In Spain mealtimes are important.
The social aspect is a major part of Spanish life. The Spanish take pride in cooking local produce and traditional seasonal recipes. So eating as you walk along the street is not as common as it is in other parts of the world. In Southern Spain you are more likely to notice people eating street food on festival days or when Feria comes around, rather than just a typical day.
Here are some of the more typical street eats that you may come across in Andalusia, Spain
- Baked potatoes: A mobile oven is set up when large crowds gather for a festival or street parade. There is typically a small stall next to the oven on a street corner or on a busy square. The floury hot potatoes are topped with cheese and butter.
- Roasted chestnuts: In Autumn and winter it´s wonderful to smell roasted chestnuts in the air. Vendors will have a metal drum with a small fire in the top. The have a battered pan with holes in the bottom to roast the chestnuts in. The chestnuts are served in a white paper cone for you to eat. This natural snack warms your hands on colder winter days.
- Granizado: A drink made from crushed ice. The most common flavor is Lemon, granizado de limon. Often you can also find this in coffee and orange flavours too. This is good choice to cool down on hot summer days.
- Cuña means wedge. In Granada this large chocolate triangular shaped cake is popular with hungry children as they leave school. Apart from these huge cuñas in the bakery there are lots of other pastries on offer too. Croissants, Cañas and Palmeras are popular in Andalusia.
- Salted Sunflower seeds: You may notice children and teenagers eating bags of these while sat on a step or in a park. The distinctive black and white shells are usually left in small heaps on the ground.
- Bocadillo: If you don´t have time to stop for a proper lunch, ask for a bocadillo. A crusty white baguette. Often tomato and olive oil is spread on the bread (rather than butter or margarine) Then it is filled with Spanish ham or manchego cheese. Some places will have a huge variety of fillings and many will happily prepare the baguette for you to take away.
Chocolate and Churros: When village fiestas come around, usually in Spring or Summertime. The night dance and live music will normally begin around midnight after the heat has subsided. So after several hours of dancing, thick hot chocolate and churros may be served to the dancers in the early hours of the morning. This is called ´chocolatada´ . You will also come across Churros sold in small vans or kiosks along the street too. You can get them to take back home or eat there and then.
- Prickly Pears: In August and September you may come across stalls in the street selling prickly pears. These delicious fruits are full of fibre and antioxidants. When eaten chilled, they taste like a natural fruit ice lolly. The problem with picking prickly pears is the sharp needles on their cactus exterior. So buying they ready peeled save yours hands from those painful needles.