spanish cuisine offers a diverse menu, with historically strong influences from the various inhabitants and cultures of the iberian peninsula - spain's traditional food has roots dating back to the country's greek, roman, phoenician, and moorish settlements.

from the phoenicians they were introduced to various sauces, and the greeks gave olive oil, for example - further, the moors had and continue to have a strong culinary influence on spain introducing rice, saffron, nuts, cinnamon and nutmeg, among other crucial ingredients in contemporary spanish cooking.

these formed the beginnings of paella, a popular dish and maybe spain's most famous contribution to world cooking - the basis of the spanish diet has been largely formed as a result of the country's history and geographic location.

this means that its location on the iberian peninsula helped to shape what is known as their mediterranean diet - in addition seafood of course became a veritable staple in spanish cooking, as a result of being almost entirely surrounded by water.