My Story

In 2007, I moved from Ireland to Spain with a rucksack, zero Spanish, and a very optimistic outlook. I was coming to live with my Spanish girlfriend who I had met in India after quitting my job in Ireland. I quickly realised that my English was about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Few spoke it, and if I wanted to eat, I had to learn the lingo, and fast.

I’ll be honest, I knew little about Spanish food when I arrived. I thought I knew what tapas were, but my Spanish girlfriend soon set me straight. She introduced me to the real heart of Spanish cooking, the kind that doesn’t make it onto the tourist menus. Her mother in Burgos is an amazing cook but not untypical of that generation in Spain.
She brought me into their home and could serve up several dishes in one sittting with the minimum of fuss. They also had a bodega for their own private wine supply. Why wouldn’t they, Burgos is located right between Spain’s two most famous wine regions, Ribera del Duero and La Rioja and many families have small bodegas for private supply only.

My job at the time had me zig-zagging across the country, spending days in towns large and small and back-road ventas, which turned into a crash course in regional flavours. You could get a menú del día (a full three course lunch) for about €9 to €12. Not now unfortunately!

Some foods are common to most of Spain but with their own regional variations. Other regions have their own specialities that rarely travelled out of that region. After so many years I am still learning them and I’ll probably never get to the end. 

I was never a big lover of seafood but that all changed when I came to Spain. It is just at different level and although the seaood offering back home in Ireland has improved immensely over the past 20 years, it will probably never reach the level of cultural integration that it has enjoyed here. My involvement in the GAA here in Spain brought me to Galicia many times over the years. This is the heart of Spanish seafood. Check out my blog for articles on this subject.

Starting A Gourmet Business

There’s a lot more to the story above. I ended up working in the food industry and learned even more about the wide variety of offerings in Spain and the logistics of it all. I travel home to the West of Ireland regulary and would always bring some Iberian Ham or other delicacy with me. They were always a hit. Visits to supermarkets were always a disappointment when looking at what they offered as Spanish food, particulary in terms of chorizos and serrano hams. Iberian Bellota Ham is impossible to find at any price and I would be on the verge or crying when I see what is on offer in terms of extra virgin olive oils. Thankfully, there are a few genuine gourmet shops in Ireland that do offer the real deal but I couldn’t help but feel that there was demand for more variety and a greater understanding of what Spanish food is about. Hence my blog which I hope you will find informative. 

I spent most of 2023 and all of 2024 researching products and getting agreements with suppliers and producers to finally launch Toma Spanish Gourmet in 2025. The aim is to supply to quality Spanish produce to the Irish market and allow anyone to enjoy ta true taste of Spain.