Broken Eggs

For the first post in a series of international food blogs, we will virtually visit the beautiful European country of Spain. Honors student Rachel Bower studied abroad in Spain this past summer and offers some wonderful insight into her experiences abroad and her favorite Spanish dish.

“What I learned is that the Spaniards love their potatoes, ham, and eggs,” Bower said. “There are ham stores with ham hocks hanging in the windows on basically every corner.”

El Escorial monastery sits 45 miles outside of Madrid.

Huevos Rotos is a dish that contains all three of these important ingredients. Huevos Rotos translates to broken eggs, and this dish is named such because it involves frying an egg until it is perfectly over easy and then breaking the yolk right before it is eaten. While on her trip to Spain Rachel not only got to explore diverse culinary options, but also says that her Spanish greatly improved. Every weekend they would travel to different cities and take classes during the week.

“We went to Madrid so much that I felt like I knew my way around, which was a pretty awesome feeling to know where you are in a foreign city,” Bower said.

She got to take a class taught by a friar who lived at the famous El Escorial monastery across the street from her school. Rachel encourages anyone who is considering studying abroad to follow through with the decision and do it.