Yeah long time ago, some paella and fish dishes, nothing mind blowing yet. You?
Andrews goes on and on about it. Through it I have also learnt there’s a Mallorquín version, which is with samphire and black olives. I have made it, too. Gonna eat it when I make it to Mallorca. Without the ham and cheese, of course.
@biondanonima, haha… we have the opposite reactions to the same book. Hope someone else takes good care of it. Have you another favourite Spanish book?
I have many books that have only been opened once and never got use. Also, I keep giving them away but it’s hard to find someone I know who will appreciate and take good care of them.
Ah. Now the samphire may not be the samphire I know in the UK.
Some years back, the brother in law brought me a big bag of it that his father had grown on his huerta, saying it was samphire. But it clearly wasnt. It took me a little bit of Googling to find that it’s more usually called “sea fennel”. Looks a bit like samphire but has flat leaves. In Mallorca they pickle it just with wine vinegar, then eat it alongside fatty stuff like salami or chorizo. So that’s what I did and it was lovely.
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Can someone point me to the original post/rules/procedures? Wondering where we post results since I found my cookbook from 2004 and have selected some recipes!
Also, I’m not getting notifications from this post, is there a way to ensure I get notified of new comments upon logging i to HO?
No rules - anything goes if it’s Spanish! This is our first time doing this so right now, we’re just going to use this thread to discuss anything and everything, including recipes, improvised dishes, techniques, products, and more! If the thread gets too unwieldy I’ll split it somehow, but for now just post here.
To get notifications, scroll to the bottom of the thread and you should see a drop-down menu that says “topic controls” and then the word “normal.” If you click normal, you’ll get a pop-up that allows you to choose what type of notifications you want to receive.
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I got the book for Christmas one year. Seemed a bit overwhelming, size wise and no recipes jumped out at me right away. Ended up on the shelf and I never got into it.
Well to start I will pick up some baby leeks at the FM . Grill them to a charred outside . Wrap in newspaper for twenty min . Peel back the charred exterior to expose the tender green part . Serve with a romesco sauce . Spanish sardines and Manchego cheesse for lunch . Made this a couple weeks ago . Super . Going to scan the internet for a poultry and potato dish . Are we having fun yet ?
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Sounds delicious. By the way, may I just say how jealous I am of those of you who live in Europe and other places where leeks don’t cost a fortune? They are typically $5 a pound around here, which I find absolutely appalling. I am going to try growing some this year but I still envy anyone who can get them for a dollar a kilo!
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My supermarket here in the UK currently has them at £2.00 per kilo. I’ll leave you to do the double conversion
We aren’t in the tomato season yet, you will use tomatoes in jar or can?
I have the ingredients in fridge now, including the raw GREY shrimps (unfortunate for them, they become brown after cooking! 
), except the chickpea flour. Do you think it is essential or can be replaced?
I think you could swap the flour without damaging texture. Flavour is bound to be a bit different but well worth trying I would think.
@Harters, do you remember how the tomato on toast with pickled samphire is served or presented? So that I have an idea how to plate it when I make it. I can try pickling our samphire. But why does it have to be 2 sour ingredients though.
@naf, can’t wait till summer! They eat tomatoes year round in Spain, too.
Looks like 2 pounds is about $2.50 right now, so you’re looking at less than $1.25 per pound. A STEAL!!!
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Sorry if I implied that it was. It isnt really. or, at least, I’ve never seen it…
The pickled samphire (sea fennel) is served as a nibble alongside fatty stuff - like chorizo or salami. Like you ,might serve caperberries. I agree that it wouldnt work with tomato on toast. Might be good as a nibble with serrano ham.
That said, here’s the product on the “Fet a Soller” site and it mentions serving it with pa amb oli and ensaladilla. I think I’ve had it chopped through ensaladilla (or Russian salad, as I know it better)
Thanks. After a bit of googling and translating from Catalan the sea fennel is indeed eaten with pa amb tomàquet, on top of bread with the tomato pulp. The “sea fennel” (more like rock fennel) doesn’t resemble the pretty marsh samphire you and I know. Also saw some photos of it in salads in Turkey.
Saw it on this site. Translation from Catalan: Fill the jars with the capers and another can with sea fennel. We cover with sherry vinegar and add a tablespoon of salt. Cover and let sit for one week. Then, you can eat! It is very typical to eat the sea fennel on top of a slice of bread with tomato.
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Since we’re talking all things Spanish, has anyone had the arroz negro from barrafina restaurant in London? It is spectacular - soulful, intense, rich, jet black, topped with a calmar cooked à la plancha. I’m trying to recreate it but I just can’t get the intensity. Squid ink, garlic, bay, sherry…what else? Any guesses?
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Here it is, Tortillitas de Camarones, pretty good as tapas. I have used this recipe:
http://javirecetas.hola.com/tortillitas-de-camarones/
Compared to the photo of the recipe, the shrimps in my frittas were bigger, also they were bought cooked and not like in the recipe raw (initially I thought they were raw, but H confirmed otherwise, it was he who did the shopping). I used 150 g of flour and not a mix of 2/3 flour and 1/3 chickpea flour. According to the recipe, the colour and the taste would not be the same without chickpea flour. I saw a version of Mark Brittman’s recipe in NYT ask for baking powder, meaning it will be thicker but more airy.
They look good enough to eat, naf. And, yes, paler than if you’d used chickpea flour
,
Thanks for your input.
I saw several online photos with more tiny shrimps and less flour, below an example from a bar in Cádiz.
When cooked, Spanish shrimps are pale coloured, not become dark like the French shrimps.
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