My cooking has continued to improve. As much as I enjoyed cooking in the states, it was not often enough. The kitchen; is now my laboratory. I have put together something of the best meals I have ever cooked in these past 4 weeks on the simple basis of, "OK eggs, you taste delicious when I cook you by yourselves, now, lets see how you taste with your international friends chorizo and morcilla!!" Maybe I can mix you mrs. pasta with mr. rice and throw in some pechuga de pavo, and boom! Simple, succulent, and sooo savory. Mind you almost everything can be cooked with home grown extra virgin olive oil, which can go on everything from toast to a stapler, depending on how hungry I am. I think that its my concept of "meal" that makes them so good, its simplicity. Prior to cooking I just ask myself, what will be my protein, carb, and veggies? Thats it! All I buy from the store is fresh meats, veggies, fruits, and some other essentials. Mainly because its economical but its all so natural. Whatever is in my food pantry is what I have to work with so it forces me do the best I can with what I have. Seasonings are always involved to liven things up.
I really think whenever your approaching the kitchen around meal time, it should be full of enticing smells that transform your nose into a general who directs your body exactly to the source. I also like to mix everything after cooking each item individually. Just looking at a steaming plate with colorful greens, reds, fresh meats, seasoning makes me shed a tear.
The bread here is something else. It is incredibly good. Why they haven't opened a bagel place is beyond me because it might just be the next best thing, ...since sliced bread! ahh terrible joke sorry. No matter what day it is a panaderia will be open pumping out fresh bread. The bread used for meals is purchased on a daily basis and spaniards use it for all their meals. The bread goes beyond just a delicious carb that you munch on before your meal or toasted with some budda, here its used a a second fork. One hand is for prodding, the other is for scooping with your pan, the bite ratio is probably 3:1 food:bread. Since most of the traditional meals here are cooked in some broth/type/olive oil sauce, every flavor is collected, and your left to enjoy those enhanced flavors soaked up in the bread. ¡qué rico!
In almost every kitchen in Spain there is a pigs leg. Yea, just sitting there, hoof too. It is not cooked, it has been cured for about a year in nothing but salt. No cooking, no frying, no nothing. If you like prosciutto, then you should know this is very similar, just a whole lot better. The pig farms that produce the meat are regulated by an organization to recognize their level of ranking in the meat industry. The best is "Jamón ibérico, Iberian ham, also called pata negra, is a type of cured ham produced only in Spain. It is at least 75% black Iberian pig, also called the cerdo negro (black pig)....The finest jamón ibérico is called jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn). This ham is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests (called la dehesa) along the border between Spain and Portugal, and eat only acorns during this last period." -From the web
It's so good, I had a leg vacuum sealed, and I brought it back to the states.
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