Tapas and Paella: Spanish food

Spanish food culture

Spanish food culture has many typical Spanish dishes. Including tapa dishes and the Spanish paella. Tapas and paella are the most famous dishes of Spanish cuisine. These dishes are both easy to make yourself at home.

Tapas

Tapas is a collective name for all small tapas appetizers that are eaten in Spain mainly in bars and cafes. Spaniards often eat these tapas between their breakfast and lunch or between their lunch and dinner. In Spain, people have lunch around 2 p.m. and most people don't have dinner on the table until around 10 p.m., so you can imagine that a tapas in between is delicious.

There are as many as a hundred different types of tapa. Almost every region in Spain has its own specialties. An example of a well-known tapa in northern and inland Spain are "pintxos. These are small slices of bread topped with anything and everything. Some other examples of tapas are patatas bravas (baked potatoes in spicy tomato sauce), tortilla de patatas (potato omelet), shrimp, melon and ham and pinchos.

Tapas appetizers are fairly simple snacks and are easy to make at home. Tapas are also ideal as a snack during a party. With one of the many tapas recipes available online, you can have a table full of tasty appetizers in no time.

Paella

Another typical Spanish dish is paella, which is an originally Valencian dish. Paella is a rice dish that has a different method of preparation per region. The advantage of paella is that there are so many different varieties that almost everyone likes paella. The main main ingredient is the rice, and according to your own preferences, you can then choose to use fish and shellfish or chicken and rabbit.

Paella is also a Spanish dish that is easy to make yourself at home. As told, you can choose the ingredients yourself. The only other important thing is the ratio of rice to liquid. Paella rice is usually cooked in fish or chicken stock to create a stronger flavor. The rule of thumb is that 3 parts broth equal 1 part rice. But even this varies with each variation of the dish.

Tapas and paella are just two of the many Spanish dishes that are easy to prepare yourself at home, and you don't have to be a professional cook to do so!