Among many other reasons, such as its wonderful weather, the quality of its beaches, its history, its varied landscape, the kindness of its people and our way of life, Spain is different because of its food. Our food culture is present everywhere at all times of the day. Our day is structured and planned according to our meal times, and we make sure that we have plenty of time to enjoy our two or three-course meals. No social gathering or celebration is complete without something to eat at the beginning, end and/or during that particular event.
The Spanish language is not immune to this and food terms are quite common in the everyday language. We use them as metaphors, mainly to express our state of mind or our mood at a particular moment: from churros to pumpkins, bread or potatoes, there are hundreds of words that we use to express how we feel or to describe qualities or even actions. These food expressions are mainly part of the spoken language, and can be used in many different situations.
Names of vegetables and fruits are particularly prominent in this respect: tomates, espárragos, peras, patatas, even some spices like the one Homer Simpson uses here. Do you know which one it is?
Listen to this Language Bite, by the Languages Service at Radio CEU and learn some more…
