It is getting to that time of the year in Spain when chestnut sellers line the streets of major cities selling delicious hot chestnuts to warm up your insides.
Up in the mountainous region of La Alpujarra I have been served several good soups and broths. They know all about warming, hearty food in places such as Capiliera, Trevelez and Pitres.
So you need to serve up some Sausage based food and you need to do so quickly. You have a party of ravenous children coming to your home. They will want feeding and, with Spanish sausages, you are on safe ground.
You will be lucky to persuade a Spanish child to eat the more traditional, north European type of hot dog. And if you are entertaining non Spanish children, then educate their tastebuds with some spicy chorizo.
Here's a smashing recipe from the wonderful part of Spain that is Galicia. My favourite region in which to eat and drink Spanish food.
Frankly it doesn't matter to me that it rains so often there. I just take refuge in a bar or restaurant and sample some more splendid local dishes.
Here's a recipe that combines two Spanish foods that I've written about recently in our articles section.
You can already purchase chorizo and a selection of cold Iberico meats via the website of The Tapas Lunch Company.
Soon you'll be able to order tortilla.
In the meantime, here is a recipe for a refreshing but filling omelette that combines two of the finest exports of Spain. Chorizo sausage and cheese.
I bought a gigantic cabbage at a local fresh food market recently. I'm now on day three of using it, and there's still plenty left. Cabbage (called Col or Berza in Spain) is one of those vegetables I would have pushed around the plate as a child. Now I adore it. Not least because it is so versatile and lends itself to accompanying so many other foods.
In the days after they won the Champions League, I saw that some Barcelona footballers were back home enjoying a meal that included the Catalan version of the classic Spanish tortilla. I understand why. I first sampled this variation on a theme when in the splendid city of Girona. You might think that an omelette is, well, an omelette. But not so in Spain. Many regions have their own unique take on the tortilla. I enjoy trying one wherever I find myself in Spain.
I have eaten so very many perfect servings of potaje on my travels around Spain. One of the best comes from the spectacular Extremadura. This recipe serves between six and eight people. It is a warming potaje that mixes lentils, chorizo, morcilla (blood sausage) and the often overlooked celery. A meal to remember.
Preparing a nice tapas dish doesn't come much easier than this. Cider is big in Asturias and is used in cooking many a simple snack or main meal. Here we combine cider with chorizo. They suit each other.
I'm a big fan of the Spanish spud. I regularly buy a sack of potatoes. They keep well and for a long time if left in a cool place. Likewise of chorizo and peppers. Here they combine perfectly. Along with eggs and the wonderful serrano ham from Trevelez in La Alpujarra. It's a favourite meal or, as in the case here, a tapas, served in many a bar in the city of Granada.
Many Spanish meals benefit from being cooked in a nice red wine sauce. As i write there are two half used bottles of red wine alongside my oven. It is rare that adding red wine to a recipe can actually spoil the taste. Good red wine is still cheap in Spain and is plentiful in supermarkets and dedicated wine shops up and down the country. When you use such Spanish red wine in cooking you do not feel as though you are wasting it.
