Incantato Introduction: Spanish Cuisine

The Spanish food tradition has varied ancestry, though most Spanish dishes have rather humble origins and are the result of ingredients put together by farmers or shepherd families - many times using leftovers, or at the very least products from their own farms and orchards.
Mountains run through Spain in several directions, acting as natural barriers to communication and making transportation difficult until the last half of the 20th century. This is one of the reasons why cooking differs so much from region to region. Many times the only common ingredients are olive oil and garlic, the two basic ingredients of Spanish food!
Many dishes are prepared today using the same cooking methods and ingredients as they were two or three hundred years ago. Other dishes sprung up from European and American influences and were adapted to the Spanish taste. One thing is for sure, food in Spain is fresh, abundant and full of taste and the Spanish love their food dearly.

Unquestionably pork is par excellence the most favorite Spanish meat:
the Spanish like to make use of all of the ingredients they can and often include a number of different meats in the same dish.
Of course there are many other meats served in Spanish tables including lamb, beef and chicken. But Spaniards are not exclusively carnivorous, there are many vegetarian stews and other dishes that are enjoyed from North to South, from East to West. Vegetables are grown throughout the country, and the varied climates and terrains in Spain mean that a variety of different vegetables are grown. As a result, the vegetable dishes in Spain tend to also vary from place to place.

But what makes Spanish food so popular? The answer is simple it is the quality and variety of the ingredients used. For instance, it was the Romans that imported rice to Spain, giving way to the creation of the Valencian paellaand many other rice dishes. Since then, these dishes have come to form part of the typical dishes of Spain and are a definite must for any travelers who are planning on visiting Spain and doing a bit of gastronomic tourism.

There is also a great variety of seafood, including fish and crustaceans from the coast areas, which are used in the preparation of many delicious dishes. The fish industry in Spain is extremely important and forms part of the livelihood of many of the population. Furthermore, Spain is a country that is blessed with such a large and varied coastline, including the Bay of Biscay, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. This gives rise to a whole manner of different species of fish and seafood being available for Spanish chefs. Therefore the range of Spanish seafood dishes is endless!

When it comes to sweet things, Spain has a very rich dessert tradition. On one hand it was also influenced by the Moors, and on the other many of them are centuries old creations from nun convents. 
If you have a sweet tooth we recommend you to sample some of the many deserts Spain has to offer for a example Churros, Spain’s answer to a donut, a crunchy, deep-fried sweet snack that resembles the horns of the churro sheep. It is mostly served with hot chocolate to dip it in.

¡Buen provecho!