Gabriela Llamas - Spanish Cooking for Beginners: Simple and Delicious Recipes for All Occasions

GABRIELA LLAMAS

Simple and Delicious Recipes for All Occasions

In Spain we love to share our food and its preparation with family and friends in a fun and festive atmosphere. Looking at the history of Spain, we see a country that is a crossroads for people from different parts of the world. Spanish food integrates the cooking of Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, Arabs, French, and English, as well as foods and spices from the Americas.

Food and cooking supports communication at different levels with creativity, independence, responsibility, order, motivation, concentration, patience, and courage. It also encourages manual skills and teaches biology, language, math, mythology, history, art, and geographyas well as a sense of beauty, harmony, and order. It shows us how to love not only by being present but also by letting the children play a part something which sometimes seems impossible!

This exposure enriches our food culture. Many of the recipes you will find in this book are a tale, a myth, a discovery, and an adventure. They are a return to our fascinating origins which today we can still enjoy with our senses and which we want to share with you.

Tapas and pinchos are small bites of fresh, delicious food to be eaten with drinksanything from a few olives or almonds to a small serving of a more elaborate dish. Nobody knows their origin. Maybe they came from a decree of King Alfonso the Wise who ordered that no wine would be served at the inns in Castille unless accompanied by something to eat. It is also attributed to the taverns in Andaluca: A piece of bread or ham a tapa (lid) prevented flies and insects from falling in the wine. It is a casual, relaxed, and happy style of eating in company. It means sociability, fun, friendship, and generosity. It is a way of livingand such an important part of our culture that we even have a verb for it: tapear (to eat tapas). With simple, healthy ingredients we have developed incredibly creative ways to turn our food into something extremely attractive.

Iberian pigs, called olives with legs, are our unique and special ingredient because they have a high nutritional value and live in a specific ecosystem, the Dehesa, found only in a small part of Spain in the areas around Salamanca, Extremadura, Andaluca, and on the border with Portugal. Prairies with holm oaks supply these free-range animals with grass and acorns, which are rich in oleic acid, the same component found in olive oil. This dish is best made with freshly baked bread.

SERVES 4

1 ripe tomato

4 slices good-quality bread

2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

4 slices Ibrico or Serrano ham

1 garlic clove (with skin on) cut in half (optional)

Cut the tomato in half across the width, not from the stem, and grate with a coarse vegetable grater. Be careful with your fingers! Discard the leftover tomato skin.

Drizzle the bread with olive oil, spread with grated tomato (not too much), and put a slice of ham on top. If you choose to add garlic, do so by rubbing it on the bread before adding olive oil or tomato.

You may lightly toast the bread, but do not let it become hard. We often have bread, tomato, and olive oil for breakfast. A little Iberian ham adds high-quality protein.

NOTE

Bread, olive oil, and tomato go with everything including fish, meats, vegetables, and cheese. Make a sauce by mixing tomato, olive oil, salt, and mashed garlic. Place the bread and some spoons around for everyone to help themselves. Be sure to make plenty!

In Spain, the potato omelet is the typical mid-morning tapa. When I was a kid, we used to have it for dinner accompanied by a tomato and tuna salad. You can personalize this dish by adding fried chorizo or other type of sausage or by adding other vegetables. The recipe requires your parents help because it involves very hot oil.

SERVES 4

1 cup (240 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound (500 g) Ratte, Yukon Gold, or other good-quality potato

1 medium (140 g) onion, peeled and sliced

4 large, organic eggs

teaspoon salt

8-inch (20 cm) omelet pan (with flat handle)

A plate larger than the pan

Put olive oil in the pan. Add the onion. Peel potatoes and slice thinly using a knife or mandoline. Place the potatoes in the pan. Add half the salt and place the pan over high heat.

When the oil starts bubbling around the edges of the pan, lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and let potatoes cook for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally so that they cook evenly. They should be soft but not browned. They should not lose their shape. Drain in a colander, and reserve the olive oil.

Crack the eggs in a bowl, add the remaining salt, and beat thoroughly. Add the potatoes and mix gently. Put the pan over heat with 1 tablespoons (23 ml) of olive oil and, when very hot, add the egg-potato mixture. It is very important that the pan be sizzling hot. Cook for 2 minutes over high heat and turn the omelet over.

To turn the omelet over: Use a kitchen glove so you do not burn your hand. Place the plate firmly over the pan and your gloved hand over the plate. Take the handle of the pan with the other hand. With a quick movement, flip the contents of the pan onto the plate. Return the pan to the heat, add one tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil, and slide the uncooked side of the omelet back into the pan. Cook for another 2 minutes, shaking the pan to prevent sticking. Lower the heat and cook for another 1 or 2 minutes to the consistency you prefer. We like our omelets a little runny.