La Cena
- Vlatka Duric
- Aug 23, 2020
- 7 min read
This title is pretty much what you will get from me when it comes to writing in Spanish. In general, my Spanish is as good as you can learn from the telenovelas. But on the other hand, if you talk about Spanish food, that might take you a bit further. I will even manage to understand the ingredients, dishes and processes in the local language.
Let us quickly jump to the beginning and start this topic properly. I am on a mission to cover interesting, at least to me, cuisines from the countries I visited or are on my bucket list. Spain belongs to a few of those that I visited and instantly fell in love. That is one of those countries in which the people will not look down on you, because you want to have a proper few course meal in the middle of the night. Preferably midnight. And hopefully, there will also be one glass of good Spanish wine … A few years ago, we went to a delightful coastal city in the south of Spain, Malaga for a bachellorete party. And we stumbled upon this lovely, cosy restaurant, rather in modern style than a traditional one. But the food was great, people were kind, joked with us and did not get stressed because we still wanted to try some food at 1 AM. Heaven, if you ask me. I wanted to try everything, but quickly understood that that would not happen.
The next day we went for another round of Tapas in a more traditional place to calm down our cravings. Again, no luck, there was no way to try everything. So, what did I have to do? Buy a cookbook, in Spanish of course, because I want to keep things original. I carefully packed my new literature in the luggage and have said goodbye to Malaga sure that I will try each and every recipe from that book one day.
It took a while to prepare this dinner. I am not sure why. Maybe there were not that many Spaniards around, or just obsession with the Asian, Indian and Italian cuisine was a bit stronger. The day to try my cookbook was set for the beginning of July this year. Research started, because Spaniards can also be very picky when it comes to the food. And more or less the menu looked like this in the end – I guess enough food for six people.
I have constant fear that people will leave my dinners hungry. This has to do something with my Slavic roots. If you do not know what I am talking about, one visit to that region and you will remember my words.
For an intro, to break the fear of unknown, we had some cold cuts with particular olives filled with anchovies and peppers. Oh, what a surprise even a friend that doesn’t eat fish and seafood (not applicable if it has an adjective Spanish in front), caved and gladly ate them. Delete him immediately from the allergy list, section fish and seafood. Meat and cheese in this round did not find its way directly from Spain, but seemed like a decent substitute.
Next in line were the first recipes from the cookbook – Tapas con historia. I am a soup girl, and If I could, I would have soup every day. Until one year ago, I was not sure how I exactly feel about the cold soups, but it seems that they do the trick, especially in warm summer nights. Thus, Salmorejo had to find its way to this menu. I mean, what is there not to like? Tomatoes, garlic, bread, olive oil, a bit of egg shreds and bacon sprinkles (vegetarian version without the bacon). Soup was followed by the small bites with avocado cream and bacon/shrimps with special red sauce that holds the name Rosa.
Not to worry my carnivores at the table a bit of carpaccio with sheep cheese, rocket and capers came aside. Together with the proper Spanish tortilla. Another one of surprises for me, since I am actually not fond of the eggs. In this particular dish, I find it very interesting and enjoy a well-made tortilla, warm, a bit soft in the middle, salty and … the best part of it all … topped with probably the king of all the sauces – alioli. I am not sure how the world managed to exist before the point in the history when someone decided to make this perfection. No matter which version you chose to make, with the egg or without it, you will be shifted to some happy place and nothing will spoil that moment. I guess, up until now you figured out, that I like garlic?
A bit of rest, chit chat in multiple languages and enough time has passed for my oven to make a sound that the next round of food is ready. Warm tapas section. Playing it as good as I can with the local ingredients and meat that travelled from back home. If you haven’t tried champignons au gratin with shrimps and salmon yet (Champiñones gratinados), you should immediately go and google this recipe. Enough said. Go, google it. And then prepare it.
