---

If there’s something more festive than a meal in Spain during holidays, we don’t know what it is. Wine and food are truly something in the Iberian country, where every leisure opportunity means spending time around the table.

Spain has a distinctive cuisine influenced by its central meseta, the Mediterranean coast, the sunny South, the different mountain ranges, and the green Northern shores with access to a rich ocean. This means that not all Spanish food is the same. Still, the country’s use of spices, love for cooking with fire and also for the dishes that need time to cook, care for the quality, the unbeatable products of its seas and its orchards make Spanish food one of the best experiences we can enjoy while touring Spain. Here are the best Spanish foods and Spanish dishes to try if you visit Spain. Let the fiesta begin!

It All Starts with Tapas

The most exciting part of having a drink with friends in Spain is the tapas. Tapas are small one- or two-biters served on their own with a drink or before a meal. Tapas vary depending on where you’re at, but they can be as simple as olives or as complicated as ham croquettes. In some places they can be for free with your drink, but in other places you will have to pay them. It depends on the type of tapa they serve you.

Tapas are snacks and appetizers, but that’s all they have in common. Some of the most popular tapas come in the form of skewers or pinchos, but others are best enjoyed as finger food. Tapas are the most popular food in Spain and trying them all is an authentic adventure. Now, for the main course, let’s talk about the most popular food in Spain.

Paella

Paella is the most famous Spanish dish and is now available worldwide. Paella, though, is not typical everywhere in Spain — it is a specialty in Valencia, on the country’s Mediterranean coast, where people have farmed rice for centuries in places as incredible and mystical as the Valencian coastal lagoon.
Paellas are not always the same, either; people always flavor the rice with saffron, but there are many add-ons. Veggies, rabbit, chicken and even seafood can be part of a paella, always cooked in a shallow paellera pan over an open flame. Giant paellas can feed a crowd, making the dish a communal experience.

Tortilla Española

The tortilla española is also known as a Spanish omelet, but there are significant differences between an omelet and a tortilla. For starters, tortillas are not only a buttery breakfast but also a snack and a whole meal to be enjoyed at all hours.

The secret is in the potatoes, which give tortillas a more filling personality, while onions sometimes give the typical flavor to this dish made with eggs. Tortillas are also firmer than omelets; you can enjoy them straight out of the frying pan or lukewarm as an evening snack. The tortilla española is often treated as a tapa, so don’t be surprised if they serve you a piece of tortilla with your glass of wine.

Cocido Gallego – Stew Galicia style

In Galicia, they have a superb veggie soup with amazingly tasty meat and they call it “cocido gallego” (stew Galician style). But there’s nothing simple about this colorful dish. A typical caldo gallego has cabbage, collard greens, turnips and white beans as a base. Then you have the meat — homemade chorizo, ham and bacon, differents parts of salted pork head, Galician potatos … give these nutritious stews a robust feel.

Pulpo a la Gallega – Galician octopus

Here’s another specialty of Galicia well known in the rest of Spain, the pulpo a la gallega (Galician octopus). The region makes the most out of its abundant Atlantic shores, and seafood is well represented in the beautiful coast of this green and wet land. One of the most typical dishes in Galicia is pulpo a la gallega — octopus is cooked on water inside a big pot on an open flame. The they cut the tentacles in pieces, served on a wood plate and seasoned with paprika, and olive oil. Sometimes they also cook pieces of potato (cachelos) with the octopus. The result are tasty cooked potatoes with the color that the octopus gives to the water, a nice color between brown and red indicative that the octopus is from the famous Galician estuaries (las rías gallegas).

Cooking octopus until tender is no easy feat, as the eight-limbed mollusk’s meat can get chewy. In Galicia, they call this delicacy “pulpo á feira” in the Galician language (a literal translation would be fair-style octopus), and it’s part of all celebrations and memorable occasions. If you’ve never tried octopus, this one is one of the best quality octopus and one of the best preparations in the world.

Cocido Madrileño – Stew Madrilenian style

Madrid is Spain’s capital and one of Europe’s most bustling cities. Located at the heart of Spain, away from every shore, people in Madrid have mastered local inland ingredients, such as chickpeas and white beans, and often serve them along with the region’s substantial meat.

The cocido madrileño is a meaty stew with chickpeas, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, sausage, bacon and chunky meat. Of course, the hearty meal is best enjoyed in winter, but all visitors to Madrid should try this wholesome meal. The Spanish name for chickpeas is garbanzos, and they arrived in Spain with the Ancient Romans!

Crema Catalana – Catalan cream

Crema catalana is like the French crème brûlée sweetened and slow-cooked until thick. This dessert is then served and flambéed to give it a sugary crust. It’s no surprise that the French and Spanish “cremas” have similarities; after all, the border between France and Spain has changed over time.

Besides, crema catalana is made with milk instead of cream, and there’s no doubt this custardy treat looks and tastes Spanish. Crema catalana goes back to at least the 14th century, the Middle Ages, and it has remained mostly unchanged for centuries.

Churros

Churros are lovely snacks and a dessert in their own right. These sweet treats are deep-fried yeast dough piped into hot oil and coated in a combination of azúcar y canela, or sugar and cinnamon. The result is a batch of crispy and crunchy star-shaped canes with the chewiest tender core.

Serving churros with coffee or dipping them in hot chocolate is common, but don’t take too long to eat them since churros are more tasty if they came out of the fryer recently. Churros are often made in a straight shape, but some are curbed. Filled churros are a more recent invention and less popular in Spain.