SPANISH

Cuisine
What influenced Spanish Cuisine?
Spain has a vivid history, with more than a few cultures passing through the
country over the years. Because of this, Spanish cuisine is made up of many
different cultures in reality, with traditional foods from the Romans, the
Carthaginians and the Jews all playing their part in today’s take on Spanish
cuisine. When the Moors invaded Spain, they had a significant impact on Spain
and it’s impact on Spanish food can still be seen today with different spices,
fruits, nuts, rice and new ways of cooking meat and fish.

Arab Influence
Much of the current cuisine of Spain is a reminder of the Muslim tradition, an
empire that occupied up to 70% of the country at some point and lasted from 711
to 1492, the year that Spain was unified and the Americas were
discovered. Called the “Al-Andalus” gastronomy, this inheritance is especially
prevalent in the southern region of Andalusia, where gazpachos and other cold
soups originated.
 Sephardic (Jewish) Influence
Prior to 1492, Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together in relative harmony in
Spain. But the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, wanted the whole
Iberian Peninsula to be Christian and thus expelled the Muslims and Jews around
the same time. The Sephardic Jews left behind some of their gastronomic
traditions, which shocked people from other religions and social stratums. For
example, the practice of preparing separately and never mixing milk and meat.
Christian Influence
Christian influence in the Spanish gastronomy is an important one. Today, most
of Spain is Catholic, but many centuries ago that wasn’t exactly the case as the
Jews had lived in Spain for centuries. In the year 638 they began to be persecuted,
but were saved after 710 when the Muslims invaded Spain and occupied a large
part of the peninsula. Jews were accepted, and for many centuries, the three
religions lived peacefully together. This cultural exchange meant a change in the
culinary customs of all three religions, and we can safely say that Spanish
gastronomy wouldn’t be the same without one of them.
Paella
A traditional Spanish one-pan meal made with rice and numerous
ingredients including various types of fish, seafood, poultry, sausage,
and vegetables. There are many different versions and varieties of
paella depending on the region of Spain where the recipe is popular,
but the original home of paella is the Valencia area of Spain, where the
geography and environment are excellent for cultivating rice. Valencia
rice is a medium-grained, plump variety that is able to absorb a large
volume of liquid. The grains are slightly sticky when cooked and yet
the grains separate easily, which makes it perfect for paella. Other types
of Spanish rice, such as Bomba and Bahia, are equally good for
preparing paella.

Tortilla Española
Another tapas bar favorite is tortilla Española – or Spanish omelette
as it’s known around the world. However, it’s not just a tapas treat.
Tortilla can also be eaten as a main dish, a break time snack, or even
in a sandwich, which is popular with kids. To create your own tortilla,
you’ll need to slowly fry up onions and potatoes in olive oil before
adding the egg. This will caramelize the onions and give your
omelette that extra sweetness.
Gazpacho or Gaspacho,
Also called Andalusian gazpacho, is a cold soup made of raw,
blended vegetables. It originated in the southern regions of the
Iberian peninsula and spread into other areas. Gazpacho is
widely eaten in Spain and Portugal, particularly during hot
summers, since it is refreshing and cool.

Pisto
(Also known as Pisto Manchego) is a Spanish dish originally
from the Region of Murcia, Castilla La Mancha and Extremadura.
It is made of tomatoes, onions, eggplant or courgettes, green and
red peppers, and olive oil. It resembles ratatouille and is usually
served warm as a starter or to accompany another dish.

Pulpo a la Gallega or Pulpo a Feira

(Galician name meaning ‘fair style octopus) is a traditional dish from
the region of Galicia. It is the main dish during the patron saint
festivities of the city of Lugo. Cooking fresh octopus is not such a
daunting process, the key to it, is to get the right timing on the
cooking of the octopus, so you don’t end up with the octopus being
too tough or too soft. Traditionally, this is done by hitting the
octopus against a wall or stone. At home, you don’t need to do
this…freezing the octopus helps the meat tenderise. Traditionally,
pulpo is cooked in a copper cauldron, allowing 12 minutes per 1kg
of octopus. Pulpo a la gallega tends to be paired well with a
young red wine, ideally slightly chilled.
Condiments in any cuisine are their distinguishing elements, almost the soul, giving a unique
personality to each dish. In the Mediterranean basin it couldn’t be any other way: cumin, tarragon,
dill, sage, anise, thyme, fennel, mint, cinnamon, cloves… However, we will focus on Spain’s
essential herbs and spices we find most representative.

SAFFRON PIMENTÓN ÑORA

LAUREL GARLIC
 TYPES OF DESCRIPTIONS
INGREDIENTS
Oil extracted from the fleshy part of the ripened fruit of the
olive tree, Olea europaea. Olive oil varies in colour from clear

Olive Oil yellow to golden; some varieties obtained from unripe fruit
have a greenish tinge.

