Welcome to Spain

Fantastic food, beautiful places and sophisticated culture. In their debut podcast, hosts Laura and Nalini discuss these topics while diving into the quintessential Spanish breakfast of pan con tomate, and sampling the sweet, creamy treat of café bombóns. 

The two talk about their connections with Spain – Laura as a proud native and Nalini as a Canadian expatriate – and the glamorous, and sometimes absurd, aspects of living in the country. 

Transcript

Episode Overview
In the first-ever episode of the Made in Spain podcast, hosts Nalini Sharma and Laura Senior introduce themselves and explain the inspiration behind launching a show dedicated to expat life in Spain, Spanish food, fashion, and more. Discover their personal stories, learn about the Costa Blanca, and get a taste of Spanish cuisine as they dive into everything from tostadas to café bombón.

Meet Your Hosts
Nalini Sharma (Host): A former television personality from Canada, Nalini moved to Spain with her family on a whim, seeking new adventures and better tennis training for her son. She has navigated life in Mallorca and eventually settled in the Costa Blanca region.

Laura Senior (Host): Half Spanish, half English, Laura grew up in the Costa Blanca and has an international background. A leadership advisor by profession, she chooses to stay in Spain despite frequent travels abroad, thanks to the region’s unique lifestyle and Mediterranean charm.

Why Start the Made in Spain Podcast?
Nalini and Laura have been friends for years, with many project ideas and “mood boards” on the go. Their shared passion for Spanish culture, quality food, and the expat experience led them to create Made in Spain. Through candid discussions, they aim to:

Showcase Spain’s authentic highlights—and challenges—from two different perspectives.
Share insider knowledge on Spanish gastronomy, traditional artisanship, and daily life.
Offer travel tips, cultural insights, and honest reflections for anyone interested in living in Spain or visiting.
Nalini’s Journey: From Canada to Mallorca and the Costa Blanca
Nalini explains how her family—unplanned and without much research—decided to relocate to Spain. It started with her son’s tennis training in Mallorca and evolved into a more permanent move to the Costa Blanca. She discusses:

The challenges of enrolling her young son in a Spanish-language school.
The pros and cons of life on the island of Mallorca, including its transient expat community.
Why she eventually chose the mainland, settling in a “normal area” of the Costa Blanca.
Laura’s International Perspective: Growing Up in the Costa Blanca
Laura, born to an English father and Spanish mother, highlights:

Her experience of bilingualism and how her accent adapts to whomever she’s with.
The appeal of the Costa Blanca as a home base, thanks to safety, beaches, and connectivity.
Balancing extensive world travel with the comfort of living in Spain.
Slice of Life Updates
In the “Slice of Life” segment, the hosts share personal travel stories and weekly adventures before enjoying their featured Spanish breakfast.

Nalini’s Recent Travels: Toronto & Trinidad
Nalini spent five weeks in Toronto and also visited family in Trinidad. She reflects on:

The contrast between gray Canadian winters and sunny Spain.
Toronto hosting six Taylor Swift concerts without any major incidents.
The joy of reconnecting with family she hadn’t seen in over a decade.
Laura’s Adventures in Japan & Ethiopia
Laura had the chance to check Japan off her bucket list. She describes:

The cultural contrast between Spain’s vibrant energy and Japan’s quiet courtesy.
Discovering Japanese cuisine—a dream come true for a lifelong fan of anime and manga.
Her layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, highlighting the diverse cultural experiences between Asia and Africa.
Spanish Breakfast Feature: Tostada con Tomate & Café Bombón
Every episode spotlights a Spanish food or drink. This time, Nalini and Laura enjoy:

Tostada con Tomate: Freshly grated tomato (often using a box grater), drizzled with Spanish olive oil, sometimes paired with Serrano ham.
Café Bombón: A Valencian specialty consisting of espresso layered over condensed milk.
This simple yet delicious Spanish breakfast is commonly found in cafés and bars nationwide and showcases the country’s love of high-quality seasonal produce.

Spanish Phrase of the Day
“En casa del herrero, cuchara de palo.”
Literal Translation: “In the blacksmith’s house, (there is) a wooden spoon.”

