![]() “We eat it before we eat its salty, acorn-laden taste is the perfect accompaniment to sherry and Cava, and it gets your juices flowing for the meal that is yet to come. “Jamón is the staple of the Spanish table,” says chef José Pizarro, the brains behind the celebrated José tapas bar and Pizarro restaurant in London. It’s popular in Catalonia and Valencia in seafood dishes that rival paella for their taste and intricacy.įideuà is typically cooked in a paella dish. ![]() Less well known to tourists, fideuà is a type of Spanish pasta similar to vermicelli. Where to try? Bierzo Enxebre, Santiago de Compostela ![]() Though generally sweet and mild, their fame stems from the fact that the occasional pepper will be fiery hot – lending a Russian Roulette element of surprise to eating them. Pimientos de Padron are fried and served with a deep sprinkling of salt. Its principal ingredients, aside from tomato, are peppers, garlic, bread and lots of olive oil.Ī common dish on tapas menus, pimientos de Padron are green peppers that hail originally from the town of that name in Galicia, in Spain’s lush, rainy northwest. This can be quite a shock for those who aren’t expecting it, but in the searing heat of a Seville summer, the attraction becomes clear. This tomato-based Andalusian soup is most famous for being served cold. Is this the world's most famous cold soup? courtesy Where to try? La Taverna del Clínic, Barcelona Key factors are the social sharing of food, and the opportunity to try a lot of different things in one meal. “It’s important to note that the tapeo (tapas crawl) is not primarily a ‘drinking culture’ thing – it’s oriented to friends and family with a communal atmosphere. “Tapas originated in southern Spain and is an adaptation to the social culture of eating and drinking outside the home, and fulfills the same social function as the English public house and other similar institutions,” explains Shawn Hennessey, who runs tapas tours of Seville. One theory holds that the dirtier the bar, the better the bravas. The sauce can come in any number of ways, from spicy ketchup to garlic mayonnaise with a dusting of pimiento (smoked paprika), or both. The potatoes are cubed and shallow fried and served the same everywhere. Where to try? La Matandeta near Albufera, ValenciaĪ staple among the small dishes that make up a classic tapas menu, patatas bravas – “brave potatoes” – is named for its spicy sauce, rare in a land that generally shuns fiery food. Saffron gives the rice its color, and the base should be left to crisp into a mouth-watering black crust, called the socarrat. Authentic paella originates from the region around Valencia, and comes in two varieties: Paella Valenciana, with rabbit and chicken and seafood paella. Paella is perhaps the most famous Spanish dish of all, and certainly one of the most abused. These 14 dishes – from seafood and meat to rice and pastries – are essential meals when you travel to Spain. High-profile chefs such as Ferran Adria, mastermind of the now-closed El Bulli restaurant, and the Roca brothers, founders of the El Celler de Can Roca, have brought Spain’s alta cocina international acclaim.īut the heart of Spanish cooking remains in its rustic, homespun nature, a legacy of a time when hard-pressed Spaniards had to work the land for everything it would offer. In recent years, however, people have come to celebrate the extraordinary flavors and variety of produce the cuisine has to offer. ![]() While Italy and France have spent years in the limelight, Spain was biding its time. It’s fair to say Spain was late to the table when it came to recognizing the global superpowers of food.
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