1.
Hors d'oeuvre
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An hors doeuvre, appetizer, or starter is a small dish served before a meal. Some hors doeuvres are served cold, others hot, Hors doeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or they may be served before seating. Formerly, hors doeuvres were also served between courses, typically smaller than a main dish, it is often designed to be eaten by hand. Hors doeuvre in French means outside the work—that is, not part of the set of courses in a meal. Appetizer is a synonym for hors doeuvre, starter is sometimes used to denote an hors doeuvre, sometimes to denote more substantial courses, known in Europe and North America as entrées. A small number of historians believe that the tradition may have begun in Russia. However, it may be that the custom originated in China, possibly coming through Steppes, into Russia, Scandinavia, France, the tradition may have reached Italy, Greece and the Balkan nations through Russia or Persia. Many national customs are related, including the Swedish smörgåsbord, Russian zakuska, Lebanese mezze, during the Roman Period the meal practice was to have two main courses which were supplemented before the meal with small amounts of fish, vegetables, cheeses, olives and even stuffed dormice. These would be served at the start of the known as either gustatio or promulsis. The Greeks called the appetizer course propoma, during the Middle Ages formal French meals were served with entremets between the serving of plates. These secondary dishes could be either actual food dishes, or elaborate displays, in the 14th century, recipes for entremets were mostly made with meat, fish, pork and vegetables. Along with this came elaborate silver and ceramic table displays as well as pièces montées, the entremets were placed between the other dishes within the main work of the meal. At about this time in the 17th century, smaller dishes began to be served by being placed outside the work of symmetrically placed dishes. These were known as hors doeuvre, Hors doeuvres were originally served as a canapé of small toasted bread with a savoury topping before a meal. In the French publication Les plaisirs de la table, Edouard Nignon stated that hors doeuvres originated in Asia and he went on to state that the French considered hors-doeuvres to be superfluous to a well cooked meal. Service à la française continued in Europe until the early 19th century, after the 19th century the entremet would become almost exclusively a sweet dish or dessert with the British custom of the savoury being the only remaining tradition of the savoury entremet. The style of formal dining changed drastically in the 19th century, some traditional hors doeuvres would remain on the table throughout the meal. These included olives, nuts, celery and radishes, the changing, contemporary hors doeuvres, sometimes called dainty dishes became more complicated in preparation
2.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
3.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
4.
Andalusia
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Andalusia is an autonomous community in southern Spain. It is the most populated and the second largest in area of the communities in the country. The Andalusian autonomous community is recognised as historical nationality. The territory is divided into eight provinces, Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and its capital is the city of Seville. Andalusia is the only European region with both Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines, the small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System, consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains, in the north, the Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spains Meseta Central. To the south the geographic subregion of Upper Andalusia lies mostly within the Baetic System, the name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus. Including an intense relationship with Naples, Italy, Andalusia has been a traditionally agricultural region, compared to the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe. However, the growth of the community especially in the sectors of industry and services was above average in Spain, the region has, however, a rich culture and a strong cultural identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish are largely or entirely Andalusian in origin and these include flamenco and, to a lesser extent, bullfighting and Hispano-Moorish architectural styles. Andalusias hinterland is the hottest area of Europe, with cities like Córdoba, Late evening temperatures can sometimes stay around 35 °C until close to midnight, with daytime highs of over 40 °C common. Seville also has the highest average temperature in mainland Spain and mainland Europe. Its present form is derived from the Arabic name for Muslim Iberia. However, the etymology of the name Al-Andalus is disputed, the Spanish place name Andalucía was introduced into the Spanish languages in the 13th century under the form el Andalucía. This was a Castilianization of Al-Andalusiya, the form of the Arabic language al-Andalus. The etymology of al-Andalus is itself somewhat debated, but in fact it entered the Arabic language before this came under Muslim rule. Like the Arabic term al-Andalus, in historical contexts the Spanish term Andalucía or the English term Andalusia do not necessarily refer to the territory designated by these terms today. To designate the territories the Christians had regained by that time in the Guadalquivir valley and in the Kingdoms of Granada, in a document from 1253, Alfonso X styled himself Rey de Castilla, León y de toda Andalucía
5.
