If you’ve been in Spain a while or even if you’re just travelling here, you’ve probably heard of the terms ‘comida’ and ‘almuerzo’ to refer to daytime meals. But what do they actually mean and what is the difference?
If you look up the word almuerzo in an English-Spanish dictionary, it will be translated into English as the word ‘lunch’.
As you’ll soon find out, that isn’t always technically correct, at least not in Spain.
When you’re in Spain you will often hear people talking about comida rather than almuerzo, so what is the difference?
Comida for Spaniards is the main meal of the day – lunch – which is eaten around 2pm. Comida essentially means ‘food’ and at this time they’ll typically be eating a hot cooked meal, which could even be a menú del día – a set three course lunch with a starter, main and dessert.
READ ALSO: Why do Spaniards eat so late?
So, if comida is essentially lunch, then what is almuerzo?
Almuerzo is a lighter snack eaten around midday, the same time as perhaps a lot of northern Europeans eat lunch. It won’t be a full lunch, but rather a bocadillo (filled baguette) in most cases.
Almuerzo could quite easily be confused with the word merienda, which is another snack in between meals. However, merienda is eaten around 5pm in order to stave off hunger until the late dinner or cena around 9pm or even later.
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Lots of Spaniards don’t even eat almuerzo in fact, only if they feel particularly hungry or they’ve had a very early breakfast, opting instead for a coffee. Almuerzo may be a meal more typical for children to eat, as is the case with merienda as well.
So, case closed? Not quite, as almuerzo can mean something different, depending on where you are.
If you’re in Andalusia or in the Canary Islands for example, you may find some people referring to the main meal of the day as el almuerzo instead of la comida, whereas the midday snack would still be called desayuno instead of almuerzo.
The same goes for Central or South American Spanish-speaking countries, as there almuerzo is usually the main meal of the day at lunch time, not comida. Although in Mexico, almuerzo and comida are typically used the same as in most of Spain.
If that wasn’t confusing enough, in some countries such as in Costa Rica, Cuba and Colombia, they refer to dinner as comida too, while in Spain it’s always cena.
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Experts have differing opinions on the etymology of the word almuerzo in Spanish. Some believe it’s a combination of both Arabic (from the Moors who conquered Spain) and Latin – forming the word ‘al-morsus’ – while others believe it comes from just the Latin verb admordere – both of which essentially are the word for morder or bite.
In non-Classical Latin, it also meant to eat lightly and quickly, so essentially when you are having almuerzo you have having a small, light bite, which you eat quickly.
READ ALSO: El Esmorzaret – What is Valencia’s sacred snack tradition?
