Spanish & Mexican Cooking [antikvár]

Introduction It is sadly true that many people who visit Spain for a holiday, return home with the impression that Spanish food is not particularly good and has little identity of its own. Similarly the cuisine of Mexico is often under-rated; the limited range of Mexican dishes served abroad is a far cry from the true cuisine of the country. This is because the hotels and restaurants catering for tourists naturally wish to please everyone and offer an 'international menu' which, though acceptable, usually lacks the flavour and character of the real cuisine. This is a great pity because both Spanish and Mexican food have a good deal of character. Spanish cooking is robust and simple, but highly individual. It is firmly based on old-established regional cuisines, employing fine local ingredients - delicious sausages and smoked hams, fresh fish, excellent olive oil and a wide range of superb fruits, fresh vegetables and dried pulses — with the judicious use of garlic, herbs and spices. The spices are mostly of Moorish origin. The Moors, a mixture of Arabs and Berbers from North Africa, occupied Spain for seven centuries. They dramatically changed the face of the country, building beautiful cities and transforming arid land into lush fertile pastures, with their skill and knowledge of irrigation. They also introduced such culinary dehghts as cumin, cinnamon, allspice, almonds, coriander and anis. These ingredients are even more prevalent in Mexican cookery. Although today there is a strong overall unity in all things Spanish, the cuisine is still remarkably regional in character. This is primarily because the nature of coastline and countryside, and the climate, largely determine what is grown in any part. In past times the high Spanish plateaux and jagged mountain ranges made communications difficult and people were born, lived and died in their own valley or plain and kept to their own customs. Another reason for the Spaniard's passionate devotion to his home region is that once Spain consisted of many separate and fiercely independent kingdoms, often of different race and language. Today Spain is justly proud of her regional cuisine and it is well documented. The best way to savour real Spanish food for yourself is to visit a bar where you can enjoy tapas. These saucer-sized portions of delicacies of all kinds, served with a glass of wine, are a delightful Spanish invention and an ideal way of sampling many different dishes. Tapas are a firmly established custom with the Spaniards and they are eaten at all times of the day and night. Women returning from the market may stop to have one with their friends. At lunchtime many people have tapas instead of a meal, often in larger portions known as raciones. In the evening, men often pop into the tapa bar to bridge the gap before dinner time, which is late in Spain - usually between 9 p.m. and midnight. When you have discovered one or two dishes you enjoy, go to a restaurant and order them. Restaurants in Spain are usually good and inexpensive, especially away from the tourist areas. Even in the simplest places where the local Spanish eat, you will be served a meal of excellent quality with fresh fruits and vegetables, tasty meats or fish and delicious bread. Spanish bread is crusty and comes in the form of lozenge-shaped rolls or long bars. It is bought freshly baked and is eaten copiously with every meal. Bocodillos, which are rolls split in two and filled with chorizo, or jamon serrano, or even a slice of tortilla, are eaten as snacks. Butter is rarely used. Another favourite Spanish snack are churros - little sticks of crisply fried batter, dredged with sugar and dunked in cafe con leche (milky coffee). Eating out is an important part of Spanish life; family groups, parties of young women and all-male gatherings are commonly seen in local restaurants. The paseo is an old custom still maintained in Spanish towns. Each evening when work is over, families will don their best clothes and stroll up and down the main street in the balmy evening air. Every town or village has a place for this: a square or a broad thoroughfare where the traffic is prohibited. It is a delightfully dignified and thoroughly Spanish ostentation. The paseo will often end in a restaurant, street cafe, or tapa bar. In Mexico, where the people are far more exuberant, this original Spanish custom has become a much more lively affair, often involving home-made and highly dangerous fireworks! Any food eaten is quite likely to be bought from a street vendor, perhaps enchiladas - little pancakes made of maize flour, with a spicy filling, or tacos which are similar. Mexican cooking has retained a Spanish flavour since 1519 when the Spaniard Hernando Cortés marched into the ancient capital of the Aztec empire. Perhaps the Spanish influence is most evident in the city of Mérida in the Yucatán. Indeed the town takes its name from the province in Extremadura where