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November 20, 2003
Flavours of Spain
“The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain,” famously sang Eliza Doolittle in the musical My Fair Lady. About the food in Spain she had nothing to say — Spanish cuisine has been a very well kept secret for a long time.
However, when a country becomes a popular holiday destination, its cookery quite naturally comes under scrutiny. Visitors discovered there was a lot to like about Spanish food, and that the myths about it being fiery hot and very oily were untrue.
While Spanish food is flavourful, this comes mostly from a subtle blend of herbs and spices rather than a heavy handed use of chilli peppers. Rarely does a meal in Spain pass without olive oil having played a part. Olive oil is the usual choice for frying, sauteeing and salad dressing and its fruity, delicate flavour and unmistakable aroma characterizes Spanish cookery.
Influences and ingredients
The Romans used Spain as a major source of food, especially wheat and olive oil. Extensive planting of olive trees by the Romans laid the foundation for Spain’s present position as a leading producer of both olives and olive oil.
More often than not, olive oil works in partnership with garlic, suffusing Spanish dishes with a flavour that varies in strength from lightly perfumed to fiercely pungent. Garlic forms the principal ingredient (along with olive oil and herbs) of the Spanish sauce allioli. It is also the essential ingredient of salsa verde, the piquant green sauce (with olive oil, parsley and shallots) which accompanies boiled meat and fish dishes.
The Arabs ruled Spain for some seven hundred years and had a major effect on Spanish cuisine. They introduced citrus fruits, such as lemons and the bitter Seville oranges, sugar cane, vegetables among which the aubergine was outstanding, and numerous spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, sesame, coriander and aniseed.
Spain’s Arab rulers introduced the cultivation of rice to the tidal flatlands of what is now Valencia. Paella, which set out from its own territory, Valencia, to become Spain’s most internationally famous dish, must be made with this local rice, which has special characteristics, if it is to be authentic.
The use of saffron in Spanish cuisine is also something which stems from an Arab introduction. Spain today is the main producer of this golden spice. Pungent, with a beautiful yellow colour, saffron is indispensible in a number of Spanish dishes, both sweet and savoury.
The Arab legacy, all important in sweet-making in Spain, is particularly associated with the use of honey and almonds, the essential ingredients for many Spanish desserts, baked goods, and confectionary items.
Ground almonds often replace flour in Spanish desserts; lemon and orange zest play a vital role in flavouring sweets. Cakes made with ground almonds, pastries filled with chopped nuts or marzipan (the name is derived from the Arabic martaban), fritters, milk puddings, sweets made with dried or preserved fruits are all part of Spain’s Moorish heritage.
The third largest country in Europe, Spain is climatically much drier than the rest of the continent. There is not much land for cattle grazing and the arid mountains and central plateau are essentially sheep country. Spanish sheep cheeses exist in a bewildering number of forms, perhaps even rivaling the figure 365 often quoted as being the number of French cheeses.
The most widely eaten Spanish cheese is the firm-textured Manchego, one of the finest sheep’s cheeses to be found anywhere. The Spanish for cheese is Queso, and the full name of many cheese begins with this word, e.g., queso Manchego.
Spain has two long coastlines bordering the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and seafood stews are prevalent all over its coastal areas. From the sea comes a multitude of ingredients: sardines, anchovies, scallops, squid, cuttlefish, lobster, crayfish, clams and prawns. Like neighbouring Portugal, Spain displays great enthusiasm for and expertise with salt cod.
Cooking very quickly on a plancha or hot plate greased with oil is a traditional way of cooking in Spain. Seafood more than anything is remarkably good brushed with olive oil, put on the plancha, lightly seasoned and served sizzling hot.
Tapas — saucer-sized mini-snacks — are part of the Spanish way of life and come in an infinite variety. Pescado or marisco tapas bars do much of their seafood like this on the plancha, usually in front of their customers.
Spain has an abundance of fresh vegetables. Imports from the New World include the potato, many varieties of beans, zucchini, vanilla, chocolate and peppers. Tomatoes are the basis of its well-known soup, gazpacho, enhanced with raw peppers, and cucumber. Onions contribute much to Spanish cuisine: chopped and lightly sauteed in olive oil, they are called refogado and act as a base for many stews and sauces.
Wine production in Spain began when the Phoenicians, who founded the city of Cadiz around 1100 BC, introduced vines. Alcohol is often used to flavour Spanish dishes. Spain’s most famous wine — sherry from Jerez, both dry and sweet — flavours entrees and desserts.
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