As so many people do, I often struggle with what my true identity is. My heritage is rooted in a plethora of places in Europe and India, but my family has remained centrally located in the United States for a while. Throughout the years I’ve closely linked my identity to food. Not only is food delicious, but it connects cultures and reflects influences that have been shaped through numerous historical events.  

Since I have been fortunate enough to travel to several other cities and countries during my semester studying abroad in Madrid, I’ve emphasized trying new foods. Most notably, I try to eat local food at all the places I visit or consciously compare it to other places I’ve had that food. I tried all the Spanish food I could find, from tapas to cochinillo, as you can see. A short train ride away in Valencia, I had the best paella.  

Spain is known for paella, but no place does it quite like Valencia. This is because it’s the birthplace of paella. 

My roommates and I ordered a famous dish, known as cochinillo. It’s delicious, and if you have enough people they serve it as an entire pig! 

On the other hand, I also tried all the diverse foods Madrid has to offer as a major cosmopolitan area. My favorite restaurant is a Michelin-star restaurant, shown below. I wanted to try the entire menu, but obviously, such restaurants are a little pricey.  

The quality of restaurants in Madrid is extremely high, and this means that there are plenty of Michelin restaurants. You can see some of the best desserts I had in Madrid at one such place. 

Some of the other places I loved in Madrid are shown throughout this photoset. This includes enchiladas at an amazing Mexican place, delicious ramen, and stellar Italian food. I even snuck in some more Moroccan food while visiting Marrakesh. 

As a major city, Madrid has almost every cuisine. This includes the delicious Mexican food you see here. 

One of my favorite comfort foods is ramen, so I was happy to see how many ramen places were within walking distance. 

Spain has no shortage of Italian food, which was good for me since it’s my favorite cuisine. 

When I was visiting Morocco, we were treated to homecooked meals through the Airbnb we stayed with. It was extremely fresh and delicious food, and there were many courses as you can see.  

This is a traditional Moroccan meal—complete with tajin, bread, salad, and spiced oranges for dessert. This was prepared for us in our riad and was the pinnacle of homecooked food. 

Moroccan food is prevalent in Spain as well, and here you can see why. It simply looks delicious, and the taste and smell didn’t disappoint. 

I love a good waffle, so I was also ecstatic to visit Belgium and fill myself with chocolate and waffles. This included combining the two with chocolate-covered waffles with strawberries, which can’t be beaten.  

There’s nothing quite like a Belgian waffle in Belgium. This was just one of many I indulged my sweet tooth with. 

One of my favorite trips was to Malta, and part of that was because of the food. As you can see I tried some Maltese pastries and enjoyed every one. They were filled with cheese, peas, or other fillings (I was also surprised by the peas but they were delicious).  

The Maltese pastries were unexpectedly delicious. Here you can see me enjoying them on a cliffside in Malta with a view of the ocean. 

Overall, I found the quality, diversity, and freshness of food abroad to be astounding. Most places I traveled to had food standards similar to Madrid’s. It was amazing to be in Madrid because of the vast number of options for food; you could live here for years and only try a small fraction of the restaurants. I loved being able to partake in so many cultures through food, and it was especially easy to relate because of how food ties into so many cultural identities.