SPANISH - Cuisine of the Quarter, Spring 2017 (Apr-Jun)

I love making this in the summer . My recipe is . Take a tiny piece of garlic and puree it with your knife in a pinch of salt . Add that to the bowl . You can omit the garlic if you like . Take the tomato using the large wholes of a box grater and grate that into the bowl . Add oo . Adjust for salt . And if you like a couple drops of red wine vinegar . I was addicted this last summer spread over grilled bread .

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In the off season i still love pan con tomate, i just make the version similar to what we had in barcelona in the winter- the toasted bread is rubbed with a cut garlic clove, then the innards of a tomato a squished and spread over the toast- which basically distroys the tomato and just uses the interior. I find that campari tomatoes work just fine in the off season.
Then when it is tomato season and they are the best i make the version where the entire tomato is grated and a thick layer of that is on the toast vs the winter version which is not as wet

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Cookbooks not yet listed:
Penelope Casas, Delicioso, “The Regional Cooking of Spain”; also," Tapas."
Teresa Barrenechea, “The Basque Table”
Anya von Bremzen, “The New Spanish Table”
Janet Mendel, “Cooking in Spain”
Josep Giro, “The Book of the Paellas”

Excellent on-line resource for all kinds of products: Despana http://www.despanabrandfoods.com/

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I think I saw this on Rick Stein’s Long Weekend, episode Cadiz. Have to watch it again.

:wine_glass:
I’ve had and done it both ways. Like it best with a massive amount of tomato pulp. Just rub the toast with a garlic clove, any extra garlic overpowers the tomato taste for me. It’s the quality of the oil and the tomatoes is the most important thing here. And yes, the box grater makes grating a lot of tomatoes so easy. I sat at the counter and watched an employee make this almost non-stop.


If anyone who hasn’t seen some of my photos in Costa Blanca you can have a look here. Watch in full screen mode if possible (bottom right corner “enter full screen” icon).

Inspired by Marios , and Gwneth P , book Spain a Culinary Road Trip . I will be making Grilled Chuletillas ( baby lamb rib chops ) seasoned with oo , red wine vinegar , sugar , lavender , and rosemary . Also Tortilla Espanola . Sliced white potatoes , onion , and eggs . Cooked in skillet then cut into wedges . Found some octopus tentacles at Costco from Spain . I will boil that until tender then grill . A splash of lemon good to go . Wine to drink .:wine_glass: Cheers .

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I just got around to looking through my cookbooks and apparently there is a gap in my collection - I have exactly one Spanish book, this very unassuming book called Classic Tapas:

The foreword was written by Rafael de Haro, but no info is given regarding the recipe writers. It was published in Spain, though,so hopefully the recipes are at least semi-authentic. I will read through it on the train today and bookmark some things to try, but in the meantime, is there a more comprehensive book you experts might recommend? I see that the Moro cookbook is a popular choice…

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It’s a popular choice in this house mainly because of the inclusion of North African dishes and a number of Spanish dishes which are clearly influenced by the Moorish occupation. It isnt a great deal of help if you’re wanting to cook dishes from the north of the country, for instance.

SPANISH . What’s cooking ? Not much going on here .

I ordered a paella pan and a cazuela today. I also went shopping and am now fully stocked with Spanish saffron, red peppers,
and chorizo. Still having a bit of trouble sourcing morcilla.

Also have been reading up on Spanish food; there are a few very distinct food regions. I lived in Spain when I was 12, but that was in Madrid, so it wasn’t a very cohesive food experience.

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Which paella pan have you bought?

When I ordered mine some years ago, I read about different pan gives different texture to the rice. In the end I’ve bought a Fundix non stick pan that can go on the induction top, but the size I ordered was a bit too big to go into the oven, which is a small regret, I should have ordered the 36cm instead of the 40cm. I’m quite happy with the pan, the rice has formed a nice golden crust. Actually in the end, not able to use in an oven isn’t that importable. We prefer moist rice on the top. (I use it a lot like a wok too because of it’s large side!)

I think I will eventually order the cheap classic iron pan for my outdoor barbecue party. In my Paella book, it said the iron pan non enamelled will eventually oxidised and have an aspect “platina” but not rusty. This gives a metallic taste that the many paella fans love. The book compared to the taste of an aged cabernet-sauvignon red wine.

