Spanish Steps - Fact file - Regional cooking

Spain and Latin America offer the hungry visitor a rich selection of foods based on culture and tradition, with a wealth of regional variations and local specialities.

The now international paella is originally from the Valencian region, on the Eastern coast. This is usually seasoned with a distinctive Spanish spice, el azafrán, saffron, giving food its rich orange colour. Madrid has el cocido madrileño, a vegetable stew with chickpeas and pork, while in the Basque Country, there is bacalao al pil-pil, cod cooked in a delicate garlic sauce. The North is famous for its seafood, while warmer Andalucía in the South is known for gazpacho, cold puréed vegetable soup. But wherever you go, you always have the safety net of la tortilla, thick potato omelette.

Many of today's Latin American staples were originally waste food, made from scraps to be eaten by slaves. Tamales are a good example, popular in most Spanish speaking countries. They are made of corn flour with bits of chicken or meat and egg, steamed and then wrapped in banana or other leaves. El arroz, rice, is also a common staple in Latin American countries, along with los frijoles, beans, and el maíz, corn, which is used to make las tortillas, flat breads, very different from the egg-based Spanish dish.

In a typical Latin American meal the main course will consist of one or more of these staples served with a side portion of meat or fish, according to the area. Each country has its distinctive ingredients and specialities. Argentina, one of the world's largest exporters of beef, favours a 'meat with everything' diet, spicing up cuts of beef with chimichurri, a sauce made of oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and ground chilli. In Ecuador there is caldo de patas, a hearty cowheel soup with mote, soft corn kernels, reputed to do wonders for a hangover. Peru's specialities include ceviche, marinated fish, and escabeche, a stew of either fish or chicken, served with rice, and coloured with ají amarillo, yellow hot pepper, which gives food a special taste and characteristically sunny yellow colour.

Links

Mediterranean diet - why Spanish food is good for you

Latin American Cooking - recipes and cooking tips

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