A US influencer has sparked a fierce debate after cooking her own meals in a Barcelona hotel room because she found the local food too “flavourless”.
Misty Renn, 28, travelled to Spain for life-changing surgery but quickly became frustrated after claiming the food she ordered during her stay lacked the herbs, spices and seasoning she was used to back home.
After around a week of disappointing meals, Misty and a friend decided to buy a cooking pot and start preparing their own food in their hotel room, as reported by What’s The Jam.
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She said the move was partly about having more control over what she ate while recovering – but also because she had become “disheartened” after getting excited to try new restaurants only to find the food bland.
Misty, who is based in Texas, said: “The thing that caught me by surprise is how little the food is seasoned.
“I am not someone that likes highly salted foods – I mean fresh or dried herbs, onion and garlic powder if not fresh garlic and onion.”
She said the lack of flavour was something she experienced repeatedly, including at restaurants serving international cuisines.
Her friend, who eats meat, reportedly shared a similar experience.
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Misty is vegetarian and mostly avoids dairy, meaning many traditional Spanish dishes were unsuitable for her anyway.
She said: “I was hoping to find restaurants I enjoyed so that while recovering from surgeries my friend and I didn’t have to put energy into looking.
“About a week into being in Barcelona and disappointed in the vast majority of meals, my friend and I decided buying a pot to cook at the hotel was a good idea, knowing we would be there for a while.”
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Misty said cooking also gave her the chance to recreate some of the comfort food she was missing from home.
She stocked up on herbs and spices and attempted to make meals closer to the salads, Japanese ramen, Mexican and Vietnamese food she was accustomed to eating in the US.
But she admitted she quickly realised how much she relied on the huge range of ingredients available back home.
She said: “I realised how spoiled I am in the US because of the very wide range of foods stocked in grocery stores.
“Of course, because I was much more limited, I wasn’t able to recreate anything exact.”
Her comments have since divided social media users, with some accusing Americans of “overcomplicating” and “over-seasoning” their food.
Others argued that fresh, simple ingredients should be appreciated without being covered in seasoning.
Misty said some critics even joked that she must only enjoy foods such as McDonald’s and chicken nuggets.
But she insists that is far from the truth, pointing to salads, ramen and fresh Vietnamese and Mexican food among her favourite meals.
She also said sushi was a reliable option because it is not traditionally heavily seasoned.
Despite the backlash, Misty says her trip to Barcelona was never intended to be a holiday.
She travelled there on January 22 after being referred to a specialist surgeon at Teknon Hospital.
She suffers from rare conditions including craniocervical instability, cranial settling and tethered cord syndrome, which had progressively affected her mobility.
Misty said she went from being very active to losing much of her ability to walk and eventually becoming bedbound.
Her surgeon warned she was close to becoming paralysed from the neck down or potentially dying.
She underwent surgery on February 6 and remained in Barcelona until March 18, when she was cleared to travel.
Because she was recovering from major surgery, all of her food was ordered in, and she said she was generally staying within around ten minutes of the hospital.
Misty said she had hoped to raise awareness of the conditions because they can go undiagnosed.
She said: “I was not travelling for vacation.
“I was extremely homesick and couldn’t stop talking about how I couldn’t wait to get back home to eat.”
She did find some restaurants and food spots she enjoyed during her stay, including NUDES, Oakberry, UDON and Thai Corner.
But she said the experience has left her unlikely to return to Barcelona unless she needs further medical treatment.
Misty said: “I hate to say this because the city was so beautiful, people were so kind, and my surgeon saved my life – but because of the food I don’t see myself ever wanting to visit again for a vacation.”
Misty’s video was viewed over 5.1m times, with 552,000 likes and 9356 comments.
One person said: “The food in Spain is AMAZING…what are you eating?!”
Another person responded, saying: “Everyone can hate on America all they want, but we are the goats of food.”
One user added: “I’ve been to Spain twice and it was the best food I’ve ever had, where are you eating?”
Amrita said: “I’m starting to think that Americans just don’t have the same taste buds of the rest of the world.”
Another person said: “Omg thank you!!! I found Spanish food so bland and one note. I felt like we ate the same thing every day. People look at me crazy when I say I didn’t think the food was that good.”
One user added: “I always thought Spanish food was bad.”
The comments open up a wider debate over different regions foods, and whether American food is more heavily seasoned and processed, or whether Misty had fair criticism towards the ‘bland’ food she ate.
Misty says that if she has to return to Barcelona for medical treatment, she will be coming prepared.
She said: “I will absolutely be bringing a lot of seasonings, sauces and foods to cook to make the experience better.”
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