GARLIC IN THE SPANISH CUISINE
There are many ingredients in many cuisines that go unnoticed. Possibly because they do not give the name to the dish and they just work perfectly as a condiment for meat, fish... Romans used to add garlic to their food as a condiment and it was also recommended to the soldiers as a revitalizing and antiseptic element. This might be a tradition that we, in Spain, inherited from the Roman Empire.
This traditions have survived up to today and it is clearly easy to see the presence of garlic in the Spanish cuisine: alioli, salmorejo, gazpacho, ajoblanco, gambas al ajillo, pollo al ajillo and so many other different dishes that would be nothing without garlic.
Garlic cloves for the preparation of migas
However, it has not always been acceptable to eat garlic, not because of its effects, which are widely known to be quite useful against many diseases, but because of the smell after eating them. During the XIV century Knights were not allowed to eat garlic, specially when they had to meet the King of Spain at that time. Maybe the reason of all this is the undeniable connection between garlic and poor people. It was one of the most important foods among the lower class, sometimes being their only nourishment.
That's why many writers have been making reference to this for centuries, sometimes seriously, sometimes ironically. Cervantes wrote in El Quijote: 'No comas ajos ni cebollas porque no saquen por el olor tu villanería', which means 'Eat neither garlic nor onions, so that their odor is not a walking advertisement for your low origins'.
Gambas al ajillo - Garlic shrimps
Honestly, I would have preferred being a low class person and having permission to eat garlic at that time than being a Knight and not being able to enjoy it. Nowadays we do not have to worry, we have chewing gum or mouth freshener spray. Besides, in Spain we all know that the most amazing dishes in our cuisine come from the Spanish low class. Those people who had to be original to create something tasty and nutritive with very few ingredients. That was the leading role of garlic at that time and now we are able to enjoy it. I can only be thankful for that.
SABROSA SPAIN
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