Spanish vs British food & cuisine

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.

Pies are everywhere. Pub menus still feature steak and kidney, rich beef and gravy in pastry. The Cornish pasty was once a miner’s packed lunch, filled with beef, potato, swede, and onion. Sweet pies like apple with custard or sticky treacle tart are classics. Pork pies are eaten cold with jellied stock. But Shepherd’s pie (lamb), cottage pie (beef),  and fish pie, though called ‘pies’, still swap pastry for mashed potato topping.

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.

The British love preparing their root veggies with a two-stage method: parboiling followed by high-heat roasting.  Honey glazing is another practice; it involves adding honey only in the final 8-10 minutes of cooking to achieve caramelization without burning. Later, it was often combined with thyme or sage.

Green peas, or mushy peas, are a British classic, both nostalgic and practical,  loved for their comfort-food appeal and mild sweetness.

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.

The Sunday roast traditions are Britain’s weekly meat celebration. Most families choose between lamb with mint sauce, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and gravy, or pork with crackling and apple sauce.

For weekday comfort, bangers and mash is quintessentially British. Brits eat more sausages per capita than Germans, despite Germany’s reputation for sausage-making.

Another British institution, served as a weekend treat, is the full English breakfast, featuring bacon, eggs, sausages, black pudding, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, and mushrooms.

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.

Cod is the fish of choice in the famous fish and chips dish, and haddock is the second most popular white fish and the most popular fish for smoking, commonly dyed bright yellow.

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.

Back on the British preferences: red Leicester claims second place with 20% popularity, followed by mozzarella at 18%, then halloumi and brie tied at 15% each. This ranking shows how traditional British cheeses hold their ground against international favourites.

Scotch egg is a classic pub snack: a hard-boiled egg wrapped in seasoned sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs, and deep-fried. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with Scotland. It’s so quintessentially British that it’s become a symbol of traditional pub food.

British pubs have a unique tradition of serving pickled eggs as bar snacks, often sitting in large jars behind the bar for months. These vinegary eggs are salty, and they do increase beer sales – a brilliant bit of British business psychology disguised as food.

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.

Fruit-based desserts are very popular, especially crumbles and pies like treacle tart, Bakewell tart, and banoffee pie. Eton mess – a delightful chaos of strawberries, meringue, and cream – is another favorite.

What Brits really love is the combination of rich, warming flavors with creamy accompaniments. Almost everything comes with custard, cream, or both. There’s also a nostalgic element – many of these desserts evoke childhood memories and family traditions.

Nuts aren’t used extensively in traditional British cuisine compared to many other cuisines.