Cuisine Of Spain

SPAIN

The history of Spanish food of course has to do with its geographical location because, first of all, Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula and is therefore almost entirely surrounded bythe water by the Atlantic Ocean in the north ad northwest coast and on the south and south east by the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea. Spain also occupies about 85 percent of theIberian Peninsula, with Portugal on its western border and France and Andorra in the north. Spain. The Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands off the northwestern coast of Africa,the Spanish free ports of Ceuta and Melilla on the northern coast of Africa in Morocco, and several other small islands off the coast of Morocco are parts of Spain. Naturally, due to this fortunatelocation, seafood forms one of the pillars of Spain's gastronomy and categorizes the country as having a Mediterranean diet (Sierra, and Sierra). The rest of Spain is a diverse terrain made up ofmountain ranges, lush pastures, fertile farm grounds, extensive coastlines and more, which together provide quite the variety of fresh products. For example, Spain's famous hams are cured high in themountains, vineyards and olive groves sprawl across expanses of land, and fresh fruits and vegetables hail from throughout the country. The Spanish mainland can be mostly divided into five distinctregions: Green Spain, Central Spain, the Pyrenees, Mediterranean Spain, and Andalusia (Nenes). As we can see all five regions of Spain have lots of mountains, valleys, or coast. Making this variedtopography great for a very diversity in both climate and natural resources that impact their cuisine.
Endless cultures, as they passed through or settled in Spain, have influenced the history ofSpanish food. The Phoenicians left their sauces, the Greeks introduced Spain to the wonders of olive oil, and Romans, Carthaginians, and Jews integrated elements of their own cooking into that of Spain....