Take a fast-paced journey through the cuisines of Spain. This talk will explore the fascinating history behind Spain's iconic dishes and the products that make them. Spain’s gastronomic history is long, rich, and intensely complicated. It has been influenced by a myriad of cultures from the Visigoths who brought beer to the Arabs who perfected rice cultivation and now, is hailed as the hotbed of molecular gastronomy, Michelin stars, and international fusion.

This event will include Spains' most famous dishes and how they form a fascinating puzzle of gastronomic and historic facts. As time is limited and the Spanish cuisine broad, the talk will consist of fun, quick fire questions.

We will answer some interesting and thought provoking questions like: Why is the paella pan shaped like it is? What is the real national dish of Spain? (Hint: it's not paella.) Why are some Spanish cheeses shaped in certain ways? Why was olive oil suspicious during the Spanish Inquisition? Why do cloistered nuns have the key to the best baking and sweet recipes? Why do Spaniards pay astronomical prices for canned seafood? or why are food markets so popular?

Blanca Valencia is an specialist in Spanish gastronomy. Economist by training, Blanca's experience includes Books for Cooks (London), elbulli and El Alambique cooking school (Madrid). She has worked for a specialty food importer in Chicago and has collaborated with the Spanish Commercial Office in Dublin and New York. Her classes combine cooking, history, economy, art and pop culture. She has presented various gastronomy series at the Instituto Cervantes in Chicago and Dublin. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Gastronomy at TUD and is co-host of Spice Bags podcast, the podcast about Irish food from an international perspective.