New Friends & Iced Coffee

The man seated next to us had just finished eating his dinner then moved a few plates forward to make room for a laptop computer.  When the waiter arrived to clear away the plates, the man made a request we were unable to hear. Minutes later, the waiter returned with a steaming café cortado, and glass containing a few large ice cubes. We watched as he added sugar to the cortado and stirred it briskly with the tiny spoon. He dumped the cortado onto the ice without spilling a drop, and began to enjoy his iced drink. We had been to this restaurant several times, and had visited Spain before, but we had not seen this familiar combination outside of New England.  When we asked for iced coffee before, and in Spanish, we were presented with such a sense of bewilderment, that we just gave up trying. The man noticed our fascination with his ritual and smiled, he asked in perfect English if we thought his was a strange custom.  We became fast friends over discussions of food, and various customs of the Catalans and the Spanish, politics and travel.

We made new friends that evening in Barcelona through the simple act of sharing a love of food.  This past summer we were been able to visit, and rekindled our friendship over

food. Jordi and Cristina (our new friends) treated us to a home cooked Catalan meal served on a Saturday afternoon. It was a four hour marathon of tapas, cheeses, seafood, ham, vegetables, white wine, red wine, gintonics and single malt scotch. It was so much food that we took a break and went for a walk at one point. A few days later we traveled up the coast and enjoyed a seaside paella in Cadaqués, which traditionally takes two hours.  I have long thought that sharing food with others is the best way to get to know people, possibly make new friends, and break down barriers.