A country with such a vast size, tradition and a culture with so many influences can only have a rich gastronomy.When we refer to Spain’s cuisine, we mainly think about tapas, delicacies served in small portions, and about fish and meat dishes with plenty of tomato, peppers and garlic. Tapas aren’t only a food but a way of life, an every day element of Spanish people. They are cold or warm appetizers and they are always accompanied by olives, warm bread (for the sauces) and of course, white or red wine, mainly the famous Spanish sherry wine.

By Katerina Legaki

Every region of Spain though, has its own cuisine, which has been shaped by its location, its climate and its history.

In south Spain, regional cuisines have a more intense Mediterranean aroma and taste. Catalonia and Valencia are areas with the most cooked dishes and paella. Andalusia is famous for its fried appetizers of every kind, but mainly of seafood and for gazpacho, the famous cold tomato soup.

In central Spain they have more roast meat, cooked in ovens with wood but also delicatessen, and more specifically, sausages.North Spain has the richest cuisine of all the other regions, with a lot of fish because of the Atlantic, but also stews with meat and legumes. Cod and beans are the most common ingredients in everyday cooking.

The cuisine of the islands (Canary and Balearic Islands), have a clear influence from Africa and mainly from Morocco.In particular, because they produce bananas, potatoes and papaya, they use these ingredients in many dishes.

The main ingredients of Spanish cuisine are: fish, and in particular cod, and all kinds of seafood, olive oil, olives, garlic, green and hot red peppers, saffron, tomatoes, pork sausages and jamón (which resembles prosciutto), a salted pork leg from a special breed of pigs with dark colored meat.

All these are combined harmonically and just the description of the dishes whets our appetite and creates a desire to taste Spanish cuisine with the first chance given.

Appetizers include imperatively fried squid, cuttlefish, shrimps and small fish.Meatballs or roasted meat served in small chopped pieces on toasted bread, dishes with mussels and other shellfish cooked in various ways, steamed, with wine, garlic and parsley or as a soup with or without saffron.Paella corresponds to the Italian risotto. Every region has its own variation and in the restaurants specialized in paella, there are dozens variations, with vegetables only or seafood or meat.The most famous variation comes from Valencia and includes all of these together. Tortilla is an omelet with potatoes, peppers, sausages and tomato.

As for the meat, rabbit and lamb are very popular. Some of the dishes require very few ingredients, usually pieces of meat sautéed in a bit of oil with garlic, spices and wine and then are cooked for a long time over a low heat. Others include tomato, caper, olives, coriander, dried nuts and plenty of spices.

The most famous sweet is crème Catalane, which is mainly a variation of crème brulée, and turrón, a kind of nougat  with sugar, honey and almonds or hazel nuts.In general, we can say that in their confectionary there is not such a great variety and imagination as in cooking, as most of their sweets are a kind of cream cooked in the oven or a pan.

*Photos taken from book Culinaria Spain.