The meaning? People often don’t apply their own expertise to themselves—like a great chef who eats junk food at home. It’s one of many charming Spanish sayings revealing the culture’s love for metaphor and humor.

Looking Ahead
In the next episode of Made in Spain, Nalini and Laura will explore the Loewe brand and share their experience in Madrid. Expect more insights on Spanish fashion, artisan craftsmanship, and the continuing joys (and occasional frustrations) of life in Spain.

Full Transcript
Nalini Sharma (Host) [00:10]
This is exciting, Laura. It’s very exciting. Okay, let’s first say what the name of our podcast is, which is Made in Spain.

Laura Senior (Host) [00:19]
So welcome, everyone, to our first ever episode of Made in Spain.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [00:24]
I think we should probably set the stage a little bit as to how it came about. We are really good friends—we’ve known each other for a number of years now—and we’re always looking at some type of project. We have many ideas, many storyboards, mood boards, and this one just came about. I thought of something one morning, I messaged you, I said, “We should do a podcast, we should call it this,” and you wrote back immediately, “Let’s do it.”

Laura Senior (Host) [00:54]
Yeah, absolutely. And I think it’s just been something that we’ve kept going back to. I think it’s been one of those ideas that, from the kind of mood boards that you said, or the little projects that we were potentially looking at, this is the one that’s kept coming up. It’s something we both feel passionate about, that we could enjoy, and that other people would also enjoy.

I think the kind of feedback we’ve had from people around us—people who know us—has been, “Hey, you should really do something like this. You should really do a podcast.” Because I think people would naturally be interested in some of the topics that we like to talk about and explore.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [01:39]
Yeah, and I think by nature the two of us are very curious people and get excited by the smallest of things—where we live and what we experience on a daily basis. Sometimes, from the outside, people think the expat life is just glamorous, like you’re lounging around in the sun all day. That’s not necessarily true.

So I don’t want people to think the podcast is just us flying the flag for the country we happen to live in. It’s really a dive into the things we appreciate here, the things that might drive us crazy—truly “made in Spain.” Everything from the wonderful things this country has to offer to some of the frustrating bits and pieces about living here—just like any country. We’ve both had the chance to travel a lot. There are great things and there are things you’d like to do differently.

But I think it’s going to be enjoyable. For those people who want to learn, I think, as much as possible from an unbiased perspective on Spain—coming from two very different angles, but also with a shared perspective in the middle—I think they’ll enjoy this.

Laura Senior (Host) [02:59]
I think, Nalini, we should introduce ourselves and give people an opportunity to get to know us a little bit better. So why don’t you kick us off and tell everybody a little more about yourself—your background, how you got here?

Nalini Sharma (Host) [03:13]
Okay. Well, it’s sort of, I think, a funny story because in our family we are not planners. We don’t plan anything, nor do we appear to do any research on anything.

I have three boys. My middle son at the time was playing competitive tennis in Toronto (I’m from Canada). I was formerly on television and took a step back to take care of my family. My husband travels quite extensively, as does yours, and one day I just said to him, “Why don’t we live somewhere else—try something different?” especially for my middle son, because he was playing indoor tennis. I thought, “Why don’t we take him to a tennis academy?”

So we went to Mallorca. He went to the—actually, let me explain how that came about.

Laura Senior (Host) [04:07]
Yes, how did that come about? Like was it just “Oh, okay, there’s a tennis academy here, let’s go to Spain”?

Nalini Sharma (Host) [04:13]
Actually, yes. I’m being honest: I don’t even know how I got to that point. I started looking at tennis academies, and the Nadal Academy was opening that particular year. He was really huge at the time—at the peak of his career.

I didn’t really know where Mallorca was. I had an idea, but to me it was just a very glamorous place. I thought, “Oh, why don’t we go?” Around that time we were renovating our house, so my husband said, “Okay, we’ll go stay there for three months with the kids and see what it’s like, and he (our son) can go to”—he actually went to a different academy at that time. We came back, and then the following year we decided we’d enroll him in this academy so he wouldn’t be alone on the island.

Laura Senior (Host) [05:05]
So you just moved. And your husband traveled back and forth from Mallorca while you were exploring and learning how to live in a whole new country.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [05:18]
Exactly.

