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SOC JO! A capite ad calcem
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One of Spain's biggest draws comes in the form of its tasty cuisine. Characterized by fresh ingredients, mild flavors and the perfect use of seasonings, Spain's traditional food dishes come in the form of hearty family cooking. Recipes are passed down from generation to generation, and have several influences.
Spain's geography - one of the most diverse in the world - provides the country with the freshest of everything while also creating a huge variety from region to region. With 88% of its boundaries touching water, fresh seafood is without a doubt one of the big players in Spanish gastronomy, as are fruits and vegetables from fertile farmlands, olives and olive oil hailing from groves sprawling across hills, cured meats and cheeses from the mountainous highlands.
While Spain is practically self-sufficient in terms of its food, the country has certainly had some foreign help along the way. The Greek and Roman civilizations which once inhabited the Iberian Peninsula, for example, contributed their love of wine and olive oil, while the Moors left behind their affinity for saffron, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, honey, almond confections, rice and the widespread use of fresh produce. Later, the 15th century discovery of the Americas led to the import of potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, vanilla, chocolate, zucchini, a variety of beans and much more- all of which became staples in the traditional Spanish kitchen.
Let's not forget about Spain's infamous tapas! Essentially the fusion of bar-hopping and snacking, going out for tapas is one of the best ways to experience a wide range of Spain's traditional food at one time. Begun in AndalucÃa and now an international sensation, tapas can literally consist of anything from a few olives to a portion of tortilla española (Spanish potato omelette), a couple slices of ham or a serving of paella (a rice dish) and are best accompanied by wine, sherry or a cold beer.
Traditional Food in Spain by Region
While Spain's gastronomy is typically referred to as "Mediterranean," the geographical, cultural, weather and even historical differences throughout Spain's distinct regions result in gastronomic differences as well.
The traditional food of AndalucÃa boasts tons of Islamic influence, as AndalucÃa was the final stronghold of the Moorish empire through the Spanish Reconquest. Plus, American products like corn, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes first entered Europe through AndalucÃa and have been popular ever since. What to try: gazpacho (cold tomato-based soup), fried fish (pescaÃto frito), egg yolk (yema) desserts, rabo de toro (bull's tail) and cured Iberian ham (jamón ibérico).
The interior of Spain, revolving around Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla-León and the Comunidad de Madrid boasts what can be defined as a countryside cuisine. The cold winters typical of this central zone of Spain have yielded traditional food dishes revolving around meats and cheeses cured in the cold mountain air and warm dishes such as hearty stews and roasted anything- lamb, suckling pig, goat, etc. What to try: cochinillo (roast suckling pig), cocido madrileño (stew of meat, cabbage, carrots & potatoes), queso manchego (cured sheep's cheese), pisto manchego (zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant in a tomato base) and migas (fried breadcrumbs).
Spain's northern coastline, which stretches across Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and Pais Vasco, brings a wide array of traditional food dishes to the table. The Cantabrian Coast is known for Spain's best shellfish and seafood (especially in Galicia) and hearty home-cooking that focuses on seafood, dairy, meat and fresh produce.What to try: empanada gallega (pastry filled with pork, chicken, or fish), pulpo (octopus), mejillones (mussels), sardinas (sardines), bonito (tuna), bacalao (salted cod), angulas (baby eels), fabada asturiana (bean and pork stew), cidra (cider) and quesos (cheeses).
The fertile valleys running along the Pyrenees through the regions of Navarra, La Rioja and Aragón provide the area with its famous locally-grown fruits and vegetables that play heavily into the traditional food, not to mention fantastic wine! What to try: migas de pastor (bread crumbs fried with ham), vino (wine), cordero (lamb), peras (pears), melocotones (peaches).
Finally, the Mediterranean coast, along which run the regions of Cataluña, Valencia and Murcia before ending up once again in AndalucÃa, boasts a diverse gastronomy that incorporates lots of fresh seafood, fruits, vegetables and olive oil. Funky Barcelona is known for having Spain's most avant-garde cuisine, tying in influences from various regions of Spain along with France and Italy. Valencia's claims to fame are oranges and other fruits along with literally hundreds of rice dishes. What to try: aceitunas (olives), vino (wine), naranjas (oranges), mariscos (shellfish), paella (rice dish with saffron, vegetables and chicken, pork or shellfish). |
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Twig Step
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Tacos and burritos are south american food - in Spain you can only find these types of food in specialized south american stores and restaurants. In fact spicey food isn't all that popluar in Spain at all.
Traditional breakfast could be cake and hot chocolate, there are lots of traditional cakes, such as magdalenas which are plain cupcakes, and sobaos, which are squares of a plain milky cake. Another traditional breakfast would be toasted baguette with olive oil, and fresh tomato, known as pan tomaka - although the name of this dish varies from one region to the other.
Between breakfast and lunch, perhaps you would have a merienda, or snack. In offices, la merrienda is very popular on Fridays, because while Monday to Friday, office hours are usually 9am to 6pm, a lot of offices work from 8am to 3pm on Fridays with no lunch break, so a merienda is essential to keep you going, if you have to wait until 3pm to have lunch. A typical merienda could be tortilla española, which is a delicious potatoe omelette, or a ham baguette. Spain is famous for it's very high quality cured ham, known as jamón iberico.
