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Eating out in Spain 
Dining out in Spain is as much a reason for a social gathering as it is a matter of satisfying bodily needs or gastronomic indulgence. It is not something to be hurried. Despite the bustle of the waiters scurrying around, you will rarely feel rushed in a Spanish restaurant.
There are a variety of options for eating out, but the uniquely Spanish one is the 'tapas bar'. Tapas are small savoury dishes of practically anything tasty, fish, squid, meats, olives, cheeses, vegetables, and so on. Select one or two portions (porciones) for a snack or a selection of bigger portions (raciones) to make up a meal. You will find tapas served almost everywhere in Spain.
Away from the main resorts, main meals times are later than in most other countries. Lunch is the main meal of the day, mostly taken from about 2pm and often preceded by tapas. Spanish restaurants open for lunch usually from 12.30 or 1pm until 3.30pm or 4pm. They re-open from about 7.30pm but do not do much business before 9pm.
In cities, they will still be receiving dinners at midnight. Menus are often broken down into kinds of dish. Meat, fish, eggs, for example, rather than into courses. In all restaurants a menu del dia (menu of the day) will be served, usually a cheaper option of 3 or 4 courses.
Food
Spanish food has an earthy richness, with pronounced flavours enhanced by different herbs and spices. There are some common factors across the country, the wide use of olive oil and garlic! There are also marked regional variations in the types of dishes and styles of cooking. There are relatively few national dishes, and only a handful have really become internationally known, tortilla (omelette), paella and gazpacho are the most famous. However there are a good deal more to discover.
Stews (cocidos) and hotpots are the mainstay of much of the everyday Spanish diet, combining pulses such as rice or chickpeas with vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood, all enriched with peppers, herbs and spices. They make filling meals, particularly given the generous proportions of most Spanish servings – a feature of their hospitality.
The Spanish have a pronounced sweet tooth and have concocted many kinds of delicious sweet breads, pastries and sweetmeats, which they consume at every opportunity through the day, starting with breakfast with churros, sausage-shaped fritters and suizos, sugar-topped sweet rolls.
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Regional specialities
The Atlantic Coast - the north coast, from Galicia across to the Basque country. It has a mild, wet climate that ensures rich pastures for grazing and lots of fresh vegetables. The seafood is about Spain’s finest, and the cuisine reflects the quality of the produce used.
Galicia - has the greatest reputation for seafood, its ports supplying much of the rest of Spain. Octopus is a speciality, and the large prawns are irresistible. Galicians use either seafood or meats cooked with onions to fill their pies, called empanadas. Other dishes to look out for are lacón con grelos, a combination of salted ham, turnips and spicy chorizo sausages, and caldo gallego, which includes beans and cabbages in a meaty stew.
Asturias - is famous for its fabada – so much so that it exports the rich meaty stew based on fabes (white beans). Fish is again a speciality, with excellent salmon and a fish stew known as caldereta. Another dish to try is the merluza a la sidra, hake cooked in cider.
Basque country - the food here is superb. Seafood and sauces are the Basques’ forte, subtly combined in dishes such as cod cooked with peppers and onions – bacalao al pil-pil. Also worth trying is sea bream – besugo. Some of the local specialities include baby eels – anguilas - that are fried in oil spiced with hot peppers and garlic. Marmitako (tuna stew) is also popular, as is the hake dish kokotxas.
South of the Pyrenees - meat replaces fish and seafood as the central element in the popular dishes of the regions south of the Pyrenees. The wine regions of Rioja and Navarra both have individual styles of cooking. Some of Rioja’s most memorable dishes are those that involve cooking a variety of meats in red peppers and asparagus. Game is an important part of Navarra’s cooking, drawing influences from both the Basques to the north and the Aragonese to the south. A popular homegrown dish of the region is trout cooked with ham – trucha a la Navarra.
Aragon - meats are the main diet of the Aragonese, usually served with a rich red-pepper sauce called chilindrón. Another tasty dish is magras con tomate, using fried ham and a tomaoto-based sauce.
Catalonia - Distinctive dishes have benefited from its position on the French border, laying it open to both French and Italian influences. Sauces are part of the attraction. Look out for ali-oli, made from olive oil and garlic beaten into a paste, and picada, made from almonds, pine nuts, garlic and parsley. Seafood is important, this is one of the best areas to try zarzuela de mariscos – mixed seafood stew – and Tarragona is noted for romesco, a distinctive sweetish sauce served with fish. A simple satisfying dish is pan con tomate – bread smeared with tomato and olive oil. As elsewhere is Spain, spicy sausages play an important part in the diet. Try butifarra, especially when served with mangetes (white beans). On the coast, you should try the mixture of chicken and lobster, and in Barcelona seek out the filling local cocido called escudella – it includes meatballs, a range of meats, pulses, vegetables and spices. Farther south, rice dishes are popular – arroz a banda is just rice cooked in a fish broth, which can be superb. Catalonians are keen on cakes. Among the sweet bread – and buñuelos – fried puffs.
The southern Costas - Paella originates from Valencia, and you should find some excellent examples in its home territory. As in the rest of Spain, cocidos are a major part of the everyday diet. Some to look out for are cocido de pelotas –meat in cabbage, chickpeas and potatoes – and arroz con costra, which includes chicken, rabbit, black pudding and more chickpeas.
Murcia - is also strong on rice dishes. Try the fish one, arroz al caldero. Look out also for menestra, a vegetable stew. And for fish, try mújol (mullet), especially the roe.
Jijona - is famous for its túrron – hard or soft nougat.
Andalucia - is less distinguished in its cooking than some other regions, but it is ‘home’ the Spain’s most famous soup, gazpacho. Fried fish – pescaíto frito – is a popular part of the diet, and from the land of flamenco comes huevos a la flamenca – eggs, ham, tomato, asparagus, chorizo and peppers. Sweet specialities include polvorones – shortbread cookies – and mostachones – almond buns.
The meseta -in the central plateau regions, roast meats such as suckling pigs are popular. So are cocidos with lots of pulses, particularly chickpeas. Despite being landlocked, the central region still manages to produce some notable seafood dishes, drawing still manages to produce some notable seafood dishes, bacalao al ajo arriero – cod cooked in garlic. Soups are also popular, sopas castellanas, usually a type of meat broth.
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