La Comida Española

Introduction

Welcome! Through this WebQuest, you are going to learn about the food and culture of Spain.  Meal customs are a window in learning about another culture's beliefs and values.

Have you ever wondered about what people traditionally eat in Spain or other Spanish-speaking countries?  Believe it or not, it's not all about tacos and burritos.  Spain's food and eating customs are quite different from what you might expect!  You are about to embark on a WebQuest that will open your eyes to one of the many wonders of Spain.

Chorizo a la sidra (Spanish-style sausage cooked with Spanish cider)

Task

You will be working in partners.

You will now be using the Internet to help answer some very important questions about the food and culture of Spain.  Each team will get a menu that they need to print in order to keep track of their progress.  In order to move onto a new "course," you will need to have your menu signed by me.

If you struggle with an activity, don’t get discouraged.  Work with your team members.  Take enough time to make sure you are being careful but work at a steady pace so you don’t fall behind.

By the end of this activity, you should be able to answer the following questions:

  • What makes Spanish cuisine special?
  • Where will I find the best places to eat in Spain?
  • What are some of my meal choices in Spain?
  • How are the culture and food of Spain related?
Process

If you have trouble opening any link provided here, please call me over to your computer. First Course: SoupGazpacho (cold tomato soup, eaten in southern Spain on hot days)Let's look at a short video showing us La Boqueria, one of the most famous open-air markets in Barcelona, Spain.  Please click here.  While you are watching the video, please summarize what you saw AND answer the following questions:

  • What looked most appealing to you?
  • What looked least appealing to you?
  • Are you hungry yet?

Second Course: Salad

Salads in Spain are served with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

La Boqueria actually has its own website.  Visit it by clicking here. (Please be sure to check out the portions of the page labeled "The Market" and "Boqueria Food School.")While you are browsing the market's website, answer the following questions:

  • Take a look at the Market Map.  If you went to stalls 230, 485, 742, and 950 what would you be purchasing?  What about the lime green colored stalls?
  • Approximately when did it originate?
  • Why is it located on Las Ramblas (the name of the street)?
  • What kinds of foods can you purchase in La Boqueria?
  • What is the Boqueria Food School?

Third Course: Appetizer

A few examples of Spanish tapas

In Spain, it is very common to go out to eat with a group of friends or family members and enjoy a selection of tapas.  It's similar to going out to eat and, instead of ordering a main dish, each person might order 2-3 appetizers (tapas) and share with everyone.  Check out this site and answer the following questions:

  • What are tapas?
  • When is it most common to go out and eat them?
  • In your own words (and in a short paragraph), please describe the origins and history of tapas.
  • What are some common ingredients found in tapas?  Are there any particular ingredients that you really like? How about ones you don't like?
  • This last page here has a list of some great vocabulary terms that you would need in a tapas bar.  The list is designed to help you get the most out of your tapas experience.  Pick 4 terms from the "general tapas words" column and 2 from the rest.  Define them in a chart/table.

Fourth Course: Main Dish

Paella is considered the nation dish of Spain

Go online and find a minimum of 2 authentic Spanish recipes that look the most delicious to you.  In a separate document, type these recipes (ingredients and steps to prepare them) up so that we can create a class cookbook!  You can choose recipes from any meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks) or any course in a meal (soup, salad, appetizer, main dish, dessert, etc.).  You may NOT find a recipe for an alcoholic drink.  Please be sure to provide a link to your source. Good websites to find authentic Spanish recipes include:

Please note that you are not limited to just these websites.  Feel free to search elsewhere online and find better recipes!Fifth Course: Dessert & CoffeeFlan - A spanish custard-style dessertBased on the information you found, please answer these questions:

  • What makes Spanish cuisine special?
  • Where will I find the best places to eat in Spain?
  • What are some of my meal choices in Spain?
  • How are the culture and food of Spain related?

Bonus: A Second Helping of Dessert

Spain is such a wonderful country for tourists.  Now that you have researched the food of Spain, I would like you and your partner to pick a city in Spain and plan a 5-day vacation there.  Create a PowerPoint presentation with your information and most importantly: include many beautiful pictures.  Don't just describe what you're going to do - SHOW US!5 extra credit points can be earned by presenting your presentation to the class. Some resources for travel information include:

Evaluation
CATEGORY 10 8 6 4
Text - Font Choice & Formatting Font formats (e.g., color, bold, italic) have been carefully planned to enhance readability and content. Font formats have been carefully planned to enhance readability. Font formatting has been carefully planned to complement the content. It may be a little hard to read. Font formatting makes it very difficult to read the material.
Content - Accuracy All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors. Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that might be inaccurate. The content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly flawed or inaccurate. Content is typically confusing or contains more than one factual error.
Spelling and Grammar Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors. Presentation has 1-2 misspellings, but no grammatical errors. Presentation has 1-2 grammatical errors but no misspellings. Presentation has more than 2 grammatical and/or spelling errors.
Use of Graphics All graphics are attractive (size and colors) and support the theme/content of the presentation. A few graphics are not attractive but all support the theme/content of the presentation. All graphics are attractive but a few do not seem to support the theme/content of the presentation. Several graphics are unattractive AND detract from the content of the presentation.
Cooperation Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively all of the time. Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively most of the time. Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively some of the time. Group often is not effective in delegating tasks and/or sharing responsibility.
Conclusion

I hope that you have enjoyed your exploration of the food and culture of Spain!  Maybe, one day when you have some money saved up to travel, you will consider traveling to Spain.  It truly is a beautiful and wonderful country that has a lot to offer.  It has tons of wonderful history, incredible museums, amazing tourist sites, pristine beaches, lush countryside, and outstanding food!

One last question - After learning so much about food, what clues does it give about culture?