Like all food lovers do, I ate my way through Spain. I believe, food is how you see a country best, understand the people and their culture. My love affair with Spain is borrowed. It is my husband who is the Spain-o-phile. He speaks, eats and loves Spain. However, on my few visits to Spain, I fell in love with the food, the warmth, the sunshine and the people.

So, when Shrimoyee asked me to write a post for her blog all I could think about it was the amazing mediterranean food that I have had. Such variety and vibrancy attracted my expat Indian soul. Tapas in England just isn’t enough.

This incredible journey started in Malaga, costa del sol (coast of the sun) and as the name suggests, it was a sunny 15 degrees in December. The wonderful grilled fish on a beachside barbecue, as we enjoyed the view, was one of the highlights of the day. The simplicity of the recipe is what stunned me. No barbecue sauces or salad dressing for the salad was required and the fish and the vegetables on the side were dressed in salt and pepper seasoning with wedges of lemon.

The second delicacy was the ox-tail. Although I ordered rather bravely, I had no idea what would appear on my plate. What if it flicked its tail at me? But what did come to the table was melt-in-the-mouth, succulent and did not taste like a tail (preconceived notions of what a tail might taste like)! You can see the Tortilla Española (Spanish omelette) on the side. I’ve ordered the same menu here in London but, sitting under the sunny skies with an oxtail and San Miguel keeping you company is an unmatchable experience. Ohh! and the man on the street corner was singing ‘chiquitita dime por que’ and strumming the guitar.

My next visit to Spain was to Alicante in Costa Blanca (White coast). Alicante is a joy to the budget traveller. You can stay (in a good hotel), eat and loll around the beach for 250 GBP for two people for two days! The people are friendly, although they speak minimal to no English at all, unlike Malaga. My favourite food memory of Alicante was the paella. We were at a tiny Spanish cafe/restaurant, where they had a separate menu for different kinds of paella. Our’s was the Alicante paella

My next visit to Spain will be in summer 2014 and this one will be a much longer holiday spent in Southern Spain.

Spanish restaurants that I would recommend in London :

Carmen Bar de Tapas in Clapham Common

Camino near King’s Cross station

Amrita Dasgupta

Bio: Amrita is a traveller, food blogger , restaurant reviewer with too many opinions and

interests. When she isn’t jobless, travelling and blogging she is usually looking for and working

at website editorial roles.

For more such foodie adventures follow her blog – driftingtraveller