Regional Food and Cooking

Many people visiting Spain never find their way to Galicia. The argument they often use for not going there is the weather.
“What” they say, “do we do there if it rains all day long?”

I once asked a Madrid living authority on Spanish food why he came south every summer and lived in Andalucia for two months. Was it for the food I asked?
His face turned red, and that was before he had sat in the sun.

Duck farming is big business in the Navarra region of Spain. But the farming of duck, geese and even free range chicken has taken flight and can now be found cross much of northern and western Spain.

For many years wild duck has enjoyed a good reputation and been sought after.
In flight their last sight has been of the Pyrenees before ending up in a pot or oven in Navarra. The domestic duck, however, has been a rare sight.

I didn’t visit Cantabria in order to milk cows, but that’s what happened.

The idea of staying on a traditional farm in a region where dairy farming is massive, seemed liked a good way to get to know the locals and learn more about the food of this unique part of Spain.

But, really, they didn’t actually want me to get up in the dark and milk cows for my tea, did they? Pull the udder one!

When people discuss Spanish food you rarely hear them talking about the cuisine of Navarra, an area of Spain within touching distance of France.

But the word is spreading. Indeed, there is an argument for saying that the food of Navarra is more famous outside of Spain than within the country.

An example of that was seen in the ‘Big Apple’ earlier this year when a week long festival in New York celebrated the food of Navarra.

In my continuing culinary journey around the vast expanse of the country that is Spain, I look next at Castilla La Mancha. A region more famous for Don Quixote than for food. But, while the former may be the figment of a lively imagination, the latter is very much real.

Saffron, Manchego Cheese, Garlic, Vegetables - they are all signature products of the region.

The year was 1324 when the first food manual appeared in Catalunya. A manuscript called Libre de Sent Sovi was one of the very first food manuals in all of Europe. Two hundred years later the first Catalan cookbook was printed. It was called Libre del Coch and written by Rupert de Nola.

The book also included recipes from Italy and Provence. Not surprising when you consider that historically Catalunya was much closer, in every respect, to these areas of the Mediterranean.

I am writing about the food I see growing or being harvested while I am out on my morning walk in Andalucia, Spain.

This morning I saw many people busy in the fields gathering almonds.

They lay down black netting and bring down the almonds from the branches using long sticks or simply by shaking the tree.

It is a labour intensive job, but perhaps not as labour intensive as it is for many of the women in my village who sit for day after day peeling the almonds.

On his travels through Spain, Rick Stein met some fascinating people.

Those who, in their own way, have done wonders to promote the food and drink of Spain.

He also attended many festivals celebrating different Spanish foods.

His mission was to get a taste for modern day Spanish cooking. How had things changed since he first went to Spain aged 8?