Jon Rahm's Champions Dinner Menu Shows Why You Shouldn't Be Sleeping On Spanish Food

The Champions Dinner menu honoring 2023 Masters Winner Jon Rahm has been unveiled and it's a smorgasbord of Spanish culinary goodness.

One that hammers home something I've been saying to anyone who will listen and many others who won't: don't sleep on Spanish food. 

Those in attendance look to be in for an immaculate spread. Pour yourself a gin and tonic (those are big in Spain), loosen your belt, and dig in… at least if you won the Masters at some point — which I know you haven't — but still, look at this menu.

Of course, you've got to start with tapas which is just a Spanish word for "Bro, you're gonna need a bunch of these unless you want to go home hungry."

While that may not sound ideal, the beauty is you can try a bunch of stuff, and believe me, on that menu, there's a bunch you'd want to try.

The Iberico pork loin? I don't know the science behind it, but they feed pigs acorns and magic happens.

The croqueta de pollo? Just creamy chicken goodness plunked in the deep-fryer. If that doesn't get you drooling, I'm not sure what will, pal.

The tortilla de patatas? This ain't no Taco Bell tortilla. It's one fancy-ass omelet and I'd take at least two of them… three if the Flyers lost the night before.

There's even a really cool addition to the menu: his mom's famous lentil stew

Y'know, I've heard that if you play "Maybe I'm Amazed" backward you'll hear a recipe for a really ripping lentil soup… but I think I'd still go with Mama Rahm's.

Then you've got some crab salad with potatoes followed by either a nice rib-eye or some turbot, which is a flat-fish that looks to my untrained eye a lot like a flounder.

Then to wrap it all up you've got milhojas de creme y nata. I'm still not 100% sure what it is but it has cake and custard, so count me in.

What a menu that is. I was a little stunned by the omission of paella, but there always has to be that first dish left out of the big dance. 

Paella was this menu's Oklahoma.

You've Got To Hop On The Spanish Food Bandwagon If You Aren't Already

That spread is going to be so good, I think everyone in attendance will be cheering for Jon Rahm to go back-to-back so they can get another meal like that next year.

Spanish food brings it, and if you've never had it, you've got to try it ASAP.

Don't be like me and sleep on Spanish food…

I grew up in South Central Pennsylvania, and while you've got some heavy hitters in the snack world — Hershey's, Herr's, Utz — I wouldn't call it a hotbed of the culinary world. Pennsylvania Dutch cooking has some hits — shout out Lebanon bologna and shoo-fly pie — but then scrapple comes along and ruins the party.

It's not stellar, and it's definitely not exciting.

I bring this up because I think it's part of the reason that I didn't get a taste of Spanish food until I was well into my twenties, and I'm just a little bitter about it. I spent a quarter of my life (although, if we're being honest about it, probably closer to a third) not getting to dig into some Spanish food, because I simply had no idea it could bring it the way it does.

Have you ever heard of a bocadillo? No? Well, neither had I until like a year ago. 

Now, it's a top-five sandwich for me.

I missed out on a lot of years' worth of manchego cheese, Iberico ham, and patatas bravas… it's a shame; a damn shame.

If you haven't had Spanish food before, don't be like me. Let Jon Rahm's Champions Dinner menu be your sign to google the closest Spanish joint right now and head over there.