In many languages there is an expression or saying related to conquering someone’s heart through food. Therefore, it could be said that there is a direct relationship between love, appreciation or affection and food. There are cultures that have perfectly understood this relationship and have known how to use their gastronomy as an element of expansion of their culture: Italy, Japan, China…

However, the first time I traveled abroad (Italy) and tasted a real Italian pizza I was surprised by how different they were compared to the pizzas I used to eat in Spain (pizzas from fast food franchises, frozen pizzas, pizzas that my parents assembled with the ingredients they liked…). It had not occurred to me that what had come to us Spaniards from the original pizza was a version of what they knew or believed could be successful in Spain or in other countries.

I had a similar surprise the first time I ate in a Spanish restaurant abroad (in this case in Germany), where everything was disgusting and not Spanish at all. At the time I thought that the cooks were terrible or that the ingredients were not good, but with time I concluded that it was most likely that that fancy and expensive restaurant simply decided to adapt the dishes to German tastes.

That every country has its own gastronomic preferences is an undeniable reality and anyone who has lived abroad for a few months can corroborate this. As a personal example, I never understood the Germans’ obsession with curry and paprika or the Americans’ taste for the famous gravy that they pour over the turkey at Thanksgiving (I’m not a big fan of that turkey either, to be honest). Like many Spaniards, I can’t eat very spicy things, maybe because our gastronomy is scarce in this sense?

I understand that for this reason restaurants that try to promote somewhat exotic gastronomies must admit exceptions, put in local ingredients, adapt recipes, etc. This in no way affects the original local culture, which still maintains its authenticity, but helps to promote that country/culture abroad. I love sushi with avocado and cream cheese but when I was in Japan I didn’t see any of those ingredients in the sushi I tried. Is sushi with avocado an aberration? My answer is no and, in that sense, I think Spain has a lot to learn from other countries.

A few years ago I heard a story that made me understand why Spanish cuisine will never become as popular as sushi, pizza or spring rolls. The anecdote is that Spain decided to hold a big event in New York to promote paella, and expert Spanish paella cooks were invited to cook and teach the locals how to cook. The anecdote is that the suspicious Spanish chefs brought all the ingredients from Spain, including the water with which they were going to cook the rice.

We Spaniards are such purists that we do not allow even the slightest change in the original recipe and this makes it very difficult to export our gastronomy. Therefore, we exclude from our culture anyone trying to participate.

First of all, there is the problem of ingredients. I have heard Spanish chefs say that the potatoes in the tortilla de patatas must be fried in olive oil for it to be authentic. Expensive olive oil that outside Spain is sold in 250 ml bottles in the gourmet part of the supermarket.

Then there is the issue of flavors, I have never eaten “papas bravas” as spicy as those made in Spanish restaurants abroad, where the level of tolerance to spiciness is much higher.

As a final anecdote, a few years ago a famous English chef, Jamie Oliver, published on Twitter a recipe for paella with chorizo that aroused the most extreme hatred of Spaniards in social media. Was it an aberration? The same as the sushi with avocado that we love so much. Spain is missing a great opportunity by rejecting paella with chorizo.