This is not paella & more

One of the best proofs of having lived abroad and known the local culture is the local cuisine. You can show your friends and family that you know the Spanish culture by preparing them some delicious meals from all over Spain.

So … let’s get to know four of the best-known recipes in Spain!

1.Everyone knows paella!

You can find paella almost in every Spanish city. However, for Spanish people, this is quite different. The actual paella comes from Valencia. The Mediterranean city has the original recipe for this amazing meal. They are very proud (and we have to let them be it) of it.

The REAL valencian paella only has the following ingredients: rice, rabbit, chicken, green beans, green pepper, a ripened tomato and a bit of paprika and saffron. It is also important the type of pan where you’re cooking, because you should use a special pan for cooking paellas. You may also find some recipes that includes seafood, but that would have a different name (mixed paella, or seafood paella).

First of all, you have to prepare the meat. Just cook them with a bit of olive oil. Following this, you add the beans, the peppers and the tomato. You have to let it boil around 20 minutes. The last thing you add is the rice and the spices, and let it boil for another 15/20 minutes. Then, let it settle a bit, and it’s done!

If you’re a Valencian person and you’re reading this, we love your paella, but if the recipe is wrong, just let us know… or prepare one for us!

So now that you have read this, stop believing that anything is a paella. Forget about the peas and the chorizo that you may have seen. Because that it totally not paella. Maybe, as some may call it, rice with things.

2.Have you ever heard about «fideuà»?

Obviously the Spanish and Valencian gastronomy is not only based on paellas.

Fideuà is a meal based on noodles (some special ones, you can look or ask for them a the grocery’s) and sea products such as monkfish, cuttlefish, scampi and prawns. The recipe is similar to the paella, actually.

First, you have you have to fry lightly the fish. After that you add a fish soup you have previously prepared and when it is boiling, you add the noodles and the fish. You let it boil some minutes, and you can taste another delicious meal.

Note: if you’re willing to try preparing some of these recipes, look for one that tells you the quantities and the preparation time for every step. These are just brief guidelines.

3.Take note of all the different fish recipes in Andalusia!

We do not leave the sea, because we are going to show you another kind of fish, but from a different part of Spain. Let’s move down to Andalusia!

It is very common to find what they call there “pescaito frito” (fried fish) in almost every bar.

If you want to try it at home, you have to be very careful with the preparation procedures. For example, to have the best fried anchovies, as in Málaga, you have to do it with the “Andalusian style” as it is called in cooking. It means covering the fish with only flour before putting them into really hot oil.

You can do the same with red mullet, or the cuttlefish, typical from the province of Huelva.

In Cádiz, you can find shrimp tortillas. It is a delicious kind of fried fish. You have to prepare the dough with wheat flour and chickpea flour. You mix it with some water, and then add the shrimps with some chives and parsley, previously very fine minced. Then, you take small pieces of the dough, squash it, and fry them with a bit of oil. When one side is done, flip it over and do the other one. They are eaten hot, so don’t let them get cold!

4.The best recipe for summer… salmorejo!

We have already showed you some recipes to try at some, some easier than others. But we can’t finish this article without stopping at the caliphal city, Córdoba. Sure thing, we are talking about the salmorejo. A cool meal ideal for the summer. It is a very easy recipe that we love to share with you.

You only need these ingredients: ripened tomatoes, some pieces of good bread, but hardened, as bought a couple days before preparing this. In addition, you only need some garlick, olive oil and vinegar. First, you soak the bread a bit with water. Then, you take the soaked bread, the tomatoes and the garlick and mash the all together with a beater (for example), while adding slowly the olive oil. After that, you shall strain the salmorejo to get rid of the tomatoes peels and some other unwanted leftovers. It is served cold, and you can eat it with some chopped Serrano ham and hard-boiled egg.

Samlorejo is a wonderful, super tasty and easy recipe!

 

So now, are you ready to prepare some Spanish delicacies?

More than ever, it is the moment to learn new things, so nothing better than some local recipes!

If you are still hungry after all these meals, we may come back with more recipes and traveling through the Spanish cuisine map.