When traveling abroad, there’s always uncertainty of what to expect. Will the locals be friendly? How will transportation be? Will it be hard to communicate? And most importantly, will the food be good? Luckily, when coming to Spain, it doesn’t take very long to pick up on the traditional Spaniard meals. After as short as one week in Barcelona, you’ll immediately know what to expect to see on the menu at every local restaurant, and you won’t be disappointed.
Spaniards are pretty simple; they reflect this in their cuisine. Their cuisine doesn’t include exotic, mind-blowing dishes or unfamiliar ingredients. They are still delicious and satisfying nonetheless. Pan con tomate, tortilla de patata, and paella pretty much sum up the highlights of Spaniard cuisine. All of these dishes are so simple yet unique that you can’t help but think where the dishes came from and how they became Spain’s traditional meals today.
Although each dish is pretty straightforward, the history behind them is more complex. Each dish goes back in time and tells its own story of how and where it originated and how it ended up as an everyday dish for Spaniards.
Completing the first step of pan con tomato: lathering the fresh bread with garlic.
At a typical restaurant in Barcelona, the most popular appetizer is pan con tomate, which is essentially bread with a tomato spread on the top of it. Spaniards know what they’re doing when it comes to bread; it’s freshly baked, crispy on the surface, and soft in the center. The bread is first lathered with garlic. Then the tomato is cut in half and rubbed onto the bread until the bread is fully covered in tomato paste. To finish it off, it’s drizzled with olive oil and a few pinches of salt. Although the dish is simple and easy to make, the dish has deep cultural roots behind it.
Pan con tomate is a staple in Catalan cuisine. Catalans hold this dish near and dear to their hearts. The dish’s roots go all the way back to the 1500s; the dish was originally created as a way to reuse old or dry bread, and letting the bread soak in all of the tomato juice and flavor was the solution to revive it. Ever since then, the famous tapa was established and remains more popular than ever, especially in Barcelona.
A local to Barcelona, Fernando talked about his love for the cuisine in the city he was born and raised in. He reminisced on his childhood where he grew up eating pan con tomate all the time and how it still remains one of his favorite dishes today.
“Pan con tomate is sacred to Catalan culture and one of my favorite foods we have here,” Fernando said. “It’s almost like the bread that gets served to you before dinner in America, yet ours is so much better.”
Flipping the tortilla de patatas with a ceramic tortilla flipper to ensure both sides are golden brown.
Along with pan con tomate, another dish you’ll see often is the famous tortilla. This will also be an option on the menu at any typical restaurant throughout Spain. This yellow fluffy dish is made up of eggs, potatoes, onions, olive oil, and salt. The white onion and potatoes are first cut up into pieces about 3 millimeters thick, and then placed in a deep skillet of sizzling olive oil. Once they have softened, the olive oil is drained from the mixture, and the mixture is placed into a bowl of whisked eggs. That mixture is poured into a pan and cooked on either side until golden brown. The dish is cut up into slices or squares and is meant to be shared.
Paloma, the owner of a small bakery in Barcelona, makes fresh tortillas every morning as it is one of her best selling items.
“Tortilla de patatas is an essential part of Spaniard cuisine,” Paloma said. “Sometimes I make some with chorizo or spinach to add some fun flavor.”
Tortilla de patatas originated in Spain. However, in the 15th century, potatoes were originally associated with poor people’s food. It took many years for potatoes to be incorporated in several Spanish dishes that were eaten by the majority of Spaniards– but once it did, it stuck. Villanueva de la Serena created the famous tortilla that became known as the Spanish Omelet.
Those two tapas are primarily served as appetizers to an iconic Spaniard entree known as paella. Paella is a rice dish that is simply a must-try when you visit Spain. It’s on every corner and you won’t be able to resist the smell, so don’t worry about missing out on it.
Pouring in the rice over the chicken to get the paella started.
Paella is traditionally made with some combination of meat, seafood, and vegetables all cooked in a large pan with rice, saffron, and chicken broth. Because Spain is known for their flavorful and fresh seafood, seafood paella is often a fan-favorite. It can include mussels, shrimp, squid, clams, scallops, and chopped pieces of fish.
Adding the chicken broth into the paella mixture to soften the rice.
Originating in Valencia around the 1800s, paella is Spain’s pride and joy. The name paella originates from the name of the pan in which it’s cooked in, called a paellera. It was traditionally eaten by farmers; rice as the base and then anything else lying around such as tomatoes, onions, beans, was thrown in to add flavor and texture. This explains why there are still so many different forms of paella; no two paellas are ever exactly the same.
Carlos, a chef and instructor of cooking classes in Barcelona, has mastered the art of making paella. He taught and worked with the students studying abroad to make a chicken paella with rice, chicken, red pepper, green pepper, chicken broth, and the star ingredient: saffron.
“Saffron is a key ingredient to the paella,” Carlos said. “It’s also a rare spice as saffron comes from a flower where each flower only has three threads of saffron.”
Spanish cuisine is a reflection of Spain itself: filled with so much culture, history, and flavor. Spaniards take a lot of pride in their food and for good reason. The food is tasty, makes you feel good, and always leaves you craving more.
By Hannah Batista
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