Finding or making comfort food while abroad

Back in the states I ate a lot of homecooked Mexican meals, Chinese takeout, and wings. So, living in a residence hall in a new place with little knowledge of what was around, it took a while to figure out how to make meals or find substitutions. The odd eating hours and grocery shopping culture also did not help at times. No one really eats a big breakfast, lunch is from 2 until around 4, and dinner starts at the earliest at 8pm. And that some grocery stores are closed or close early on Sundays or are closed during lunch hour. You also can’t forget your reusable bag or trolley unless you don’t mind paying the 10-20 cents extra for your bag. 

I personally missed lemon pepper wings. I tried three times to make them, and they didn’t come out as good as the ones I get from a pizza place near my house. But they were something interesting and helped with the cravings for them. I bought sunflower oil to fry the wings with and preferred Dia when buying wings. Having a kitchen to myself in the residence hall helped a lot in trial and errors. I think I might ask to be shown how to make them when I return home as I am not the best at making them. It was also hard because there is no lemon pepper seasoning in Spain. I had to ask a friend to buy some in Switzerland but even that seasoning was different tasting. So, if you have a specific spices for food, I suggest looking it up with “country name” after and if it is not available to take some in your checked bag. I saw some being sold on Amazon Spain for $20 plus about $30 for shipping making it about $50 which for a 1.5-pound container was way overpriced. Even a small 7oz bottle is $10 plus $20 shipping.

I did also miss the tamales my dad makes. Those were easier to get as my parents came to visit me and brought them with them. He brought me about a dozen and a few extras for my classmates. It was quite nice to see other people that missed tamales enjoy the food my dad brought.

Aside from that it wasn’t too hard to find foods I missed like Chinese food or ramen places. I tried two ramen places, Shifu and Buga. They are both near Plaza Mayor and their prices were reasonable. A meal at each place was around 15 euros but it did include an appetizer, the main dish, and a drink. I will say I enjoyed Shifu more than Buga, the atmosphere of Shifu was more to my liking. 

I only went to one Chinese place, Gran Pekin. Despite that it was a nice place for Chinese food. I went with a friend and got arroz frito con ternera (fried rice with beef). I will advise that the dishes do not come with sides like at some Chinese places in the states. So, you will have to ask for white rice along with your main dish or anything along those lines. However, the prices are reasonable and if you share dishes with someone it works out. Me and my friend got two main dishes, and the portions were big so I gave her some of my fried rice for her to eat with her pollo agridulce (sour and sweet chicken) 

If you like kebabs, then Spain is the place to be. There are so many kebab places, it is a bit insane. Just on one street there are at least 3 or 4 kebab places. All have their own menus and variation but if you go out late at night and need some food, kebab places are your best friend. Especially the ones near Plaza Mayor and Gran Via, their open hours are almost catered to late night shenanigans.

All in all, if you have specific foods you want to make while living abroad try to do some research before coming to see if you might need to bring some ingredients along. Not just Salamanca but other cities and countries may not have what you need to make that meal you will definitely miss while living abroad.