Lunch is the main meal of the day, and normally at 2 o'clock. The traditional meals vary a lot by region, as the mediteranean & south has a much milder climate, and this is reflected in the food. Traditional Northern starters include lentil and bean stews, tunafish pies (empanadas), mediteranean dishes include paella, which is a yellow rices with either seafood or chicken and rabbit, this dish is mainly eaten in valencia, and gazpacho - a vry refreshing cold tomato soup. The second course would normally be a fish or meat dish, perhaps oven roast sea bream, a cod stew, pork loin or steak.
While the Spanish is renound for it's high quality food, and Spanish cuisine is admired all over the world, desserts are not the Spanish strong point. Traditional desserts include rice pudding, creme caramel and not much else (although in more expensive restaurants in you can find a whole range of exciting wonderfull desserts, they would not be considered typically spanish).
Spanish are great coffee drinkers, and most people finnish off lunch with a cortado - a strong shot of coffee.
The evening meal is eaten late, normally after 9pm, in the summer heat even later. If you were eating at home, you would probably have something light, as lunch is the main meal. Probably about once a week you would arrange to go out with friends for an informal meal. Normally you would eat tapas - plates of food that are put in the centre for everyone to share. Each town and region has it's speciality tapas, but a great variety is availabe all over the country. Fried sardines fish, and calamar rings, or cazon en adobo (pieces of a small variety of shark , marinaded then fried - delicious) are what the town of Cadiz in the south is famous for. No tapas meal would be complete with out a plate of the wonderful spanish cured meats and cheeses. Other tapas may include chorizo in cider - spicy red pork sausages, pulpo (octopus) a la feira with potatoes, a personal favourite of mine, tortilla española, patatas bravas (potoato chips with spicy bravas sauce), rabo de toro (bull's tail), morcilla (blood sausage, rather like the scottish haggis or black pudding) and 100s more wonderful things. The meal will often last hours, with food being brought out graduallly, and plenty of time for conversation in between.
These would be washed down with a Spanish lager, or red wine. Spain makes great wine, the most famous being the Rioja reds, but the white Galician Albariños, and the Sweet Sherrys from Jerez are also worth mentioning, along with many many more.
As you can see, traditional Spanish food is very different from mexican food. The Spanish are very proud of thier food - after all it's one of the things they do best, so I hope you don't get too much stick, for mentioning burritos....afterall you are looking to learn.
You could search google to find menus of restaurants in Spain for your asignment. |
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Chips
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Tacos and Burritos are Tex-Mex food. I had wonderful food in Spain. An appetizer would be tapas such as enteros (small fried squid), pulpas (small octopus), or potatoes in garlic mayonnaise. I recall also eating a parokeet and some barnacles (no kidding). Barnacles = percebes.
dessert: I had flan and leche frito. drink: fino (dry sherry) or tinto (cold red wine); the famous entree of Spain is paella, a rice dish with seafood and chicken and sausage (chorizo). I had no soups or salads there, but they exist. |
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diamantes
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paella
gazpacho
calamares a la romana
jamon serrano
callos a la madrileña
fabada asturiana
empanada gallega
ensaimada
sobrasada
sardinas
besugo
bacalao ala vizcaina
patatas bravas
queso de teta,queso manchego,queso cabrales,queso bursos,
vino
mojo picon
piriñaca
turron
mazapan
gazpacho manchego
migas
torrijas
tortillas
longanizas
morcillas
fuet
cocidos
potes
cuajada
sidras
arroz con leche
..................
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ryssee
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Mmmm Spanish ham is the best! |
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F@N D€ BoN€$
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tacos en españa? ingnorantes...
jamon,paella,bakalao,aceite,naranjas,,... |
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amandaztoy
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In Barcelona, we ate the most lovely paella. |
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dart
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Food.
First, may I say that not only "not necessarily tacos or burritos", but they don't even know what those ARE. Not unless they frecuent Mexican restaurants, which, btw, are few and far between in Spain. It IS, after all, SPAIN, Mexico.
Most MEALS have a soup/pasta/rice dish, followed by a meat and potato plate. You might get dessert, depending on where you are (home, or restaurant, etc.) though where I lived, "dessert" was generally fruit. If you wanted anything sweeter than that, you had to o to a pastry shop.
Here's a few sites to check out. Many of them have recipes. The ham http://www.spanishessence.com/serrano-ham.html is generally served either as a tapa (*) or as filler for a "bocadillo" (sandwich).
http://www.tienda.com/recipes/recipes.html
http://www.deliciasdeespana.com/store1/dailyfood_menu.html
http://www.hotpaella.com/Authentic-Spanish-Recipes.aspx
http://www.spanishessence.com/index.html
http://www.tapenawines.com/spanish-food-recipes.html?gclid=CK-ahqzWiZMCFSi9IgodUASvTg
As for "Appetizers", they don't really do appetizers in Spain...the closest you will come is "tapas". Traditionally, tapas are little plates of anything that might be served as a full dish. You go to a restaurant or bar and ask for a tapas menu. It's generally the same as a "ración" menu, only the portions are much smaller. Thing is...they don't DO them the same as you would in the US. One either goes out for Dinner, (or lunch, which, I'm sure you already know, is the main meal), or one goes "tapeando", or hopping from bar to bar, getting a "copa", and a tapa at each one, and sharing with friends.
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ironcookies
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diicks |
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hotchange71
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I ate tapas and more tapas and more tapas. One day I had paella but I pretty much stuck to tapas. |
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chuckdogg80
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Tapas |
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Jungle Midget
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I do not eat anything in Spain. |
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