Laura Senior (Host) [05:18]
Had you ever lived outside of Canada before moving to Spain?

Nalini Sharma (Host) [05:25]
No. Never lived outside of Canada. My Spanish is horrific, but that’s another story.

Honestly, we did a tour of the school. We set Kai up to go to the academy. My husband rented the apartment—he just showed me photos of it—and I was like, “Okay, that looks good.” I had no clue where anything was. I did the orientation at Ayrton’s school in English, in March; we filled the paperwork. We arrived there in August. The teacher does the presentation—meeting the kids and the parents—completely in Spanish.

I asked another parent, “Is this not an English school? Do they not speak English here?” And she said, “No, it’s an international Spanish school.” I said, “Oh, okay.” So I came home and said, “Listen, he’s four—he’s going to have to learn. That’s just how it is.” And he did learn—he learned to speak the language in four months.

Laura Senior (Host) [06:32]
Which, by the way, knowing Nalini’s son Ayrton very well, he probably speaks better Spanish than most people I know who’ve been here for 20 years plus. That’s the power of really immersing your children in a language.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [06:51]
And I was very insistent when we came here: after he learned it, I said, “It doesn’t matter if he changes schools—we live in this country, even if I struggle with it, he has to speak it.” So, I always put him in a Spanish school, not a British-run school. That was my choice.

I’ve tried to immerse myself in different things here to appreciate the culture. I do struggle with the language, though. It’s not as if I haven’t tried.

Laura Senior (Host) [07:18]
For English speakers, it’s tough. You know my father is English; he’s been here for 40-plus years and still struggles with the language. It’s not easy.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [07:30]
So we stayed in Mallorca for two years, moved back to Toronto for six months, and then again, on a whim, said, “Let’s just go again—let’s give it another go.” I found another tennis academy close to where we are, which is in the Costa Blanca region. I didn’t want to live on an island anymore because in the winter I felt very trapped, even though Mallorca is so magical and beautiful. It’s probably one of my favorite places, but I couldn’t live there again—my friends started to leave. It was also very transient as an expat. The Mallorquín have been there for centuries; you’re not getting into that circle. You have to stay basically in the expat circle, and people come and go.

So I thought, “I’m just going to move to a ‘normal’ area.” Again, we rented the place online—no clue where it was. We just turned up with the dog and the suitcases and started life here. And that’s me. We’ve been here since.

Laura Senior (Host) [08:51]
I have to be grateful there’s a tennis academy here because that’s how I got to meet you!

Maybe I’ll share a little bit about myself and give some background. What’s really cool is that there are a lot of things that unite us, but at the same time, we also have a lot of differences.

For me, being half Spanish, half English, and raised here in the Costa Blanca, I’ve had a chance to travel quite a bit. Some people ask me, “Where is your accent from?” I get anything from “Are you American?” to “Are you Swedish?” My English accent is very mixed because it gets heavily influenced by whoever I’m spending a lot of time with, and it’s my second language. So if, during the podcast, I say something that sounds weird or doesn’t sound quite right—well, English is still my second language.

Raised here in the Costa Blanca, and I’d say one of the things I can bring to the conversation about Made in Spain is that I’ve seen a lot of different countries but still thoroughly enjoy coming back home. This area really does feel like home, not just because I was born here, but also because of the energy, the people, and the places.

We’re also lucky it’s a very safe area, and we get to do a lot of things on a daily basis—like going to the beach. When you’re on vacation, you realize we have a blue-flag beach 10 minutes away. Sometimes we don’t even go there; we choose to fly somewhere else. We do get spoiled.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [10:59]
Yes, absolutely.

Laura Senior (Host) [11:02]
And it’s true that we get spoiled. If you go to the Caribbean, for instance, sometimes the water isn’t as clean as we expect because we’re spoiled here with how clear the beaches are.

