Preconceptions of Spanish Food

Before coming to Spain, I was under the impression that Spanish food was basically huge amounts of meat, especially red meat, and cheese. I always imagined huge racks hanging with a variety of sections of beef and pork. I thought that fish and other seafood were less common especially in the more interior parts of the country. Chicken I imagined to be common, but not nearly as ubiquitous as beef and pork. I had heard that Spain consisted of land that was excellent for maintaining livestock, but not quite so well suited for raising crops. From my brief glimpse of the country from the train between Madrid and Salamanca, it looked like that could indeed be the case, at least in those areas, but I really do not know whether that is true for the whole country.

So, I was very surprised to learn that seafood was common and quite popular. I was especially shocked by the fact that spider crab is a delicacy here. I have been crabbing on the east coast a number of times, and we always threw back the spider crabs without a second thought, and were unhappy when we caught them because they ate all the bait. Until today, I did not even think they were edible. From an American perspective, they are about the least appetizing looking animal I have ever seen. I am happy to know that other sorts of seafood are common though; fish and shellfish are some of my favorite foods.

Anyway, one other thing I was surprised to learn was that Spanish food is not particularly spicy. I thought that since Latin American food is so spicy, Spanish food must be as well. I guess while Spain exported their language and many other things to its colonies, it did not export its cooking. I love spicy food, so I do wish Spain made more use of hot peppers and the like, but I suppose it will be good to refine my palate with more subtle flavors. In general, I look forward to trying all the food that Spain has to offer.