Spain
Olive oil is by far the dominant cooking fat in Spain ; in many parts of the country, olive trees stretch as far as the eye can see. Among the ingredients that figure prominently, one would have to list ham and chorizo; sweet and hot peppers, both fresh and dried; bread and almonds. Favored seasonings include saffron, paprika, thyme, and garlic, the latter used with abandon.
The country's coastlines provide abundant seafood: squid, mussels, clams, hake, lobster, and anchovies. Ironically, despite all this fresh seafood, Spaniards have an abiding passion for salt cod, prepared in innumerable delicious ways. Every part of the pig is treasured: Spaniards love blood sausage, and bean stews simmered with pig's ears and trotters. Sheep thrive in this mountainous country and make possible some magnificent sheep's milk cheeses (such as Manchego, Idiazàbal, and Zamorano) that are gradually becoming better known in the U.S.
The main culinary regions
The Basque Country/Navarra
Basque shepherds still lead their sheep into mountain pastures in the spring, descending in the fall, and many rural farms sell sheep's milk cheese direct to passing customers. Idiazàbal, a lightly smoked sheep's milk cheese, is a regional specialty.
Salt cod and peppers are both prominent in the Basque kitchen. Dishes prepared alla vizcaina (in the style of the Bay of Biscay) typically include onion and dried red sweet pepper.
Catalonia
Situated in northeastern Spain, with Barcelona as its heart, Catalonia is resolutely Mediterranean in spirit. The food is rustic, simple, based on the freshest fish and vegetables. One of its most beloved dishes, pa amb tomaquet, consists simply of bread—toasted or not—rubbed with a ripe, juicy tomato, then drizzled with the local olive oil and finished with good salt. The Catalan repertoire includes many fish soups and stews, such as bacalao con samfaina (salt cod with an eggplant, tomato, and pepper stew). Many Catalan dishes begin with a sofregit, a sauce base of olive oil, onions, garlic and tomato. Other famous sauces of the region include alioli, garlic mayonnaise traditionally made with only garlic and oil, no egg; and romesco, a red pepper sauce for grilled fish and shellfish.
Valencia
Paella is served and eaten all over the country now, but the most authentic versions reside here and are made over an open fire, almost always by men and always with the local short-grain rice. Snails, peppers, and rabbit are traditional additions.
Thanks to the Moors' ingenious irrigation systems, this arid region is Spain's vegetable garden. Citrus fruits also thrive here— Valencia sends oranges all over Europe—and they turn up in dishes like orange and olive salad, orange flan, and duck in orange sauce. Almonds and dates are among the region's other important crops.
Andalusia
The Arab influence is more obvious in this southern region than anywhere else in Spain. Cordero a la Moruña (lamb Moor's style, with raisins, almonds, cinnamon, and cumin), a regional specialty, is just one example of the Arab fingerprint. Gazpacho, with or without tomatoes, is Andalusian in origin.
About 60 percent of Spain's olive trees are in Andalusia. The warm climate also makes it possible to grow figs, cherimoyas, papayas, avocados, and pomegranates. Andalusian cooks are expert fryers, a talent they prove on anchovies, squid, shrimp, and sardines.
The sherries produced around Jerez de la Frontera and Sanlúcar de Barrameda are world famous. The custom of drinking sherry with small plates of food gave rise to the tapas tradition that has proved so popular in the U.S.
Signature ingredients
Olive oil, olives, salt cod, shrimp, squid, octopus, chorizo, morcilla (blood sausage), ham, sweet and hot peppers (especially piquillo peppers), rice, saffron, oranges, pomegranates, almonds, honey, sherry, sherry vinegar.