Lentils are used in so much cooking up in the La Alpujarra region of Granada province. Up here, in winter especially, you want warming food. Filling food that protects you from the cold.
In December I have driven from the nearby Costa Tropical where it has been 17 degrees celsius and arrived an hour or so later in La Alpujarra in sleet and with temperatures below zero.
Pork is the favoured meat among Andalucians. I am going to spend a little time focussing on pork and the very many ways it can be cooked.
Recipes that vary considerably but all of which are designed to get the very best from pork.
The uses for fennel are many and varied. I am aware that many of you like to have recipes for sauces that can be used in Spanish cooking.
So here's one that uses the seeds from fennel which, when combined with parsley, delivers a tasty sauce.
It is often used to accompany roast pork meals or grilled fish dishes.
Fennel is so versatile. I have enjoyed fennel seeds in cake and bread, for example.
Its aniseed taste lends itself ideally to salads, soups and meat dishes.
Here is another recipe for a light meal or tapas which sees fennel combined with lime and manchego cheese.
But go easy on the other ingredients. It is the sharp flavour of the fennel that you want to taste above all else.
Since living in Spain I have become a huge fan of fennel. It's wonderful and I've added it to more meals in Spain than I ever did previously.
The perennial herb is at home on the shores of the Mediterranean.
I make no apology for worshipping recipes in Spain that include Mussels. Here is one that combines them with that most wonderful home grown product, Fennel.
Fennel smells lovely and tastes even better. I have no idea why so few chefs use it in cooking. I pick up fennel whenever it is available at my local weekly market.
For the mussels, then do try and catch some fresh ones from a seafood market on the coast.
Here's a recipe exploiting that perfectly formed, but often overlooked fruit, the pomegranate. This time we combine it with another delight that grows so well in Spain. The ever aromatic fennel.
