Dishes vary from the south (rice and pork) to the north (beef and potatoes) while the poor central provinces generally eat lean mutton and chickpeas. Fish and shellfish are caught along the coast and are usually fried in oil.

There is one dish better known than all the others: olla podrida, a soup that combines the flavour of meats and vegetables. Other good spanish soups are puchero, which is often a substitute for olla podrida, cocido and gazpacho, the model for all cold soups.

Paella is a hearty dish that includes pork, chicken, duck, chorizos, fish, shellfish, frogs, snails and a large number of vegetables, pulses and cereals. Simpler paellas can be and are made in the home.

Other special Spanish dishes are empanadas, roast sucking pig and various egg dishes., including eggs à la flamenca (cooked in the oven on a spiced mixture of chopped meat and vegetables and garnished with peas, asparagus and chilli peppers). Rice was introduced into Spain by the Moors, but it was the Spaniards who discovered how the chilli pepper could be used in cooking and introduced them to the rest od Europe, together with various dishes based on tomatoes.