Omar Allibhoy - Tapas Revolution

JOIN THE REVOLUTION!

A revolution is happening in kitchens across the UK: a new regime of easy, fast Spanish food. Tapas with minimum fuss, maximum flavour.

Omar Allibhoy wants YOU to cook classic Spanish dishes at home, using simple store-cupboard ingredients. Whether its vegetables, salads, and rice, or eggs, fish, meat and desserts, the emphasis is on simplicity: discover the uncomplicated delights of a tortilla de patata, and new twists on favourites such as boquerones, pollo con salsa, patatas bravas and paella.

Omar Allibhoy worked with Ferran Adria of the legendary El Bulli restaurant, before becoming chef at El Pirata deTapas in Londons Notting Hill. He subsequently opened his two Tapas Revolution restaurants at Bluewater and Westfield. He lives in London.

A lo mas valioso de esta vida: mi familia y amigos

Para abrir boca

What better pleasure is there in this world than to cook for others and then eat with them? Food, like life, is best shared with friends and loved ones, and tapas are the embodiment of that.

In this book you will find many of the recipes that I have cooked time and time again throughout my life. Long before I became a professional chef I was a keen home cook; today I pretty much cook every day, if not in my restaurant then definitely when I come home and need dinner. At heart I am a home cook rather than a chef, albeit one with an obsession with food. I have absorbed everything I could from everyone Ive known and worked with along the way: my mum, my family, other chefs, restaurants in which Ive eaten.

So, how do you define tapas? There are many theories as to its origins but originally a bar would serve a small, free tapa usually a slice of cured meat or a piece of cheese on a small plate with every drink. According to some sources these were used to cover wine glasses to keep flies out (the word tapa originates from the word for to cover). From these humble beginnings tapas have developed into a cuisine, and nowadays they can be small portions of pretty much any of the dishes that make up Spains wonderful culinary legacy. A tapa can be hot or cold: a handful of marinated olives, a plate of crisp, deep-fried squid or a small dish of a gently simmering chorizo stew, mopped up with hunks of bread. A tapa is whatever you want it to be.

The beauty of tapas is that you can share them so easily with friends. Eating from the same plate enhances conversations, encourages adventurous eating and brings us all closer. Tapas developed to complement a convivial way of socialising: moving from bar to bar and enjoying a small plate of food with your drink means the proportion of food to alcohol is friendly!

Tapas Revolution, the name of my restaurant chain, was the result of the culture and food I grew up with. My parents loved travelling and took me to every corner of the world with them when I was a child. So I was curious about other cultures and other ways of eating. At the age of 21, I came to London and was fascinated by the way people socialised in the UK, what they cooked and ate, at home and in restaurants. But mainly I was frustrated by the lack of good Spanish restaurants and couldnt understand why people didnt seem to cook any Spanish food at home. I decided that my mission was to put tapas on the map in the UK, and Tapas Revolution was born, with the stated aim of bringing the casual, convivial experience of the tapas bar to London.

I would argue that there is no such thing as authentic Spanish cooking. Spanish food is constantly evolving and every region, restaurant, chef and home cook has its own different interpretation of the same dish. I have cooked these recipes hundreds, if not thousands, of times in search of the perfect result. For me taste and ease is sometimes more important than authenticity. I want to show you that Spanish food is not complex or difficult and can be cooked every night. You wont have to travel the country looking for obscure and expensive ingredients, and Im a firm believer in shortcuts if you want to use a stock cube instead of fresh stock, go ahead! Sometimes youll want to splash out and other times youll be able to rustle up something fantastic using storecupboard ingredients in fact some of Spains finest ingredients can be found preserved in oil or brine in tins and jars. Im naturally biased, of course (well, Spanish ingredients are the best in the world!), and I recommend stocking your cupboard with a few essentials Spanish olive oil, pimentn (smoked paprika), sherry, olives, rice. But the most important thing is that you get a feel for what you like and what you can achieve.

As we know, a tapa can be pretty much any Spanish dish, so the recipes in this book have been grouped together by ingredient. Forget about the idea of courses that follow on from each other just put together any combination of dishes that you like. This is particularly good when it comes to cooking for a group of friends vegetarian? No problem. Dont like seafood? Have a bit more chorizo. Desserts are often overlooked but Spain has a wonderful tradition of making sweet, milky puddings and tarts, so I wanted to offer several here. The final chapter is one that I just had to include: The Chefs Cut has slightly more unusual ingredients and more complex techniques. This is for the true revolutionaries among you.

Almonds are the most popular dried nut in Spain. In fact, Spain is the second largest producer of almonds in the world and our almonds are unparalleled. There are a number of Spanish varieties all of excellent quality but the best almond has to be Marcona.

SERVES 4

PREPARATION TIME: 1 MINUTE

COOKING TIME: 5 MINUTES

50 ML WATER

1 TEASPOON ROCK SALT

200 G ALMONDS [WITH OR WITHOUT SKIN]

Put the water and salt in a glass and give it a good stir.

Put the almonds in a wide pan over a high heat and dry-roast them, stirring all the time, for about 5 minutes or until the almonds are dark golden on both sides. At this point pour the salted water into the pan and give it a good stir. Because the pan is so hot the water should disappear within seconds creating a delicate, thin, salted crust around each almond. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down. These will keep in a glass jar for several months.

SERVES 34

PREPARATION TIME: 1 MINUTE

COOKING TIME: 15 MINUTES

1 CUP ALMONDS [WITH OR WITHOUT SKIN]

1 CUP CASTER SUGAR

1 CUP WATER

Put the almonds, sugar and water in a wide, heavy-based pan over a high heat. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring constantly, for about 15 minutes. Watch what is happening in the pan first the sugar will melt into a light syrup, which will start to thicken as the water evaporates. Then it will start to crystallize (it will start to look like salt). Keep folding with the spoon so that the almonds are covered in sugar crystals, which will slowly turn to caramel.