The Iberian Peninsula, fixed between the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyrenees, and the Mediterranean Sea was always a relatively poor place, and a world unto itself (and the New World, after 1492). Today, regional cuisines provide for a rich traveller's experience, while the country is held together by common culinary threads and fibers. Wine and olive oil remain important to more than half the country. Wild game, seafood, ham, local cheeses, and preserved meats and sausages make for unavoidable richness. The extensive use of delicious sweet red peppers along with the common cooking base of sofrito—a varying blend of chopped sweet pepper, garlic, onion, and/or parsley sometimes mixed with ham and sauteed in olive oil—help define the range of Spanish cusine. Almonds are another common and very important ingredient, including the wonderful variety known as Marcona, and find their way into both savoury and sweet dishes.
Other than perhaps in the Basque and Catalan regions and Madrid, Spain has not fallen prey to the Star Chef syndrome. Much of the cookery is stil home style, and traditions run deep.
Many overlook the profound Moorish influence on Spanish cookery, which was immediately followed by an influx of New World ingredients, particularly fruits and vegetables. Chocolate, vanilla, tomatoes, squash, beans (as opposed to peas), chilies and peppers, and corn all came from the New World after 1492. Artichokes, cardoon, eggplant, chard, spinach, dates, and sugar all came to Spain and Europe via the Arabs and their occupation of Andalusia and other more northern regions throughout the Euorpena Medieval period.
Spain also has an incredibly strong and diverse artisanal foods tradition, particularly in the area of cheeses and meats. These includes hams and a wide variety of "sausages" and other cured, smoked or dried meats. In fact, the daily use of ready-to-eat specialty items like cheeses, almonds, thinly sliced ham, and hundreds of kinds of sausages from salchicha and chorizo, to morcilla and butifarra. Saffron is another Spanish culinary specialty of high quality.
The most typical of all national dishes include the rice-based Paella, Spanish tortilla (a type of potato omelette), and perhaps flan, a caramel custard. Tapas have become an international obsession, and occur in various forms in different places, including cities as far-spring as Granada and San Sebastian.
Tapas are basically accopaniments to drink, usually wine or beer, provided at bars and cafes. In Sevilla you must pedir and pay for your Tapas, which are often just smaller tastings of regular menu items. In Granada, tapas should be free with your drink and the choice is usually left up to the barman, though you can sometimes express a preference. The unfortunate trend in the Granada region is for the more touristy establishments to make you order and pay for tapas. In San Sebastian, tapas are an elaborate affair, decoratively displayed, and charged for, though with reason, since San Sebastian tapas are more than mere snacks.
Comments