Serra de Mariola – food by sole

10th October 202114th October 2021

Our visit to Almazara La Alquería – an olive oil mill in Alicante

I “adopted” an olive tree from Almazara La Alqueria a couple years ago via Crowdfarming.

I was very excited that the producer was close to home in Spain, right in the Sierra de Mariola natural park, and that they would send me nice freshly pressed olive oil to my home in London. Also, I would contribute to organic farming in the area—what’s not to like?

Even more interestingly, as part of the Crowdfarming arrangement you also have the chance to “meet” your adopted tree if you want to.

Of course this hasn’t been very easy in the last year and a half plus 😏

But I finally had the chance to do that last month! It was really interesting and I learned lots of things which I’m going to share with you now!

28th July 20214th August 2021

Arròs de mescleta (“mixed” rice)

I got a bunch of broad beans (the ones you have to pop out of their shells) in the veggie box delivery this week, but since the weather has turned a bit cooler, I didn’t want to make them into a salad. So I first used half of them in an omelette. What else could I use them for?

Well, clearly: a rice that combines various types of legumes—hence the ‘mixed’ in the title!

12th May 202113th May 2021

Pimientos rellenos / bajoques farcides (stuffed peppers)

I absolutely adore stuffed peppers—if Proust had madeleines, I have stuffed peppers.

It’s smelling them and instantly thinking of sunny Sundays and visiting grandparents; chasing the faint scent of the roasted skins all the way from the ground floor through three flights of stairs, across the long corridor leading to the kitchen, and then finally (finally!) digging into the strongly flavoured rice while sitting on a pile of cushions on a chair that was way too low for me… Yummmm!

14th January 202111th October 2021

Foraging, II: rock rose omelette

Update: I thought this was sage. It is actually rock rose (jara in Spanish). The leaves are very similar but when they’re in flower or have fruits they look different! The good news is this isn’t toxic as I’m still writing this myself!

Close up of small plants growing on the ground of the mountain

One of my favourite things to do when I visit my home town is to have a walk in the countryside.

It’s a great chance to observe the extremely rich flora, as there are hundreds of aromatic and medicinal herbs, and that’s not even counting the trees.

12th November 202012th November 2020

Bocadillo de longaniza y tortilla francesa (sausage and omelette sandwich)

I made this practice mini loaf the other day as an experiment born out of an experiment: I had made a coca with a focaccia dough made with my beer starter (and a couple of cans of Camden Hells lager instead of water), and I had set some dough aside to practice shaping it into a baguette, as I don’t have lots of experience with that type of shaping.

Then I was gathering ingredients to make an omelette, when I noticed there were two sausages in the fridge, and that gave me an even better idea: