Spanish Cuisine, Spanish Cuisines

Objective
This course is designed as an introduction to the diversity of Spain’s cuisine. It is not intended
to cover all aspects of Spanish cooking, but rather as an appetizer which will seduce you with its
appearance, aromas and tastes, making you hungry to learn more about Spain´s gastronomic
achievements.

Methodology
The course will consist of two distinct parts. A theoretical part in which we will study the
origins and development of some products and “processes of transformation” of food in Spain. The
other part will be practical, and will consist in cooking a series of recipes that belong to the Spanish
cuisine, tradition, and culture.

Preliminaries
What is food? What is cooking?
Introduction to the geographical diversity of Spain and some of its unique culinary traditions
and habits.
Mesopotamia: The oldest cuisine.
1) Visitors and Invaders.
2) Spices from the “East.”
3) From Roncesvalles to Santiago: Eating and cooking along “El Camino de Santiago.”
4) The “Revolution” came from the West: The colonial influence.
5) The first American cuisines.
6) La Mancha: cooking and eating in Don Quixote
7) Ss XVI-XXI “from a national/castizo cooking to a global cuisine.”
Sacred Foods
1) Olive oil (cata/oil tasting)
2) Wine: Vine, Vineyards and Wine, from the Altars to the temples of gastronomy.
3) Cereals and bread
4) Mushrooms and herbs.
5) Brave bull gastronomie/La gastronomía del toro bravo
The excellence of Mediterranean Diet
6) Myth and reality of the Mediterranean Diet
7) “Basque Country”/Basque Universe: Where excellence and simplicity rule.
8) A unique case: From Adafinas to Hoyas, Cocidos y Pucheros: The Jewish influence and the
ritual of the three rollovers.
9) LA MESTA: sheep, shepherds, cheeses and “migas.”
10) The Spanish miracle: “Dehesas” and the “Iberian Pig.”

Preserving and recycling ‘
11) Introduction to the art and science of preserving and recycling
12) Left overs based cuisine: Migas, Croquetas, kalatrava, sopas de ajo, sopas de galeras, sopas de
tomate…
13) A word on salazones/salting, ahumados/smoking, encurtidos/brine and pickling,
embotados/canning, and confituras/jams, marmalades and cofitures.
14) Soap

Cooking and eating in Andalucía
15) Xmas Cuisine (Fall) lent Cuisine (Spring)
16) Gypsy-inspired cuisine
17) Andalucía: From tradition to modernity
Apéndice
18) The three kings
Cocoa, coffee and tea
Visits and field trips: Winery.
Fresh food market/Mercado de abastos, Museo Arqueológico y Museo de Arte y Costumbres Populares.
Vocabulary: the program will include a list of culinary terms, and idioms.
Readings We will use a list of selected readings in English