How To? Techniques & Tips

Artichokes are a delight in any country. Especially in Spain where the humble artichoke, or alcachofa as it is called, is most prized. Not just for its taste but also because it is good for you. The artichoke is full of cynarine which is good for your liver and known to sooth an upset stomach.

But one query I hear often is about the preparation of both globe artichokes. It is a mystery to many a cook. Here's a simple guide for preparing globe artichokes.

For centuries people have been coming up with clever ways of preserving food. Today we take refrigeration and freezing food for granted. But, in the unmodern part of Andalucia in which i live, there are still many people keeping and storing food in far less high tech ways.

Drying is the oldest method of food preservation in the world. The idea is a simple one. You input heat and remove water. That way both mould and bacteria are unable to form.

To accompany recipes such as Bunyols de Bacallá (see recipe section) you will need to have made a tasty alioli. This one, like that recipe, comes from Catalunya - where they know a thing or two about how to make sauces and dips.

There are many shoppers for whom mayonnaise always came in a glass jar. I have come across people who had no idea that anyone could actually make a mayonnaise from scratch.

In our recipes section I have added a recipe for a meal from Catalunya. It is for fried squid with a smoked pimentón and garlic mayonnaise.

But how do you make a mayonnaise to begin with?

For a recent recipe in that section of this site, you needed to have a home made tomato sauce at the ready.

Now some people may think that nobody should need to be told how to make such a sauce. That is should somehow come naturally to anyone who enters a kitchen.
But that is not the case. Many people do not have a clue as to how to make sauces or stocks.

I have had meals in Spain that have been transformed by a good quality mediterranean, tomato sauce.

So often you will read recipes here and elsewhere that refer to grilling Spanish food.

Everyone knows how to grill food, don't they? Well, the answer is no.

Especially when it comes to grilling food using anything other than a conventional oven.

How difficult can it be to fry fish?
Well, not at all difficult really.

But, in Spain, have in mind that you have a wider choice of fish and seafood that lend themselves to being fried and some require more care when preparing and frying than others.

You can deep fry by immersing the fish in hot oil or you can pan fry using butter, fat or oil. The higher the heat, the better the results.

In a recent post I explored how to spot fresh fish when it is on sale in various outlets across Spain.
Once you have bought some lovely fresh fish, how should you cook it? There are so many options, depending on which fish you have bought.

There is no shortage of fish on sale in Spain. But just how much of it is truly fresh? And how can you tell if the fish was recently swimming in the ocean, or has been kept on ice for weeks?

It was the ancient Egyptians who called asparagus the "food of the gods."

The Romans served it as the first of many courses. When combined with egg and pepper it was, so the Romans claimed, an aphrodisiac. And what they didn't know about amorous appetisers you could fit on the back of a postage stamp.