Spanish cuisine is a melting-pot of cultures, flavours and ingredients: Greek and Roman, Jewish, Moorish and Middle Eastern. It has been enriched by its climate, geology and spectacular topography, which have encouraged a variety of regional food traditions and `Cocinas', such as Basque, Galician, Castilian, Andalusian and Catalan. It has been shaped by the country's complex history, as foreign occupations brought religious and cultural influences that determined what people ate and still eat. And it has continually evolved with the arrival of new ideas and foodstuffs from Italy, France and the Americas, including cocoa, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and chilli peppers.
This is the first book in English to trace the history of the food of Spain from antiquity to the present day. From the use of pork fat and olive oil to the Spanish passion for aubergines and pomegranates, Maria Jose Sevilla skilfully weaves together the history of Spanish cuisine, the circumstances affecting its development and characteristics, and the country's changing relationship to food and cookery.