Spanish Food: A Critique

During my time in Spain, I have been continuously asked by friends at home to comment on the food in Spain. Seeing that I have been in Spain for nearly 8 months, I figure I should outline a few observations about the food in Spain to clarify some misconceptions about Spanish cuisine and note some interesting aspects about Spanish culinary culture. After all, you learn a great deal about a culture through its food, so it makes sense for me to comment on this aspect of Spanish culture.

The first issue to clarify for everyone in the States is the concept of tapas (and their associated terms of pinchos, montados/montaditos, and racciones). At its bare minimum, tapas are nothing more than bar food on small plates that accompany the beer and wine served in cafés and ceverzerias throughout Spain. In some restaurants, one receives a tapa with their drink at no cost. In other bars, one can order small or larger portions of a tapa to suit the number of diners at a table.

Tapas from Sevilla

The origins of tapas are unclear. One legend has it that a Spanish king - perhaps Alfonso X - wanted his troops to have something to eat while they drank their wine to prevent them from getting drunk. So servers began placing a small plate of bread, meat, and cheese on the cups of wine to tapar - to top, seal, or close - thus producing the term tapas. Another story states that a chef ran out of food to serve at a royal banquet and placed a plate of food on his goblet. The king - also possibly Alfonso X - loved the concept so much he ordered more and the rest is history.

Now, many Spaniards will simply have a drink and a tapa and then move to another bar to keep on socializing with their friends. This attitude marks a major departure from the perspective of the Americans who come to Spain and expect large portions of tapas for dinner. In reality, lunch is the large meal in Spain and breakfast and dinner meals are much smaller than their American counterparts. As a result, people will order a few plates in the evening, but nothing that would approach to the enormous portions of food that is typical of American suppertime meals.

Something else to clarify. In the States, Tapas bars and restaurants usually have a long, long list of seemingly exotic types of small plates of food with a wide range of ingredients and spices. The actual reality of eating tapas in Spain is much more complex. In certain cities, such as Madrid, which does not have a historic tapas culture, most tapas are nothing more than plates of ham, cheese, fried calamari, french fries with eggs, and tortilla Española, a spanish omelette not to be confused with a tortilla de trigo, or the mexican tortilla, which is the bread stuff of the Aztec and Mayan cultures of Mexico and Central Amercia.

In other cities in the south, such as Granada and Sevilla, where a more prevelant tapas culture exists, the options are much more diverse and you can receive an incredible meal of bread with smoked salmon, grapes with cheese and honey on bread, and other succulent dishes on a small plate with your wine or beer. From what my friends have explained, the tapas from the north of Spain are incredibly diverse as well. The quality of the tapas comes from the rich culinary culture in the Basque Country that has allowed the Autonomous Community to make enormous leaps in world wide foodie culture. For instance, the city of San Sebastián has the fourth best restaurant in the world.

In short, the culture of a region or city can impact the type of tapas available in a restaurant or bar. In the States, many 'Spanish' restaurants simply compile a list of different tapas from different regions of Spain or come up with variations that lack authenticity (but taste great). Fusion and innovative takes on tapas appear in Spain as well. But the "authentic" tapa will vary from region to region in a country with four different languages and a diverse array of culinary customs.

This observations takes me to my second point: Spanish food is not Mexican food. Put in another way, people's conception of Spanish food containing a diverse array of flavors and textures can be wrong in different parts of the country. Going back to my observation of tapas restaurants in the States, tapas come in a wide variety of flavors with a myriad of spices. In Spain, especially in Madrid, most traditional Spanish food does not have much in the way of spiciness or exotic flavors. For instance, one of the most common types of food here is the bocadillo, a baguette with slices of cheese and ham, calamari, or a tortilla española and nothing else. Tapas typically are ham, cheese, bread, and a few variations. Salads are made with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, some tuna or ham, and mayonaise with olive oil and salt.

Now, tasty food does exist in Spain. Paella, which I described in my post about my trip to Valencia, the home of the dish, is a wonderful way to enjoy seafood. As I noted earlier, the food culture of San Sebastián ranks as one of the best in the world. The tapas in Andalucía are absolutely flavorful, especially when it comes to vegatable dishes. In my opinion, however, the recent phenomenon of immigration to Spain means that "ethnic" cuisine, the strange misnomer for all foreign food, has not totally transformed the palette of the average Spaniard. As a result, the notion of "good" food remains confined to traditional Spanish cuisine although avante garde chefs have been pushing the boundaries in Barcelona, Madrid, and the aforementioned breeding ground of culinary innovation, San Sebastían. With immigration on the rise, perhaps the cuisine in Spain might come to accept the influence of the nation's newest residents.

Paella in Valencia