The Moors  were a strong influence on food in Spain for many centuries and their food is still eaten in Spain today. Daily meals eaten by the Spanish in many areas of the country are still made by hand, from fresh ingredients bought daily from the local mercado. This is more common in the rural areas and less common in the large urban areas like Madrid, where supermercado are beginning to take over the open air . However, even in the large cities every neighborhood or barrio has is own permanent fresh produce market with fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and meat for sale each day helping to retain spanish cooking traditions across the country.

Preparing traditional Spanish food also often revolves around outdoor cooking over a bbq, perhaps in a special oven. One popular passtime when going out is to have tapas. Tapas are snacks. In some regions of Spain,especially Granada and Madrid, food (tapas) is often included in the price of drinks that is served in bars. In this case, they amount to as little as a few olives, a piece of cheese, etc. Large portions (raciones) may be ordered to make up a meal. It is normal practice to share them within the group with bread etc.. Instead of dinner often the Spanish go out for tapas, eating tapasand having a small drink (Spanish wine) at each stop off.   In some places, Granada for instance and to a lesser extent Madrid, tapas are given for free with your drink and have become very famous for that reason. It should be noted that almost every tapas bar serves some small tidbit when a drink is ordered, without charge. Some typical foods from Spain include;

Paella
Paella is a rice dish, originally from Valencia, Spain, where it is eaten especially on Sundays and in Fiestas usually at the midday meal not in the evening. There are many variations as with most Spanish food and versions can be found with a range of different ingredients. The main version is based on Chicken with rice fish stock and seafood added at the end. Any self respecting Paella should include a little saffron (asafran). The name paella is taken directly from the Catalan word for pan. However, the dish has become very popular in Spain that the word is now synonymous with the dish.

Fabada
Fabada Asturiana is a rich bean stew, originally from and most commonly found in Asturias, but widely available throughout Spain and in Spanish food restaurants world-wide and is made with dried large white beans, shoulder of pork , black blood sausage (morcilla), spicy sausage (chorizo).

Mariscos
Mariscos (shellfish) is the general term used to describe clams, mussels, oysters, squid, scallop, shrimp, lobster, crab etc. The best areas are Andalucia and the Altantic north coast. The mediteranean is not so well blessed with marisco athough like the rest of Spain good quality seafood is available and there are lots of excellent seafood restaurants. Malaga in particular is more famouse for its beach grilled sardines (espejitos).

Gazpacho Soup
Gazpacho is a cold (iced) tomato based Spanish soup that is popular in warmer areas especially during the summer. It is normally spicy but a milder variation has also become popular.

Tortilla de patatas
Tortilla de patatas is also sometimes known as tortilla espanola (Spanish omelette) to differentiate it from the dish commonly known as tortilla francesa (French omelette) or just tortilla, which is made only with eggs. It is a very popular at any kind of event in Spain (usually accompanied by other dishes as well) and may be served either cold or hot.

 

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