La Comida de Granada

Today my host mom made a delicious lunch of sirloin (el solomillo) in a creamy caper sauce, chicken vegetable soup, and lightly fried cucumbers. We ate at her father's apartment, where we usually have lunch on weekends, which has a beautiful vista de la plaza de Trinidad. Both her and her daughter were named after this plaza because this apartment was both of their childhood homes.   

Trini in her father's kitchen

My host mom is a fabulous cook but rarely has time to spend cooking elaborate meals like this one. She usually spends between a half an hour and an hour cooking lunch everyday and even less for dinner. She said she normally shops for food both in the supermarket and in the local neighborhood stores but goes to each place for different things. For example, she buys her staples like eggs, chocolate, olive oil,  yogurt and butter in the supermarket but goes to smaller shops once a week for fresh meat, fish, bread, and vegetables. All of our fruit comes from my host father who has a farm in Portugal and a local nursery as well.  

Sirloin cooking on the stove mmmmm

Before my host mom goes shopping for food, she makes a list of some of the dishes she wants to make for the week and then decides what to get based on what looks good at the market. Trini says the price of food has doubled in the past few years and believes it has to do with the economical crisis. 

Trini and me after our hard work in the kitchen. I usually help her do simple things like stir or bread meat before frying. I don't think she trusts me to do much else because she is very particular about the way things are done.

Trini says her favorite food to make and eat is paella, a very Spanish dish of rice, vegetables and either seafood, meat, or both. She made it last week for lunch and it was amazing!!

paella

Trini's mother taught her to cook from a very young age and she said she has cooked every day of her life since she was about ten. My host sister on the other hand has no interest in learning any of the family secrets and never enters the kitchen before the meal is served. When she has time, my host mother likes to watch cooking shows on TV to learn more tips from the experts.