They are usually red, scarlet, or yellow, though green and

purple varieties do exist, and they vary in shape from almost
spherical to oval and elongate to pear-shaped. Each fruit
Tomato contains at least two cells of small seeds surrounded by
jellylike pulp.
The potato is a starchy tuber of the plant Solanum tuberosum

Potato and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a

perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato
species can be found from the southern United States to
southern Chile.
Despite their traditionally small frame, the Spanish ordinarily
eat very well whether it is fish, meat or embutidos (Pork cold
Fish and Ham cuts) on the menu. A typical meal comprises 3 courses,
starting with a salad or soup, followed by a main course with
a meat or fish base and topped off with dessert, not to mention
coffee.
These crackers are also perfect as croutons for Gazpacho,
soups, cream soups and purées. Ingredients: Flour, water,
Bread and Picos extra virgin olive oil, yeast, salt, emulsifier E-471 and
antioxidant E-300.
Stewing
Stewing is a combination cooking method that uses small, uniform pieces of meat that are totally immersed in
liquid and slowly simmered. In this case, the food and the liquid are served together as one dish.

Roasting
Roasting is a slow-cooking process, using indirect, diffused heat to cook its ingredients. It is a dry-heat cooking
method where hot air surrounds the food and cooks it evenly on all sides at a temperature of at least 300 °F (or
150 °C). The heat can also be derived from an open flame, an oven, or another heat source. Roasting is typically
used to enhance flavor in a dish through caramelization and browning on the surface of food. This method is
ideal for meat, such as chicken, pork, and some cuts of beef, but can also be used to cook vegetables and fish.

Broiling
Cooking by exposing food to direct radiant heat, either on a grill over live coals or below a gas burner or
electric coil. Broiling differs from roasting and baking in that the food is turned during the process so as to cook
one side at a time.

Grilling
Involves cooking food on a rack over a heat source, usually a charcoal fire or ceramic briquettes heated by gas
flames. Direct heat quickly sears the outside of food, producing distinctive robust, roasted and sometimes
pleasantly charred flavors and a nice crust.

Baking
Process of cooking by dry heat, especially in some kind of oven. It is probably the oldest cooking method.
Bakery products, which include bread, rolls, cookies, pies, pastries, and muffins, are usually prepared from flour
or meal derived from some form of grain.
Martín Berasategui
Another of the founders of New Basque Cuisine,
Martín Bersasategui began working at a time when
there were no Michelin stars in the Basque Country
and has gone on to hold the most stars of any Spanish
chef ever. He received his first star in his parents’
restaurant at the age of just 25, while one of this most
recent accomplishments involves running the first
restaurant in Barcelona to receive three Michelin stars.
Joan Roca i Fontané
Born as an annexe to the main family-run restaurant
located near Girona in Catalonia, El Celler de Can
Roca has since twice been voted best restaurant in the
world by Restaurant magazine. Behind it are the three
brothers Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca – head chef,
sommelier and pastry chef respectively. Grounded in
traditional Spanish and Catalan cuisine, Joan Roca’s
dishes make use of avant-garde techniques to offer
guests a new experience of the familiar.
Carme Ruscalleda
Becoming one of the country’s best chefs is tough in any case but doing so when
you’re a woman is even tougher. There can be no other testimony of Carme
Ruscalleda‘s hard-work and talent than the fact that she has successfully become
the world’s only female chef to be awarded five Michelin stars. Born to a family
of farmers from rural Catalonia, Ruscellada now runs a two Michelin star in
Tokyo alongside her main restaurant, Sant Pau, in the seaside town of Sant Pol
de Mar and Moments in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Barcelona.

Andoni Luis Aduriz

Having dropped out of school age 14 and failed his first year of cookery
school, Andoni Luis Aduriz didn’t sound like a likely candidate to be voted
number 3 chef in the world and to give lectures at both Harvard and MIT. Things
changed for Aduriz when he went to work under Ferran Adrià at elBulli in the
early nineties and he saw the possibilities that innovation held for cooking. Since
then he has championed innovation, embracing new technologies and
interdisciplinary approaches to the culinary experience, leading him to win two
Michelin stars for his restaurant Mugaritz, voted fourth best restaurant in the
world in 2006.

Victor Arguinzoniz
In the era of water-baths and liquid nitrogen being common place in the kitchen,
the idea of cooking everything over a simple flame grill is rather a novel one. Yet
this is precisely the challenge or not taken on by Victor Arguinzoniz at his Basque
Country restaurant the Asador Etxebarri. Self-trained and having worked only in
his own kitchen, Arguinzoniz works primarily with ingredients from his own
farm and garden, all cooked by flame.