Spanish Cuisine
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Clickable Spanish
cuisine map

Andalucia Basque Catalonia Madrid & environs Valencia Basque Catalonia Valencia

Why Spanish Cuisine
is special

The cooking of Spain is a complex, mature cuisine steeped in tradition.

Insights on
Spanish Cuisine

Seasoning

Spanish cooks in general use few assertive seasonings, with the exception of garlic.

Most popular meat

Most Spaniards are not great beef consumers. Lean, rangy hogs yielding lean meat and sausage are more popular than beef cattle, which are more expensive to raise in Spain's relatively dry climate.

Seafood

However, this limited selection of meat is partially offset by the country's abundant fresh seafood, which in turn is supplemented by dried cod.

Olive oil

Spanish cooks greatly prefer olive oil to butter or other fats.

Tapa

A popular custom is to drop by a bar on the way home for a snack of tapas. They are, generally speaking, hors d'oeuvres. Tapas range from the simple combination of olives and almonds to an elaborate spread of hot and cold dishes. Seafood tapas are especially popular.

Most famous culinary
areas in Spain

Below is my impartial list of Spain's five best known culinary areas in terms of culinary quality and interest. The name in parenthesis is the region's chief city. List is alphabetical:

Andalucia  (Seville)

Andalucia

Basque  (Bilbao)

Basque

Catalonia  (Barcelona)

Catalonia

Madrid / Environs  (Madrid)

Madrid

Valencia  (Valencia)

Valencia

Other well known
Spanish Cuisine areas

All four of these areas are provinces located in northern Spain:

Galicia

Sits in the northwest corner of Spain. Known for its Caldo Gallego, a rich soup of meat and vegetables flavored with ham. Fish and shellfish are abundant and popular.

Asturia

Located just east of Galicia. Fabada Asturiana is its highly touted peasant style melange of white beans and smoked pork products.

Navarre

Situated directly east of the Basque Provinces. Its renowned specialty is Truchas a la Navarre (ham stuffed trout that's grilled or panfried).

Aragon

Shares Catalonia's western border. Celebrated for its chilindron cooking sauces. They are typically made with ham, peppers, garlic, olives and almonds. Used for meats (especially chicken).

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