The Moors introduced a wide range of new foodstuffs: oranges, lemons, aubergines, asparagus, artichokes, spinach, figs, dates, apricots, pomegranates, almonds, pistachios, rice and sugar, as well as new spices from the orient – cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, aniseed, ginger, sesame, coriander and saffron. New irrigation systems were set up – aquaducts, underground canals, waterwheels and windmills. Rice was cultivated along the coast, especially around Valencia. Orchards of apples, peaches, cherries and citrus fruit were planted. New sweetmeats were introduced and fine pastries soaked in honey and flavoured with rose and orange blossom water.
Spain prospered and Cordoba, the seat of the Caliphate, became the most cultivated city in Europe, next to Constantinople. The Jews also thrived under Arab rule. Jews have lived in Spain since the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. They called the land Sepharad, which means ‘Spain’ in Hebrew. Before the Arab conquest of Spain, the Jews had suffered 100 years of persecution by the Visigoths, but under Muslim rule many Jews rose to prominence as poets, philosophers, scientists, financiers, doctors of medicine and statesmen. However, in 1492, after Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the last Moors in the Kingdom of Granada, the Jews, except the conversos, were expelled from Spain, taking their language and their culture with them. Most fled to North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, mainly to Constantinople and Thessalonika. Many of their descendants today still speak ladino – a fifteenth-century Spanish – and cook dishes that date back to fifteenth-century Spain.
It was no coincidence that Columbus discovered America in the same year of the Christian reconquest of Spain. Columbus was sent by Ferdinand and Isabella to seek out new trade routes to Asia in order to avoid trading with the Muslim Middle East. The discovery of the New World brought the introduction of a whole range of new foodstuffs to Spain: potatoes, tomatoes, maize, squash, all kinds of beans, sweet and hot peppers, avocados and chocolate.
After the accession of the Hapsburgs to the Spanish throne in the sixteenth century, Spain became the most powerful country in the world, ruling Austria, the Netherlands, and the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, with colonies in North and Central America and most of South America. As a result, Spain had one of the world’s richest and most varied cuisines.
Unfortunately, when the Spanish throne was bequeathed to a Bourbon king in 1759, French cooking was adopted by the Spanish court and the upper classes, and Spanish cooking was considered inferior. However, traditional Spanish cooking was never totally eclipsed. In the nineteenth century a new element – tapas – was introduced into the Spanish culinary heritage. Tapas means ‘lid’ or ‘cover’. Originally a slice of bread was placed over a glass of sherry or wine to keep off dust or flies in summer. Later, a piece of cheese was added to make it more appetising. Tapas bars originated in Seville, but today they are found all over Spain.
Spanish cooking is regional cooking. The Mediterranean cuisines of Andalusia, The Levante, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands have little in common with the cooking of Galicia or Asturias in the north. Andalusian cooking is based on olive oil, garlic and plenty of vegetables. The most famous dish is gazpacho – a chilled vegetable soup or liquid salad. Originally, gazpacho was made with olive oil, garlic, wine vinegar and bread, all pounded together in a mortar and thinned with water. Later chopped tomatoes and peppers were added. Today there are many versions. José Carlos Capel gives at least sixty recipes for gazpacho in his book on Andalusian cooking. Andalusians love fried vegetables, especially potatoes, aubergine, courgettes and peppers, which are usually served as a separate course. Flavours reflect the Arab influence: habas a la andaluza (broad beans simmered with onions, tomatoes and cumin), acelgas a la sevillana (Swiss chard with raisins and pine nuts), and alcachofas a la sevillana (sautéed artichokes and potatoes in a garlic and saffron sauce). Malaga wine and sherry from the Bodegas of Jerez-de-la-Frontera are widely used in cooking.
Eggs are prepared in a variety of ways – boiled, fried, baked, scrambled with all kinds if vegetables, and, of course, made into tortillas. The Spanish tortilla, or omelette, like its relative the Italian frittata, is round and flat like a pancake and usually contains potatoes or some other vegetable. The tortilla andaluza de cebolla is made with onions cooked until they are very soft and caramelised. Tortilla sevillana includes onions, tomatoes, red peppers and mushrooms.
The Moorish influence is reflected in the wide variety of sweet pastries and desserts rich in honey and nuts, such as pestinos (deep-fried pastries flavoured with anise and white wine) and alfajores (almond and honey sweetmeats that are made in Sidona for Christmas). Other traditional desserts include yemas de San Leandro, crytallised egg yolks made by nuns of the convent of San Leandro in Seville and tocino de cielo (roughly translated as ‘heavenly bacon’), a kind of cream caramel rich in egg yolks.
Several fine ewe’s milk cheeses are made in Andalusia: Queso de Grazalema (a hard cheese similar to Manchego), Queso de los Pedroches (a soft cheese produced near Cordoba) and Moro (a soft, creamy cheese made in the province around Seville).
The Levante – Land of the Sunrise – is made up of the provinces of Valencia, Castellon de la Plana, Alicante and Murcia. Valencia is the birthplace of paella. Paella is named after the shallow, round iron pan in which it is cooked. Although paella is traditionally made with fish, some versions, such as paella huertana, are made only with vegetables. Other rice dishes include moros y christianos (Moors and Christians), which is made with black beans and white rice, and arroz con acelgas (rice with Swiss chard).
Along the flat coastal strip lies the fertile huertas (market gardens) of Valencia, which produce a wealth of vegetables and fruits: broad beans, peas, green beans, asparagus, onion, garlic, olives, capers, melons, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, pears, Muscat grapes, lemons, grapefruit and, of course, Valencia oranges. Elche in Alicante has the only date grove in Europe. Almonds also flourish and appear in many desserts and sweetmeats. The most famous confection is turron (nougat), which is made in Jijona and Alicante.
Cheeses from Valencia include Tronchon, a semi-hard cheese made with goat’s and ewe’s milk, and Queso fresco Valenciano, or Puzol as it is sometimes called – a fresh goat’s cheese.
Further south, the huertas of Murcia produce early spring vegetables and salad greens. The region is famous for its fine tomatoes and peppers, both of which appear in tortilla murciana, a thick omelette that sometimes includes aubergine.
Catalonia lies in the north-east corner of Spain, between the French and Andorran border, and Valencia. The Catalans are a fiercely independent people who have retained their own language and culture. At the height of its power in the fifteenth century, Catalonia, together with the Kingdom of Aragon, ruled much of the Mediterranean coast from the Levant to Provence, as well as Corsica, Sardinia, The Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, and the Duchy of Athens.
The Catalan cuisine is the oldest in Spain. The first gastronomic text – the Libri de Sent Sovi – appeared in Catalan in 1324. It was followed by Rubert de Nola’s Libre de Coch, which was first printed in 1477 and contains recipes that are still prepared in Catalonia today.
Catalan cuisine has much in common with Provençal cooking. It is based on four sauces: allioli (a garlicky mayonnaise), picada (a thick paste made with toasted almonds and hazelnuts and flavoured with saffrom), sofregit (a rich tomato and onion sauce) and samfaina, which is made with onion, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, and aubergine and resembles the Provençal ratatouille. Another popular sauce is romesco, which originated in Taragona and is made with sautéed almonds, breadcrumbs, tomatoes and sweet and hot peppers.
Catalonia is olive oil and wine country, both of which were introduced by the Romans. The Romans also taught the Catalans