Tapas Workshop
You will be cooking…
Calamares fritos a la Andaluza (Deep-fried squid)
The Spanish eat a lot of fish; about thirty kilos a year per person. In Andalusia and the rest
of Spain, frying is one of the most popular culinary techniques. Don’t forget that Spain is
the largest producer of olive oil in the world.
Fried calamari or squid is one of the more famous dishes. The Spanish prefer eating hot
tapas because they are more laborious to prepare at home.
Ingredients
1. Squid
2. Flour
3. Oil
4. Salt
5. Lemon
Utensils
1. Bowl
2. Saucepan or large pan
3. Deep fryer
4. Container with lid
5. Kitchen roll
Instructions
TIP: Put the fried
squid on kitchen
roll to soak up the
excess oil.
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1. Clean the calamari with water and dry them well with kitchen roll. If they are not dry,
they will spit a lot when you put them in the hot oil.
2. Cut the squid into rings of the same size. If some are much larger than the others
they won’t cook the same.
3. Next, put the flour in the container. Season it with salt.
4. Add the calamari rings, put the lid on and shake it so that
the flour coats all the rings.
5. Pour a large amount of oil into the saucepan and heat it.
When it is hot, add the squid. You can use a fork to get the
squid out of the container (shake off the excess flour) and
make it land safely into the saucepan.
6. After a few minutes they’ll be ready.
7. Put them on a dish with lemon quarters. Enjoy!
Careful! Use a
glove when
putting the
calamari in the oil.
The oil is very hot.
Tapas Workshop
You will be cooking…
Gazpacho (chilled tomato soup)
This is traditionally a dish from Andalusia, where olive oil and vegetables are
abundant, and summers are very dry and hot. However, the origins of gazpacho as
a desmigado dish, is prior to the use of vegetables in its preparation and dates back
to the era of al-Ándalus.
The original gazpacho, made of breadcrumbs, water, vinegar and olive oil has
evolved over time, gradually adding different ingredients and becoming the
gazpacho of today.
Ingredients
Ripe tomatoes
Cucumber
Peppers
Onion
Garlic clove (x1)
Day-old bread
Oil
Vinegar
Salt
Utensils
Chopping board
Knife
Bowl
Mixer
Jug
Instructions
1. Before you start, wash the vegetables well.
Careful with the
vinegar. If you add
too much it will
taste too bitter.
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2. Next, peel the onion and garlic. Remove the stalks and seeds from the
peppers.
3. Cut up all the ingredients into small pieces and put them in the mixer.
4. Mix the ingredients until you have a slightly thick liquid.
5. In order to obtain the optimal texture, it´s a good idea
to use a sieve to get rid of the small pieces.
6. Add salt, vinegar and oil to taste. My friend Dani from Malaga suggests
adding a spoonful of mayonnaise as the final trick for the perfect texture!
If the liquid is too
thick you can add a
bit of water, but not
too much.
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You will be cooking…
Stuffed eggs
Most scientists agree that chickens originated from the south east of Asia. The
domestication of chickens occurred in China around 1400BC, although some
authors say that the complete domestication of these fowl occurred around 2000
years BC. Chickens were introduced in Europe thanks to the large migrations of
Indo-European people approximately four thousand years ago and, it is also
believed that chickens were the first European animals to reach the American
continent, given that Christopher Columbus took some with him on his second
voyage. The reason he took chickens with him was because they take up little
room, their feed is simple and they also produce eggs. In Spain, eggs are eaten
fried and in Spanish omelettes, but in summer they are also used for the following
dish.
Ingredients
1. Eggs
2. Peppers
3. Stoneless olives
4. Salt
5. Pepper
6. Mayonnaise
Utensils
1. Knife
2. Plate
3. Chopping board
4. Mixing bowl
Instructions
1. First, hard-boil the eggs (we’ve already done this step for you to save time).
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2. Next, carefully peel them, removing all of the eggshell. Wash them under
running water to remove any last little bits.
3. On a board, cut the eggs in half (from the top down to the basis so that the
egg halves stand on the plate).
4. Carefully remove the yolk, without breaking the white.
5. Meanwhile, finely chop the peppers, olives and yolks. Once you have
chopped and mixed them together well, add two spoons of mayonnaise until
you have a creamy mixture.
