Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Spanish Foods

Episode Date: November 30, 2020

Whenever lists of the world’s great cuisines are published, there is one country which is always at or near the top: Spain. Yet Spanish cuisine is mostly a collection of regional cuisines from around the country which all fall under the umbrella of “Spanish”. Learn more about Spanish food, its history, and where it comes from, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whenever lists of the world's great cuisines are published, there's always one country which is at or near the top, Spain. Yet, Spanish cuisine is mostly a collection of regional cuisines from around the country, which all fall under the umbrella of Spanish. Learn more about Spanish food, its history, and where it comes from, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by the tourist office of Spain. There are a lot of great places to eat in Spain. In fact, Spain has 11 three-star Michelin restaurants, which is the fourth most of any country in the world, and they also have seven of the top 50 restaurants in the world. There's Azrak in San Sebastian,

La Sarta in Barcelona, and the restaurant voted the best in the world, Alceler de Canroca in Girona. We also can't forget the world's oldest continually operating restaurant and Ernest Hemingway's favorite, So Brino de Boton in Madrid, where you can actually sit at Ernest Hemingway's table. You can start researching your culinary trip to Spain today

by visiting spain.in.in'i, where you can get everything you need to know to plan your Spanish foodie adventure. We might as well start this episode with the most well-known part of Spanish cuisine, Tapas. Technically speaking, tapas really isn't a cuisine so much as it's just a style of eating. You can serve anything tapas style, including food which isn't even Spanish. For those of you who are unfamiliar with tapas, it's basically small appetizer-sized plates with small portions. It was traditionally served for free at bars to encourage people to drink more, But nowadays, you'll find pubs and restaurants which focus exclusively on tapas.

The original tapas were literally pieces of meat or cheese, which were served on top of a glass of wine. The word tapas comes from the Spanish verb to par, which means to cover. This originally may have had the pragmatic purpose of keeping dust and insects out of a beverage, and the food cover might not even have been intended to have been consumed. The origin of tapas is shrouded in history, and no one is quite sure how the tradition started. There are several legends surrounding the creation of Tapas, and no one is really sure what the truth is. One legend holds that back in the 13th century, King Alfonso of the 10th of Castile suffered from an illness. During his recuperation, he was only served small amounts of food and drink.

He thought it was such a good idea that he decreed that any time a beverage shall be served in the palace, it must also be served with a small amount of food. Another legend claims that Tapas was a much later innovation. In the 19th century, King Alphonse of the 13th was in Cadiz at a popular place. bar where he ordered a drink. Because it was windy, the drink was served with a piece of ham on top to keep the dust out. The king enjoyed it and kept ordering more. Yet another story is that a bar in Seville would serve drinks with plates on the top to keep flies out. And one more story is that serving ham on top of a drink was a way to determine if Jews had actually converted during the Spanish Inquisition. Regardless of how the tradition started, it's extremely popular and it's what

most people around the world probably think of when they think of Spanish food today. If there's a single dish that most people associate with Spain, it would have to be paella. Paella is a rice dish which is served in a frying pan. In fact, paella comes from the Valencian word for frying pan. The area around Valencia is the biggest rice-producing region in Spain. The dish was originally made for farmers who would come in for lunch. They would collect anything and everything they could from the fields to prepare the meal. That is why, beyond rice, there really isn't any set ingredients for paella. You can have almost any meat, seafood, or vegetable in a paella. To this extent, paella is a lot like pizza. You know a pizza when you see it,

but pizzas can have totally different ingredients. One of the most unique paella's, which isn't that uncommon really, is a black paella, where the color comes from squid ink. And by the way, most restaurants in Spain will only serve paella for at least two or more customers because of the size of the pan that they're cooked in. Some paella's are enormous. I've personally seen paella's that required a whole group of people just to carry it. The world's largest paella was 21 meters in diameter, had 6,000 kilograms of rice, 12,000 kilograms of rabbit and chicken, and served 110,000 people. It was prepared by the town of Galbus in Valencia. There are different philosophies about paella, even around Valencia, about how much liquid it should have, so any paella you get will have a great amount of

variety beyond rice grilled in a pan. Another staple of what people would consider Spanish cuisine is Sangria. Sangria is a punch with a mix of wine and fruit. Sangria's history goes back well before the creation of Spain. People have been mixing fruit with wine since they've been making wine. Sangria may have actually been first created in the Americas and then brought back to Spain. Like Paella, Sangria has a wide variety of recipes and every bar or restaurant will probably have their own.