I can’t decide what do I prefer, meat or fish, that is why both very often find the way to my table. Sometimes during the same course. And here they are, small warm snack sandwiches with roasted peppers and fried chorizo (Montado de chorizo frito con pimiento). I might get crucified here for not following the recipe and not using the olive oil for frying, but I wanted a bit more taste. So, there is this thing called tiblica or zaseka, basically lard with small shredded meat pieces. And sometimes you can’t go wrong with it and it was definitely one of those times (it does wonders also for potatoes and eggs). Until today, no one figured out the difference and all sandwiches were gone. I might even go and make some for dinner tonight.
We needed a bit more calories in this round. And you can’t have a Spanish tapas thing without the chicken wings. Slowly grilled and dipped in a spice sauce – Alitas de Pollo picantes. My preferred adjective in this dish is spicy. I am not saying that you can’t go in any other direction, as for an example caramelized or just purely grilled and served with Alioli. Just go with the flow, play with the tastes you like, wings are anyway the main star of this dish. Whatever you do, please don't overcook them. That would be the simplest way how to mess this dish up. Serve with some fries, locally referred to as Patatas rellenas.
And in case that is not enough, Sartencita de huevos a la flame needed to go on an offer. Vegetarian version without the bacon/chorizo. Lovely tomato sauce with green peas, topped with the egg. And the first dish that I was slightly embarrassed because it did not turn out as planned. Note to myself – next time take things out of the oven as soon as they are ready. Valid for both versions – vegetarian and meat. It is a crime to serve this dish when the egg on top hardens …
If you read the menu carefully there was a part called Sorpresa – basically, I had no idea what will I be able to get from the ingredients, so I had to leave some space open for me. Not sure if I should even mention this, because half of this course was a fail. Something that was supposed to be tenderly grilled squid, turned almost in the squid soup. Not happy, not happy at all, embarrassed even. At least my guests were extremely polite and lied that it was good. The thing with these dinners of mine is self-explanatory – if the guests do not like it, they will not eat everything (case with the squids). And if they like it, it will be gone in seconds. You know what disappeared in seconds? Tortilla and then also most of the other things. But tortilla was leading in the speed-eating-competition.
Luckily this course was accompanied by the spare ribs or Costillas asadas. Slow-cooked, of course, then grilled for the final touch, served with avocado dip, Rosa sauce and alioli. As a side dish some fries, locally referred to as Patatas rellenas. With a bit of spicy red sauce on top.
Dinner was coming to an end slowly. And there was only one more thing to be served. And this was kept as a secret until the end. As I am not very good in sweets making. At least I admit my mistakes and flaws. But this time I decided to search for something not so usual. It seemed to me that I found that perfect example of a Spanish dessert that you will not that often see or even believe that it exists. It is – deep-fried milk. Yes, you read correctly – deep-fried milk or Leche frita. Just by reading its name, I had to make it. It sounded surreal. Luckily, I started with it one day ahead. I almost burned all my fingers while doing it. Nevertheless, was worth every burnt finger (don’t worry I still have all ten of them). Even the people that I look up to most, when it comes to cooking, my parents and my godparents did not believe me when I said what I was making.
In the end when you get past this awkward part of burning fingers and you take the first bite; you will know why kids in Spain clap their hands happily if someone brings warm deep-fried milk cubes. You can also add some aromas to make it more interesting, in my case it was orange peel. And do the first part of the recipe one day ahead, it will save you from getting a nervous breakdown. In the process, I changed three different pans (from small to large) thinking it might get easier, but then returning to my first choice the small version where I could control the process easier. It should definitely be served lukewarm with some ice cream (vanilla or chocolate) and chocolate sauce if available. Taking this dessert to the next level would be chocolate condensed milk sauce (have to memorize that).
The playlist (courtesy of my Spanish friends) was close to the end, wine also, tiredness from chewing was showing first signs, so we decided to close this lovely evening with the promise of a Paella gathering. Let's see how quickly we are in organising that.
And, regarding the Spanish food, do I need to say something more? If yes, then bring it on please, I enjoy in it 😊
* Special thanks goes to the people that accept invitations to my dinners and are not afraid to try my experiments
* this time even my mum would be proud because i used the white table cloth
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