We have tried hard to fit in to Spain and not give my new found countrymen any cause for concern that us foreign johnnies are any different to them.  We eat at Spanish meal times, we show face at the local Fiestas and Ferias,  we drink Manzanilla and Rioja,  we speak Spanish and in general we blend in which I think is the least you should try to achieve in your adopted country.  However, I do occasionally cause havoc when I say that I do not eat breakfast.  The first time it happened the assembled company stood looking shocked as if I had just announced that I was a mass murderer.  When eventually the shock wore off the man behind the bar said “you don´t eat breakfast?”
We have tried hard to fit in to Spain and not give my new found countrymen any cause for concern that us foreign johnnies are any different to them.  We eat at Spanish meal times, we show face at the local Fiestas and Ferias,  we drink Manzanilla and Rioja,  we speak Spanish and in general we blend in which I think is the least you should try to achieve in your adopted country.  However, I do occasionally cause havoc when I say that I do not eat breakfast.  The first time it happened the assembled company stood looking shocked as if I had just announced that I was a mass murderer.  When eventually the shock wore off the man behind the bar said “you don´t eat breakfast?”  “No” I said.  He looked around the people gathered at the bar including the two friends I was with in search of some explanation as to why I was so weird.  “I have never eaten breakfast even when I was a child”  this made it worse not better as there was a sharp intake of break all round followed by an embarrassed silence.  Quietly they all dispersed leaving me standing there with my Coke Lite like the freak that they quite obviously thought I was.

To not take breakfast in Spain is definitely not normal.  Everyone from the road sweeper to the King eats breakfast.  The hour varies – anywhere between 9 and 12 is acceptable but to not eat it at all is just unheard of and freaks like me who do not drink coffee and are not that fond of toast are singled out for the weirdo gallery.

One of the only times in my life I have been tempted to eat before 1pm was when I lived in Murcia.  Breakfast in the Murcia region is different, different to anywhere else in Spain.  It does not involve toast or jam or indeed butter.  In fact you win a major prize for spotting butter in Murcia.   Breakfast Murcia style is quite different to anywhere else in Spain.  It is a selection of half tapas.  The little plates are generally oval and are half the size of a normal tapas plate.  Breakfast would be 4 or 5 of them with some bread.  My favourite dishes were Patatas al Pobre or poor man´s potatoes.  A wonderful mixture of fluffy potato, peppers and onions fried together in some tasty olive oil with a little salt, pepper and parsley.  Can I tell you they might be called  Poor man´s Potatoes by they are fit for a king.  Other favourites of mine were the slices of cooked ham in olive oil and lemon juice and morcilla sausages with oven roasted cubes of potato and onion or for me the Holy Grail of a Murcian breakfast was the empanada.  A small diamond shaped pasty filled with tuna, boiled egg and red pepper.  With this exciting array of breakfast food I am always a bit embarrassed that the hotels offered the obligatory toast.  I suppose maybe they were trying to offer what they thought was a European flavour but it can never compare.  For me Murica is a relatively safe place to have breakfast.

I was quite surprised at the stark contrast between breakfast in this region and what is served in Madrid for instance.  The Madrileños eat toast, jam, butter and sweet pastries a bit like the French do.  There are chocolate and custard filled cookies, little aniseed cakes and lots of things with apple and honey.  I have to say none of these do much for me at breakfast time but each to their own.

Likewise here on the Costa de la Luz breakfast consist mainly of toast.  The usual butter and jams are available but they also offer you pate, Sobresada a type of fatty meat paste or garlic with tomato.  The latter is a very popular breakfast topping here on the Costa de la Luz for the obligatory toast.  It comes in various forms which range from straight forward grated tomato, to sliced tomato to a concoction called Salmorejo and here they manage to tempt even me on occasion.  Salmorejo is a cream or thin paste made from tomato, bread, wine vinegar, garlic, olive oil and salt.  It needs tender loving care to make a good one but when you get a good one you never forget it.  It is traditional to top the Salmorejo with thin slices of jamon or smoked salmon.  The making of  Salmorejo is an art and every family has its own safely guarded recipe.  It is one of those things that when you get a good one you never forget it and people specifically go to a certain breakfast emporium because their Salmorejo is the best.

Enjoy your breakfast I will be the weirdo in the corner with the Coke Lite in my hand.