The popularity of Sangria took off after the 1964 World's Fair in New York when it was served in the Spanish Pavilion. And while we're on the subject of beverages, there are several wines which you will find only in Spain. One of the most popular red wines is Rioja from the La Rioja region in northern Spain. The La Rioja Alta variety was the favorite wine of Ernest Hemingway. Kava is the most popular sparkling wine from Spain. It's a whiter rose sparkling wine with most of the production coming from the area south of Barcelona. My favorite white wine from Spain is almost impossible to find outside of the country. It's called Chocolie, spelled with a TX instead of a C.H.

And it's produced in the Basque country. Almost none of the production is exported outside of the Basque region, making it hard to find unless you travel there. I always use Chocalee as a test whenever I have a sommelier at a restaurant. I know they won't have it in stock, but a good sommelier will at least be aware of it. On the topic of Basque beverages, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my few. favorite beverage from the entire country, Sagardoa, or Basque Cider. You'll actually find similar ciders in all of Northern Spain, including Galicia and Asturias, and all of them which I've had are great. The cider is very dry and very different from other types of ciders you may have had. Usually,

only a small amount is poured into each glass, almost as if it were a hard liquor. There's a great tradition when pouring Spanish ciders. They hold the bottle as high as they can in one hand, and they hold the glass as low as they can in the other hand. If you're a great tradition, they're pouring Spanish ciders. If an expert, you won't spill a drop. There are some great videos on YouTube that show this being done. If the ciders are my favorite drink, then my favorite food has to be the greatest pork product in the world, Hamon Iberico. It's the pork equivalent of Kobe beef. The ham you find in Spain is totally different than a ham you might find in the United States. Technically, it's the same cut of meat, but the preparation is totally different. Hamine Iburico only comes from black

Iberian pigs, which are raised in select parts of Spain and Portugal. The pigs spend most of their live free-ranged, eating food which they find in the forest, which is predominantly acorns. The process of curing and drying ham and abirico can take up to three years, and there's a strict government grading system, with black label 100% Iberico de Biota being the highest grade. It's served with the entire leg in a special holder and only thin slices are ever served. This product is not cheap. I checked prices, and to get a full leg of 100% Iberico de Biote in the United States can run you from $500 to $500. Even in Spain, the price is still less, but it isn't cheap. The good news is that you can just order a few thin slices, so trying it won't set you back

that much. Another regional favorite, which you won't find everywhere, are calshots. These are basically large, scallion-like onions about the size of a stock of celery that you'd buy in the store. There are a regional specialty which you'll only usually find in Catalonia, and then only when they're in season between December and March. They're grilled over a wood fire and usually served in a clay roof shingle. The outer surface is usually charred, so you have to remove it before eating it. It can be a bit messy so plastic gloves are usually provided. It's traditionally served with a creamy sauce called salvichida that you dip it in. Despite the description, they don't really taste oniony. You pretty

much have to be in Catalonia in the first three months of the year to try it, which I highly recommend if you're able. Over in the Canary Islands, their signature dish is probably Papas Arugidas. It's actually a really simple dish. It's just small potatoes with moho sauce. Mojo sauces are a variety of sauces that come from the islands, usually in a red or green form. The sauces are actually believed to be the basis for much of modern Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. Many of the original settlers of Texas, especially in San Antonio, came from the Canary. Maryland and brought the sauces with them. Speaking of Mexico, I have to mention what will happen if you order a tortilla while you are in

Spain. A tortilla in Spain is not a flat bread made of wheat or corn, which is the staple of Mexican food. In Spain, a tortilla is an egg dish like an omelette or a keish. In fact, the Mexican tortilla got its name from the Spanish tortilla. When the Spanish first arrived and saw its round shape, they compared it to the egg dish they knew from back home, and the name stuck. Of course, we have to end with dessert, and the dessert which Spain is most famous for, are churros. A churro is just a long piece of fried bread, not too dissimilar from a donut. However, it's usually served in Spain with a cup of chocolate for dipping. The churro is believed to have originated in China, and it was brought to Europe by Portuguese traders, which is

how it then arrived in Spain. You can find trurows everywhere Spain had colonies, with each country putting their own spin on the treat. So, no matter where you go in Spain, despite the regional variations in food, I guarantee you that no matter what you eat, you will have some of the best meals of your life. Executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is James McAla. The associate producer is Thor Thompson. Remember to leave a five-star review to get your review read on the show. They can be left at Apple Podcasts, Podcasts, Podcast Republic, or wherever you listen to the show. Also, you can help support the show over at patreon.com.

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