Alentejo
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Alentejo is a geographical, historical and cultural region of south-central and southern Portugal. Literally, in Portuguese means beyond Tagus river, Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alentejo. It corresponds to the districts of Beja, Évora, Portalegre, the main cities are, Évora, Beja, Serpa, Estremoz, Elvas and Portalegre. It has borders with Beira Baixa in the North, with Spain (Andalucia and Extremadura in the east, with Algarve in the South and with the Atlantic Ocean, Ribatejo and Estremadura in the West. The Alentejo is a known for its traditional polyphonic singing groups, similar to those found on Tuscany, Corsica. The comarca of the Alentejo became the Alentejo Province, divided into upper and lower designations, the modern region of the Alentejo was expropriated from the medieval provinces and historical territories of Estremadura Province. The term Entre-Tejo-e-Guadiana has become obsolete, it referred to roughly the same area between the Tagus and the Guadiana rivers part of the Kingdom of Portugal. Alentejos area extends to 27,272 square kilometres and has a population of 537,556, excluding Ponte de Sor, its area is 26,432 km2 and its population 520,834. The population density of Alentejo is 19. 1/km², topographically, the countryside varies from the open rolling plains of the south of the Alentejo to the granite hills that border Spain in the north-east. To feed the water needs of this area a number of public dams have been constructed. In the north, traditional economic activity may be more livestock-based as typified by cow, sheep, to the south agriculture may be more predominant. To the east of Portalegre is the Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, in the south near Mértola there is another Nature Park Area named Parque Natural do Vale Guadiana. This is more scarcely inhabited than the former, to the west, the coastal strip that runs from the port of Sines down to Cape St. Vincent comprises the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park. In fact, it is the most interesting part of the climate of this region and this much resembles a place like Casablanca in Morocco and the Moroccan interior where the same cold sea gives way to extreme differences from coast to even nearby inland. We can find the warmest place in the lowest parts away from the coast, which usually will be in the Guadiana valley from about Mertola to Juromenha with hotspots near Moura and in the small river valleys north of Serra da Adiça. If the winds are strong enough another deep and very low lying valley, despite the fact that they are relatively close to the coast. The highest temperature recorded in Portugal and in fact Europe was measured on the first of August 2003 in Amareleja. Since the meteorological station is about 100 metres above the valley near Moura it is very likely that about 48.5 °C was reached there
6.
Algarve
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The Algarve is the southernmost region of continental Portugal. It has an area of 4,997 square kilometres with 451,006 permanent inhabitants, the region has as its administrative centre in the city of Faro, where both the regions international airport and public university, University of Algarve, are located. Tourism and related activities are extensive and make up the bulk of the Algarves summer economy, production of food, which includes fish and other seafood, fruit, oranges, carob beans, figs and almonds, is also economically important in the region. The Algarve is the most popular tourist destination in Portugal, and its population triples to nearly 1.5 million people in the peak holiday season thanks to seasonal residents, and receives an average of 7 million foreign tourists each year. In total, including visitors, almost 10 million people visit the Algarve annually. The Algarve is currently the third richest region in Portugal, after Lisbon and Madeira, human presence in southern Portugal dates back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. The presence of stones in the area of Vila do Bispo attests to this presence. The Cynetes, influenced by Tartessos, were established by the sixth century BC in the region of the Algarve and they would be strongly influenced by the Celtici. Those indo-european tribes, celtic or pre-celtic, founded the city of Lagos, the Phoenicians had established trading ports along the coast circa 1000 BC. Some sources claim that the Carthaginians founded Portus Hanibalis – known today as Portimão – in about 550 BC, much of the Iberian Peninsula was absorbed into the Roman Republic in the second century BC, and the Algarve region similarly came under