Murcia

The last meal from my memorable time in the province of Murcia was one that included not only the best and freshest broad beans from the region, but combined them with a real favourite of mine. Morcilla.
Not to everyone's taste, i know. Although I am proud of how many people I have converted to the joys of this unique sausage.

I confess that until living in Spain I thought that the most interesting thing you could do with a cauliflower was serve it with cheese. How wrong I was.
While motoring around Murcia, i stopped off in the characterful Caravaca de la Cruz and ate well on locally grown vegetables.

The spring cabbage on offer in the region of Murcia was also a delight. So fresh, so light and so ready for the kitchen.
True, they are better when just in season and the tops are young, sweet and tender. At other times you could use broccoli instead.

You can eat this as a meal in its own right or, alternatively, along with some nice white fish or chicken.

I'm taking you on a journey around Spain to see what locations within a region specialise in. In particular when it comes to the raw ingredients for Spanish meals.
In the area around Fuente Alamo in Murcia I drove deep into the countryside and saw field after field after field of vegetables. As far as the eye could see.

In my article about the tomatoes available in Spain I mentioned the popular Ajotomate. This is the salad where one variety of tomato is dressed with the juice of a different one. The simple recipe for this refreshing salad hails from the Murcia region of Spain.

If your not convinced about the merits of eating salt cod (Bacalao) on its own, then why not try it in a Paella? It's a great way I have found to enjoy the cod while sampling a Spanish classic. Certain cuts of Bacalao are ideal for cooking with rice. As mentioned in the earlier article about Bacalao, meals cooked with salt cod are broken down into those cooked with or without tomatoes. This one is in the former category.

This recipe comes from the region of Murcia, where many a tomato is grown. Murcia is one of the farming hotbeds of Spain and the acres upon acres of fields are busy with people picking freshly grown produce at set times of the year. The tomato among them. Summer brings with it the opportunity to experiment at serving new and refreshing salads. This one is simple to prepare and will satisfy one and all.

The supermarkets in Spain are stocked up and ready for Christmas. But which meat should you eat for Christmas dinner in Spain?. So, twenty four days in advance, here's a recipe for Pato con Guisantes (duckling with peas).