Food Wine Sleep

Paella (pa-yay-aa) is a traditional Spanish dish that actually takes its name from the pot in which it is cooked, a paellera. Paella originated from the Valencia region but now virtually every part of Spain offers their own version. There is much debate as to what ingredients belong in a Paella, but there is no debate that at the core there should be rice and saffron. This is the recipe I cook when entertaining, but if I'm cooking only for my girlfriend and I, it might be a very simple Paella with a couple of ingredients or an incredibly involved dish teeming with everything under the sun. This usually depends on my mood and the state of my wallet. As always and especiall...

This recipe comes from a friend of mine; Maria. She is from the beautiful coastal region of Galicia in the North West of Spain. The area is bountiful in many types of delicious seafood and the local's diet and Maria's repertoire clearly represents this. Her seafood recipes are amazing and the stories she tells of her upbringing eating all the wonderful local specialties always makes my mouth water. One such dish that had me salivating when she first told me about it was this one; Pulpo a'la Gallega. Unfortunately when I make it, I break a cardinal rule and serve it on a normal plate as opposed to the traditional wooden plate. I don't think she has yet forgiven me and I am...

This dessert is ideal to serve if you are having a large gathering. It sets in the dish or glass you serve it in and it can be prepared well ahead of time. It can be made for minimal guests as well, although due to the 3 different components it may be a bit cumbersome. Of course you could just serve more to your minimal guests in order to make it worth the effort, but beware; rich rich rich.

The first time I had this dish was a few years back. A gang of us went to a Spanish restaurant for a going away dinner for a few of the group that were off to Europe indefinitely. It was a brilliant night with beautiful food, great friends, kitschy flamenco music, lots of sangria and many embarrassing stories from the past. The details are a little sketchy but a couple of things I remember particularly well are; the Restaurant was about the size of a small sailboat with less than 7 tables in all. Despite this it was a very comfortable place, the seating was on wooden benches that resembled church pews and scattered over them were randomly coloured embroidered cushions. Th...