El desayuno
The first meal of the day is el desayuno. As you know, the Spanish-speaking world consists of many countries and much diversity, hence eating habits and foods cannot be generalized as they can vary greatly from country to country or between urban and rural areas. In some places, such as larger cities in Spain, breakfast might consist of:
In contrast, a stereotypical North American breakfast, might include the following:
Alicia Cano, estudiante de intercambio de España, está hablando con Pablo Pajares, de San Diego, California.
| Alicia | No me gusta comer mucho en el desayuno. Por lo general, tomo café con leche y como un bollo o una tostada. A veces como un yogur. |
| Pablo | Yo prefiero un desayuno fuerte. Siempre que tengo tiempo como huevos o panqueques con salchichas y tomo café y un vaso grande de jugo de naranja. Cuando tengo prisa y no me queda mucho tiempo para desayunar como por lo menos una porción grande de cereal con leche, y un jugo de naranja. |
La comida
Foto: Mario Sánchez Bueno CC BY-SA 2.0
The main meal of the day is la comida (in Spain) or el almuerzo (in Latin-America). Depending on the country, it is eaten between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m.
You will have noticed that the word comida may be used to refer to food or to a meal.
Compare this type of mid-day meal with a typical lunch in the U.S., which might consist of:
un sándwich de jamón, pavo, rosbif, atún o queso- una hamburguesa con queso y papas fritas
- una ensalada
- requesón con fruta
- un refresco
Ejercicio
La cena
La cena is the evening meal eaten in large cities after 9:00 p.m. It might include:
It is useful to know that in Spain you don’t have to wait to eat until 10:00 p.m. when the restaurants start serving dinner. Fortunately, there are tapas, which in many places (tapas bars, tascas, or cervecerías) are served throughout the afternoon and evening. Ir de tapas is immensely popular in Spain, and in fact, many Spaniards will skip la cena and dine on tapas instead. You will learn more about tapas in the Esbozos Culturales, but since we’re on the subject, you might like to know that Ir de copas is equally popular in Spain.
La merienda:
Foto: JaulaDeArdilla CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
La merienda is a light snack. In Spanish-speaking countries, as in the United States, children will have their merienda after coming home from school.
As previously noted, from country to country, there are considerable variations in the types of foods that are eaten during the various meals. You will find out more about these variations in the Esbozos Culturales section.
Vocabulario útil antes de ver el video…
| Tienes mal aspecto | Salchichas | Comida pesada |
| Grasa | El postre | Pastel de chocolate |
| Tocino | ¿En qué estabas pensando? | Poco saludable |
| Ligero | Arroz blanco | Plátano |
| Llevar una dieta saludable | Cuentan conmigo |