Just for perspective: in my day-to-day, I’m a leadership advisor. I get to work with people from all over the world, and I feel privileged that I still can choose to live in Spain. There’ve been times where it might’ve made more sense to live elsewhere, but I’ve always felt this is just a great, central place. If you’re traveling a lot—Europe, the U.S., Asia—it’s not that far away. So I’m grateful I’ve been able to stay here by choice.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [12:24]
I have my Canadian passport, so I can go home at any time—we still have a little place there. But the more time I spend here, the more it starts to feel like home. A lady once told me in Mallorca—because I kept my watch set to Toronto time—she said, “You will change the time when you have arrived.” And I thought, “Oh, stop with that.” But she was right. It was as if I was still holding on. You kind of have to let go and immerse yourself here, which I’ve tried to do.

Laura Senior (Host) [13:05]
Absolutely.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [13:06]
The purpose of this podcast is to highlight living here in Spain and to cover the things we’re passionate about—food, fashion, and fun places we’ve visited or plan to visit.

Laura Senior (Host) [13:29]
Absolutely.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [13:30]
That’s it. We’re passionate about food. The food here is fantastic; the quality is amazing. You can go into the most basic places and find the most delicious food. I get excited about those things. So I want to share it with other people, even just my friends or family. When I have something delicious or simple in a rustic area, I want to FaceTime people and say, “This is fantastic.” You don’t have to spend a lot of money. You can spend as much as you want, but you don’t have to. You can go to a little mom-and-pop shop and have the most delicious meal. Actually, sometimes those are the best.

Laura Senior (Host) [14:19]
Me too. You end up having the best experiences, the best meals, when you least expect it. Yes, it’s nice to go to the fancy restaurants sometimes, but I think the key theme across the different topics we’ll touch on is quality. Quality of produce, quality of products, and of the production and artisanship. High quality doesn’t always mean high expense; it’s about what you experience—what you eat, what you see, what you consume.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [14:54]
And also, when you’re talking about quality and fashion, this has been a learning experience for me: the amount of things produced here in Spain, in particular regions, by artisans using techniques that are hundreds of years old in high-end fashion. It’s amazing to discover that. It’s here, maybe five hours away, and it’s to showcase the workmanship, the beauty, the art in that. It’s not just that designer bag you see walking down the Gran Vía in Madrid—there’s a lot of history behind it. I’ve been able to educate myself on that perspective. I don’t agree with the price tag all the time, but I can understand why they charge that, looking at the process behind it.

Laura Senior (Host) [15:56]
As we continue to develop the podcast and what we’ll highlight in each episode, we obviously have a lot of plans for our first season. But we’d love to hear from you. If you have suggestions or something you’re particularly interested in learning about Spain, and you think it fits with the themes we’ve mentioned, drop us a comment on any of the platforms you’re engaging with us on. We’ll bring it up in the episodes and look into it to make sure we meet your needs.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [16:37]
That brings us to our next segment, “Slice of Life.” We’ll cover what’s happened in our lives over the last week or so—what we’ve been up to or experiences we’ve had—and share a little bite of food and a nice drink. Every week, we’ll feature something Spanish—either a wine, cava, maybe coffee—it doesn’t have to be alcoholic, though that may be a recurring theme. We’ll also feature a food.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [17:20]
So, our first “Slice of Life” is literally a slice of toast: tostada.

Laura Senior (Host) [17:24]
Bread!

Nalini Sharma (Host) [17:25]
Tostada con tomate, and a café bombón. I had to look up the spelling this morning because I thought it was “bon-bon” (B-O-N-B-O-N), but it’s actually spelled B-O-M-B-O-N. Apparently it’s from Valencia.

Laura Senior (Host) [17:44]
Yes, “bombón.” That’s interesting; I actually thought it was spelled “bon-bon.” So it’s two ingredients—espresso and condensed milk—but let’s make it properly now.

(They prepare and enjoy the café bombón.)

Nalini Sharma (Host) [19:04]
Slice of Life is also us talking about what we’ve been up to over the last little bit—it might be glamorous or ridiculous. I just returned from Toronto. I was there for five weeks—that’s my hometown.

Laura Senior (Host) [19:18]
Actually two Ts: you went to Toronto and Trinidad.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [19:21]
Yes, Trinidad. I have family there, and we went for a few days. It was one of the highlights of my year, being with my sister and her family. I hadn’t seen her in over a decade. Being in Toronto was cold and kind of gray. After about a week, I realized I hadn’t seen the sun.

