Cookery : Recipes, regional : Iberian Peninsula is part of the Cookery catalogue. It indexes recipes on Everything2 from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal, as well as Andorra), divided into categories according to type of dish.
This subnode of Regional Recipes
is maintained by princess loulou
A note on classification. This group is categorised according to what I feel to be the most suitable to fit in with Iberian culture and cuisine. I have chosen Tapas (to include appetisers and light bites), First Course dishes, Main Course dishes, Desserts and a handy Miscellaneous category, which covers ingredients and a glossary. This arrangement relects the range of currently noded recipes. Please see below for a note on first and main course differentiation in this part of the world.
Iberian Peninsula culture at mealtimes splits regular, daily meals into first and second courses, or, more accurately, plates. The first course will be a pasta, rice, vegetable or pulse dish - usually anything which is best served in a shallow bowl. The second course is a meat or fish recipe. This varies according to season and region and of course every family has their ways, but my Basque relatives eat very little vegetable accompaniment with the main course. The vegetables are generally in the starter and a huge mixed salad sits in the centre of the table for all to pick at with the main dish. Some of the more traditional dishes, such as Alubias, involve cooking the two courses in one pot but serving them separately. In this case, the beans are served as the first course and the meats with which they are cooked are served separately, as the main dish. Paella is a complex dish and despite being rice-based is served as a main course, it is typical of Valencia and enjoyed especially on holidays, fiestas and special occasions.
Celebratory meals work differently and there will be many courses, often one blurs into another. A number of plates of cold meats, cheeses, white asparagus, shellfish, pates and Russian salad will kick off proceedings. A hot bowl of stew or soup follows. The main course will be meat and fish and larger crustaceans. Dessert receives less attention than it does in my native Britain and, for adults at least, an Irish Coffee is a likely alternative.
This subnode of Regional Recipes
is maintained by princess loulou
Alternate references: Alphabetised Recipes - Categorised Recipes - Cook's Reference