Gastronomy, or gastronomía as it is known in Spanish, may seem very confusing or different at first, but is an essential and foundational aspect of Spanish culture. Built upon hundreds of years of tradition, Spanish cuisine has always centralized around a balanced Mediterranean diet. By exploring gastronomy, you can understand and experience Spanish culture in a unique way. Simply put, gastronomy is the art of selecting, preparing, and cooking good food, which makes it a very popular way to explore various cultures. Through history, taste, and smell, every aspect of the meal seeks to draw you in and teach you about a unique side of the Spanish narrative.
Due to its location in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the foundational aspects of Spanish gastronomy is seafood. From mussels to octopus, a large variety of seafood can be found in traditional Spanish cooking. As a whole, the entire Spanish diet is heavily influenced by Mediterranean cuisine, which placed a large emphasis on food groups like fruits, vegetables, fish, seafood, and grain. This focus largely influenced the development of staples in Spanish cooking, like the tortilla española and paella. Another item found in nearly every dish in Spain is jamón. The Iberian Peninsula is famous for jamón iberico, which is a type of ham that is native to the region. While in Spain, you can almost always find something that is ham flavored -- even potato chips!
Gastronomy is a fantastic outlet for this kind of storytelling as it combines a love for food with a love for history. Attending a gastronomy show will teach you about more than just the food, but also about the people who have eaten the food for centuries and where the food is grown. Nearly every ingredient has a cultural significance, either because it was brought over by travelers or because it was sourced directly from Spaniard’s own backyards. Through gastronomy, meaning is restored back into these ingredients and its stories can be retold to new, foreign audiences. Food belongs to the unique identity of each city and is something that often enhances your visit and understanding of the culture within it.
While traveling to foreign places, some travelers are often weary of trying some of the local cuisine, citing that they want to find food that reflects their own cultural background or that they know tastes good. Meanwhile, other travelers will simply research the best rated restaurants in the city and eat their meals there. While this is an effective method for finding good food to eat, it does not allow you to immerse yourself within the new culture and understand why each dish was crafted the way that it was. There is more to food than just the taste it leaves in your mouth, it tells a story about the city and the people in it. By learning and experiencing Spanish Gastronomy, you will learn more about the heart and soul of Spain -- its food.
Another key element to the gastronomy experience is observing the different cooking and preparation methods. If you are interested in cooking, learning from an experienced Spanish chef will give you the tools and skills to bring back with you to your home kitchen. Gastronomy is an art that can teach you many things about making and enjoying food. Even if you do not enjoy cooking in the slightest, watching talented chefs make traditional cuisine is very entertaining and engaging. The chefs love to share information about where the ingredients are sourced from, why a dish is made a particular way, and what wines to pair with each dish.
Often, at a gastronomía, the chefs will engage in show cooking, which is a flamboyant display of culinary mastery, inturn, reflecting on the quality and taste of the food. These presentations are interactive and enjoyable, leaving you with a thirst for history and a hunger for traditional cuisine. Simply put, there is no other outlet that allows you to learn about and experience an integral pillar of Spanish culture more than gastronomy. After hundreds of years, these dishes have refined themselves into delicacies that reflect the strength and resilience of the Spanish people. At La Terraza del Cristina, there is a vibrant display of this show cooking which combines history, humor, and good food together for a relaxing, educational atmosphere.
After a special interactive cooking experience with a talented chef, the food often seems to taste even better. Through these engaging experiences, the chefs are able to mix together history and tradition to highlight important aspects of culture and share the stories with a new audience. In our fast moving society, many are afraid that we will forgo tradition for the sake of efficiency and ease; however, the art of gastronomy brings new life to the traditions and engages a new group of people in traditional cuisine. In different cultures we are able to learn a multitude of things, from customs and norms in the host culture to things that you never knew about yourself. True immersion in a different culture allows you to break from your normal habits and live as a global citizen.
Gastronomy is a unique experience that allows you to see a different culture from a new perspective. At Terraza del Cristina, the chef and staff create a wonderful experience that ties together all of the aspects of Spanish cooking while being able to enjoy one of the best views in Seville from their rooftop.
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