La Comida de Raquel
Raquel is my host mom in Granada. I've gotten a lot closer with her over the past two weeks. I'm not sure if it's because my Spanish has gotten better, or I've just grown in respect and love for her in general. All I know is that especially after today, I'm going to miss her a lot. Tonight I had the privilege of talking with her more about food and her recetas (recipes). Overall Raquel is a great cook. She reminds me of my mom when I was younger. I used to have so many things going on running from school to dance practice to violin lessons... I almost had no time to eat so my mom had to make something quick. Although at times I'm a bit tiquismiquis (picky/ fussy) about my food, I do appreciate all of the time and effort she puts in to cook for me and the entire family.
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| Raquel looking guapa (beautiful) in her fancy red suit (this is her Facebook profile picture - yes, we are friends on FB, and yes, just like any other mom, she likes ALL of my posts. I think it's so cute). |
From the beginning of my stay in Granada, I knew that the kitchen was Raquel's domain. Our apartment is fairly small, and it's hard to walk through the kitchen when someone else is cooking or looking through the refrigerator. For this reason, when Raquel is in the kitchen... only Raquel is in the kitchen - she's like the super mom of cooking sometimes because I think she takes food very seriously considering it's also her job. She works in the pizzeria making the pasta and salads which my father here, Alberto, prepares the pizza and the prep-work. When Raquel comes home she relaxes for about an hour and then begins to prepare dinner. Most times I eat at the pizzeria for lunch, but sometimes when I come home she has food out for me and my brother, Xabi. It's safe to say that because she cooks for a living, her food is usually pretty great.
Today, during my entrevista (interview), I learned that when my family used to live in the north of Spain, Raquel cooked more extravagant meals. She said she had more free time there. Most of her meals today are inspired by the north, and from the few specialties I've tried, I enjoy them a lot. She thinks I'm crazy that I don't like cold things, however. I don't like to eat cold meats or cheeses usually (except Jamon because I'm an addict to that stuff), and I especially hate cold liquids - except milk. My family eats most soups cold, and only their milk warm. It's funny how that works out.
Raquel likes to buy most of her groceries at small tiendas (stores). She said she goes to the supermercado for things like flour, or baking necessities, but because my family here doesn't really like dulces (sweets), they don't go there often. Overall, she said she hates going to grocery shopping (sounds exactly like my mom), which is funny because grocery shopping is one of my favorite hobbies to relax. I'll probably regret saying that in ten years. Raquel likes to send Alberto to do the shopping because when he goes he pauses, reads labels, compares prices and ingredients, talks with strangers, etc. Raquel likes to be in and out as fast as possible. This dynamic is exactly the same in my family. My dad always goes to the store with a list, and comes home with half the list and double the amount of random products our family does not need. My mom is a swift shopper - in, out, done.
According to my family, prices of things have gone up in the past couple years as well. For those who don't know the economy of Spain isn't at it's best, and this has resulted in a lot of changes in the lifestyle of the Spanish people, as far as I can tell. My parents here live a very frugal lifestyle, which I've grown to admire a lot because I'm not good with money, and I've always been a frivolous spender (cough, cough at Zara). Raquel said that mostly fruits and vegetables have skyrocketed in prices, but other things remain cheap. In the US this is similar I think. Usually the healthiest foods cost the most. However, I still believe that fruits and vegetables here are decently cheaper than in the states, however I could be wrong. Apparently all meat has continuously been expensive because it's about quality. Raquel refuses to buy pre-cut meat like most of the meat sold in EEUU (USA). She always goes to a tienda that we would consider similar to a "butcher shop." She likes when the meat is cut fresh and as she said, "Carne solo para mi," as she winked and giggled to herself.
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| Picture of the label on the fillet. In dollars, 10.79 is 12.22 dollars for three pieces of meat/ steak. I'm not sure if this is typical or expensive because I'm not usually the one who purchases the meat at my house. However, Raquel said that she'd rather buy fresh, expensive meat that she knows she likes rather than buy cheap meat nobody will eat. I am the same way with food. I think it's always about quality. |
As far as preparation time, she said it depends on the day. During the week she likes to cook quickly, and because my brother Xabi doesn't eat much (I swear it's only patatas frita, huevos, y sal) it's fairly easy. I think I've made it a bit harder because I don't each much fish, but I've been attempted to expand my palette. When she doesn't have time to cook, we eat at the pizzeria, which at first I wasn't sure about, and although sometimes I do get tired of the carbohydrates, I do love, love, love her lasagna con jamon y manchego cheese.
