Spanish foreign exchange student, Claudia España, whisks up a traditional meal

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”About Claudia”]From Madrid, Spain, Claudia Espana

[dropcap size=small]C[/dropcap]oming from the capital of Spain was an adjustment for Claudia Espana to live a more small town Paso lifestyle.

“I live in a big city so one of the differences is in Spain we live in apartments, not houses like you do here,” Espana said.

Along with the big-city small-city change, Espana also had to leave her family behind. “I love my family, I live with my mom, my dad, and my brother,”said Espana whose brother, Carlos, is eighteen and is onto his senior year of high school in Spain. Her mom works in a nursery school and her dad works with Enterprise Car Rental.

Espana, a foreign exchange student from Madrid, Spain, came to the United States seven months ago on an adventure. As much as she enjoys the new experience, there is always something nice about the things from home.

“I miss the bread. There isn’t any good [bread] here,” Espana said. In Europe most of the bread and wheat products are made from a softer wheat than American bread, resulting in a denser and less gluten filled bread, according to drlaurendeville.com.

Espana’s favorite Spanish meal is paella, a seafood and rice dish. “Yes [I’ve tried American paella]. It was good, but it was not paella. It looks like paella, but it doesn’t taste like paella. It just tastes like rice with different spices and sauce, but it still tastes good,” Espana said. “I love American food! But it’s not very healthy. American food has lots of grease, like hamburgers and hot dogs”

Tortilla espanola is a Spanish omelette, with main ingredients of eggs and potatoes. “[This dish] is special because its a typical Spanish dish and because my mom and grandma taught me how to make it. My favorite thing about this meal is that it is really easy to make.” [/cbtab][cbtab title=”Recipe”]

Ingredients:

5 potatoes
6-9 eggs
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

1. Cut the peeled potatoes into thin rounds
2.  In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil to a slight shimmer
3. Put the potatoes until they are cooked all the way through, making sure they aren’t crispy, keeping a low heat.  
4. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat them.
5. Put the eggs into pan with the potatoes. Let the first side of the omelette cook
6. Place a large plate on top of the pan and side the omelette off so it flips onto the uncooked side
7. When the mixture has browned on the bottom of both sides then it’s done. Garnish with salt and peppers for taste.[/cbtab][/cbtabs]