Spanish Food / Recipes

[Portland Ute]

Tim's thread got me excited.

Tim, and anyone else, what are some of your favorite Spanish recipes?

Paella is a slam dunk.

When I was in Spain last year, I had forgotten how much I like puchero.

Every once in a while, I'll make a tortilla and take it with me on an outing to the lake or picnic.

My wife absolutely loves gambas al ajillo.

In the summer I love ajo blanco with uvas. Maybe even more than gazpacho. It's funny, every person has their own gazpacho recipes. I don't even use a recipe. Like Tim mentioned, I go by what I know. It's a feel for it. A bit of sherry wine vinegar, some olive oil, tomatoes, stale bread (NOT WONDER BREAD!), onion, garlic, some cucumber, if you like...

Potajes are great, too. And, it seems, every town, every "Maria" has her own recipe. Garbanzos. Lentejas. mmmm....

[Tim]

I had gazpacho maybe twice during my whole mission. They just don't eat it on the east side of the country like they do in the south and in the middle. Well, maybe in Murcia they do, but from Alicante north on the coast they rarely prepare it.

Pa amb tomaquet i pernil (pan con tomate y jamon) is an everyday Catalan standard. It's so easy to make and people love it when I make it. Use iberico or jabugo instead of serrano and it's even better.

Gambas al ajillo are awesome. I'm still trying to perfect my preparation.

There are two great Catalan sausages that are worth trying: butifarra and fuet. Both are specialties of the city of Vic, about two hours northwest of Barcelona and the most remote part of Catalunya.

[myboynoah]

Great thread.

I like tacos, burritos, and nacho cheese tortilla chips.

Oh, oh, and those cinnamon crustos.

[Tim]

Great thread.

I like tacos, burritos, and nacho cheese tortilla chips.

Oh, oh, and those cinnamon crustos.

I'm ignoring this.

[Portland Ute]

I had gazpacho maybe twice during my whole mission. They just don't eat it on the east side of the country like they do in the south and in the middle. Well, maybe in Murcia they do, but from Alicante north on the coast they rarely prepare it.

Pa amb tomaquet i pernil (pan con tomate y jamon) is an everyday Catalan standard. It's so easy to make and people love it when I make it. Use iberico or jabugo instead of serrano and it's even better.

Gambas al ajillo are awesome. I'm still trying to perfect my preparation.

There are two great Catalan sausages that are worth trying: butifarra and fuet. Both are specialties of the city of Vic, about two hours northwest of Barcelona and the most remote part of Catalunya.

I like buttifara. Pan con tomate is so ridiculously simple but good. Add some great jamon and you are on a roll. I've decided that serrano is tricky. If you get iberico or jabugo, you are going to get great flavor. Serrano is hit and miss and so often it ends up having a rather metallic taste, IMO. Although, a quality serrano can be a very adequate replacment for the iberico.

Your post highlights the variety of foods in Spain. Having not lived or travelled in the North, there is a whole world of foods that I have not tried. However, as I try different things at restaurants, etc., one thing I notice is that the food is unmistakably Spanish. It just has that taste to it. I think it's the simplicity with focus on quality ingredients. Pan con tomate is a great example of that.

CHampinones al ajillo is geat, too. I find it a bit tricky. If you overcook the mushrooms, you have a watery mess. I'd love to find the trick. I'm about 50/50 on those. The gambas are are lot easier to make, IMO. We go pretty simple: Quality prawns, olive oil, salt (sea salt. You don't want the iodine taste), garlic and crushed red pepper.

[Tim]

My continued issue with making gambas al ajillo is getting the heat right, because it's so easy to overcook the prawns.

[MarkGrace]

Great thread.

I like tacos, burritos, and nacho cheese tortilla chips.

Oh, oh, and those cinnamon crustos.

lol