the guiri gourmet

Over my two years here, I would like to think that I've created a niche for myself. I have an identity, you could say. And that identity revolves around baked goods. I'm, depending on the person, "la chica de las tartas," "esa, quien hace galletas," and "la chica del pastel." (translation: the girl with the pies; that one, who makes cookies; the girl with the cake) My identity depends not a bright smile or a quick wit, but rather, solely on the things that I make with my hands and put in the oven. Which in Spain, is no small feat. No only do you have to find the ingredients, but dessert, although it clearly exists, isn't really that big of a deal here. A typical dessert is a piece of fruit or a yogurt, so you can imagine the first impression a brownie makes. It's like a chocolate explosion in your mouth. Delicious. There are imitations of American baked goods, of course, but being modest, mine are better. One, I use butter, not olive oil. One bakery, Happy Day, sells overpriced plastic looking cupcakes and frisbee-like cookies. And VIPS, the popular chain with American-style food, has a brownie on the menu. Two, I know what I'm doing. I can make chocolate chip cookies in my sleep. I even made them with my third grade afterschool English class. We learned words like mix, stir in and bake. Incredibly useful in my world.