It is in the hills and country lanes of La Alpujarra that you will see people picking wild asparagus, often by the roadside.
Likewise the wild garlic that is used in preparing so many Spanish meals.
I once came across a man armed with a penknife but its sole use was to prize free the small white bulb that looks like a fat spring onion.
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 potatoes on offer in Spain are great. They lend themselves to delivering good chips, roast potatoes and more.
Of course patatas bravas are now famed worldwide as a spicy Spanish tapas.
Patatas a lo pobre (poor man's potatoes) are a favourite of mine and have been part of the staple diet in Andalucia for decades.
Autumn has well and truly arrived in Spain and summer salads will soon be a thing of the past. But not yet. Not in my house.
This morning I was provided with an armful of courgettes. A neighbour would not take no for an answer and now I have an army of courgettes to cook. What shall i do with them?
Well i have some garlic cloves, coriander, cumin and parsley in the kitchen and the temperature is forecast to rise back to 21 degrees tomorrow.
Having written about the joys of the food available in Castilla La Mancha, and with winter approaching, I though it time to deliver a recipe for a great stew from the region.
One that is so typical of La Mancha. A shepherd's stew containing some of the best ingredients of the region. That includes half a rabbit or hare, a partridge and, of course, saffron. You can't eat a meal from La Mancha without saffron.
I have written in the articles section of this site about the variety of Spanish food produced from, and grown on, the dry plains of Castilla La Mancha. Two grown in vast quantity are mushrooms and garlic.
So it is appropriate that I offer you a simple recipe for an excellent meal that can be served either in the form of a tapas offering or as a main meal.
One of the advantages to cooking in Catalunya is the sheer choice of Spanish food on offer. You will likely be able to lay your hands on almost any ingredient you could possibly need to make a classic dish from this culinary region.
That, along with the skills they learn from an early age, is the reason why so many of the best chefs in Spain come from Catalunya.
In my continuing look at very different recipes produced from culinary Catalunya, here is a very popular dish served in the region. A delightfully light meal for those who like hake and garlic.
I have seen versions of this meal on menus elsewhere in Spain, but the chefs up there really know how to make this dish taste special. They braise the hake and served with a touch of hot paprika.
I took on board a recipe sent to me recently by a friend who is an aspiring chef in Catalunya. Not a difficult meal to prepare and one that uses probably my favourite food to fry. Squid. There is many a week when I think I would eat nothing else. Squid can be cooked and served in such a variety of ways.
