Spanish cuisine is uncomplicated, simple, and is based on locally available ingredients grown regionally. According to Juániz, Zocco, Mouro, Cid and De Peña (2016) c ooking in Spain differs significantly since mountains are all over the country in various directions. The hills are barriers to flexible transportation and communication. Spain's cooking is also varied since the country was a creation of small kingdoms that came together, each having their traditions and customs ( Guallar-Castillón et al., 2014) . Today, many dishes and are prepared by the use of similar cooking ingredients and methods as they are approximately four hundred years old. For example, Arabs recipes heavily influenced the country's food ingredients. Other American and European dishes came up and were quickly adopted by the Spanish flavors. Spanish food is full of flavor, abundant, fresh, and lovely.
Ingredients
Two necessary ingredients of Spanish food are garlic and olive oil. Spain has very distinctive geographical areas occupied by various ethnic groups varying from area to area; the cuisine is varied. According to Guallar-Castillón et al. (2014) the most mutual ingredient is garlic and olive oil.
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Typical Foods and Ingredients:
Seafood and Fish: Spain is surrounded by three bodies of water, providing plenty of shellfish and fish. Other common seafood includes baby eels, octopus, and shrimp.
Olive Oil: Its either lard or olive oil. Spain leads in the production of olive oil with many of the country's dishes prepared in olive oil.
Cheeses: These are produced from milk, goats, cow, and sheep. Types are the soft creamy cheese, La Mancha, and Galicia. Other cheeses mature naturally from various chorizo in the Caribbean or Mexico ( Juániz et al., (2016) .
Ham: It is highly prized. Locals often pay a high price to get the best quality of ham. The majority are from the mountains
Sausages: Sausages are highly acknowledged in Spain, especially those prepared from paprika. There are various types, mostly those that are soft and fresh, aged, and smoked ( Juániz et al., 2016) . Local markets have multiple brands, with families preferring to make their own and drying them up.
Other foods include eggs, beef, chicken, legumes, lamb, vegetables, pork, and fruits. Others are vegetables and fruits that make much of the local's course meals with bowls of fruits bough tin plenty by families. Sauteed vegetables and salads are taken daily in addition to zucchini, eggplant, and sweet papers ( Guallar-Castillón et al., 2014) . Legumes are also taken regularly with cocido madrileno being the most famous. It is considered as Madrid's most elegant, the standard “garbanzo-pork-sausage-noodle stew.” Other popular foods are spices and herbs that include thyme, rosemary, and oregano. Spices are onions and garlic.
Methods of Cooking
Spanish terminologies for stew include escudella, estofado, guiso, pote, olla, and cocido. It is one of Spain's signature dishes with each region having its kind ( Latasa, Louzada, Steele and Monteiro, 2018) . Foods are fried, roasted, and stewed. Other methods include broiling, baking, and grilling.
Typical Tapa Preparation (Mushroom Tartlets)
Ingredients:
Lemon juice (1 teaspoon)
Crushed garlic (1 clove)
Moyannoise (5 teaspoons)
Dried parsley flakes (half teaspoon)
Mushrooms (quarter pound): These are finely chopped, stems removed, drained, and washed.
Toast triangles or tartlet shells (20 miniatures)
Procedure
Mix lemon juice, parsley, garlic, the mayonnaise, together in a medium bowl.
Stir the mushrooms (it should be covered and wrapped in plastic). The mixture is then refrigerated for about an hour.
The tartlet shells are then mixed with the mushroom. The mixture is then served immediately.
For the preparation of the toast triangle, the crusts are removed into five pieces of high quality. They are then toasted, cut into four triangular pieces by cutting across an X on every bread slice.
By using a slotted spoon, each of the mushroom mixtures is served immediately.
The entire procedure can make about twenty tartlets.
Spain’s meals are moments for coming together, they are nourishing and stimulating. “Buen provecho!”
References
Guallar-Castillón, P., Sagardui-Villamor, J., Balboa-Castillo, T., Sala-Vila, A., Astolfi, M. J. A., Pelous, M. D. S., ... & Banegas, J. R. (2014). Validity and reproducibility of a Spanish dietary history. PloS one , 9 (1), e86074. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0086074
Juániz, I., Zocco, C., Mouro, V., Cid, C., & De Peña, M. P. (2016). Effect of frying process on furan content in foods and assessment of furan exposure of Spanish population. LWT-Food Science and Technology , 68 , 549-555. https://dadun.unav.edu/bitstream/10171/40063/1/Juaniz%20et%20al%202016%20LWT-Food%20Sci%20&Technol%2068,%20549-555.pdf
Latasa, P., Louzada, M. L. D. C., Steele, E. M., & Monteiro, C. A. (2018). Added sugars and ultra-processed foods in Spanish households (1990–2010). European journal of clinical nutrition , 72 (10), 1404.
