Nearly five centuries ago, Spanish explorers began making forays into what eventually would become Arizona. Now, their cooks finally are catching up.
In the East Valley, as in metro areas across the United States and around the world, Spanish restaurants are springing up to introduce diners to a suddenly red-hot cuisine.
“Spain is such a great food country,” says chef Aaron May, who opened Sol y Sombra in north Scottsdale in 2006 and plans to open another Spanish restaurant, Leche, in Old Town Scottsdale in March. “Food is just as important there — if not more — than France or Italy.”
Spanish food, long overshadowed by that of its European neighbors, certainly seems to have captured the culinary world’s attention.
In Restaurant magazine’s annual poll of top chefs, restaurateurs and critics, Spain’s El Bulli has been named the world’s best restaurant for the past three years.
El Bulli’s Ferran Adriá is considered by many the world’s greatest chef, and countryman Paco Torreblanca is regarded as perhaps the world’s best pastry chef.
And northern Spain’s Basque region is “where in Europe I would go right now if my sole agenda were to eat,” writes New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
• Related: Small tapas play big role in Spanish cuisine
Although traditional Spanish food is known for its simplicity, “in Barcelona and San Sebastián, they’re doing foams and powders and all this avant garde — almost chemical — cooking,” May (pictured at right) says. “Spain is really a hotbed for that.”
So what exactly is Spanish cuisine? Perhaps it should be thought of as Spanish “cuisines,” since the country is divided into 17 regions, each with its own dishes or distinct versions of national dishes.
Overall, it bears a strong resemblance to the long-celebrated cuisine of nearby Italy, not too surprising when you consider the two peninsulas share a common topography and climate.
“I would describe Spanish food as being very Mediterranean, very much like Italian or real Greek food — not gyros sandwiches, but the cooking of the Greek isles — with even some North African influences,” May says.
The ancient Romans ruled what was then known as Hispania (modern-day Spain and Portugal) for nearly 600 years.
“The similarity between Italy and Spain is big because of the Romans,” says Italian-born Claudio Urciuoli, chef de cuisine at Prado (pictured at top), a Spanish restaurant named for the world-famous Madrid museum at the just-opened InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley.
“A lot of things you see in Spain and the south part of France, they were brought by the Romans. A lot of ingredients are the same: extra virgin olive, vinegars, a lot of seafood. The preparations are very similar.”
May agrees: “The Spanish do paella (a popular rice dish) instead of risotto, but at the end of the day it’s the same ingredients. It’s just cooked differently. … It’s basically variations on a theme.”
Before launching Leche, the busy May will open an Italian restaurant, Autostrada, in December.
“Writing the menu for Autostrada, I found many of the dishes could go either way (Italian or Spanish),” he says. “It’s using basil instead of oregano, or oregano instead of parsley.”
One country whose cuisine doesn’t share much in common with Spain’s, though, is Mexico.
“Mexican cuisine and Spanish cuisine don’t have anything in common,” Urciuoli says. “If somebody goes to a Mexican restaurant and then comes to a Spanish restaurant, he won’t find anything similar except maybe rice.”
Francesco Roccato (pictured above on left, with Urciuoli), who works with Urciuoli as the Montelucia’s executive chef, says many diners wrongly assume Spanish food is as spicy as Mexican fare.
“You find a lot of very good flavors, but there’s no heat from the chile peppers you find in Mexican cuisine,” he says. “Spanish cuisine is a lot flavor, but it’s real flavor and nothing much has to be added to it.”
Still, the misconception of a close relationship between the two cuisines persists.
“When (Sol y Sombra) first opened, we were getting all these calls: ‘What are you doing for Cinco de Mayo?’” May says. “I said, ‘Nothing. Why would we do anything for Cinco de Mayo? I don’t want to get into a whole world history course, but Spain really wasn’t involved.’”
May credits chefs like Mario Batali, best-known for Italian food, and José Andrés for popularizing Spanish food in America. He worked at Batali’s famed Spanish restaurant, Casa Mono, in New York.
