Friday April 20th

This evening I went to an olive oil tasting with a group of people in my program. This was something set up by my program and it was a lot of fun and I was stuffed afterwards!

The store we went to to have the tasting is less than 5 minutes from the CLM (Centro de Lenguas Modernas, otherwise known as my school). Normally the store does not hold olive oil tastings because they are so expensive, but this was an exception because we are such a large group.

We started the olive oil tasting by receiving 3 small bowls of olive oil at each table. Each bowl was a different type of olive oil from a different region in Spain. The storekeeper gave each table olive oils from Granada, Huelva, and Cordoba (3 different regions in Andalucia). We taste-tested each oil with bread and then with potatoes. I liked the olive oil from Granada the best because it was the strongest tasting. It had the most olivy taste out of the three. He also put 2 different kinds of olives on the table for us to try as well, but I cannot stand olives (when they aren’t oil), so I didn’t try them.

Next, we were served toasted bread with tomatoes and olive oil. This type of Spanish dish is called Tomaca and is a popular breakfast food. It was really good, I liked it a lot. I actually had not had tomaca till last night, so it was nice to try it. Next came Gazpacho, which is a cold Spanish soup and is made with a lot of ingredients, including: olive oil, vinegar, salt, peppers, dry fennel, garlic, bread, and tomato. All the ingredients are blended together to create the soup. Normally it is drunk out of a cup, but I also dipped bread into it and that was delicious too!

After the gazpacho we were served avocados covered in an olive oil with a lemon flavor. It was great, but the lemon flavor in the olive oil was not my favorite. After that came a slice of tomatoe and a slice of goat cheese; both we covered in olive oil. This is a popular tapas food. After the tomato and cheese we were served fried garlic and olive oil on a lettuce leaf. This was different, but very good. I enjoyed the tastes of the 3 foods together.

I should mention that this entire time we are being served an unlimited amount of bread. At this time I was also becoming very full, and we weren’t even close to being done. 

Next, we were served a small slice of pork loin on bread with olive oil on top. The pork was delicious and made me miss the delicious meats at home. After that we were served a cube of cheese dipped in olive oil. The cheese was very rich, but heavenly.

After all this the dessert portion was about to begin. We were served 2 types of typical Spanish pastries. Olive oil was used to make them. They were delectable. One was basically a sugared donut and the other was a pastry covered in sugar. Finally, we were served dark chocolate ice cream where olive oil was used to cook it. Oh, dear goodness, that was amazing! I love dark chocolate in the first place and making it into an ice cream made it even better.

After the olive oil tasting was over I went with my friends to Café Futbol where I got a cup of ice cream called Copa Futbol and a Tinto de Verano. It was a perfect way to end the night.