Roman control. Many Roman ruins can still be seen, notably in Lagos, Roman bath complexes and fish salting tanks have been found near the shore in several locations, for example the ones near Vilamoura and Praia da Luz. In the 5th century the Visigoths took control of the Algarve until the beginning of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711, when the Moors conquered Lagos in 716, it was named Zawaia. Faro, which the Christian residents had called Santa Maria, was renamed Faraon, due to the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the region was called Gharb Al-Andalus, Gharb means the west, while al-Andalus is the Arabic name for the Iberian Peninsula. For several years, the town of Silves was the capital of the region, in the mid-13th century, during the Reconquista, the Kingdom of Portugal conquered the region in a series of successful military campaigns against the Moors. Al-Gharb became the Kingdom of the Algarve, and the moors were expelled and it was not until the early 14th century that the Portuguese finally secured the region against the subsequent Muslim attempts to recapture the area. King Afonso III of Portugal started calling himself King of Portugal, prior to the independence of Brazil, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was an official designation for Portugal which also alluded to the Algarve. Portuguese monarchs continued used this title until the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910, between 1595 and 1808, the Algarve was a semi-autonomous area of Portugal with its own governor, as well as a separate taxation system. In the 15th century, Prince Henry the Navigator based himself near Lagos and it was also from Lagos that Gil Eanes set sail in 1434 to become the first seafarer to round Cape Bojador in West Africa
7.
Bread
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Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history it has been popular around the world and is one of the oldest artificial foods, proportions of types of flour and other ingredients vary widely, as do modes of preparation. As a result, types, shapes, sizes, and textures of breads differ around the world, Bread may be leavened by processes such as reliance on naturally occurring sourdough microbes, chemicals, industrially produced yeast, or high-pressure aeration. Some bread is cooked before it can leaven, including for traditional or religious reasons, non-cereal ingredients such as fruits, nuts and fats may be included. Commercial bread commonly contains additives to improve flavor, texture, color, shelf life, Bread is served in various forms with any meal of the day. It is eaten as a snack, and used as an ingredient in other preparations, such as sandwiches. It forms the main component of bread pudding, as well as of stuffings designed to fill cavities or retain juices that otherwise might drip out. Bread has a social and emotional significance beyond its importance as nourishment and it plays essential roles in religious rituals and secular culture. Its prominence in daily life is reflected in language, where it appears in proverbs, colloquial expressions, in prayer and in the etymology of words, the Old English word for bread was hlaf, which appears to be the oldest Teutonic name. Old High German hleib and modern German Laib derive from this Proto-Germanic word, Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods. Evidence from 30,000 years ago in Europe revealed starch residue on rocks used for pounding plants. It is possible that during this time, starch extract from the roots of plants, such as cattails and ferns, was spread on a rock, placed over a fire. Around 10,000 BC, with the dawn of the Neolithic age, yeast spores are ubiquitous, including on the surface of cereal grains, so any dough left to rest leavens naturally. There were multiple sources of leavening available for early bread, airborne yeasts could be harnessed by leaving uncooked dough exposed to air for some time before cooking. Pliny the Elder reported that the Gauls and Iberians used the foam skimmed from beer to produce a kind of bread than other peoples. Parts of the ancient world that drank wine instead of used a paste composed of grape juice and flour that was allowed to begin fermenting, or wheat bran steeped in wine. The most common source of leavening was to retain a piece of dough from the day to use as a form of sourdough starter. In 1961 the Chorleywood bread process was developed, which used the intense mechanical working of dough to dramatically reduce the fermentation period, the process, whose high-energy mixing allows for the use of lower protein grain, is now widely used around the world in large factories
8.
