How to know about foods in Spain?

Question

I'm doing a report on foods in Spain for my spanish class.I need to know what infuleneced the cuisine descriptions of foods,spices,eating habits,deserts,the national dish, and a recipe.Anyone that can help i am greatly appreciative.

Answer 1

Here is a way for you to start:

For the foods they have Heavy Castilian classics of cochinillo (roast suckling pig) and partridge, I personally don't eat pork meat. They are known for their famous Tapas and delicious desets of Churros with chocolate. They also have flan and Marzipan. There is a lot of Arab influence in the their foods.

Answer 2

The major influences on the food in  Spain are the foods that are available.  For instance, along the coasts, seafood is a huge part of the diet; in the middle of the country, it's much more hunting foods.  The fact that Spain was the first country to settle the New World means that there are quite a large quantity of foods that originated in the New World, which are staples in Spain.

Spices tend to be pretty simple in Spain, they don't use as much as in other countries.  (nowhere near the picante peppers you see in Mexico and some of the central american countries)  Mostly salt, pepper, and saffron, and a few herbs.  Pimentón (paprika) and the newer smoked variety, and herbs pepper the foods, too.  Spanish paprika is sweeter than Hungarian Paprika.  

These look like some good sites for further research: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_cui...

http://www.sallys-place.com/food/cuisine...

http://spanish.about.com/cs/regionalcook...

http://www.spaindreams.com/eng/gastro.ht...

Answer 3

Lots of variations, as Spain has a large coastline, so some areas, such as Galicia and Catalonia have a seafood tradition.  In the South there are influences from North Africa and Moorish cuisine, with spiced lamb dishes etc. In the central North, the cuisine has some similarities with medieval North European cuisine - a dish might just consist of a suckling pig, with vegetables considered a separate course if you want them.  Spain is composed of historically independent kingdoms and each of these has its own distinctive cuisine, depending on its history and geography.

The link below is a very comprehensive guide to the regional cookery of Spain:

Answer 4

There was a lot of influence from the Jewish people at one time and the Arabs in Spain.