Traditional Spanish Dishes/Gastronomía Hostelería

Whenever my family and I go to Spain we always have to do a bit of home cooking. We have a supermarket across the street from us, this means we can by locally caught sea food. We stay in a place call Estapona. It was originally a fishing village, and it still keeps this tradition and the local supermarkets get there fish locally. With this fresh and local fish we cook traditional Spanish dishes at home. For example almost every day we have Spanish omelet(tortilla). We also enjoy a large plate of prawns(gambas) along side a plate of tomato salad(en salada mixda). 

However from time to time my family and I go out to eat. Another reason that Estapona is famed is becasue of a restaurant named La Rada. It serves well known Spanish dishes such as boquerones(fried anchovies) and chipirones(fried squid). They also serve white fish and (my sisters favorite) calamari(fried rings of squid). 

All these great foods have been brought together into one dish Paella. It consists(no real recipe) of prawns, muscles(mejerones),  chicken(pollo), rice(arroz), calamari and some olive oil. This is our recipe however the dish varies throughout different parts of Spain.

This is an example of another recipe:

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 3/4 kg.Chicken
• 1/2 kg. Rabbit
• 400 gr. Rice D.O Valencia
• 250 gr. Runner beans
• 125 gr. Haricot beans
• 200 gr. Butter beans
• 12 uds. Snail
• 100 gr. Ripe tomatoes
• 2 uds. Garlic
• 1.5 dl. Olive oil
• 10 uds. Saffron
• 1 cuch. Spanish paprika
• C.s Salt
• 2 l. Water
• 1 ud. Rosemary

How-to make:

1. Mice en place of all the ingredientes. Everything cutted, washed, etc.
2. Pour some olive oil into de paella pan.
3. Sautee all the meats (chicken and rabbit) till make nice golden colour. Also put some salt and pepper.
4. Add the chopped garlic and cook all.
5. Add the runner beans and the butter beans and cook all.
6. Add the spanish paprika, you can choose smoked or not, and be careful cause if it’s too hot, paprika can burn and it will taste sour.
7. Add the grated ripe tomatoes
8. Add the cold water, cover all, needs to be same size where the handles are, leave it boil.
9. Add the haricot beans
10. Leave it boiling hard at the start and then slowly, to make a stock while we cooking the meats.
11. Add the snails and the saffron. Taste it and check if it needs more salt. Add as well the rosemary.
12. As soon the water is down the marks of the two handles (you will see the marks in the paella-pan) add the rice. Make sure the stock is boiling. Move the rice carefully with a spoon.
13. Leave it 10 minutes boiling hard and then another 7-8 minutes cooking slowly.
14. Once 18 minutes has passed, turn off the fire and leave rest the whole paella 10 minutes.

Joseph Rodriguez