Teaching - what exactly does this word mean? In my opinion it is much more than explaining the rules, reading books, doing exercises, it is opening our brains to the world. Each person has his story and when you listen to it you can understand more about cultural differences and problems they usually cause.

Yesterday the Spanish Department of EOI Malaga organised a gastronomy contest. Participants from different countries brought typical dishes from their areas and briefly explained the recipes. Some told jokes or stories.


Do you know the history of sandwich? It is very interesting. The first written usage of the English word appeared in Edward Gibbon's journal, in longhand, referring to "bits of cold meat" as a "Sandwich". It was named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century English aristocrat. It is said that he ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread, and others began to order "the same as Sandwich!"


There were participants who moved during their life several times, that's why some dishes contained ingredients from different countries. For example, a man born in Indonesia who lived in Germany for years made bami goreng - a pasta with German sausages (bratwurst) with Asian-flavoured sauce.


The Italians prepared two pies. One filled with cheese and ham decorated with hearts and another one with spinach. They also made arancini - stuffed fried balls and crepes.


At first I did not know what to prepare because many typical polish dishes are supposed to be hot or at least warm. I made kapuśniaczki - dumplings in two different flavors with cabbage and onion that are usually served during Christmas and with lentils. From the same dough I made rożki - sweet cookies with plum jam and marzipan. What you can see is a Belgian quiche  and Christmas strudel from Slovenia, both made by men :)


My Spanish teacher laughed at that name and called it "Kiss" - "Beso" in Spanish. It has a bit of alcohol and maybe because of this after eating a piece you would like to kiss the others ;)


Surprisingly the food was not the most important thing. Thanks to this contest we could talk about our lives, what we do and why we moved here. Did you know that in Spain there are many emigrants from Syria, who left their whole lives there and had to start all over again. Can you imagine it? The world needs to come together.


Beautiful and tasty sweets from England. There are more things there than fish and chips ;) If you are interested you will find pictures on gallery.