Spain

Spanish food runs from Valencia's saffron paella to Basque pintxos and Andalusian gazpacho, united by superb olive oil, cured jamón, and the ritual of tapas. Regional pride and a culture of grazing and sharing define the Spanish table.

Spain grows close to half the world's olive oil, which is why it is the everyday cooking fat from Galicia to Andalusia rather than a finishing drizzle. The groves run for hours across Jaen and its neighbouring provinces, and the oil turns up everywhere, on breakfast toast rubbed with tomato and at the base of very nearly every stew.

Spanish clocks explain Spanish menus. Lunch is a proper sit-down affair at two or three in the afternoon and dinner rarely begins before nine or ten, with a merienda in between to bridge the gap. The sobremesa, the stretch of talking that follows a meal with nobody clearing the table, is counted as part of the meal rather than the end of it.

A crusty roll packed with rings of lightly battered fried squid and a squeeze of lemon, Madrid's improbable landlocked classic.