Food offers many examples of long distance cultural exchange. Traders and travelers introduced new crops to the lands they traveled. Even ‘ready’ food stuff in distant parts of the world might share common origins ! From spaghetti and noodles to potatoes and lime grass , from spices to nuts , and from beverages to chilies have their own origins and history behind them . If you are a foody person why don’t you just look down on top 5 Spanish dishes with recipes!
Churros Con Chocolate
Donuts aren’t meant to be enjoyed before brandy and cigars, they’re not meant to be placed on a specialized plate, or eaten with a certain fork just so. Donuts are…well…they’re fried dough, and even though they’ve been having a bit of a make-over lately (crème brûlée donuts come to mind), they are the people’s food. A populist dessert/snack/breakfast thing. Well this snack is a beauty itself ! 
If you are getting hungry my friend you can just note its recipe :
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 quarts vegetable oil for frying
- 1/2 cup white sugar, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
For dipping sauce, melt the chocolate over a double boiler and add the cream. Stir to combine. For a thinner sauce, add more cream.
Paella
Arroz a la Marinera—Valencia
This is the dramatic seafood paella that looks stunning, with crustaceans and shellfish. You can vary the quantities of seafood and also use crab, crayfish, or lobster (boil them separately). Andresito, who is collecting reminiscences of people in villages around him in Alicante, told me that on the Alicante Coast, fishermen’s families made seafood paellas without any vegetables. When they did not go out to fish, they made arroz de piedras with mollusks from the rocks (piedras means rocks). The fishermen went around local villages selling their fish on scooters, and people inland added vegetables. In Catalonia, where the tradition of mixing meat and seafood is very old, they had pieces of chicken, pork, rabbit, or duck and sausage in their seafood paellas. Today adding meat and vegetables to seafood paella has become common in other regions, where seasonal vegetables such as green beans, peas, artichokes, or peppers also go in. It is called paella mixta. Wine was not added in the past but it is sometimes today.
Here goes the recipe for you :
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste or finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- Salt
- 1 teaspoon pimentón dulce (or sweet paprika)
- A good pinch of saffron threads
- 4 cleaned small squid, bodies sliced into 1/4-inch-wide rings, tentacles left whole
- 2 cups medium-grain Spanish paella rice or risotto rice, such as Arborio or Carnaroli
- 3 cups fish or chicken stock, plus more if needed
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 12 jumbo shrimp in their shells
- 16 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
San jacobo
A “San Jacobo” is a popular “merienda” (afternoon snack) or tapa in Spain. It consists of a slice of cheese between 2 slices of cooked ham, which is breaded and then fried. It is delicious when the outside is crispy, while the cheese inside melts between the slices of ham. Could the “San Jacobo” be Spanish fast food? It’s delicious, easy to prepare and economical. Sounds like the perfect snack for beginning cooks or college students looking to prepare something different.
Again here goes the recipe for you and the ingredients needed.
- 8 slices (about 4″ x 4″) of cooked ham
- 4 thin slices cheese
- 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsp water
- 8 oz (1/4 liter) olive oil for frying
- Cooking time 5 mins.
Croquetas de jamon
Croquetas de Jamón are a common sight on bar counters and in homes across Spain, served as a tapa, light lunch, or a dinner along with a salad. The jamon serrano in this recipe could be replaced with chopped hard-boiled eggs, shredded salt cod, minced shrimp, chopped chorizo, cheese, or just about any vegetable.
Start the preparation the previous day to allow the béchamel time to set. It will make the mixture easier to handle when shaping the croquetas. Naturally it is served 6 each plate but if you are going to prepare at home eat as many as you like !
So here is the recipe for this delicious dish:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for deep-frying
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk, heated
- 3 ounces jamón serrano or other dry-cured ham, finely chopped
- Salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons fine dried bread crumbs
Empanadas
These tasty and convenient Latin-American-style turnovers can be frozen for up to three months, individually wrapped in plastic and placed in resealable plastic bags. There’s no need to thaw before baking, they can go right from the freezer to the oven. This dish you definitely dont want to miss !
PREP: 1 HOUR TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS SERVINGS: 8
FOR THE FILLING
- 2 pounds ground pork or beef
- 2 medium onions, finely diced
- 2 jalapeno chiles, minced (ribs and seeds removed for less heat, if desired)
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) tomatoes, diced
- coarse salt and ground pepper
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped