Spanish vs Portuguese Food
So, you’re learning Spanish or Portuguese, and want to learn more about the culture and everyday life in Spain and Portugal. Or perhaps you’re a foodie looking to explore new delicacies. Well, there’s no better way to learn about a country than through its cuisine.
Spain and Portugal may be next door neighbours, but how does their food compare? Here are the main similarities and differences between the countries’ dishes.
Seafood
Due to their location, Portugal and Spain both use a lot of seafood in their cooking. The Iberian Peninsula is surrounded by water on all three sides, so naturally, fresh seafood is always present. In fact, Portugal is the EU’s highest fish consuming country, with an average of 57 kg of fish and seafood per person, per year. Portugal’s national dish is ‘bacalhau’, which is salted cod fish. In Spain, the most popular seafood dish is ‘paella de mariscos’, which is seafood paella.
Spices
A noticeable difference between Portuguese and Spanish cooking is the spices they use. Portuguese cuisine tends to use a lot of cinnamon, bay leaves and piri piri, which are small hot chili peppers often sold as bottled hot sauce. In Spain, the most commonly used spices include Spanish paprika, saffron, parsley. Although their main spices are different, they can also share spices like granulated garlic and black pepper.
Cured meats
Both countries love their cured meats. Curing meat came from the need for a reliable food source during the harsher months, and a way to avoid wasting meat. In Spain, the most popular cured meat is jamon, or ham, with the two favourite types being jamon serrano and jamon iberico, which can sometimes have a price tag of 200€ per kilogram. Other popular meats include lomo (pork tenderloin), sobrassada (paprika spiced pork pate) and morcilla (blood sausage). In Portugal, you can find alheira (pork, chicken, olive oil sausage), butelo (vertebrae and pork ribs sausage) and maranho (goat or sheep meat sausage). Perhaps the most well-known cured meat that unites both countries is chorizo (Spain) or Chourico (Portugal) - a sausage made out of pork and seasoned with paprika.
The origins of food
Spanish and Portuguese food is similar in that they are both regional and originate from ‘peasant food’. This is food that is made from accessible and cheap ingredients that have been seasoned to make them tastier. They originate from peasants or poor farm workers who had to use things like less tender cuts of meat like tongue and intestines, beans and root vegetables. An example is gazpacho, a traditional tomato soup from the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. In the Portuguese region of Alentejo, they have acorda which is made from day-old bread mashed with garlic, coriander, olive oil, vinegar and poached eggs.
While Spanish and Portuguese food may have their similarities, the two cuisines are very diverse, with different ingredients and flavours. Discovering new dishes is a great way to learn a new language and practise your vocabulary. You could even have a go at some Spanish and Portuguese recipes!