While cooking, Raquel always uses the stovetop. The oven itself hasn't ever been on in my house, and I think it's only used for storage of pots and pans. She detests the microwave and only uses it for leftovers. Raquel only cooks with olive oil and everything has olive oil in it.
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| The enemy |
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| Where the magic happens todos los días |
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| Aceite de Oliva |
In fact, yesterday I volunteered to cook for my family here. Because many of the recipes I know without looking up on the internet, or reading from a book, contain frozen ingredients, I had to do a lot of thinking about something easy and cheap I could make. I decided on making chocolate chip pancakes with sausage and eggs. In my family in the states we often eat breakfast for dinner. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and that's usually when I eat most at home. Here my family doesn't even eat breakfast besides the occasional cup of cereal and when I say cup, I literally mean mug - coffee mug - half full with cereal (I call that a bite).
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| Chocolate chip pancakes, maple sausage, and scrambled eggs. A typical american breakfast which sometimes people eat for dinner. I could eat the american breakfast for every meal. Looking back I should have made Hash Browns because Papas fritas are so popular here... |
While I was cooking my pancakes I used butter to grease the pan (What is life without Pam cooking spray?!). My host sister was SO confused. She was sent by my mom because Raquel doesn't trust me in the kitchen alone (her domain). My sister, Lorena, watched me the whole time as I put chocolate in our dinner. Lorena told me I needed to use olive oil for pancakes, which made me laugh out loud. She also found the smell of sausage links curious because I had cooked them with authentic maple syrup from Michigan.
However despite all of the confusion, my family loved my meal. Apparently their american daughter last year made spicy, vegetarian chili that nobody liked which made me nervous. Alberto ate all of the pancakes almost, and my sister decided she wanted to eat maple syrup everyday. My mom liked the sausages a lot with their hint of maple sweetness, and even my brother tried some eggs and pancakes. He must have liked them because he ate more than normal, however he wouldn't admit this because he had been so sassy earlier (sigh, boys).
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| My family before eating dinner. Yes, we had wine with our meal. I laughed a bit that I was drinking a tinto de verano (red wine with fanta limon) while eating pancakes. We also had some chicken and potatoes for mi hermano. |
Today for dinner I watched Raquel make a fillet, with pimientos (peppers) some freshly cut garlic, and soup (which she proudly proclaimed was caliente - hot). She cooked everything on the stove top, per usual. As I learned in my Spanish class, the people of Spain don't use many spices. My mother cooks only with different raw vegetables to add different flavors. I enjoy the true taste of these things a lot, and I'm really fortunate in the fact that I'm used to the taste of olive oil and like it a lot.
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| Pimientos Verdes! I love all types of peppers, and I especially love when Raquel makes these. She says she only likes the green ones "fritos" and the red ones plain/ raw. |
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| Preparation of the food. She wouldn't let me take a photo of her cooking because she was in her "ropa de case." I couldn't blame her much though because it was only 8:00pm here, and was already in my PJ's and slippers. I joke with my host sister "soy una abuela," because sometimes she's out till 4 am on weeknights! Es LOCO! |
Most of Raquel's recipes come from a giant book she showed me today. She also stores her personal recipes in there too. I'm going to have to steal some for my family back home because I know one of my aunt's (who is an excellent cook - Hi Aunt Grace) is dying to try different foods. She also has a bag of recipes that she learned when she was younger, however she credits her cooking abilities only to herself - apparently her mom didn't teach her much. She also made a point to tell me that the north is better with respect to food. Actually, everyday someone in my family makes sure to tell me that something from the north is better than something here. It's really funny considering that one of the first things I learned culturally here in my class was the differences between the people of the north and south, and the stereotypes these people have. I've had the ability to see the differences first hand, and I assure you they are at least a bit true.
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| Raquel's Bible |
Raquel says she doesn't enjoy cooking recipes from the south of Spain mostly because they don't agree with her preferences. I think this is why my food is different at times from other friends in the program. However, Raquel did say she enjoys trying new recipes from friends here or adding her own twist to them.
Toward the end of making dinner, I asked my mom if she liked cooking shows, and she said yes. However, she didn't tell me exactly which shows she specifically likes because she needed to rush to work. I truly do appreciate the work she puts in being a mother to not only me, with my weird likes and dislikes and my lack of communication at times, but also to Xabi who is a typical middle-school aged boy, and Lorena, the sassy older sister who always has something to say. It was a bit sad today talking with Raquel, I got a little nostalgic. Having less than two weeks left has made me very distracted lately. I have no desire to leave. At all. I finally feel as though I'm comfortable with my friends, my class, my family, my surroundings, my city.... I guess that just means I have to really embrace the rest of my time here - which I fully intend to do.
Besos,
Iza
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