Taste Spain
España
Olive oil, rice, pig and the long evening. Spanish kitchens cook for a crowd and argue, correctly, that paella is Valencian before it is national.
Galicia's seafood, Basque pintxos, Catalan sofregit, Andalusian frying, Valencian rice: a peninsula of stubborn local pride. Paella is short-grain rice, sofrito, and the socarrat crust; it is not a dump of everything in the fridge. Tortilla española is eggs, potato, and a fight about onion. Patatas bravas want a sharp tomato or spicy oil, not a bland ketchup. Gazpacho is a cold Andalusian emulsion of tomato, pepper and bread when the heat makes a stove insulting. Croquetas de jamón are béchamel fried with discipline. Basque burnt cheesecake is a late San Sebastián habit that travelled because it is honestly cooked, not because it is ancient.
51 recipes · 2 cuisines
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Roman olive oil, Islamic irrigation and rice, Jewish and Christian festival cooking, and New World tomato, pepper and potato all live in the modern Spanish kitchen. The twentieth century turned rural rice dishes into national icons, sometimes against Valencian protest. Home cooks still argue about sofrito colour and whether chorizo belongs anywhere near a paella pan. It does not. Curing ham and ageing cheese remain farm crafts even when restaurants get the photographs.