One of the joys for me when it comes to eating in Spain is that squid is so readily available and that there are many ways to serve it up. But one favourite remains constant. Grilled squid. Even then you can make a meal of Calamares a la Plancha seem different simply by virtue of what you serve it with. Too often restaurants in Spain lazily plonk some chips on the same plate. The dish i have named 'beauty and the beast.'
I've written in our articles section about how some dedicated people walk over wet rocks and cliffs to net limpets in the Canary Islands. They are either selling them to bars and restaurants or taking them home to cook. It all sounds a bit of a slippery way of catching your lunch to me. I'd rather buy them and cook them simply in the traditional fashion of the Canary Islands. With lots of garlic and a piquant sauce.
Mussels and Albarino white wine is a mighty fine combination. When enjoyed in Santiago de Compostela or Pontevedra, in gorgeous Galicia; they taste even better. Add a tomato and olive sauce and, bingo!, you have a meal to remember. Here is the recipe.
It is time to head north in Spain. To the splendid towns, cities and villages of La Rioja. Many a meal you eat here will be cooked in the local wine that is so cheap, plentiful and full of body. It would be crazy not to cook using wine when you are in this beautiful part of Spain. The following meal lives long in the memory. And if, the day after, you have forgetten eating it; then it is safe to say you used too much wine!
There is a Spanish saying as follows:- "Of soup and love, the first is the best." So here is a recipe for a soup, or hotpot, that you will love. Giuso's are very popular in Andlaucia. Spanish food historian Luis Benavides Brajas tells us: "It is something they do really well in southern Spain. A guiso is more like a hotpot or stew than a soup and they are very filling and tasty. Every Andalucian cook knows how to make a good guiso."
