Spanish cuisine

Hi

Spanish cuisine is not something that i really fancy. In my opinion, the meals are too salted, oily and not very different most of the time. But I like Lacón, Churros with cholocate, Turón and Wine. Wine is something that i adore in Spain though . I've been living in the South Coast and in the North East so far. I've been told that the food is quite different in some other regions, I'll be trying another part of Andalusia soon, not the coast. It might be a better experience for me gastronomically. But eating in Spain is a very nice experience in itself as people are very cheerful when they have their meals there .

For me the best Spanish dish is the paella:



And .... tapas:



Give me a sunset at sea, a good glass of wine and I an sold
Wait, sitting on a boat watching the sunset is far more better 

I love paella. It might be cliche but there is nothing like sitting outside watching a soccer game, sipping on sangria and chowing down on some paella. Mmmm!

I really love tortillas (Spanish omelettes), especially when it is served cold When I was studying in Barcelona, I used to make tortilla twice a month. I love putting various fresh ingredients in there, for example, spinach, red pepper, and broccoli. To me personally, I believe the key to a perfect tortilla is to do "whatever you want" with the ingredients (e.g. how to cut the potatoes, whether or not to sprinkle black pepper, etc.), as long as it is hearty and healthy :-D

Here is my own recipe, feel free to make your own!

¡Bueno, HK! makes tortilla

everything

Personally I consider Paella to be the culinary equivalent of a "tourist trap". Nobody really eats it here in Spain besides those who live near the coast of Levante (Valencia, Alicante, etc.), and there are very little regional adaptations in other parts of the country.

If you're new to Spanish cuisine I'd recommend trying other wonderful dishes such as :

- Cocido (hearty meat and vegetable dish typical in the Madrid and Castilla y León regions)
- Gazpacho and Salmorejo (cold and refreshing tomato-based soups from Andalucía)
- Cochinillo and Cordero Asado (roast suckling pig and roast lamb, respectively, typical again in Castilla y León)
- Empanada Gallega (typica pastry/pie that is commonly eaten in Galicia and usually filled with meat, tuna or octopus)

And really there are DOZENS more wonderful dishes that just scream Spain. Paella, unless it's REALLY well done (which is hardly ever the case), is not the best we have to offer here!

I do disagree! I was in Castellon for a couple of years and the family asked for it every time it was on the mrnu and made it every Sinday. I got do bored! Here inCataluna they eat it much less. Its a regional thing I think.

Rice isn't typical of Spanish cuisime? I'm with Ros. As typical as you get.

I agree with Greg about the other suggestions though.  I would add the ham and cheeses, the huge number of sausages, lots of the stews - the gazpachos, the lentejas - the sopa castellana,  varieties of tortilla, huevos rotos. Good grief I can't stop. Dozens, as you say.

Got to go. Feeling peckish.

I'm vegetarian, which is not really suited to local Menorcan cuisine, so eating out is a problem and I either have to sit and watch others eat or compromise.  So I usually compromise and eat fish.  Being a small island the fish is particularly good and the mussels grown it the deep harbour waters are famous.  Veggie options include gazpacho and tortilla but after the umpteenth tortilla I am desperate for something different. I hear that vegetarian restaurants are beginning to spread across Spain but I think it may be a few years before they arrive in Menorca.  Meanwhile, one of my favourite compromises is fillets of sea bass with Pernod sauce.  The sauce is only slightly aniseed flavoured and works equally well with fresh grilled prawns.

No it's hard trying to find veggie food. There is actually a fair bit but it's all the bits and bats, the broken eggs, the pisto, the gazpacho, zarangolla, salmorejo etc plus the nuts and crisps sort of stuff. I was with a veggie pal out from the UK and I did the "my friend doesn't eat anything that has ever walked, swum or flown (luckily this was before she went vegan!) and the waiter took it as a personal challenge and brought everything he could think of in the kitchen.. She ended up overwhelmed with food but it was all small scale stuff.

Veggire retaurants are strange animals. Every time we have veggie chums out to stay and we go to Alicante or Elche or Murcia we ask in the tourist office. The restaurants are usually new to us and they aren't still in business the next time we have different pals out!