find a lovely life

Traveling isn’t always about learning something about yourself or discovering something new, sometimes traveling is about eating.

Last summer, I took my mom to Spain and we ate and drank our way around Barcelona, Madrid and Seville with stops in between. Okay, okay I know you’re like…I didn’t click this link for a mother-daughter story, I came here to drool, so here’s what to eat in Spain.

Paella

This might be an obvious choice or a surprise. Paella originates from a region called Valencia in Eastern Spain. You’ll find it everywhere in Spain. My advice is to eat it closer to where it’s from. We had ours in Barcelona.

Another tip we learned was that a lot of places freeze individual sized paellas and often times these don’t taste as good as a full dish that is prepared fresh for a group. If you can, I would recommend finding a place that serves it for a table and not by individual serving.

Tapas

But what are Tapas? They’re small shareable plates that usually come with 3-4 of what it says on the menu. Think appetizer but it’s really a dinner entre in Spain. In Spain, the big meal is lunch and they cook it at home. Dinner to Spaniards is a social thing. It’s drinks and tapas with friends.

My mom and I were full with about 4-5 plates. We ate a lot of tapas.

One of the best plates I found was chuletas de conejo con patatas fritas. at Taberna Laredo in Madrid. Now if you put that in google translate you’ll get—rabbit chops with chips. Seriously. But these were so good.

While I like to do my research and find a place to eat, I also like to pull up Google Maps while in my hotel and find places around me. The best food you’ll ever find anywhere you travel is where the locals are. My mom and I were the only tourists in this place, and while it might have shown, I didn’t care that I was having an out of body experience in front of all these locals. I ate good food and that’s all that mattered.

Shout out to my mom for putting up with my walking to find the best place and not settling for the tourist traps. I know you finally realized I was right when you ate your favorite animal and felt both guilt and satisfaction. You’re welcome. Don’t kill me.

Croquetas

Now for one of my favorite tapas. Croquetas are basically fried bite sized pieces of heaven. They can be filled with cheese (queso), ham (jamón), or my absolute favorite…croquetas negras de pulpo (black squid ink). Don’t do that, I see your sour face. Just trust me. They’re amazing. I think I ate them if not every meal, at least every other meal, in a day. Yeah. I ordered them everywhere.

Churros Con Chocolate

Now, let’s finish this off with the dessert: Fried churros and chocolate dipping sauce. A specialty in Spain and the food locals go to get after a late night (early morning) of dancing—churros con chocolate.

I ate these so fast. It took me longer to find the place I wanted to try these than I spent ordering and dunking these things in the chocolate and then into my mouth.

You can get these pretty much anywhere but I wanted to classic and the best. Think of it as trying to find beignets just like Cafe Du Monde but they’re just not the same. If you’re gonna go for these, the right way to go is in Madrid at Chocolateria San Gines.

What are your favorite things to eat in Spain?

Are you planning your trip now that you drooled?