Michael Keller, Pitt in Spain Summer 2023
Prior to engaging in the Pitt in Spain study abroad program, I hardly put much thought into food or the act of eating. From the perspective of a student in the United States, I always found eating to be more of a chore than an act of enjoyment. However, once I spent some time in Spain, the process of eating was treated with the utmost amount of respect. Every meal time – breakfast, snack, lunch, merienda, and dinner – was cherished and filled with nutritious, yet highly enjoyable foods. For example, breakfast usually consisted of a pastry and coffee, while lunch was the heaviest meal of the day with food options like protein, potatoes, and vegetables. Dinner was relatively late and light, usually taking place around 9:00 or 10:00 at night. Postre, or dessert, was also treated differently in Spain than in the United States; oftentimes, it consisted of fruit and yogurt, rather than food items like ice cream or cake. Over the course of the month that I spent in Spain, I quickly learned that food is considered to be the “window to the soul”. In this way, I adapted my eating habits to be more meaningful, and to appreciate the act of eating a little bit more.
As part of the Pitt in Spain study abroad program, I was able to engage with the food culture of Spain quite frequently. During the program, I had access to a dining hall. However, eating in the dining hall was optional. Many students chose to eat elsewhere, permitting us to delve into the food culture of Spain more profoundly. Most of the time we would elect to eat at restaurants near the campus of the University of Alcalá. This has given me the opportunity to eat a wide variety of new foods. Some of the new foods that I tried over the duration of this trip include paella, fried sardines, and Spanish tortilla. Paella – a mixture of rice, spices, and seafood cooked in a pan – from Barcelona was by far my favorite dish that I have tried.
The food in Spain reflected the resources that the country has access to. Therefore, many of the dishes in Spain consist of resources acquired from the surrounding sea, such as fish and seafood. My diet had to adjust to Spain; in this case, I ate much more fish and seafood than I normally do in the United States. Also, almost every meal in Spain is accompanied by some variation of bread. I had to adapt my eating habits to greater amounts of seafood and bread, which I actually ended up thoroughly enjoying. I love seafood normally, but Spain’s version of octopus, salmon, and tuna was tremendously satisfying and flavorful. Overall, I feel as though the eating habits I adopted in Spain were extremely healthy. Now that I am back in the United States, I plan to incorporate some Spanish dishes and eating habits into my diet.
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