Spain is country with a diverse and complex heritage and Spanish cooking reflects this fact. While Spain is a Mediterranean country, and plenty of Spanish dishes owe much to this, Spanish food also features 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 dishes draw on the country's Jewish and Moorish heritage - it is worth recollecting that much of Spain was colonized by the Moors for more than seven hundred years. Even the Reconquista (the Christian reconquest of the Iberian pennisula from Muslims) has left its traces in Spanish cuisine - pork is well-liked in Spain, and historically was a political testimony of Christian identity as it wasn't eaten by Jews or Muslims.
Spain is the leading producer of olive oil, infact half of the world's olive oil is produced in Spain. Not surprisingly it is utilized in many of Spanish cuisines. Northern Spain also makes use of lard and butter equally well.
Other traits 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.
Lets take a brief look at a few of the popular Spanish dishes:
Gazpacho: Gazpacho is a kind of vegetable soup made from garlic, stale bread and olive oil and sometimes tomato and bell paper is also added. This is served both cold and hot. The cold variant is called Gazpacho while the hot variant is known as gazpacho manchego and sometimes includes mushrooms and rabbit meat that is less of a soup and more like a stew.
Paella: This is really a typical rice mix which is unique to Spain. It is prepared by mixing saffron and olive oil with rice and is later garnished with seafood or meat and some vegetables.
Chorizo: This is a kind of sausage that is made by mashing pork fat and then adding chilli and paprika. There are 2 varieties of chorizo, one that is spicy and the other that is sweet. It can be eaten hot or cold even though it is primarily served cold. Chorizo is used as an ingredient in lots of Spanish dishes but is also eaten by itself.
- Jamn serrano - Dry-cured ham.
- Fabada Asturiana - A bean stew that also contains black blood sausage ("morcilla"), chorizo and pork, and which is flavored with saffron and other seasonings.
- Olla Podrida - A rich stew with bacon, poultry or game, ham, meats and vegetables.
Calamares: Squid dish that is fried in olive oil.
- Pescato Frito - Marinated fish, battered and fried.
- Tortilla de patatas - An onion and potato omelette.
Spain is the leading producer of olive oil, infact half of the world's olive oil is produced in Spain. Not surprisingly it is utilized in many of Spanish cuisines. Northern Spain also makes use of lard and butter equally well.
Other traits 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.
Lets take a brief look at a few of the popular Spanish dishes:
Gazpacho: Gazpacho is a kind of vegetable soup made from garlic, stale bread and olive oil and sometimes tomato and bell paper is also added. This is served both cold and hot. The cold variant is called Gazpacho while the hot variant is known as gazpacho manchego and sometimes includes mushrooms and rabbit meat that is less of a soup and more like a stew.
Paella: This is really a typical rice mix which is unique to Spain. It is prepared by mixing saffron and olive oil with rice and is later garnished with seafood or meat and some vegetables.
Chorizo: This is a kind of sausage that is made by mashing pork fat and then adding chilli and paprika. There are 2 varieties of chorizo, one that is spicy and the other that is sweet. It can be eaten hot or cold even though it is primarily served cold. Chorizo is used as an ingredient in lots of Spanish dishes but is also eaten by itself.
- Jamn serrano - Dry-cured ham.
- Fabada Asturiana - A bean stew that also contains black blood sausage ("morcilla"), chorizo and pork, and which is flavored with saffron and other seasonings.
- Olla Podrida - A rich stew with bacon, poultry or game, ham, meats and vegetables.
Calamares: Squid dish that is fried in olive oil.
- Pescato Frito - Marinated fish, battered and fried.
- Tortilla de patatas - An onion and potato omelette.
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For more details and video clips on the various Spanish cuisines please go to Spanish Food. You may also want to take a look at some of the famous Spanish Desserts
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