“I moved back to Phoenix and there was really no upscale Spanish food here,” May says. “Pepin is great, but it’s very much older, rustic, sorta traditional food. Lola Tapas is great, but very much small, rustic (and) traditional. There was no contemporary, clean, modern take on that, so I thought there was a great niche for that.”
Catalonia, a region on the Mediterranean coast in northeast Spain that includes Barcelona, is the inspiration for Sol y Sombra (pictured at right), where the menu includes such seafood as baked black cod, charred octopus and roasted snails.
Leche, on the other hand, will showcase the food of the Basque country and the Pyrenees mountains in northern Spain. That means more meat and less seafood, as well as French influences like cream and butter.
At the Montelucia, Prado devotes a major section of its menu to seafood, meats and produce grilled over an oak and pecan fire, a technique popular in Andalucia in southern Spain. But it also features dishes from other regions.
“At this moment in the United States, you find that Spanish cuisine is a collection of recipes taken from different regions, and restaurants try to promote that,” Roccato says. “In the future, you will see more attempts to do restaurants from particular regions of Spain.”
When it comes to the Valley dining scene, though, May sees it differently.
“I think you’ll continue to see more restaurants working Spanish into their repertoire,” he says. “As far as seeing more strictly Spanish restaurants — other than my new one — I don’t think you’re gonna see a lot of that.”
SPANISH RESTAURANT OPENINGS IN THE EAST VALLEY
Pepin Restaurante Español (1992): Besides serving traditional dishes, the granddaddy of Spanish restaurants in the Valley offers flamenco and salsa dancing on weekends. 7363 E. Scottsdale Mall, Scottsdale, (480) 990-9026, pepinrestaurant.com
Lola Tapas (2005): This often-noisy restaurant from the former owners of Lux Coffeebar serves traditional tapas and Spaanish wines at long communal tables and small bar. 800 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, (602) 265-4519, lolatapas.com.
Sol y Sombra (2006): Chef Aaron May’s sleek and hip Catalonia-inspired eatery at DC Ranch showcases tapas-style portions in a high-energy atmosphere. 20707 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale, (480) 443-5399, solysombra.com.
Imagine Spain (2008): Valencia natives Janet Taverner and Jackie Caselles offer six varieties of their city’s signature dish, paella, since taking over the former Radda Caffe Bar in August. 7000 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale, (480) 991-3170, imagine-spain.com
Prado (2008): The new Montelucia Resort & Spa’s centerpiece restaurant (its Mbar is pictured above), which opened Nov. 4, features rustic Andalusian grilling of meats and seafood over oak and pecan fire. 4949 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley, (480) 627-3004 or icmontelucia.com.
Leche (2009): Scheduled to open in March, May’s second Spanish restaurant will feature the increasingly popular food of the Basque region in northern part of the country. 7105 E. First Ave., Scottsdale.
POPULAR SPANISH DISHES TO TRY
Paella (pictured on right): The most famous Spanish dish, a mixture of saffron-flavored rice, meat, beans and vegetables. The meat or seafood varies from region to region.
Gazpacho: A tomato-based vegetable soup, sort of like a chunky liquid salad, that’s served cold. Very popular during summer months.
Chorizo: Unlike the Mexican sausage, which is made with ground pork, the Spanish version is made with coarsely chopped pork. Similar to salami, it’s often served raw.
Jamón serrano: Dry-cured Spanish ham from white pigs, usually served raw in thin slices. Similar to Italian proscuitto.
Jamón iberico: Cured ham from acorn-fed Iberian black pigs. The free-range variety, jamon iberico de bellota, is considered the world’s finest ham.
Tortilla española: A Spanish omelet of eggs, fried potatoes and onions. Also known as a tortilla de patatas.
Patatas bravas: Fried potato pieces with a spicy tomato sauce.
Arroz al horno: An oven-baked rice dish with sausage, tomatoes, potatoes and beans.
Fideua: A pasta version of seafood paella, typically made with a very short noodles known as fideo.
Arroz con leche: Spanish rice pudding often made with cinnamon, raisins or lemon.
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