Spanish vs Syrian food & cuisine

Textures matter – smooth dips are paired with crunchy breads or fresh salads. Stews are often served with fluffy rice or cracked wheat pilafs. Seasoning is very pronounced, especially with deep and warm spice blends.

Beyond bread, wheat in Spanish cuisine features sweat and savory pastries, like churros, empanadas, empanadillas, ensaimadas. Spanish cooks use wheat flour for the light coating on fried fish and seafood and turn stale bread into breadcrumbs for crispy croquettes. While Spaniards don’t eat pasta like their Italian neighbors, they do have fideuà, which is basically paella made with noodles instead of rice, and sopa de fideos, a homey, comforting noodle.

Only a few countries in Europe treat rice as an essential staple, as Spain and Portugal do. Both Iberian Peninsula neighbors are top consumers of rice in Europe. This popularity mostly has to do with the Moors, who, back in the 8th century, popularized rice in Spain. Plain rice is not a frequent Spanish choice; they’re more often found in dishes like paella, arroz negro, arroz con costra, and creamy rice desserts. Mostly, short-grain rice is preferred for its ability to absorb flavors while retaining a distinct bite.

Interestingly, despite their similar culinary traditions, corn is much less popular in Portugal, despite their otherwise similar culinary. While Spain also had colonies in the corn-rich Americas, Spanish cooking customs were already well-established when corn arrived, and the new grain had to compete with existing staples. Corn simply never gained the widespread acceptance that wheat and rice already possessed.

Cracked wheat bulgur, partially boiled and then dried again, adds a unique texture and nutty flavor to pilafs, salads, soups, stews, and kibbeh (spiced meat and bulgur dish). Bulgur has a very ancient origin, dating back around 4,000 years to the Mediterranean region, and is closely associated with Levantine cuisine.

Another popular wheat variation is freekeh, a durum wheat grain that is harvested still green, roasted, and rubbed to have a distinctive nutty taste and chewy texture. It features soups, pilafs, sides, kibbeh, or salad.

Rice is important, but a complementary staple, served as a light, fluffy texture side with a nutty flavor, or combined with beans, vegetables, or ground meat. The ongoing conflict has severely impacted agriculture and food security, resulting in lower rice availability.

One of the star vegetables in Spanish cooking is tomato, mostly harvested in southern Andalusia. Tomatoes show up everywhere – in cold gazpacho and salmorejo soups and as the heart of sofrito – the base of slowly cooked tomatoes, onions, and garlic that starts nearly every Spanish stew and paella.

Peppers enhance dishes with colors, like in smoky escalivada – smoky grilled veggies; add depth to rice and meat preparations; season in the form of smoked powder, or are served alone, like grilled pimientos del padrón. Mild, green pepper guindillas, crunchy and marinated with wine vinegar, are popular as a part of small snack pintxos – various ingredients served on a toothpick.

Artichokes are a big deal in Valencia, where locals go crazy for them – you’ll find them grilled over flames or stewed with chunks of ham until tender. Down south, eggplant rules, thanks to the Moors who brought them centuries ago. Try berenjenas con miel – crispy fried eggplant drizzled with honey.

Zucchini and asparagus show up everywhere since they love the Spanish climate. As for legumes, they’re the backbone of comfort food. Chickpeas are a clear favorite, but you’ll also find white beans, pintos, and favas often hanging out with ham and other cured meats in rustic stews.

Pickles – turnips, cucumbers, cauliflower, and especially makdous (oil-preserved stuffed eggplants) – are staples of mezze, giving salty, sour, garlicky contrasts to meat and grain dishes.

Fruits add another distinctive layer: cherries, apricots, quince, and pomegranate are folded into meat dishes and kebabs. Pomegranate molasses is essential for dressings and marinades. Qamar al-din, an apricot leather drink, is a Ramadan tradition, and dried figs, dates, raisins, and apricots enrich pilafs and stews. Murabba, whole fruits preserved in syrup, is offered with coffee as a gesture of hospitality.

Sideways to hams go sausages – the spicy red chorizo, with its smoky taste from paprika, the air-dried lomo, and milder salchichón are popular tapas, often served in thin slices.

Fresh pork is also appreciated from nose to toe. Signature dishes are wine-braised cheeks, a cochinillo sado roasted suckling pig from Segovia, and secreto ibérico, a hidden cut of marbled pork.

