I tried these, and it felt so special to be a part of such a long tradition. They tasted like Yuca/Cassava, or some people say, sweet potato. This is just one way that their food is integrated into their culture.
Food here is integrated into the Spanish culture is through their traditional style for eating dinner -- tapas! Tapas are small plates of food that are meant to share. So, if you go out to eat with family or friends you order five or six plates of different foods to share. I love this style of eating because it makes you feel like a part of a larger group. You have to take everyone into consideration when ordering, and make sure that everyone gets enough to eat. It’s like having a family dinner everywhere that you go!
The dishes are each made fresh and brought out as soon as they are ready so that you eat each plate before it gets cold. Some common tapas are croquetas (a deep fried ball of dough and meat), pimientos de padron (roasted green peppers with olive oil and salt) and patatas bravas (fried potato wedges with a spicy tomato based sauce and, sometimes, garlic mayonnaise).
Another way that food is integrated into the Spanish culture, is that their foods come from their local environments. Two examples of this are their jamon (ham) and their pulpo (octopus). Jamon is a very popular meat that is special because of the pigs' diets. Here, the pigs that are used for jamon feast on acorns that drop from the local trees. They also get a lot of exercise going up the hills to reach these acorns.
