西班牙英语介绍

Spanish Cuisine:The Spanish have never acquired the international reputation for haute cuisine enjoyed by their French neighbours. And millions of foreign tourists who flock to Spain’s costas each summer find their menu options at best limited and at worst swimming in garlic! In fact many overseas visitors never sample a taste of the “real Spain” because the most popular coastal areas have been saturated with fast food joints and international restaurants. To savour the truly wonderful world of Spanish food it’s essential to venture beyond the seaside tourist traps and follow the example of the Spaniards. Food is far more than a way of keeping body and soul together in Spain – it’s an entire experience and the focal point of the Spanish way of life. Influences on Spanish Food Spanish food reflects this vast country’s turbulent history, diverse geography and Mediterranean culture. Centuries of occupation by the Moors, who were the first to cultivate olives and oranges in Spain, made a huge impact on the Spanish diet as did decades of extreme poverty suffered by millions under Franco’s repressive regime. You can taste the Moorish influence in the huge variety of Spanish dishes flavoured with cumin, saffron and other exotic spices. The sumptuous soups and stews which you’ll find all over Spain today were the staple diet of peasant communities, surviving on home grown vegetables and meat bones stewed for hours to eke out very ounce of flavour (just like grandma used to make!) Paella - the most famous Spanish food It was the poor peasant people of the Valencian region who invented Spain’s most famous dish, paella. The original recipe combined home grown veg (usually green and broad beans) with off cuts of rabbit and the short grain rice mass produced around the city of Valencia thanks to the sophisticated irrigation system introduced by the Moors. Even today this is the traditional Valencian paella which you’ll find in thousands of towns, villages and isolated mountain pueblos throughout the region. It’s cheap, full of flavour and filling which were the three ingredients most sought after by those struggling to survive in the dire days during and after the Spanish Civil War. This kind of paella is a far cry from the exotic dishes you’ll find down at the seafront where chefs throw in an abundance of mussels, clams, langoustines and other pricey trimmings designed to tempt tourists with plenty of money to spend. No matter where you are in Spain, as a general rule of thumb you’ll get tastier food for far less money if you eat where the Spanish eat and follow them along to the street markets which are a treasure trove of fresh, cheap and high quality local produce. Spain is the second largest country in western Europe and there are many regional variations in terms of the local cuisine. But the national diet is characterised by a reliance on olive oil for cooking and flavouring and a passion for all kinds of fish. Spanish workmen eat octopus washed down with a brandy or glass of red wine for breakfast and toddlers happily tuck into a plate of snails or clams at any time of day (can you imagine a British kid?!) Food in Andalucia The Costa del Sol is famed for its grilled sardines, barbecued on the beach in the summer months, whilst wider Andalucia brought us Gazpacho (chilled tomato soup) and the delightful habit of serving tapas with every drink. Traditionally a tapa, which means cover in Spanish, was served free with a drink – maybe a morsel of dried ham, manchego cheese or tortilla. The snack was placed on the small plate used to cover the drink to keep away flies. In most tourist centres these days you have to pay for your tapas but they’re still served free in many inland areas of Andalucia and elsewhere around the country. Galicia, in the north west corner of Spain, is the place to visit for some of the finest fresh fish in the world. And in many regions where the numbers of pigs and sheep outnumber people, you’ll find a heavy reliance on pork and lamb dishes. Pork is the most widely eaten meat in Spain – partly because the Moors refused to eat it so cooking with pork became almost a part of the Christian religion! An exciting way of exploring Spanish food and wine is through culinary tours in Spain. You can find all sorts of them, from wine tasting in Rioja to tapas tours in cities like Madrid and Barcelona, as well as cooking lessons in emblematic places and olive oil or serrano ham routes. Choose an area in Spain to read more about different types of spanish food.