Spanish Cuisine

Spanish cuisine is one of the best in the world due to the quality and variety of ingredients it uses, it is the pride of the country.

It is difficult to talk about the national cuisine of Spain as a whole.But the traditional food is made up of many regional cuisines. Each one influenced by the climate, history, and customs of that region. However you can distinguish common characteristics in all Spanish cuisine. First of all Spanish food is in fact quite simple. The base is onion, garlic and peppers. Usually it uses herbs, sage and olive oil. The simplicity and the quick preparation are also common in many regional recipes. Typical Iberian Peninsula cooking methods include stewing in wine, cooking with pecorino cheese, or grilling or roasting.

Modern Spanish cooking is very varied, unique and impossible to recreate. It was influenced by the Romans, Moors and Americans. 

North Cuisine

In the North the main dishes are fish dishes. The Vasco country is famous for its cod and garlic. In Aragon, they prefer to eat meat with spicy salsa. In Rioja and Navarra they enjoy green salsas and particular garnishes.

Mediterranean cuisine

The Mediterranean cuisine combined with the famous Mediterranean diet has demonstrated its health benefits, it is based on a trinity of wheat, olives and vines. This is added to with ingredients such as rice, vegetables, garlic, herbs and other leafy vegetables, and then things like cheese, yoghurt, fish, meat, eggs and fruit. This rich and diverse cuisine has its own characteristics and different aspects in the different areas of the Spanish Mediterranean.

Central Spanish Cuisine

The character of central Spanish cuisine is mainly inlfuenced by the harsh climate, the mountainous terrain and the heavy work. The base for this cuisine is green beans, lentils and various meats. One of the basic typical dishes of this area thats has many variations is a nutritous soup, along with other game dishes and various sausages.
 

 



Tapas
This is an appertif, served in Spain with beer or wine. In Spain there are special tapas bars where you can get many different dishes to share among a group of people. Some of the most popular dishes are olives, olives with lemon, patatas bravas, croquettes, calamari (squid), baby squid, cuttlefish, tuna, almonds, and a variety of sandwiches, for example in the popular bars in Madrid they eat a lot of fried calamari and prawn sandwiches, or marinated pork, ham, black pudding, potato tortilla, or cheese with olive oil. They also use bread with garlic sauce (ali-oli in the Mediterranean) and  garlic tomato bread (tumaca bread in the Mediterranean).

Salads
There are plenty of different salads but there are three main types, the first being the lettuce based salad with tomato, onion, hard boiled egg, and tuna (this is served a lot along the Mediterranean coast). The second has a boiled potato base and can be served with peppers, tomatoes and onions, usually called la ensalada campera or la ensalada payesa. The third is the Russian salad (La ensalada rusa) which also has a potato base, with tuna, egg, carrots, and beans and mayonnaise (unlike the other salads which are always dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar).

Soups
There are many hot and cold soups. The cold soups usually have a tomato base like the Analusian gazpacho or the Cordoban salmorejo. The hot soups are usually a blend of vegeatbles or mushrooms, with chicken or vegetable stock.

Fish and shellfish
Fish is the main component of the Mediterranean diet and one of the most popular dishes among the Spanish people. Many different species reside in the Spanish waters and one of the most popular is tuna. This fish is especially good when cooked immediately after being caught. In Spain tuna is cooked in many different ways; smoked, fried or tinned.
Skewered fish is  fish that is cooked on a charcoal grill (especially sardines), coated with sea salt and well fried, and is a typical dish of Malaga Andalucía. Anchovies or "whitebait" can just be fried in olive oil or eaten raw with oil and vinegar. The anchovies are often served as tapas in a traditional Spanish restaurants.
Seafood is an integral part of Spanish cuisine. (Spain is second only to Japan, as the first country in the world that consumes the most fish and seafood). The Spanish love oysters, scallops, mussels, shrimp and other shellfish, which are used in all kinds of soups, sauces, paella, served as individual dishes or as tapas.

Ham
Uncooked dried Spanish ham is an exquisite Spanish delicacy. It is the national treasure and heritage of the country. Jamon is the basis of the Iberian cuisine. It is a leg of pork that has been salted and dried under strict defined conditions, which creates one of the most popular meat delicacies worldwide. It is a very low cholestrol food and widely used in the country. The most traditional Spanish ham can be seen in almost every bar and restaurant. They are hung from the roof, and secured onto a special machine in the bar. There are two main types of ham, Serrano ham and Iberican ham, often called pata negra. They differ in the way they are prepared, their cooking time, and the most significant difference is they breed and diet of the pig used. They can be visually distingushed by the colour of the hoof, Serrano is white and Iberican is black.

Rice
The most famous Spanish dish is of course paella. It is a rice dish that's cooked in a special way. There are many recipes for paella. Spaniards say there are more than three hundred. The classic paella, as well as rice, includes aroun 6-7 types of fish and seafood, chicken, white wine, herbs and spices. In some regions of Spain they also use beans in their paella.
Valencia is the main rice cultivating area in the country. Among the traditional dishes of the region you can find rice with tomatoes, beans, artichokes and other vegeatbles, in addition to black rice cooked with squid ink. You can find more information about rices and paella on the Valencian cuisine page.

Sweets and desserts
The most famous Spanish delicacy is probably el Turrón, a kind of nougat. Initially a Christmas treat, since tourists and locals both enjoy this delicacy it is sold throughout the year. It's production started with the arrival of the Arabs who lived in the Iberican Peninsula thousands of years ago. Much before the arrival of sugar sweet foods were made using honey. Nougat is traditionally made from high quality products such as honey, egg white and a variety of dried fruits and also chocolate. Polvorón which is a kind of light crumbly shortbread is a Christmas treat in Spain, which you will find on every table during the Spanish festivals and parties. The Spanish people seem to think that the cookie is of Spanish origin without a Muslim influence.
More popular dishes are various creams and flans. One of the favourite desserts is crema catalana, a kind of Spanish creme brulee made from egg yolks, sugar, milk, lemon rind, and cinnamon.
Among the famous desserts of the Canary Islands you will find almond cream and milk pudding.
In Navarra they eat rice pudding, which is like a thick porridge sprinkled with cinnamon powder.
In the Vasco country the most popular fruit is the apple and it is found in many desserts such as baked apples stuffed with nuts and dried fruits, apples with vanilla ice cream, apple cake and apple tarts.
In Valencia and Murcia the desserts are more citrus based with orangle slices in orange liquer or orange flan.
The city of Avila is famous for its special dessert  - las yemas de Santa Teresa, a pastry dessert made of egg yolks, sugar and water.
When talking about Galicias desserts you can't forget the glazed chestnuts.
And finally known for it's famous wine, Rioja is also famous for its sweet dishes. For example, pears in red wine, melons in wine and a wine sorbet.