Spain is country with a varied and complex heritage and Spanish cooking reflects this fact. While Spain is a Mediterranean country, and many Spanish dishes owe much to this, Spanish food also consists of native foods imported into the country from Spain’s former ex-colonies in the New World such as beans, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. Other Spanish cuisines draw on the country’s Jewish and Moorish heritage – it is worth recollecting that much of Spain was ruled by the Moors for more than 7 hundred years. Even the Reconquista (the Christian reconquest of the Iberian pennisula from Muslims) has left its traces in Spanish cuisine – pork is popular in Spain, and traditionally was a political statement of Christian identity as it wasn’t eaten by Jews or Muslims.
The cuisines here use lots of butter, lard and olive oil with olive oil being the most popular. Infact olive oil is used in most of the popular Spanish delicacies and not surprisingly so, in fact Spain is the biggest producer of olive oil with more than half of the world’s production coming from Spain alone.
Other characteristics of Spanish food, include the prevalent use of garlic and onions, the serving of bread and wine with most meals, and the consumption of fruit or dairy products as desserts. One particularly well-known Spanish custom is the serving of small appetizers (“tapas”) with drinks.
Some well-liked Spanish dishes include:
- Gazpacho – A cold vegetable soup that has become particularly well-liked in hotter areas like Andalusia. Traditionally gazpacho was made stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt and vinegar, but today, bell pepper and tomato are also often added. There is also a variant called gazpacho manchego which is served warm, and includes meat (often rabbit) and mushrooms, that is more like a stew than a soup.
Paella: This is a typical rice mix that is unique to Spain. It is prepared by mixing saffron and olive oil with rice and is later garnished with seafood or meat and a few vegetables.
Chorizo: This is a kind of sausage which is made by mashing pork fat and then adding chilli and paprika. There are two varieties of chorizo, one which is spicy and the other that’s sweet. It may be eaten hot or cold even though it is primarily served cold. Chorizo is utilized as an ingredient in lots of Spanish dishes but can also be eaten by itself.
Jamon Serrano: Ham dish prepared by dry curing the meat.
Fabada Asturiana: This is really a kind of bean stew that contains pork, chorizo and black sausage or morcillot that is often flavored with seasonings like saffron.
- Olla Podrida – A rich stew with bacon, poultry or game, ham, meats and vegetables.
- Marmitako – A fish stew made with onions, pimentos, potatoes and tomatoes.
- Pescato Frito – Marinated fish, battered and fried.
Tortilla de patatas: A form of omlette laced with smashed potatoes and seasoned with onions.
For further details and videos on the different Spanish cuisines please look at Spanish Food. You might also want to take a look at some of the famous Spanish Desserts
