 One of Spain’s greatest attractions is, without
a shadow of doubt, its cuisine, which is one of the best
in the world for both quality and variety. Accurately
speaking, one cannot talk of a national cuisine but rather
of a multiplicity of regional cuisines influenced in
each case by the climate and local way of life. Spanish
cuisine is distinguished by the traditional use of olive
oil as the vegetable- and lard as the animal fat in the
preparation of dishes, as well as the inclusion of a
wide variety of fruit and vegetables introduced by Moorish
culture, plus other ingredients, such as the potato and
tomato imported from the New World.
Then again, the considerable development in Spanish cooking
in recent years has also been due to the emergence of
a clutch of first-class chefs who have successfully managed
to reinterpret traditional dishes and recipes in tune
with present times, endowing Spanish cuisine with a new
dimension in presentation and flavour.
Northern cuisine
The north is a wet and rainy region which makes for a
cuisine that is not only very tasty but varied as to
both meat and fish. The Basque Country leans towards
seasonally-biased home-type cooking, with local specialities
like marmitako (potatoes with bonito) and txangurro (clams
and spider crab).
Asturias has a similar cuisine, though with local touches
worthy of mention, such as the fabada (stew of haricot
beans and pork), the regional cheeses and famed apple
cider. Cantabria offers diversity in a cuisine that blends
sea and mountain, with top-quality ingredients, including
beef, anchovies and dairy products. Among the choice
dishes of Galicia are the pote (potage made with ham
bones, haricot beans and, depending on the chef, turnip
tops), the caldeiradas (akin to bouillabaisse, but served
in two parts: first the broth and only then, the fish),
pulpo (octopus), dairy products and pastries.
Varied and delicious are the terms that define a cuisine
that is simple, hearty and natural, that relies on the
excellence of the local produce, and that is to be found
in Aragon, La Rioja and Navarre. The fertile valleys
across this belt of Spain are a paradise for fruit and
vegetables, and the locally-grown asparagus, peppers,
borage, cardos (cardoon - a celery-like vegetable), peaches
and pears enjoy well-deserved fame for their superb quality.
Potatoes, cabbage hearts and platters of mixed vegetables
or tender legumes, such as pochas (haricot beans allowed
to ripen and swell in the pod) are starters or form the
garnishing for dishes featuring trout from the nearby
mountain streams and speciality meat marinades (chilindrones)
and conserves (confits), a taste acquired from the French.
Desserts, in which the stars are cheese, milk puddings
(cuajada - curd) or fruit, either fresh, chocolate-coated
or preserved in syrup, and a long tradition of fine breads,
put the finishing touches to a highly-regarded cuisine.
Mediterranean cuisine
The Mediterranean cuisine, associated with the famous
Mediterranean diet that has been shown to be so beneficial
for the health, is based on the "Holy Trinity" of
wheat, the olive and the vine, with other important ingredients
being: rice and legumes; garlic, greens and vegetables;
cheese and yoghurt; fish, meat and eggs; and fruit. This
is a school of cuisine which is as varied as it is complete,
and which, in the Mediterranean areas of Spain, is interpreted
with local differences and twists.
Ever since the Middle Ages, Catalonia has enjoyed a delicious
and refined cuisine embracing plain, sea and mountain,
a cuisine which on the coast has recourse to a wide array
of fish, and inland, to typical dishes such as escudella
(a meaty broth with pasta, usually followed by carn d''olla,
a hearty stew) and roasts.
Great individuality and contrast likewise mark the Valencian
cuisine, which combines typically Mediterranean dishes –fish,
green vegetables and fruit– with those of the upland
plateau, such as potages and game stews, and which assigns
rice, served dry, moist or in paella, the leading role
in an endless list of specialities. Sweetmeats, nougats
(turrón) and ice creams keep the Arabic influence
very much alive. Murcia too displays this same character,
namely, a cuisine of the sea and of the land, shaped
by the merging of cultures.
Besides the fluffy pastries known as ensaimadas and the
original and now world-famous mayonnaise (salsa mahonesa),
Balearic Isle specialities rely on greens, fish (caldereta
- sea-food stew) and pork (sobrasada - a spicy red sausage
spread).
Meseta cuisine
The cuisine on the Central Plateau is the product of
a harsh climate that is unforgiving and demands hard
and continuous toil. In Castile & León the
cooking is based on legumes: haricot beans (La Bañeza,
El Barco), chickpeas (Fuentesaúco) and lentils
(La Armuña). Pork which, in the case of the Iberian
pig reared on acorns and chestnuts, attains a peak of
quality and flavour, and game are also basic to the typical
regional specialities (botillo, the mountain sausage
from León, savoury bloodsausage or morcilla from
Burgos, and the red Segovian sausage known as cantimpalo).
Baby lamb, kid and sucking pig –deliciously roasted– are
the star dishes, fish comes in the form of trout and
cod, and there is a great variety of local cheeses made
from goat’s, ewe’s or cow’s milk. Sweets
and pastries, such as yemas (meltingly soft sweetmeats
made from egg-yolk) and hojaldres (puff pastry), are
in the most refined traditions of Arabic cuisine.
These same characteristics are also to be found in Extremadura,
in a range of dishes and foodstuffs in which Iberian
ham and pork reigns supreme. There are calderetas (stews)
and cochifritos (lamb seasoned, garnished and casseroled
in an earthenware dish), cold escabeches (marinades),
wild vegetables (mushrooms, cardoons, leeks) and a wide
choice of handmade cheeses to be had at the hearthsides
of famous monasteries and convents (Guadalupe, Yuste,
Alcántara) or in typical local eating houses.
The cuisine recreated in the story of Don Quixote of
stockpot, salpicón (salmagundi) and duelos y quebrantos
(a cattle-drover’s and shepherds’ dish,
traditionally associated with St. Peter’s Day rivalry,
consisting of a fry of eggs, bacon and brains, thought
to be good by Sancho Panza and eaten by Don Quixote on
Saturdays) serves to bring us to Castile-La Mancha, with
its saffron, La Alcarria honey and Manchego (ewe’s
milk) cheese. A country cuisine which in its gazpachos
(not the better-known Andalusian gazpacho but a shepherd’s
torta, a rough-and-ready dough made from flour, salt
and water, eaten with game meat) and morteruelos (chopped
pig’s liver braised with seasoning and breadcrumbs)
retains the flavour of the old sheep-herding ways, and
in its roasts (lamb, kid), the mouthwatering aroma of
the hill country, rewarding the sweet-toothed with the
ultimate delight of the exquisite Moorish-inspired marzipan
of Toledo. Like an island, Madrid contributes with the
singularity of some of its typical dishes, such as cocido
madrileño (a hearty stew for those with big appetites,
where the broth is served first, followed by the soup-meat,
chick-peas, potatoes and greens), cod and callos (tripe).
The sticky torrijas (sweet fritters), desserts and sweetmeats
are yet further local specialities.
Southern cuisine
Southern or Andalusian cooking takes its inspiration
from the crucible of cultures that together forged its
culinary heritage. In tune with the local surroundings,
one finds a cuisine of market-garden and field, a cuisine
of country-style winter stews, and a Mediterranean cuisine
along the coast. In addition, there is the region’s
fine line in confectionery and pastry, again an Arabic
legacy, and a variety of dishes based on pork and ham,
epitomised in the ritual, colourful climax of the matanza
(an annual event, often in late autumn, when families
gather to help in the slaughter and butchering of a pig
or two)
Article © 2002-2006, Spain
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