6. Place a spoonful of the mixture in each egg half.
7. Sprinkle with ground pepper and chives.
8. Enjoy!
Tapas Workshop
You will be cooking…
Montadito of Tuna-stuffed piquillo peppers
Peppers originate from Mexico, Bolivia and Peru. They were introduced in Spain in
1493, after Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to America. However the largest,
fleshiest, sweet or slightly spicy varieties, we eat nowadays, weren’t cultivated until
the 20th century. Peppers are used in many traditional Spanish dishes. Pimientos
del piquillo come from Navarre, and montaditos are typical in San Sebastián
(Basque Country). According to tradition, they were first made at the end of the
30s. Nowadays, they are one of the successes of Spanish gastronomy and “pintxo”
bars are very popular.
Ingredients (few and very basic)
1. Bread
2. Tuna
3. Pimientos del piquillo
4. Cream cheese
5. Salt
6. Pepper
7. Boiled egg
Utensils
1. Knife
2. Bowl
3. Platter
4. Grater
Instructions
1. First slice the bread. Try to cut thin slices diagonally, the result will be more
esthetic.
Careful! In Spanish
these are two very
similar words:
pimiento and
pimienta. Pimiento is
a vegetable and
pimienta is a spice.
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2. Next put the tuna in a bowl (pour out the excess oil from the can first) and
add the cream cheese. Season to taste. Mix well.
3. Open the pot of peppers and drain off the liquid. Carefully fill
each of the peppers with one or two spoonfuls of the tuna and
cream cheese mixture.
4. Grate a bit of boiled egg onto each slice of bread.
5. Place a stuffed pepper on top. To make sure it stays put you can use a
toothpick.
6. Optionally, add chopped chives and grained pepper on top.
TIP: To make it more
beautiful, arrange the
eggs radially starting
from the center of the
dish.
Tapas Workshop
You will be cooking…
Pan con tomate or Pa amb tomàquet (Tomato-rubbed bread)
The tapa you are going to prepare is called “Pa amb tomàquet” [pumtoomáket].
This is a typical dish from here in Catalonia, the north east of Spain. It was
originally made to use up dried bread. According to tradition anyway! This dish can
accompany many different types of meals. The instructions and the ingredients are
very simple, but important.
Ingredients
1. Bread (if possible “de payés”)
2. Tomato
3. Olive oil
4. Salt
5. Garlic (optional)
Utensils
1. Knife
2. Plate
3. Toaster
Instructions
1. First slice the bread.
2. Next you can toast the bread, so that the crumb won’t break up when you
rub it with the tomato.
The tomatoes are
really important.
They must be very
ripe. In Catalonia
there is a special
type of tomato used
only for this recipe.
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3. Cut the tomato in half, crosswise, with the core side up.
4. Rub the bread with the garlic (easy on the garlic!) and then with the tomato
until it is red.
5. Add a pinch of salt.
6. And lastly, drizzle with olive oil.
7. Enjoy!
Slice some cheese and fuet (Catalan special salami) on the side to eat with
the bread.
A pinch of salt
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You will be cooking…
Tortilla de patatas or Tortilla española (Spanish omelette)
Tortilla de patatas is a simple, easy and delicious dish. As with all popular dishes,
each household makes it differently. There are families who add onion, others who
don’t. To make the traditional recipe we would need more time, so we’re going to
make the “new generation” tortilla de patata.
No one knows when it originated but potatoes, introduced from America, weren’t
cultivated until the end of the 18th century because of the famines caused by bad
harvests. Today this is a very popular dish in Spanish cooking.
Ingredients (few and very basic)
1. Potato chips (1 bag)
2. Eggs (x8)
3. Oil
4. Onion (optional)
Utensils
1. Knife
2. Bowl
3. Frying pan
4. Wooden spoon
5. Plate (for turning it over)
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, beat 6 eggs.
2. Before opening the bag of chips, break them up a bit so that you have
smaller pieces.
Chips are already
salty. So, in this
recipe we won’t
need to add any
more salt.
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3. Add the chips to the bowl with the eggs. It’s important to leave the chips
soaking in the eggs for about 10-15 minutes. Be patient! The chips need to
soften.
4. Put a bit of oil into the frying pan and heat it. Before adding the mixture to
the frying pan, add two more beaten eggs for an extra juicy tortilla.
