Spanish Cuisine

If you like your fish and chips, or meat and two veg on a Sunday, perhaps you are not cut out for the gastronomic delights that Spain has to offer! Both the food, and the way of eating the food is vastly different from the UK. Having said that, you can go to most coastal resort, and slip into Paddy’s Irish Bar, or sample the delights of dozens of cafes and restaurants offering traditional Sunday lunch, or full English breakfasts along with the obligatory cup of tea….

Spain is a country of strong passions and spirit and its cuisine certainly reflects this. The food is very colourful, fresh and traditional.

The Latin American connection has had a extremely huge impact on the life of the Spanish people and of the food that they eat. The sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes that were introduced from Central South America have become the focal point of Spanish food. Its lasting success is due to the simplicity of its preparation and the high quality of the ingredients used in the dish.

One of the main traditional dishes eaten in Spain today is Paella.

Paella, or "La paella", is a cooking utensil and it is traditionally and preferably made of iron, but it is today often made of stainless steel. The base of the paella is flat and should be of a good thickness. The pan is circular and shallow, and has two round handles on opposite sides. The word itself is old Valencian and probably has its roots in the Latin 'patella' (a flat basket in Galicia). The Castilian 'paila' and the French 'paele' mean the same thing.

During the centuries following the establishment of rice in Spain, the peasants of Valencia would use the paella pan to cook rice and add ingredients such as tomatoes, onions and snails which were easily available from the countryside. If it were a special occasion then they might add rabbit or duck. Those who were a little better off, could afford chicken to add to it. Little by little this 'Valencian rice' became more widely known. By the end of the nineteenth century 'paella valenciana' had established itself as a tradition Spanish meal.

Today, whole families will all go to a restaurant to eat paella, or make it for an evening meal. The whole thing becomes a mixture of party, ceremony and debate, or rather, considering the volume at which it is maintained, argument between the master paella cooks who are present and who are all convinced they know best how to make it.

However, there is nothing more popular with the Spanish than a paella picnic, when everyone crams themselves into cars, the boots laden with food and drink and drives to favorite mountain spot or to the beach. There, wood is gathered for the fire and olives and sausages are nibbled, while discussion rages over the rice, glistening yellow and bubbling in the warm air. It is the most sociable of occasions.

See also our article on Tapas food, also see the Taste of Spain pages

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