HISTORY OF SPANISH CUISINE 20TH CENTURY

HISTORY OF SPANISH CUISINE 20TH CENTURY

From the twentieth century, is when Spanish cuisine is internationally recognized due to the popularity of regional dishes such as potato omelette (they say it dates back to 1817, when a Navarre writing appeared in which they mention it for the first time), the cake of Santiago (sixteenth century) or gazpacho, a dish deeply rooted in the Arabs during their stay in the Peninsula. This century was a boom of gastronomic writings and texts, not only collected recipes, but also delved into the history and customs as well as books, thus extending our cuisine around the world.

In addition, within Spain, with the improvement of roads and transportation, it was easier to obtain local products in different regions of the country, the dissemination of recipes and the expansion of the cuisine. Gastronomic magazines such as “El gorro Blanco” or “La Cocina Elegante” were born.

But the 20th century, with the world wars and the country's Civil War, brought food shortages and lack of food supplies. In Spain, there was food rationing until 1945. It was then, due to the need to preserve food, that packaged and canned products appeared. Beer, which had existed for centuries, but whose consumption stopped with the Arab invasion and the development of Muslim civilization, regained popularity among the Spaniards with Charles V of Germany. Characterized for being a great eater and better beer drinker, after his proclamation as king, he brought his master brewers to the country and during his reign, the consumption of this beverage increased. In fact, after his renunciation of the throne and his retirement to the monastery of Yuste, he ordered the installation of a small brewery run by one of his personal brewers.

With Franco's dictatorship, Spanish cuisine became a symbol of national identity, and some of its most typical dishes were advertised as “national glories”, and some religious traditions returned, such as fasting during Lent or not eating meat on Fridays.

Then, with the spanish tourism boom, In the 80's, Spanish cuisine became much more notorious as all tourists coming to the country asked for traditional dishes, products such as chicken, potatoes or pasta, became available to all social classes, as their price became much more economical. Other products such as salmon, hake and shrimp began to be introduced; coastal products, ideal for tourists who came to spend the summer in Spain.

Since then, signature cuisine has emerged and spread inside and outside Spain, spreading Spanish cuisine in a new way, modifying ingredients or ways of preparation.

Nowadays, new culinary methods such as foams, vapors, fumes... are also applied. Avant-garde or modern cuisine, The first of its kind in the 80's and 90's, the company was founded by great and prestigious Spanish chefs such as José Mari Arzak and Ferrán Adrià, who managed to break the molds of traditional cuisine by introducing high quality products with advanced technology.

This type of cuisine is characterized by being a provocative cuisine that always seeks to surprise the diner, it is served in small portions, the boundary between dish and dessert disappears, it is served in small portions, it is The textures and temperatures are worked on, the raw material is respected because flavor is the most important thing, fats are reduced in search of lighter dishes and above all the presentation of the dishes is very important.

The most famous representative of this type of cuisine is Ferran Adrià (chef and co-owner until 2011 of the now defunct Spanish restaurant El Bulli, which received throughout its history the highest gastronomic distinctions, including Best Restaurant in the World by the British magazine Restaurant, or the S. Pellegrino award for four consecutive years, something that no other establishment has achieved so far. ) linked to the molecular gastronomy, this term is used to describe a style of cooking in which chefs explore culinary possibilities with tools from the science laboratory and ingredients from the food industry...Appetizers in ice spheres, olive oil caviar, transparent ravioli that disappear...are some of the examples of this cuisine.

In 2008, Spanish cuisine was declared National Cultural Heritage. to this day.

New concepts have emerged, such as the case of “gastrobar”, used and invented since 2008, with the meaning of a catering establishment that tries to bring haute cuisine closer by serving signature tapas at affordable prices.

The concept of cuisine, continuously renewed from our ancestors to the present day. A constant evolution of flavors, smells, forms, ways of elaboration... In which there has always been an objective: to make the food a gratifying experience for the diner, always looking for the best ingredients for the good taste of the dish, from the Phoenicians to the present, we have been discovering new ingredients, modifying dishes, applying gastronomy from other countries, adding new condiments, or elaborating different ways of cooking. All this, in a constant evolution to make a meal a unique experience.