The Andalusian Kitchen

Then and Now

Appears in

Andaluz: A Food Journey Through Southern Spain

Published 2023

About

Andalucía is the anti-fad foodie region of Spain. Far from the pioneering extravagances of the more prosperous Basques and Catalans in the north, its cooking is earthy and unpretentious. Slow cooking is routine and seasonal, while local produce remains a constant, whether farmed or foraged. We’re talking soups not foams, stews not molecular gastronomy, simple not cerebral, appetite-defying abundance not minimalism.

Far away from the globalized costas, in the spectacular mountainous interior, such cooking is deeply entrenched in family or village traditions and threaded through with social and emotional values. Over time, communities isolated by the rugged terrain developed distinctive culinary identities, sparking off occasional gastro-rivalries. What these andaluces may not know or choose not to know, however, is how many ingredients from the East came to plant their seeds in the fertile West.