Spanish food has a wonderful reputation all over the world, but what do British people think of it and which dishes are our personal favorites?
Find out what we think of Spanish cuisine and improve your food vocabulary.
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Email from Luis from Mexico City
I have been listened (listening to) your podcast since many months ago and I really enjoy it.
I want to ask about Spanish food. I visited Valencia three years ago and I loved the food, especially some rice dishes and the Pergola´s super bombom (Paseo de la Alameda, 1) Have you ever tried? (La Pascuala – Dr. Lluch, 299)
My favorite place to eat serrano ham was Casa Vela in downtown, (it) is an amazing place, have you visited it? I was there a couple times in four days.
Finally my favorite historical place was the Quart tower .
I wish hope you can talk about the amazing food you can find in that city and I will keep listening to your excellent work and practice my English.
Cooking Vocabulary and Our Favourite Food – https://inglespodcast.com/142
(Words like; to steam, to dice, to grate, to melt, to peel etc)
Tortilla de patatas (also called tortilla española) is a thick potato omelette, which can be served hot or cold.
Paella – Invented in Valencia
Chicken, rabbit, green beans, butter beans, rice, saffron, rosemary- the original recipe. Some Valencians add artichoke.
Seafood paella – more popular outside Valencia
Horchata – drink made from tiger nuts. Originally from West Africa.
Olives and olive oil
Fabada Asturiana – Asturian bean stew,
white beans, pork, chorizo
Salmorejo (from Córdoba, Andalucia) close cousin of gazpacho. Thick, tomato-based soup made with olive oil, bread crumbs, and plenty of garlic.
Rabo de toro (stewed bull’s tail)
Tapas
What guiri/gringo doesn’t like tapas?! What a great way to eat, especially in a relaxed atmosphere with friends.
Ham
Serrano ham – White pigs. The quality depends on how long the ham has been ‘cured’:
Jamón Ibérico– Iberian Pigs (Cerdos Ibericos) – The best breed!
The quality depends on what the pigs eat:
De bellota – The very best and the most expensive. These pigs eat acorns (bellotas) in open fields for most of their lives. Only about 5% of Spanish ham is pure acorn-fed Iberian. You can identify it by the black tag on the ham. If you see a red tag, it means that the pigs have roamed free in acorn orchards, but are a cross between Iberian and usually Duroc breeds.
Jamón ibérico de bellota – ‘melts in your mouth’. It’s mouth-watering. Succulent, delicious, tasty.
De cebo de campo – These are “free range” pigs. They walk around in open fields and eat wild plants and some acorns. Because they do not eat nearly as many acorns as de bellota pigs, they are considered inferior in quality. This ham has a green tag or label.
De cebo – These are conventionally farmed pigs. They eat farm feed. About 70% of all ham in Spain falls under this category, which has a white label.
De Bodega – cured between 10 and 12 months
Reserva – cured between 12 and 15 months
Gran Reserva– cured for longer than 15 months
The top quality hams are jamón ibérico de bellota de pata negra, from a hairy black pig. Having lived in Extremadura and Salamanca, Reza can say he knows a good ham when he tastes it. The very best (in the world, in my humble opinion,) tend to be made from acorn-eating black-legged pigs allowed to roam freely – I’ve seen them – in oak pasturelands in Extremadura, which are later cured in Salamanca. Reza has dared to argue with French people in France that this ham is the best you can get – better than theirs. As a result, he no longer talks to a few French ex-friends – true story!
Chorizo – a staple, versatile ingredient. Can be eaten cooked, uncooked, hot, cold, on its own, mixed with other ingredients. Adds a rich, distinctive Spanish flavour to anything. But a wide variety of quality from horrible, fatty, salty, grisly examples to leaner, more digestible ones.
Sweet things
Reza believes that the Spanish, these days, basically do everything better than the British…except desserts, pastries and biscuits. Yes, we do those unhealthy things better, I believe. Ooohhhh! What have I said? If I had a penny for every time I was offered a bog-standard rice pudding, custard, ice-cream of an uninteresting flavour or flan in a Spanish restaurant as my only options in a set meal (menú del día), I’d be a very rich man now. I would never ever willingly choose one of those things as my dessert in a restaurant, even if it was well prepared!! Also, many Spanish cakes and pastries often use too much cream for my taste.
Nobody’s perfect. On the whole, Spain is a great country to eat out or cook at home. Amazing variety of regional dishes and range of ingredients. But most importantly perhaps…
Many Spanish people really care about what they eat – the same isn’t true for so many Brits.
…and now it’s your turn to practise your English.
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On next week’s episode: Expressions with can’t
The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’
Music from https://filmmusic.io
“Verano Sensual” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
“Maccary Bay” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Music from https://filmmusic.io
“As I Figure” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Photo by Victor Garcia on Unsplash
Hi. One of the most difficult issues to control in a new language is food. And I am really impressive for your high knowledge about Spanish Food. Furthermore, you know more about Serrano Ham than the Spanish majority. It demonstrates you are Spanish Food Lovers. Maybe the title is not very realistic, because your point of view is so different in compare with the typical English Tourist who comes Spain for first time.
Good jog guys ! You’re really discerning on Spanish food !! well done! BTW you didn’t mention one of the most common tapas everywhere: ensaladilla rusa. The point about this is the way it’s translated almost all around in Spain, “russian salad” which makes foreigners baffled “how a russian dish could be one of the most popular Spanish tapas”? Well, the real translation is: “Spanish potato salad”. I must say I’m always checkin the menues out and I’ve only seen just once a restaurant whose menu was properly written: “Ensaladilla rusa – Spanish Potato Salad”. That was in Ronda, a beautiful village you shouldn’t miss it. Thanks for the podcasts, keep up the good work! Cheers !
Thanks, Mike. Yes, the English translations of Spanish dishes on menus are an endless source of amusement. Ensaladilla rusa is one of my favourite tapas. We should have included it. Maybe we’ll do a ’round two’ soon!