Spanish Herbs and Spices
During any holiday in Spain, you will no doubt want to get out and about to savour the wonderful cuisine of the country. With car hire in Malaga airport, you will have the freedom to explore many places, from busy beach resorts to quaint inland villages. Every part of Spain has its own regional gastronomic specialities that use ingredients that are grown and produced locally and often using closely-guarded recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation.
Many of Spain’s typical dishes are flavoured with the herbs and spices that grow naturally here and many dishes are still influenced by Arabic traditions. You won’t find many strongly spiced or really hot dishes on the menu, but rather ones with a subtle and delicate undertone of carefully balanced flavours derived from the herbs and spices that have been carefully selected to enhance the flavour of the dish, rather than overpower it. Aside from sampling the cuisine, you should try to visit some of the areas where the ingredients are grown. You could visit the fields where the beautiful crocus flowers bloom in La Mancha and witness the ladies collecting the saffron, in much the same way as this traditional labour-intensive harvest has gone on for hundreds of years. Or with car hire Malaga airport you could go and see the traditional pepper and paprika production in Murcia.
Garlic is probably the best-known ingredient used in Spanish cuisine. It is used to flavour a wide range of traditional dishes. There is more than one type of garlic and the most highly regarded is the purple garlic, grown in central Spain. The Spanish like to rub their toast with garlic for a really invigorating breakfast. It is also used in traditional Spanish soups (there is even a soup made of nothing much else but garlic), paellas and, of course, in alioli, a garlic mayonnaise.
Paprika is another widely used spice in Spanish dishes. It imparts a rich, red colour to dishes and the smoked variety gives a deliciously subtle flavour to food. It is used in the manufacture of the traditional Spanish “chorizo” sausage, in the popular fried potato dish known as “patatas bravas” and also in the preservation of olives to give them a bit of a “kick”. In some areas the peppers used to make paprika are still sun-dried in the traditional way and this type of paprika is highly prized for its intense flavour.
If you decide to explore a little of inland Spain with your vehicle from car hire Malaga airport you are likely to come across convents selling traditionally baked sweet biscuits, called “mantecados” that are delicately flavoured with cinnamon and nutmeg.