Spanish sofrito developed after the tomato arrived in Spain from the Americas in the 16th century. Its integration into the base of Iberian cooking was gradual — by the 17th century, the tomato-onion-garlic combination had become the defining base of Spanish cooking across all regions. The word sofrito appears in Spanish culinary texts by the 1700s.
Spanish sofrito (distinct from Italian soffritto) is the aromatic base of Spanish cooking — onion, garlic, and tomato cooked slowly in olive oil until the tomato's water has completely evaporated and the mixture has reduced to a concentrated, deep-flavoured paste. Unlike the Italian soffritto (which uses no tomato and serves primarily as a fat-extraction base) and the Indian wet masala (which builds in sequence), the Spanish sofrito cooks all three components to a single unified paste where the tomato is as important as the onion.
- **Olive oil first:** Spanish sofrito always uses olive oil — the specific fatty acid composition and aromatic compounds of olive oil are part of the final flavour. - **Onion:** Finely diced — cooked until soft and translucent (10–15 minutes) before garlic is added. - **Garlic:** Added after the onion — it cooks faster. Garlic added with raw onion burns before the onion is soft. - **Tomato:** Fresh (grated) or canned — added after the garlic has cooked for 2 minutes. The tomato's water content must fully evaporate — the sofrito is ready when the oil separates from the paste (identical to the Indian wet masala signal — IC-01). - **The time:** 25–35 minutes minimum. This is not a quick preparation. A Spanish cook who rushes the sofrito produces a flat, raw-tasting dish. Sensory tests: **The oil separation:** When clear olive oil appears around the edges of the tomato-onion paste, the water has fully evaporated and the Maillard reactions in the tomato sugars have occurred. This is the completion signal. **Taste:** The finished sofrito should taste sweet, savoury, and round — no raw tomato note, no sharpness from the garlic. The three components have merged into a single flavour.
Spain: The Cookbook