A Slice of Spain

Move over, Chinese chop-suey, Italian pasta and Mexican tortillas. Make way for tapas, one of Spains's obsessions and now an international best-seller.

Tapas - snacks, finger foods. Call them what you will, they were originally served to weary Spanish travellers at bars with their drinks. The word tapa means lid in Spanish and these actually were pieces of cured ham (jamon serrano) that were used by bartenders in Spain to cover a glass of sherry to keep the dust and flies out!

Every tapas dish is accompanied by salad, breads andsauces and can make a rather filling combination mini-meal.

Today, "tapas-making" has taken on different dimensions. It's become an art form and the end-products are rather interesting. It's very simple food to make and the ingredients for it are also easy to find. So make some today!

Two simple recipes are listed below: Tortilla Espanola - The well-known Spanish Omelette and Rustidera de Verduras - Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables in Salsa.

Tortilla Espanola

Ingredients

Serves six

400 g. onions
1 kg. potatoes
250 g. thinly sliced meat (chicken, pork, lamb)
1/2 litre olive oil
6-7 eggs

Method

Slice the onions and potatoes very, very thinly. Poach them in oil on an extremely slow flame. Here's where the effort comes in, as this takes almost a half hour. While this is happening, saute the meat pieces in a pan brushed with olive oil.

After cooking the potatoes and onions, strain out the oil and whisk the eggs lightly. Reheat the pan with a little oil and pour in the onion, potato, meat and eggs in. Again cook on a very slow heat, or the omlette will turn brown outside without cooking inside.

Gently flip it over. Let it cook on the other side as well. The omlette is ready. Before serving, allow it to rest for about 10 minutes.

Serve it in wedges with some salad and hot pepper sauce.

Rustidera de Verduras

Ingredients

Vegetables

baby aubergines (cut in halves)
yellow pumpkin chunks
cherry tomatoes
baby onions
zucchini chunks
yellow, red and green peppers (cut into thin slivers)
garlic shoots
runner beans
fresh green asparagus
baby leeks

Marinade

1 tb. chopped garlic
1 tb. chopped parsley
rock sea salt
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. oregano
100 ml. olive oil
1 tb. balsamic vinegar

Method

Marinate all the vegetables in rock salt, olive oil, oregano, marjoram, chopped garlic and freshly ground black pepper for 15 minutes. Roast it in a slow oven (150 deg. C) till cooked.

Cut the vegetables into small pieces and place them on a plate in a pyramid shape, so that it looks colorful.

Make a salsa with olive oil, chopped garlic, parsley and vinegar. Pour the salsa as seasoning on top of the vegetable pyramid. Garnish with blanched and sauteed vegetables (garlic shoots, runner beans, asparagus and baby leeks). Top it with a sprig of basil and serve.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic