Spanish Food Essay

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Geography plays an important role in a countries beliefs, values and activities. “Traditional Spanish cooking has popular roots. It is the people's cuisine. Most of it is down-to-earth, uncomplicated food, based on the ingredients available locally or the crops grown regionally. Mountains run through Spain in several directions, acting as natural barriers to communication and making transportation difficult until the last half of the 20th century. This is just one of the reasons why cooking differs so much from region to region” (Food). The Mantecado, a Spanish crumble cake is considered a sweet holiday dessert and a distinct rich history in Spain. The Mantecados recipe dates back to the early sixteenth century (casa) and to these two areas Antequera and Estepa. These locations are in central Andalucía, both claim the Mantecado as their own invention. “The name mantecado comes from the word manteca meaning lard, which is one of the main ingredients. Apparently surplus supplies of lard and flour led the locals to dream up a product that would turn these surpluses into profit”(olive). “In those times Estepa had a large amounts of pigs that were free to graze in long extensions of oak woods. The trees would …show more content…

Cinnamon also seems to be a staple hailing from “Sri Lanka and Indonesia, which is responsible for about two thirds of the crop. The rest comes from China, Vietnam and Burma’ (Huff). Thereafter, a few of the recipes call for anise which is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. Its flavor has similarities with some other spices, such as star anise, fennel, and licorice. (Wiki). Another alternative to the aanise are almonds which “is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. "Almond" is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree”

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