5. Once the frying pan is hot, pour in the mixture and turn down the heat.
6. At the beginning it’s important to move the frying pan a bit so that the
mixture doesn’t stick.
7. When the egg starts to bubble you can turn over the tortilla.
8. To turn the tortilla over: put a plate over the frying pan; keeping your hand
on it, quickly flip the frying pan over. If it all goes according to plan, the
tortilla should be on the plate! The instructor can show you how this should
be done.
9. Heat a bit more oil in the frying pan and gently slide the tortilla back into it.
10. Once it is cooked, put it onto a plate. Slice it up and enjoy!
In Spanish “dar la
vuelta a la
tortilla” is also a
saying. It means “to
turn the tables”.
You will be cooking…
Patatas arrugadas al mojo (wrinkled potatoes with sauce)
This is traditionally a dish from the Canary Islands. Canary Islands' cuisine
combines traditional Spanish recipes with African and Latin-American influences.
There is an incredible variety of recipes in this cuisine, which uses the excellent
local produce of fish, fruit and vegetables.
A very simple and well-known recipe is Papas Arrugadas, potatoes boiled in salt-
water without peeling them and served with Mojo picón, a spicy sauce of oil, garlic,
chili-peppers and paprika. Each chef keeps his or her recipe for Mojo a guarded
secret. This sauce is also a component of many other traditional dishes.
Ingredients
1 kilo of small potatoes1
250 g of salt
Water
Mojo
Utensils
Chopping board
Knife
Bowl
Mixer
Pot
Instructions
1. Before you start, wash the potatoes well. We are not going to peel them, so
be sure that no soil is left on the skin.
1 It is important for the potatoes to be roughly the same size; otherwise the cooking time won’t be the
same.
Use a toothbrush to
wash the potatoes
and remove the soil
more easily.
2. Put them in a pot and cover them with water. It is better if the water is
already warm.
3. Add the salt. We always use ¼ of the weight of potatoes in salt. If we
prepare 1 kilo of potatoes, we must use 250 grams of salt.
4. Cook for between 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the
size of the potatoes. Use a fork to check the cooking
process. We want tender-cooked potatoes, not potato
puree.
5. When you see they are tender, remove from the pot
and cool them with water.
6. Dry the potatoes with kitchen paper.
7. Put the potatoes in the pot we used to boil them (it should be still warm)
with NO water. Put some salt and pepper and add the potatoes.
8. Set the stove on a low heat and move the pot so the potatoes don’t sit all
the time on the same spot. This will wrinkle and give them a whitish color.
This process should take about 5 minutes.
9. Remove the pot from the heat and cover with a cloth.
Rinsing the potatoes
in cool water, helps
to stop the cooking
process.
You will be cooking…
Mojo rojo and Mojo verde
Mojo (pronounced mO-ho) is a sauce served with many dishes, which is made
mainly of oil, garlic, vinegar, salt, red pepper, thyme, oregano, coriander and
several other spices. The two main kinds of mojo are rojo (red, often served with
meat) and verde (green, often served with fish), although both are served with
potatoes. Spicy red mojo is called mojo picón. This recipe is the base of the mojos
typical of Latin America, especially Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela, due to heavy
Canarian emigration, and has also influenced the cuisines of the non-Hispanic
Caribbean islands.
Ingredients for Red Mojo
1 bulb of garlic
2 hot peppers
1 tsp of cumin grains
1 tsp of paprika
4 tbsp of vinegar
15 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of sweet paprika
Salt to taste
Ingredients for Green Mojo
A large bunch of fresh coriander (or parsley)
1 bulb of garlic
1 tsp of cumin grains
4 tbsp of vinegar
15 tbsp of olive oil
A handful of breadcrumbs for thickening
A handful of
breadcrumbs can
be added to
thicken the mojo
Utensils
Chopping board
Knife
Bowl
Mixer
Instructions
1. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Grind them in a mortar or a mixer along
with the cumin grains, the peppers with the seeds removed, and the cooking
salt until they bind into a soft paste.
2. Add the paprika, and then slowly add the oil and vinegar whilst stirring until
you have a thick paste.
3. This paste can be diluted to taste with a small cup of water.
4. The sauce can be kept for several months in the fridge.
You can also make a
not so spicy, milder
sauce by using
sweet peppers
instead of hot
peppers.