Spain has a long tradition of sheep herding, especially with breeds churra and manchega, raised for both meat and cheese. Meat is usually prepared rustic style: chuletas de cordero a la brasa – grilled lamb chops, cordero asado – grilled lamb over an open fire, lechazo  – suckling lamb roasted in a wood-fired oven.

Beef also has a tradition in Spain, though it is less central than pork or lamb. Raising and consuming oxen in Spain dates back centuries – their strength was used for plowing fields or transporting goods, and meat consumed after in dishes like carrillade de buye – ox cheek stew, ternera gallega – Galician beef, rabo de toro– slow-cooked ox tail in tomato and wine sauce. Some beef in Spain is also dry-cured, like cecinea de leon.

Speaking of the game, rabbit is pretty popular. You’ll find it in garlicky conejo al ajillo and in authentic paella Valenciana where rabbit (not seafood) is actually a traditional ingredient.

Grilled meats are widespread, kebabs and shawarma lead the way. Syrians also love their ground and minced meat dishes. Kibbeh is the national dish – a mix of meat and bulgur blended into a paste with spices and pine nuts. It can be fried, grilled, or even eaten raw. Aleppo in particular has mastered it, with more than 17 varieties, including the city’s famous kibbeh halabiyeh.

Even inland, seafood is major: paella de marisco – seafood paella, zarzuela de mariscos – seafood stew, pulpo a la gallega – octopus with smoked paprika, bacalao al pil pil – salted cod with olive oil, boquerones en vinagre – vinegary anchovies, and gambas al ajillo – garlic shrimp, are iconic Spanish dishes. Fish markets are bustling with variety, and Spaniards have great respect for the quality and freshness of their catch.

One of the most famous is manchego, made from sheep milk. Its rind has a unique crisscross pattern created using wooden molds. Manchego comes in various aging stages, from young and mild to aged and sharp.

Spain produces Europe’s priciest cheese: cabrales, aged in specific caves. At auction, they can fetch over €15,000 per wheel, setting world records for cheese prices.

Spain also has some truly unusual cheeses, such as torta del casar. This cheese is intentionally made using an enzyme from thistle flowers instead of animal rennet, which gives it a bitter taste and an extremely runny texture. It’s eaten by cutting off the top and scooping out the interior.

Syrians have also developed clever ways to preserve milk. One of the best examples is jameed (also called kashk), where yogurt is fermented, strained, salted, and dried into hard, salty ‘stones.’ Traditionally made from sheep’s milk, it can later be rehydrated and used in stews and sauces.

Cheese isn’t as central, but there are still beloved local varieties. Jibbneh mashallale, a string cheese stored in brine, is one example.

According to the World Best Olive Oils rankings, Spanish extra virgin olive oils hold the top positions and garner the most awards and recognition globally (source).

Spanish desserts tend toward simplicity compared to the elaborate pastries of France or the richness of American desserts. They are often made of a few high-quality ingredients with minimal processing.

Almond dominance distinguishes local desserts on a global scale. Spain is the second-largest consumer of almonds, incorporating them into turrón —almond nougat—marzipan from Toledo, countless cakes, and cookies. There is even an almond-based soup called ajo blanco, in which almonds are combined with garlic, bread, and vinegar to create an elegant soup (or sauce).

Other nuts, such as pines, hazelnuts, and walnuts, are used in cakes, pastries, marzipans, cold soups, and drinks, like horchata de chufa.

The Mediterranean trifecta of honey, citrus, and olive oil frequently appears in Spanish desserts. Honey often replaces refined sugar, and the use of olive oil in desserts predates butter-based pastries in Spanish cuisine.

Nuts are hugely popular — pistachios, walnuts, almonds, and especially pine nuts. In fact, pine nuts were once so prized that Levantine pine forests were cultivated just for them. Harvesting is slow and labor-intensive, which explains their high price today. In Syrian cooking, they’re more than decoration: pine nuts are sprinkled over rice dishes, kibbeh, and stews.

Syrian desserts are sweet, rich, and layered. They usually feature nuts, pastry, syrup, and cheese.  A hallmark of Syrian sweets is the tradition of pastry and syrup. Thin dough, phyllo, or semolina is filled with pistachios, walnuts, or almonds, baked, and then soaked in sugar syrup.

Milk and semolina puddings are another important branch of Syrian sweets. Fruits are also dessert ingredients, both fresh and preserved. Whole fruits preserved in syrup are a sign of hospitality, served with coffee for guests. Dried figs, dates, and apricots find their way into confections and drinks.