Spain is country with a mixed and complicated heritage and Spanish cooking reflects this fact. While Spain is a Mediterranean country, and many Spanish dishes owe much to this, Spanish food also may include native foods imported into the country from Spain's previous colonies in the New World like beans, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. Other Spanish dishes draw on the states Jewish and Moorish heritage - it was worth bearing in mind that much of Spain was ruled by the Moors for more than seven hundred years. Even the Reconquista (the Christian reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from Muslims) has left its traces in Spanish cuisine - pork is well-liked in Spanish food, and historically was a political statement of Christian identity because it was not eaten by Jews or Muslims.
The most significant ingredient in Spanish cooking is olive oil, which is unsurprising when you consider that Spain produces just about half of the world's olives. Nonetheless in the North of Spain, butter and lard are also used.
Other characteristics of Spanish food, include the wide-ranging use of garlic and onions, the portion of bread and wine with most meals, and the consumption of fruit or dairy goods as puddings. One particularly well-known Spanish custom is the serving of little appetizers ("tapas") with drinks.
Some well-liked Spanish dishes include:
- Gazpacho - A cold vegetarian soup that is particularly popular in warmer areas like Andalusia. Historically gazpacho was made stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt and vinegar, but today, bell pepper and tomato are also often added. There is also a alternative called &quit;gazpacho manchego&quit; which is served warm, and that of course includes protein (regularly rabbit) and mushrooms, and is rather more like a stew than a soup.
- Paella - A rice dish originally from Valencia. The main ingredients are rice, saffron and olive oil, and the dish is generally garnished with meat or seafood, and plants.
- Chorizo - A spicy sausage made of greasy pork seasoned with chili and paprika. There are 2 varieties: hot ("picante") and sweet ("dulce"). Most kinds can be eaten cold, though there are some areas of Spain which produce types that need further cooking. Chorizo is not only eaten on its own, but is also used as an ingredient in other dishes.
- Jamon Serrano - Dry-cured ham.
- Fabada Asturiana - A bean stew that also contains black blood sausage ("morcilla"), chorizo and pork, and which is flavored with saffron and other seasonings.
- Olla Podrida - A rich stew with bacon, chickens or game, ham, meats and veggies.
- Marmitako - A fish stew made with onions, pimentos, potatoes and tomatoes.
- Calamares - Fried squid.
- Pescato Frito - Drenched fish, battered and fried.
- Tortilla de patatas - An onion and potato omelette.
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