Spain in Red: Foods and Landscapes Teeming with Passion

We have begun a series of articles in which we journey through Spain and its foods and wines by color. We started off with an iconic color for Spain, red. Strength, flavor, intensity, energy; alongside tradition, maturity and wisdom. This is Spain in red.

Spanish food in red

The Spanish pantry boasts a huge number of red products. Who can resist the urge to bite into a Red Delicious apple grown in Girona’s orchards in Catalonia? Or the chance to savor Andalusia’s berries, the Piquillo pepper preserves, or irresistible Spanish chorizo – all iconic ingredients in our gastronomy. Another of these is pimentón (it’s not paprika, it’s pimentón, as our culinary ambassadors José Andrés and José Pizarro so often remind us). And what of the deep red hues of finely carved slices of pure Ibérico bellota ham? There’s nothing like it.

Spanish recipes that taste of red

There are a multitude of Spanish dishes that end up “tinted” with red, like the salads made with tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper; a refreshing gazpacho, or some simple but incredibly flavorful red prawns from Huelva, shrimp from Denia, or the massive carabineros (giant scarlet shrimp) that can be savored up and down the Mediterranean coast. We love this recipe (in the photo below) from the great Spanish chef Manolo de la Osa, who is an expert at interpreting the color red through his current take on the traditional gastronomy of La Mancha.