Spanish food
Tortilla
The humble Spanish omelet can be made with chorizo, peppers and onions, among other ingredients, but purists will tell you it should only contain potatoes and eggs.
The potatoes are diced and lightly fried before being added to the egg mixture and fried on a high heat; the trickiest part is when you have to flip the pan over to turn the tortilla.
If you get it right, someone should shout “Olé!;” get it wrong and you’ll have gooey half-cooked tortilla everywhere.
Churros
Churros are a popular snack made from fried dough pastry, cut into sausage shapes and doused in sugar. They’re a favorite at fiestas, or street parties, when they’re sold by roadside vendors. Dipping them in hot melted chocolate is pretty much the law.
Croquetas
Another typical item on a tapas menu, croquetas are tubes of bechamel sauce encased in fried breadcrumbs, but a lot more tasty than that sounds.
Jamón croquetas and salt cod croquetas are common varieties. They’re tricky to make and are perhaps best enjoyed at a tapas bar, along with a cold beer.
Albondigas
Meatballs: A must-have on the tapas table.
Seasonal Spanish Food by José Pizarro, Kyle Books
A classic tapas item, albondigas, or meatballs in tomato sauce, are served all over Spain.
A tasty variation serves up the meatballs drizzled in an almond sauce, minus the tomatoes. The version pictured is a squid meatball, by José Pizarro.
Migas
A legendary dish spoken of in almost hushed tones by Spaniards, migas is a good example of how much of Spain’s cuisine has evolved from peasant food.
It’s essentially dry breadcrumbs torn up and fried in a variety of combinations — often served with chorizo or bacon.
Migas, handed down from agricultural laborers who had to be thrifty with their ingredients, is comfort food supreme — and in recent times has found its way onto fancy restaurant menus.
“Like many traditional cuisines, the ‘rustic roots’ mostly show themselves in the use of basic or commonplace ingredients, ways of using everything available, such as nose-to-tail use of animals, dishes that use up leftovers — including migas — and methods of preservation such as curing and salting, pickling and preservation in oil,” says Shawn Hennessey.
Bacalao
A prized dish in Spain, bacalao, or salted cod, was brought back by Spanish fisherman from as far afield as Norway and Newfoundland — the fish not being found in local waters; it was salted to preserve it on the journey.
It has to be left to soak in water for at least 24 hours to remove all but the slightest tang of salt.
Bacalao is served in all manner of dishes; one of the most popular is with pil-pil sauce, made of olive oil garlic and the juice of the fish, and typical in the Basque Country.
