In recent years Mediterranean cooking has become popular and considered to be an extremely healthy diet. The Mediterranean coast line has influenced the Spanish diet. There are a lot of great classic Spanish recipes that include sea food and other coastal foods.

These Spanish foods are enjoyed for their freshness and flavor by the chefs world wide. The recent Bravo TV show top chef showed one of the top four finalists using a Spanish influence in his recipes. Any amateur chef can explore and enjoyed classic Spanish recipes.

The Classic Paella

Paella classic and traditional Spanish meat has many varieties in different regions of Spain. The ground for this recipe is rice cooked with different varieties of meat. The typical Spanish recipe for Paella includes Chicken, Pork, Shrimp, Scallops, Clams and mussels cooked with tomatoes and pepper sauce, garnished with vegetables like green peas or green beans. Seasoning is done by the use of rich and tasty saffron. Those who indulge in the meal will surely delight their palates.

The use of Fish

Many Spanish recipes use fish as the country is bordered on two sides with water. These recipes include potatoes baked in to casseroles. Olive oil is the cooking base and it creates a nice basic Mediterranean taste. The recipes can be flavoured with tomatoes, peppers, olives and garlic. Spanish recipes turn a basic fish into delightfully flavoured meals. Recent studies encourage the use of fish in the diet. If is worth while for the amateur chef to incorporate the recipes in his repertoire.

Other Spanish Classics

With any great Spanish meal traditional Spanish Sangria is a great beverage to serve with. The Spanish recipe for Sangria includes a mixture of reasonably priced red wine with fresh fruit like oranges peaches and lemons sweetened with sugar. The Sangria should be refrigerated and served chill.

Another classic Spanish recipe, Flan is a caramelized custard dish, a great treat for the dessert course. The trick is to caramelize sugar, place it in a metal mold and pour a custard base on the top. It is then baked in a pan with a water base. When the dish is done, invert the flan pans and get the beautiful dessert. Any amateur chef who serve, a meal with Spanish recipes completed by a Spanish flan will surely be praised.