It’s 525 years this week since Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas on a mission from the King and Queen of Spain to find gold, and — while he was at it — a route to the Spice Islands of the East. Columbus found neither, but he and later Spanish explorers eventually located gold in Central and South America. Better yet, they found a treasury of unfamiliar foods. In the long run these have been vastly more important than gold. Among them corn and potatoes are two of the world’s most widely grown crops, while tomatoes, peppers, peanuts and chocolate are staples virtually everywhere. Then there are avocados, vanilla and more.
Since the Spanish got them first, they got a head start on cooking these foods, and they often use them quite differently than we do.
Take chocolate. The Maya and Aztec of Central America made chocolate drinks with flavorings and thickenings including sometimes chili peppers and cornmeal. For serving they poured it from on high to raise a froth. The Spanish still make thickened chocolate. But unlike other countries, they have few traditional chocolate pastries and didn’t develop a chocolate bar industry until the late 19th Century. Even at Easter, when we have heaps of chocolate bunnies and piles of chocolate eggs, the Spanish focus instead on platters of small sponge or almond pastries decorated with meringue or nuts — scarcely even a chocolate jimmy in sight
Similarly corn, except as animal food, is little used outside the Canary Islands and Galicia, the homes of many who sailed to the New World. Both regions have traditional cornmeal pancakes, and Canary Islanders put corn in stews. Giant kernels are dried and salted to make snacks called quicos, but sweet corn is a relative newcomer to Spain, most commonly found charcoal-grilled at fiestas or as kernels in salads.
The story of sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers is different.
Columbus took sweet potatoes back to Spain in 1494. Sugar was wildly expensive then so anything sweet was an instant hit. Sweet potatoes remain a fall favorite in Spain. They are teamed with chestnuts in side dishes, but more often made into desserts, sometimes flavored with oranges.
Potatoes arrived in the 1500s, and are now a vital part of Spanish meals. Among the numerous recipes, tortilla is a classic mix of eggs and potatoes. Patatas Bravas, “fierce potatoes” with a spicy sauce are a beloved tapa. Patatas Arrugadas, “wrinkled potatoes” are boiled with enough salt to wrinkle their skins. Patatas a lo Pobre, “poor man’s potatoes” are fried potatoes with a peppercorn-paprika dressing, while Patatas Viudas, “widow’s potatoes” are cooked with onions, parsley and paprika.
Spanish paprika, or pimenton, is usually sweet rather than spicy, and smoked. It’s made from one of Spain’s many varieties of pepper, all descended from New World peppers. Also popular are choriceros, used in chorizo sausage, and the luscious piquillos, often stuffed with tuna. Spicy-hot peppers are not major in Spain, though green padron peppers, sizzled in oil and salted, are a bagatelle: most are mild but every batch has a few scorchers.
New World peppers quickly spread throughout the world. It’s hard now to imagine Indian or Thai food without them, Tomatoes were slow to catch on in northern Europe and North America because they were thought to be poisonous. But the Spanish adopted them early, and took them to their territories in southern Italy, so they got established there too. Today, Spain’s multitude of stews and casseroles depend on them, and tomato-topped toasts are the go-to quick breakfast.
In Columbus’s day most of these New World crops were unknown in our region. They arrived in the 17th Century with English colonists, who had adopted them from Spain. We now share the worldwide enthusiasm for them. Among the myriad ways of cooking them, here are some Spanish favorites.
Every bar and cantina in Spain offers slices of crusty bread or rolls topped with fresh tomato at breakfast. They cost about a dollar — a bit more if you add a slice of raw ham. Maldon salt is English, but common in Spain because Spanish chefs have been having a long love affair with it. Other sea salts are also fine.
4 large fully ripe tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
About 6-8 tablespoons olive oil or to taste
4-6 large thick slices country style bread or good quality large bread rolls, halved
Coarse salt such as Maldon salt, to taste
4 slices serrano ham (or substitute prosciutto) (optional)
Using a large box grater, grate the tomatoes on the large holes until you have nothing left in your hand but the skin. (This sounds odd, but it works and is the way the Spanish do it.) Mix the olive oil with the crushed garlic. Toast the bread or rolls. Brush with the garlicky oil. Spoon some tomato on top. Drizzle with a bit more oil and sprinkle with salt and add ham if you want.
While tostadas con tomates are a quick breakfast, snatched up in the dash before work, a breakfast of hot chocolate is usually sipped ruminatively or over a conspiratorial chat. Skinny doughnuts called churros are favorite dipping companions. Any rich bread such as croissants would also work.
