Now that I am, regretfully, packing up my kitchen in Barcelona, it seemed timely to expound on the indispensible items presumably (from my sporadic research) to be found in the arsenal of a Spanish home cook.
Many of these items can be found in the U.S. (try Trader Joe’s) but of course, never in the variety, quantity, or at the low, low price for which they can be had in Spain. Some of my nominated essentials have never crossed my threshhold here, either, although most have…
For me, whether or not I return to Barcelona, the combination of these peculiarly Spanish foodstuffs will always evoke old, smoke-filled bars where I’ve tasted the best (and worst) of tapas offerings; languid evenings at tables in Medieval squares with cathedral doors and cobblestones for a backdrop; and good friends, good conversation all washed down with endless and excellent bottles of good Spanish vino tinto.
1. Olive oil, first and foremost. By the gallon. Ordinary olive oil for frying and sauteeing, and extra virgin for drizzling on salads and bread. Optional but highly desirable: one of the lovely handblown glass cruets, as shown above, that always stands at the ready next to my stove.
2. Garlic. With just about everything. Rubbed raw on lightly grilled, crusty bread that is then smeared with half of a ripe, red tomato and a good drizzle of olive oil – sometimes to accompany a meal or tapas, other times as the foundation for a bocadillo – Spanish-style sandwich, almost always made with a baguette – of jamon serrano, cheese, salami, or tortilla, the Spanish omelet made with potato and onion.
3. Paprika (pimenton): comes in at least three varieties, mild (sweet), spicy, and smoked. Used liberally in Spanish cooking. The smoked version imparts an indescribable depth to dishes.
4. Olives. My favorite are the fat, green, aromatic manzanilla, but there are many varieties, green and black, oil-cured or in vinegar, with herbs, peppercorns, stuffed with anchovy…to my tastes, good hearty Spanish bread, a semi-aged manchego cheese, a dish of olives and a glass of good table wine are the holy quartet of Spanish gusto and can always be relied upon to sate the sudden onset of peckishness. A close relative is the olive paste, usually from the ripe black olives, which I have discovered is heavenly when spread on a crusty, charcoal-grilled hamburger.
5. Saffron. Flavors stews, soups, and of course, Spain’s most famous culinary export, paella.
6. Jamon serrano, the famous cured ham of Spain. Comes in varying quality, with the most expensive – the jabugo, pato negro – costing up to 200 euros per kilo or more. It is lean, low in salt, utterly delicious, and ubiquitous. Sadly, it cannot be exported, I understand. Whole legs of these prized hogs hang behind nearly every bar in Spain, and many families buy an entire ham, taking paper-thin slices as needed; there is even a special culinary device to hold the ham in place to be sliced.
7. Bread. No Spaniard will sit down to a meal without loaves or slices of fresh bread bought that morning, or very commonly, both that morning and evening. Bread is sufficiently indispensible here that even on Sundays, when all the supermarkets and shops are closed, every panaderia in town will be open until at least 1 p.m. A Spanish barra (long, thin loaf) comes in many varieties, from a French-style baguette (called by the same name here) to my favorite, the gallega – a long, thin oval with a durable crumb and a rich, fermented flavor that stays fresh until the next day – to cracked or whole wheat, seeded, even rye. Good bread here is a birthright. I will miss it.
8. Tempranillo, quince paste: a sweet, vitamin-C-packed firm jelly that is exquisite with either an aged manchego cheese or a slice of jamon.
9. Asparagus. Bottled. Fat, thin, white, green, a multitude of varieties and brands can take up an entire three-foot section of supermarket shelving, top to bottom. I can’t say why the Spanish are so crazy for bottled asparagus – they also love their bottled and canned wild mushrooms, precooked beans, corn, and green beans – but once in a while, it’s nice, chilled, with mayonnaise liberally seasoned with freshly cracked black pepper. By the way, the Spanish assert that mayonnaise, that quintessential French preparation, actually originated in the Balearic Islands, not far off the Barcelona coast, in the town of Mahon. It has a ring of truth.
10. Aioli, or allioli in Catalan, means ‘garlic and oil.’ It’s essentially a thick mayonnaise fortified with industrial-strength amounts of fresh garlic. Spread it on grilled breads or meats, stir a spoonful into a hearty soup, or dip your french-fried potatoes in it. Just don’t breathe on anyone for the next 24 hours unless they’ve shared your meal.
11. Last, but never least: wine. I don’t pretend to know much about wine, although I’ve tasted some incredibly complex, deep and well-constructed Spanish vino tinto. But give me a good table wine for every day, and I’m perfectly happy. There is an amazing abundance of wine in Spain, much of it very drinkable and cheap. I’m talking under 5 euros per bottle – in fact, in my local supermarket, any wine 6 euros or over has an anti-theft device attached to its neck. I even found a very drinkable house-brand rosado (rose) at one supermarket chain for the unbelievable bottle price of 75 centimos! If this could be duplicated in the U.S., it would put Two-Buck Chuck out of business.
This is a random and woefully incomplete list. If you want to know more, come to Spain and find out why its cuisine and wine and gastronomical bounty are beginning to conquer the world of food. Originally: A few good things no respectable Spanish kitchen would be without Images: Justin Metz and markeveleigh
