Cuisine

Spanish

Cocina española

Spain eats regionally first. A Basque kitchen, a Galician one and a Valencian rice house share olive oil and little else. Sofrito — onion, garlic, tomato cooked until sweet — starts many pans. Paprika, whether sweet or smoked, is a seasoning, not a dusting for colour. Tortilla española is eggs and potato, sometimes onion, set into a cake that should be tender in the middle. Patatas bravas are fried potato with a spicy tomato or allioli, depending on the bar. Gazpacho is a cold Andalusian blend of tomato, pepper and oil, not a chilled salad soup from nowhere.

Roman agriculture, Islamic-period irrigation and rice, Jewish frying and stewing, and New World tomato, pepper and potato all sit in the modern pantry. Paella became a national postcard in the twentieth century; it remains a Valencian rice dish that the rest of Spain borrowed and often overloaded. Croquetas de jamón are leftover bechamel bound with ham, crumbed and fried. Pisto con huevos is a Manchegan vegetable stew with eggs cooked on top. Basque burnt cheesecake is a recent bakery plate, not a medieval convent sweet.

Respect the pan. Rice dishes want a wide surface and a toasted bottom; they are not risotto. Grilling is salt, smoke and timing. Churros are fried dough eaten with thick chocolate or sugar. Olive oil is the primary fat in most regions; butter is not the Spanish default. Regional arguments — onion in the tortilla, seafood in the paella — are cooking arguments, not branding. Sofrito, grill, fryer and rice are used differently from Galicia to Valencia.