Yugen

While Sobremesa literally means ‘over the table’, for Spanish speakers, means more than that. This word is another untranslatable gem! Sobremesa it’s a meaningful tradition that we keep alive because, honestly, we love it and so will you after knowing more about it.

Sobremesa: the time spent around the table after lunch or dinner, talking to the people you shared the meal with; time to digest and savour both food and friendship.

Coming from a country so in love with food, saying that sobremesa is important might be an understatement. Believe me when I say that we certainly don’t take ‘food rituals’ lightly.

Sobremesa starts after you finished your meal.
If I close my eyes I can see a tablecloth with breadcrumbs, coffee rings or red wine stains. I can hear lively conversations and people laughing in the background.

If you want to do a ‘proper’ sobremesa, there are two steps you need to follow:

• No one leaves the table -urgent needs excluded, of course.
• Sobremesa is about relaxation, so don’t worry about the pile of dishes or those trays with leftovers; or about the last pieces of dessert that may or may not get eaten. It is sobremesa time so you won’t mind any of that ‘mess’, you will be enjoying the atmosphere, and you will be appreciating the moment.

I am pretty sure a lot of cultures do sobremesa, maybe just as us or slightly differently. But for us, it’s so important that we even have a word for it.

So sobremesa is about real connection, it’s full of stories, jokes and laughter. It’s about prolonging your ‘meal’ because, you had such a great time, that you don’t want it to end and if you leave the table, you will bring an end to all that magic.