Don’t know, I think in general there is this Easter school vacation + the labour day, there is a lot of family on holiday, at least in Europe.

Actually I start reading some recipes, many are very closed to the southern French cooking and I will probably skip that. Want to try recipes that I barely know, so more research here.

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I haven’t been cooking a whole lot lately but I did read through the one Spanish cookbook I have. Not a lot of inspiration there, unfortunately - they were all basic preparations that I would barely even consider a recipe (I mean, do you need a recipe to make vegetable skewers?). I need to do a little more poking about online and then perhaps order a more interesting and informative cookbook for further inspiration!

Navarra grows and supplies asparagus for the whole of Spain. Their asparagus has denomination of origin protection. In 1 of my Spain books there’s a recipe of Navarre asparagus with 2 sauces. A simple vinaigrette and tomato salsa (with paprika powder, of course).

Grilled squid with Catalan picada sauce. This sauce is versatile so you can use it on most seafood, even chicken.

Needs to fine tune the sauce but otherwise it tastes good.

A kilo of little squid with ice and guts which I had to clean. After that and cooking the flesh weighed perhaps only 1/3 of a kilo. I like the tentacles, I like small squid (taste better and cook quickly) and gutting them is not so hard, though it takes the most time. I hope you give this a go someday. Best cooked on a barbie for that nice smokey taste. And don’t forget to try the picada sauce!

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What a wonderful report. Thank you.

I’d love to try the squid dish. What kind of tuning did you do to the picada sauce?

Bookwich, thank you! If you cook squid just remember to not over cook it. Like fish, rather a little under-cooked, or they will become rubbery.

Sck, today I made the picada sauce again. I decided to forgo the breadcrumbs, and add some chicken powder. The rest remains the same i.e. finely ground almond, pounded garlic, good olive oil, minced parsley. Saffron is optional. Most people just use cheap powder saffron.


I made the squid and picada from memory. Had this delicious and tender grilled cuttlefish topped with picada in Spain. The area is known for its almonds and all things almond. Anyway, I tried several times to eat at this tiny tapas “bar” at the market but it was always full. The seating follows an L shape of the bar counter and can hold 10 people (perhaps). The drinkers stand and since there’s hardly any room they stand around the walking paths and well just anywhere there’s room. To eat something you need a counter. Finally, just our luck after many tries, there were free 2 spots!

The 2 women cook, a young man behind the counter form a team (probably all family). They don’t write your order down but they know exactly what you order. We ordered our things from different people, then when we wanted to pay they just asked each other what we have ordered.

So here it is, just 2 things on a plate. My mouth still waters remembering eating it.

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I love squid but struggle to come to terms with cuttlefish - I’ve ordered it in restaurants 2 or 3 times and it’s always been unpleasantly chewy. The worst was in 2010, in a little beach front taverna in Latchi, Cyprus. The (non-Cypriot) server said I wouldnt like it and she was damn right. I left most of it and watched my companion if life scoffing a whole seabass (butterflied and grilled).

My notes indicate that there will be some contributors to this thread who would love the place - as with many Cypriot restaurants, it’s overrun with cats. Theyre fucking everywhere.

Paella Nights event at a local cafe included croquetas de jamon serrano (not pictured because we ate them so fast), salad with piquillo dressing (nice and tangy), spring veggie/chicken paella (I usually get the more traditional seafood but wanted to change it up), and dessert was saffron, lemon queseda with almond crunch and citrus cream (a tiny light fluffy cheese cake bite).

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Seafood paella is not more traditional. Traditional Valencian paella is made with rabbit and chicken, but never peas.

I agree. Traditional Paella Valenciana has chicken, rabbit and (I think optionally) snails. No seafood.

There are, of course, many variations throughout Spain which may have just seafood - but I think Valencians would suggest this is “seafood with rice”, not paella.

One of my favourite restaurants in Tenerife specialises in rice dishes and, as the link shows, has several on the menu - although they only call three paella (but they are Tenerifians, not Valencians.
http://www.restaurante-arona-tenerife.com/es/producto/arrocerias/

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