REGIONAL CHOICE

Green Spain

Some of the most delicious seafood comes from the Atlantic coast with specialities including mussels, scallops, lobsters and octopus. The north coast also supplies crabs, anchovies and tuna. Soft, blue cheese comes from the mountains of Cantabria. Later in this chapter it will be seen that it is wine that gives this region its fame. Spain’s most prestigious red wine, Rioja, is matured to a distinctive vanilla mellowness; its grapes influenced during growth on hilly, stony soil by both the Mediterranean and Atlantic weather systems.

Eastern Spain

Catalonia too is known for good food. Amanida is a salad with vegetables, cured meat, cheese, and fish. Sequet a fish and shellfish stew. Sausages come in all shapes, sizes and colours. But the most famous dish is a pudding called crema Catalan: a rich egg custard with a golden brown layer of grilled sugar on top, served very cold.

Andalusia

Its historic Arab inhabitants have heavily influenced food from this area. Traditionally almonds, rice, lemons, oranges, grapes and olives were grown. Today’s crops now include strawberries, apples, melons, cherries and pears. Barbecued meats, sauces flavoured with cumin or saffron and sweets made from crushed almonds, are all typical dishes of today. Grilled fish, especially sardines and calamares (squid), and whole fish baked in a crust of salt, are popular dishes.

Central Spain

Game such as wild boar, pheasant and partridge is plentiful in Central Spain. La Mancha maintains a tradition of robust cooking with a variety of one-pot pulse stews. Castilla y Leon is known for its suckling pig and milk-fed lamb roasted whole in enormous bread ovens. Many convents and shops in Toledo continue to make popular little marzipan cakes.

The region is well known for cocido and patatas a la importancia that are egg coated potatoes fried and then simmered in wine and Manchego cheese.

Islands

Regional food is gradually being squeezed out, but traditional egg dishes still remain to be eaten in good Mallorcan restaurants. In the Canary Islands however, regional food does not exist, forgotten in the commercial need to provide international blandness. Bananas are grown here, a small, sweet variety, often used in fritters and tarts.