? Incomplete, that's what. Truly, this has become one of my favorite foods. And nowhere seems to be more popular than Café Fútbol. There really isn't much I can say about the cafe that it doesn't say for itself or a bit of the churros and chocolate says. Really, just go, you won't regret it!

Ice Cream - Los Italianos

Famous Cassata

Los Italianos is the most famous and best ice cream in Granada, as I was told. I have to say it was really good ice cream and the interior is very hip and modern. This ice cream here is the also famous cassata ice cream. I really can't begin to describe what the flavor is, I thought it was like a Neapolitan...it't nothing like a Neapolitan. But it's delicious and totally unique, a must try for any idea cream lover.

Ice Cream - Heladería Sabbore

This ice cream store is part of a chain found all over Granada but the reason I'm including it in my post is because they have my new and absolute favorite ice cream flavor...queso con higos!! Cheese with figs, need I say more?! It's delicious and slightly tangy and not too sweet and truly my absolute favorite flavor ever. Everyone has to go try it. Now.

Cordoba

Lunch - Food Market

My family only spent part of a day in Cordoba touring the Grand Mosque/Cathedral there but we stopped in this food market in the heart of the old town and they had tons of different types of cuisine. My brother choose the Medditeranean food section and I had some of the best hummus, falafel, and baba ganoush ever. I highly recommend trying to find this market, its indoors with courtyards inside, and exploring all the food they offer.

Seville

Dinner - La Isla

This dinner was fantastic. Hands down one of my favorites from the trip. My family was the only group there when we first started eating and it was even more fun for me because the waiters didn't speak great English so I translated and ordered for my parents. I was being a bit of a show off. The food was so worth it, my favorites included my brothers shrimp appetizer and my fideos with seafood (like paella but with noodles). It was the most amazing dish and I even asked the waitress for the recipe and one of the men working there said it was a secret, but they gave it to me anyways. I was in love. Absolutely stunning food.

Gibraltar

Dinner - El Faro

Though Gibraltar technically isn't a part of Spain, it's part of the United Kingdom, it is part of the Iberian Peninsula and we didn't spend enough time there to warrant its own post about food. So here it is. El Faro, this restaurant. I cannot tell you how much my family and I enjoyed this resturaunte. The food was superb and it was right next to the new harbor hopping with casinos and restaurants. They obviously specialize in seafood and it did not dissapoint. My dad and brother ordered the seafood paella and I must admit to eating a good portion of theirs. An absolute must visit in Gibraltar.

Marabella

Lunch - Smoky Joes

Who doesn't love a good Knickerbocker Glory?

Breakfast? Yes please

When we were driving to Malága from Gibraltar we stopped for about two hours in Marabella to visit what is hailed as the Monaco of Spain. It's true, the amount of fancy sports cars and the brand name stores really feel like a playground for the rich and famous, just on a smaller scale. Though I didn't get to drive a sportswear, we had fun walking the boardwalk and window shopping. We stopped for breakfast/lunch, I guess a brunch, at Smoky Joes. I wasn't feeling super hungry so of course only ate ice cream, but my parents got the four cheese pizza and that was delicious as well. The resturaunt was very trendy and open air so you could see all the people walking by and smell the sea air. Very fun and very delicious!

Málaga

Lunch - Mosaico

Cutest tea set

My friends Lauren and Rebecca chose this restaurant due to a craving for falafel when we visited Málaga with our school. I ordered their hot tea and it came in this very beautiful tea set and tasted amazing. My friends said the falafel was also very good and we would have tried more but we only stopped here for a snack. When I return to Málaga I will absolutely return to try more, it was very cute and the menu looked fantastic.

Dinner - Reserva del Pastor

One big reason I wanted my family to dine here was due to the outdoor seating. The restaurant sits on a windy side street in Málaga and the outdoor seating consists of sitting in the street watching the people stroll by. It's the most adorable and European feeling sidewalk seating, and gives me the feeling I crave for in traveling. The food was again delicious (why would I write about it if it wasn't? :) and uniquely the bread they give is a bagel! And they serve croquettes! What more could you ask for?

Food In General

Along with all the amazing restaurants we visited in Spain, there are some general foods that I wanted to mention that I didn't get in a particular place, we had them all over, or specifically in our college.

First - Salmorejo

This tomato puree essentially is one of the most delectable foods I have tried and I ate it almost every morning for breakfast on toast. It's served cold and tastes amazing on all sorts of bread and toast especially topped with avocado or hard boiled egg. We learned how to make this dish in our cooking class in Granada and I replicated it when I got home and now have a nice tub sitting in my fridge!

Second - Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish Tortilla)

My new comfort breakfast choice. It is a tortilla made of fried potatoes and egg and truly amazing. Another recipe I learned to make in my cooking class, but haven't replicated yet! Another must try in Spain

Third - Croquettes

New favorite food. I cannot tell you how much I freaking love croquettes. In our final week at camp I ate 11 of them in one sitting, along with two servings of tortilla de patatas. These are just fried filling and my favorites are spinach ones and eggplant ones. I can't gush about these enough. Truly stupendous. To die for.

Now if you're like me and love exploring unique and delicious restaurants in new countries, I hope this post gives you a little guidance to start with and inspires your foodie discoveries in other places!