Spanish Cuisine: Top Ten Dishes
What to Eat in Spain and Where to Find It: Jamon Serrano, Paella
Aug 18, 2008
There are certain specialties of Spanish Cuisine that you shouldn't miss before leaving the Iberian Peninsula.
From the dry, distinctively Spanish region of Andalucía to green hills and rugged coastline of Galicia, here are the top ten foods from Spain:
- Jamon Serrano: Cured ham thinly sliced from the bone. The pure bread Iberian pig, cerdo iberico, spends a lifetime freely roaming the countryside eating fallen acorns to produce a first-rate, highly sought after and consequently expensive product. Where: Extremadura. The town of Monesterio has a Dia del Jamon every first week of September.
- Paella: The rice-based dish synonymous with Spanish cuisine often includes some combination of mussels, shrimp, chicken, rabbit, green beans, butter beans, snails, artichokes, and subtle saffron taste (although genuine paella Velenciana doesn’t mix meat and fish). Where to try it: the province of Valencia, specifically in the towns of Perellonet or El Palmar.
- Tortilla Español (Spanish omelet): Simple ingredients: potatoes, onions, and eggs, prepared on the stovetop. The perfect meal or snack anytime of day. Where to eat it: any bar in Spain.
- Pulpo a la Gallega (Galician Octopus): Traditionally cooked in a big copper vat and served on a wooden plate sprinkled with salt and drizzled with olive oil. Where: Anywhere in seafood rich region of Galicia, in northwest Spain.
- Chorizo: A flavorful and sometimes spicy pork sausage that Spain takes seriously. It gets its deep red color from dried smoked red peppers. Where: everywhere across Spain. But try it in Cantimpalos, in the province of Segovia, for especially good chorizo cured with paprika.
- Gazpacho: Served chilled, gazpacho is a refreshing soup from the southern region of Andalucía made with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, oil, vinegar, garlic, and salt. Where to sample: recipes differ throughout the region, so try it anywhere in Andalucía.
- Pimentos de Padron: Small, shallow-fried green peppers served whole and sprinkled with sea salt. Where to eat them: ideally in Padron, but anywhere in Galicia in the summer is a fine place to try them. Be careful, one in ten is supposedly hot.
- Churros: Dunk these ribbed fried dough rings in coffee for a Spanish breakfast. However they’re best eaten with thick, rich chocolate in the morning after a long night of drinking and dancing. Where: anywhere in Spain, preferably at a churraria.
- Empanada: Although many varieties of empanada can be found throughout South and Central America, this stuffed pastry is originally from Galicia. The Galician variety is usually prepared with cod, chicken, or some variety of shellfish, and baked into a pie with peppers and onions. Where: anywhere in Galicia.
- Sopa de Ajo: Originally a poor person’s soup, you can now find sopa de ajo in finer restaurants. Made from frying bread in lots of garlic and sprinkled with paprika, the stock is added and complemented with beaten eggs. Where to try it: the region of Castilla.
The copyright of the article Spanish Cuisine: Top Ten Dishes in Spanish Food is owned by Stephen Bugno. Permission to republish Spanish Cuisine: Top Ten Dishes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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