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cups water or water and milk mixed
3-4 ounces dark chocolate (60-72 percent cacao), grated
2-3 teaspoons sugar, optional
About ½ teaspoon cinnamon or vanilla
In a small bowl mix the cornstarch with 2-3 tablespoons water and set aside. In a saucepan combine the grated chocolate with the sugar (if using), and the cinnamon or the vanilla. Stir in the liquid and then the cornstarch mixture, and heat over moderate heat, whisking more or less continuously so it stays very smooth. The instant it approaches boiling, remove it from the burner and whisk again. Sprinkle with extra cinnamon if you like. You can thin it also with boiling water or hot milk if you need to.
Pimenton, the Spanish smoky paprika, is one of the main flavorings of chorizo sausage, so it makes this potato dish taste similar. Poor widows couldn’t afford chorizo but they could still enjoy its taste in this inexpensive recipe.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 teaspoons Spanish pimenton, or sweet paprika
Leaves from 2 thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1½ -2 pounds potatoes (5-6 medium), peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick)
1 bay leaf
Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Stir in the chopped onions, sprinkle with a little salt and let cook gently for about 10 minutes until they are tender but not browned. Add the garlic and cook 3-4 minutes longer. Stir in a teaspoon of the pimento or paprika, the thyme, and half the parsley. Finally add the sliced potatoes and the bay leaf. Stir then add about 1½ cups boiling water: or just enough to come up to the level of the potatoes. Bring to boiling and simmer without a lid for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. (If the potatoes are done and you still have a lot of liquid pour it off and boil rapidly in a small pan to reduce it to a sauce then return it to the potatoes.) During cooking taste and add more salt or pimento if you like. Serve sprinkled with the rest of the chopped parsley
Spanish food writer Teresa Berrenechea explains that in northern Spain’s vegetable-growing regions of Navara and Aragon “Chilindrones, everyday preparations of chicken or lamb braised in a mixture of peppers, tomatoes, jamon serrano, onions and garlic are among the most popular dishes.” Jamon serrano is Spain’s raw country ham. Prosciutto is an alternative if you can’t find it. Some recipes include a yellow or green pepper and a dried pepper too, but red peppers always dominate. Use chicken instead of lamb if you like; it’s just as common in Spain.
3 red bell peppers or 2 red and 1 yellow
2 large ripe tomatoes
4 shoulder lamb chops or lamb steaks, about 7-8 ounces each
Salt to taste
3-5 tablespoons olive oil
About 3 ounces (about 4-5 slices) serrano ham (or prosciutto)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine or chicken or vegetable stock
2-3 sprigs thyme or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
6 black peppercorns
Char the peppers until the skins are black either by setting them directly on the burners of a gas stove or by placing them close to a broiler, turning as necessary until charred all over. Put them in a paper bag and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. When cool, rub off the blackened skins under running water to get all or most of the charred bits off. Cut into 2-inch strips and set aside
Grate the tomatoes on the large holes of a grater. Set aside, discarding the skins.
Season the lamb chops with salt. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over moderate heat and brown the chops for 4-5 minutes a side. Remove them a casserole or sauté pan that can go on a stove-top. Set aside.
Add the chopped onion to the pan (plus extra oil if needed) and cook over gentle heat until softened. Meanwhile cut the ham in 1-inch strips. Add these and the garlic to the pan and cook 2-3 minutes, then add the pepper strips. Cook for 4-5 minutes, then tip this mixture on the lamb.
Finally put the tomatoes, wine, thyme, 1 tablespoons parsley, and the peppercorns in the pan and cook uncovered for 8-10 minutes or until some of the liquid has evaporated and you have a sauce. Pour this over the lamb and vegetables and cook over gentle heat for 45-55 minutes or until the lamb is tender. To serve, scatter on the rest of the parsley.
This dish, which calls for three new world vegetables: potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, comes from Andalusia in southern Spain, where monkfish is a favorite. The fish and vegetables cook together making preparation and clean up easy. You also can make it with other firm-fleshed dish such as chunks of swordfish or halibut.
Large pinch saffron
2 pounds monkfish
salt and white pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4cups peeled, diced tomatoes
5 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 red or yellow pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
Put the saffron in a small bowl and cover with half a teacup of warm water. Stir it and set aside for a couple of hours. When ready to proceed, cut the monkfish into 2- inch chunks, season them with salt and white pepper, and then dust lightly with flour. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a sauté pan over high heat, and cook the monkfish briefly until it is light gold. Remove it from the pan. Cook the onions in the same oil for 3-4 minutes, and then add the tomatoes, potato slices, the saffron and its liquid and salt and pepper. Pour in enough water to cover the vegetables; bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are beginning to soften. Return the monkfish to the pan and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Meanwhile gently cook the pepper strips for 5-6 minutes in the remaining oil. Place them on top of the casserole and serve. Serves 4-5