Spain

Courtney Wagner, Jenny Anderson, Mimi Hladik, and Ina Bryant

Spanish Cuisine History

• Began with Romans – brought olive oil and garlic

• Moors – brought citrus fruits, peaches, figs, cultivation of rice, saffron, pepper, nutmeg, anise, and almonds

• New World – provided tomatoes, chocolate, potatoes, and sweet and hot peppers

Courtney Wagner

Tapas (appetizers)• almonds or olives, scallops,

prawns, pickled herring, ham, marinated mushrooms, anchovies• Fancier ones include:

• Bunuelitos – deep fried vegetables, meat poultry, or fish that’s been coated in batter

• Empanadillas – small pastries filled with chopped meat, fish or poultry

• Banderillas – colorful tapas served on long toothpicks

• Pinchos – grilled foods

Salad and Soup• Salad often follows the tapas• Lettuce, tomato, with simple oil and vinegar dressing

• Soups• Sopa al cuarto de hora – 15 min soup with mussels, prawns,

whitefish, rice, peas, hard cooked eggs, and saffron• Garlic soup – sauté two cloves of garlic in olive oil and add

bread• Gazpacho – tomatoes, onions, garlic, cucumbers, and green

peppers, served icy cold

Main Dishes• Excellent at preparing seafood

and meat• All-i-oli – garlic mayonnaise

served with seafood• Chorizo – dark sausage with

spicy/smoky flavor• Paella – rice dish with chicken,

shrimp, mussels, whitefish, peas, and spices• Bread accompanies most dishes• Vegetables are usually served

as a separate course

Desserts• Fresh fruit, dried figs, cheese, almonds• Rice pudding, sponge cake, flan (caramel custard)• Cakes and pastries (contain many eggs and powdered

almonds)

Unique Ingredients• Pimenton de La Vera (smoked

Paprika)

• Arbequina and Manzanilla olives

• White asparagus

• Sherry vinegar made from sherry wine

• Squid or calamare

Ina Bryant

Methods of Preparation• Roast

• Fry

• Sauté

• Steam

• Grill (either on a metal plate or on a charcoal grill)

• It is not as common to bake or broil

Main Attractions • Tomato festival• Running of the Bulls• Palacio Real de

Madrid• La Concha• Bull fighting

Geography of Spain

• 2 main geographical features are water and mountains

-water surrounds the peninsula

-has several mountain ranges

• Most Spaniards live alone the coast for fertile soil

• Pyreness (a mountain range) separates Spain & France from the rest of Europe

• 4 mountain ranges divide the rest of the land into isolated units

• Meseta is the larges plateau

-occupies more than ½ of Spain Jenny Anderson

Geography Facts• The coast line is 4,964 km

• They have periodic droughts

• They are currently facing some environmental issues:

-deforestation

-air pollution

-pollution of the Mediterranean

• Its slightly twice the size of Oregon

• Strait of Gibraltar:

-connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean

-separates Gibraltar and Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa

Location of Spain

• Southwestern Europe• Bordered by:

-the Bay of Biscay-Mediterranean Sea-North Atlantic Ocean-Pyrenees Mountains

• Southwest of France

Climate • Temperate:

- clear, hot summers, mild winters, light rainfall, more moderate and cloudy

-along coast: cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy

-cool along coast

• Meseta climate (central Spain):

-most severe climate

-extremes of both heat and cold

• Northern Spain:

-cool summers and mild, damp winters

• Southern Spain:

-semi-desert with virtually no winter

Natural Resources

• Coal• Lignite• Iron ore• Copper• Lead• Zinc• Uranium• Tungsten• Mercury• Pyrites

• Magnetite • Fluorspar • Gypsum• Sepiolite• Kaolin• Potash• Hydropower• Arable land

History• originally inhabited by Celts, Iberians, and Basques• part of the Roman Empire in 206 B.C. • In 711 entered from Muslims • In 1478 Jews and Muslims • official state religion: Roman Catholicism • Hapsburg monarchy most powerful • The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714)

resulted in Spain's loss of Belgium, Luxembourg, Milan, Sardinia, and Naples• In World War I, position of neutrality• new constitution separated church and state, and

secularized the schoolsMimi Hladik

Government• Parliamentary monarchy • Chief of State: Juan Carlos de Borbon

y Borbon, King• Head of Government: Prime Minister

Mariano Rajoy

Agriculture

• Fishing or farming• Large landowners• Primary crops: wheat, olives, potatoes, rice, beans,

grapes, tomatoes and honey• World best oranges grow in Valencia• Moors build extensive irrigation system• Raise sheep and cattle• Wine production is popular

Recreation

Children Activities

• Amusement Parks• Bull Fights• Horseback Riding• L'Hemisfèric in Valencia (a

planetarium in IMAX)•  Majorca Caves (caves)• Ronda (small mountain town)

RecreationCultural Activities • Alhambra (massive collection of Muslim

buildings)

• Guggenheim Museum (giant piece of contemporary art)

• La Sagrada Família (Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished cathedral)•  • Museo del Prado ( Madrid` s finest

museum)

• Toledo (synagogues, mosques, museums, and churches )

Holidays and Celebrations

New Year’s Eve

• For the patron of each town

• Parades

• Bonfires

• Bullfights

• Beauty contests

Annual Feast Day

• Pop a grape into their mouth

• Every hour

• Until midnight

• Means 12 times good luck

Fiesta of San Fermin • Pamplona

• Each July

• Bulls run through town

• Young men run ahead

• Ends in an amateur bullfights

Bibliography

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar• http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcspain.htm