But it was good. Taylor Swift did six concerts in Toronto while I was there—over a million people. I thought for sure there would be some major incident, but nothing happened over a two-week period. I was proud that the city did a good job. I didn’t attend the concert, but I was there soaking it all in.

Laura Senior (Host) [21:05]
So time with family, Toronto, and Trinidad. Awesome.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [21:09]
Yes.

Laura Senior (Host) [21:10]
I’ve had a pretty exciting, tumultuous couple of weeks. I got the chance to go to Japan, which was on my bucket list—somewhere I’d never been. I’ve always wanted to go because I grew up watching Japanese cartoons (like Dragon Ball) in Spain. Our public networks showed a lot of Japanese cartoons.

Japan was an amazing cultural experience. I loved it. The Japanese culture couldn’t be more different than Spanish culture. For example, people in Japan tend to be very quiet and respectful on trains—you can hear a pin drop—whereas in Spain, people might be on their phones, talking loudly, or playing videos.

The food was mind-blowing. Then, on the way back, I stopped in Ethiopia—Addis Ababa. It’s such a contrast, going from Japan to Ethiopia. But it was fascinating. I’d go back.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [22:57]
I have a question—did the passengers clap when the plane landed?

Laura Senior (Host) [23:00]
Is that just a Spanish thing?

Nalini Sharma (Host) [23:05]
I think it might be. My son does it now, and sometimes I have to tell him, “Stop clapping.” He’s used to it because it happens in Spain.

Laura Senior (Host) [23:18]
I’ve experienced it many times. We land, and everyone claps. Usually it’s if the flight was turbulent or scary, but sometimes even on a normal flight people clap.

Anyway, let’s enjoy our tostadas. These are tostadas con tomate, and the tomatoes we’re using are cor de bou (“bull’s heart”)—they’re large, pinkish inside. Typically, people slice them with olive oil, but we grated them so we get the pulp. Also, you’re having yours with a bit of Serrano ham.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [25:42]
Yes, this is a very typical Spanish breakfast—a simple tostada con tomate, café con leche or café bombón. You see people in cafés with just bread and olive oil, or bread with tomato. You can get a wonderful loaf of bread in most places here, and it’s very inexpensive.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [26:57]
This was delicious. We’ll do this each week—highlight a food and a drink, talk about our lives. We’ll end the podcast each week with a “Phrase of the Day.”

Laura Senior (Host) [27:00]
Yes, and today’s Spanish phrase is:
“En casa del herrero, cuchara de palo.”

Let’s break it down. “En casa del herrero” means “In the blacksmith’s house”; “cuchara de palo” means “a wooden spoon.”

What do you think it means?

Nalini Sharma (Host) [27:40]
He’s a hypocrite? Or it’s hypocritical?

Laura Senior (Host) [27:45]
Yes, exactly. Essentially it’s “You don’t apply to yourself what you apply to others.” It’s like someone who’s a five-star Michelin chef but goes home to eat fast food, or someone who is a psychologist advising others but doesn’t manage their own emotions.

I love that phrase because it highlights a certain irony or hypocrisy. Spanish has a lot of funny sayings, and they translate oddly into English—like every culture’s sayings do.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [29:00]
Yes, exactly.

Laura Senior (Host) [29:02]
That’s it—you got it!

So, I guess we’ll say our goodbyes. Next week, we’ll have an episode on the Loewe brand and an experience we’ll be having in Madrid.

Nalini Sharma (Host) [29:31]
Yes! Cheers to our first podcast—done!

End of Transcript

Did you enjoy Episode 1 of Made in Spain? Stay tuned for more insights into Spanish living, culture, and cuisine in our upcoming episodes. If you have any comments or suggestions, leave them below or on our social media channels!


Made in Spain
Expat life in Spain
Costa Blanca
Mallorca
Tostada con tomate
Café bombón
Spanish breakfast
Spanish cuisine
Moving to Spain
Living in Spain as an expat
Travel to Madrid
Loewe brand
Traveling in Japan and Ethiopia
Toronto and Trinidad travel stories