Olive oil
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Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives, a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. The oil is produced by pressing whole olives and it is commonly used in cooking, whether for frying or as a salad dressing. It is also used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps, and as a fuel for oil lamps. It is associated with the Mediterranean diet for its health benefits. The olive is one of three core food plants in Mediterranean cuisine, the two are wheat and grapes. Olive trees have grown around the Mediterranean since the 8th millennium BC. Spain is the largest producer of oil, followed by Italy. However, per capita consumption is highest in Greece, followed by Spain, Italy, consumption in North America and northern Europe is far less, but rising steadily. The composition of oil varies with the cultivar, altitude, time of harvest. It consists mainly of acid, with smaller amounts of other fatty acids including linoleic acid. The olive tree is native to the Mediterranean basin, wild olives were collected by Neolithic peoples as early as the 8th millennium BC, the wild olive tree originated in Asia Minor or in ancient Greece. It is not clear when and where trees were first domesticated, in Asia Minor, in the Levant. Archeological evidence shows that olives were turned into oil by 6000 BC and 4500 BC in present-day Palestine. Until 1500 BC, eastern areas of the Mediterranean were most heavily cultivated. Evidence also suggests that olives were being grown in Crete as long ago as 2,500 BC, the cultivation of olive trees in Crete became particularly intense in the post-palatial period and played an important role in the islands economy, as it did across the Mediterranean. Recent genetic studies suggest that species used by modern cultivators descend from multiple wild populations, Olive trees and oil production in the Eastern Mediterranean can be traced to archives of the ancient city-state Ebla, which were located on the outskirts of the Syrian city Aleppo. Here some dozen documents dated 2400 BC describe lands of the king and these belonged to a library of clay tablets perfectly preserved by having been baked in the fire that destroyed the palace. A later source is the frequent mentions of oil in the Tanakh, dynastic Egyptians before 2000 BC imported olive oil from Crete, Syria and Canaan and oil was an important item of commerce and wealth
9.
Vinegar
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Vinegar is a liquid consisting of about 5–20% acetic acid, water, and other trace chemicals, which may include flavorings. The acetic acid is produced by the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria, Vinegar is now mainly used as a cooking ingredient, or in pickling. As the most easily manufactured mild acid, it has historically had a variety of industrial, medical. Commercial vinegar is produced either by a fast or a slow fermentation processes, in general, slow methods are used in traditional vinegars where fermentation proceeds slowly over the course of a few months or up to a year. The longer fermentation period allows for the accumulation of a non-toxic slime composed of acetic acid bacteria, fast methods add mother of vinegar to the source liquid before adding air to oxygenate and promote the fastest fermentation. In fast production processes, vinegar may be produced between 20 hours to three days, the conversion of ethanol and oxygen to acetic acid takes place by the following reaction, CH3CH2OH + O2 → CH3COOH + H2O Vinegar has been made and used by people for thousands of years. Traces of it have been found in Egyptian urns from around 3000 BC, apple cider vinegar is made from cider or apple must, and has a brownish-gold color. It is sometimes sold unfiltered and unpasteurized with the mother of vinegar present and it can be diluted with fruit juice or water or sweetened for consumption. Balsamic vinegar is an aged vinegar produced in the Modena. The original product—Traditional Balsamic Vinegar—is made from the juice, or must. It is very dark brown, rich, sweet, and complex, with the finest grades being aged in casks made variously of oak, mulberry, chestnut, cherry, juniper. Regardless of how it is produced, balsamic vinegar must be made from a grape product, a high acidity level is somewhat hidden by the sweetness of the other ingredients, making it very mellow. It ranges from yellow to golden brown in color, and has a mellow flavor, similar in some respects to rice vinegar. Because it contains no sugar, it is no sweeter than any other vinegar. In the Philippines, it often is labeled as sukang maasim, cane vinegars from Ilocos are made in two different ways. One way is to simply place sugar cane juice in large jars, the other way is through fermentation to produce a local wine known as basi. Low-quality basi is then allowed to undergo acetic acid fermentation that converts alcohol into acetic acid, a white variation has become quite popular in Brazil in recent years, where it is the cheapest type of vinegar sold. It is now common for other types of vinegar to be mixed with cane vinegar to lower the cost
