All about Spanish food
Spain on the map
In order to understand the Spanish food it is quite important to analyze where it is located.
Spain is in southwestern Europe, bordered to the northeast by France, to the east by the Mediterranean sea, to southwest and north by the Atlantic ocean and to the west by Portugal.
It is mostly surrounded by water what makes fish and seafood important ingredients for many Spanish recipes.
Each region of Spain has its own climate, Spain is at the same latitude as California or Korea, but it's also the second most mountainous country in Europe! In Granada you can ski and go to the beach the same day! It is only one hour by car!
Spanish food has popular dishes like Tapas, Paella, Tortilla Espanola, Sangria... but the Spanish cuisine is much more! Food in Spain is the result of a great variety of cooking cultures that have been living together in Spain as well as the different climates and ways of life of each region.
Spanish gastronomy history
The climate diversity makes Spanish food very rich in vegetables, meat and fish, but the variety of the Spanish cuisine is not only because of the weather, its location and history has led many different cultures to live together.
Spain has been invaded constantly over the centuries, Romans, French, Moors, Phoenicians...
These historical nations introduced new cooking styles and ingredients in the Spanish cuisine, but the Spanish food is also influenced by other cultures. Spaniards were the main colonizers of America, Columbus was Spanish!
The discovering of the New World brought new essential ingredients to the Mediterranean gastronomy like tomato, potato, chocolate... what are commonly used in a lot of Spanish dishes.
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