things we eat and drink, at home and out and about
Since we still couldn’t find anything fresh locally, I kept exercising my newly developed skills at queueing online and I eventually arranged a delivery of fresh stuff for this Monday in one of the services that doesn’t block me from buying “more than 6 items” from the fruit and vegs section (even if that’s mostly what I eat??).
Continue reading “Self-isolation week 2: past existential dread, and into acceptance”
This is the home-cooked version of a classic tapa or bar food. Normally you either snack from the livers drenched in this brutal green garlicky sauce, or have them on a ‘sandwich’ which has also been generously drenched in the sauce.
I’d warn that this is not something you want to bring to your office, unless you really hate your coworkers, because the garlic is STRONG in here.
Whenever we feel under the weather or just in search of some comfort, I channel my inner grandmother and cook a traditional Spanish stew: puchero.
This is a traditional “value for money” dish, as it’s easy to cook, relatively cheap, and the leftovers are also used for other dishes. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving ?
A classic on Sundays pretty much all year long (except when it gets hot!).
Continue reading “Puchero”
Paella is a very simple dish that Valencian peasants would cook using cheap, fresh and widely available ingredients. Yet despite its innate simplicity, people repeatedly misunderstand and complicate it, causing us Valencians a great deal of stress in the process, because we know it could be so much better and yet people keep insisting on bastardising our national dish in every possible way! ?
Also if you, like me, do not live in Valencia and hence do not have access to some of the “niche” local ingredients, I will also provide acceptable replacements that follow the original spirit. I live in the UK, so my suggestions will reflect what I can find in local markets and supermarkets. If it’s not in my list, it quite probably is not acceptable, so don’t add it ?
Hope you enjoy it!
Continue reading “Paella (traditional Valencian style)”