IAN & SPAIN

The Spanish love their "platos de cuchara". It is a fundamental part of the national gastronomy wherever you are in the country and a way of eating that defines real homemade hearty food in Spain.

During the autumn and winter seasons, it will dominate the first course of any "menu del dia".  Lentils and chorizo, Cocido (chicken, meat and vegetable stew), Chickpeas and Spinach, meat stews, rice soups and the recipe we will be looking at today, Fabada, are some of the dishes that will be appearing on menus across the country.

Basically, when they say "Plato de Cuchara" they are referring to the fact that you will need a spoon to eat it and bread to dunk in it! So, the season is here and the temperatures are dropping and a hot, filling dish is more appetising than ever, as is dunking crusty bread into a delicious broth.

Fabada Asturiana or simply fabada as it is more commonly known was logically from the northern Spanish region of Asturias. However, like many other dishes, it soon spread all over Spain and is recognised as one of the classic Spanish dishes. 

Fabada is made with "fabes" (white beans in Asturian), several types of sausage and pork (chorizo, black pudding, bacon), as well as spices such as saffron and bay leaves occasionally. These extra ingredients are often referred to as the 'compango'. 

Records referring to "fabes" go back as far as the 16th century, though its consumption was probably earlier than that. Like many other examples of Spanish food, fabada asturiana has rather humble origins as it was the poorer people who would mix fabes with any meat leftovers that they had from other dishes. 

Some historians claim that the fabada recipe already existed in the 17th century, however, there are no documents that confirm this theory. Even though fabes is mainly a rural ingredient, and was cultivated in large quantities, it is believed that the dish itself was actually established in the poorer city neighbourhoods.

Some say it is similar to cassoulet from Languedoc in France that likely entered Spain thanks to the French who took the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) during the middle ages when french pilgrims stayed at cities and towns along the way possibly sharing their recipes. However, the first written references for Fabada date back to 1884.  Whatever the origin, it won't affect how you are going to love this dish.

Fabada is really easy to make, it's cheap and all the ingredients are readily available in all Spanish supermarkets. It is an ideal meal for large family gatherings.... even though they aren't possible right now due to the current coronavirus. Really, it only requires one major skill - patience.....So let's crack on and see how to prepare it...

Ingredients (4-5 portions):

500 grams of large white beans (dried)
250 of cured pancetta or streaky bacon
2 chorizos from Asturias
2 morcilla from Asturias - blood sausages
200 grams of cured ham bone - "hueso de jamon"
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
3 strands of saffron...more or less
Water
Salt

1. Wash the beans under running cold water and let them drain. Soak them in a bowl of water (they should be completely covered) the night before. Ideally, they should be hydrating for at least 12 hours.

2. Some use the same water to cook the beans, but ideally, I would drain them completely and use freshwater. In a wide casserole pot, add the beans and water until they are well covered, leaving at least 2-3 fingers of water on top.

3. Put the pot over high heat and bring it to a boil. When that happens, you will see that a lot of foam rise to the surface, drain all that water and refill with fresh water. This simple trick of changing the water will not only help the flavour but it will also help to reduce what is referred to as the "music of the fabada"  - that is, the possible subsequent flatulence, which although we do not like to talk about it, is always an inconvenience.

4. Put the pot back over the heat and let it continue to froth (removing the foam every time it appears). When it starts to boil again with finally no froth appearing, add the "compango": the black pudding, the bacon/pancetta and the chorizo. 

5. Add the garlic and the peeled onion and reduce the heat almost to a minimum and simmer. Stir them gently from time to time, better with a wooden spoon, and be careful not to break the beans. Now is also the time to add the saffron - add the strands to a tablespoon of boiling water and stir it well before adding it to the broth.

6. When it has been cooking for an hour, you should "scare" the beans - this is an Asturian expression which means pouring half a glass of cold water over the beans to quickly bring down the temperature helping them cook further without overdoing it. Repeat the same process after they have been cooking for 2 hours.

7. Add a little salt and taste the broth. Try not to overdo it, as the sausages will slowly give off flavour, and you can always rectify with salt at the last minute.
After 3 hours of cooking, they should be ready. Taste a bean to make sure it is tender, and add salt if necessary. Don't be in a hurry, if it needs more cooking time, take it, your palate will thank you for it.

8. Once they are ready, remove the pan from the heat. Of course, the resting time is very important. Let them rest for at least an hour, although there are those who traditionally let them rest from one day to the next (let it cool down and then place in the fridge overnight). This will make the broth even creamier and tastier, a real treat to your senses. If you can, I do recommend it.

9. If you don't have much time to let them rest or if the broth has become too liquid, you can drain off a few beans, crush them and put them back in to give it more consistency, this way the starch will help thicken up the broth.

10. Remove the compango and place it on a separate plate or platter, and cut it so that there is one piece of each type for each person. Serve the beans in a deep dish and cover completely with broth, and add to each plate a piece of bacon, a piece of blood sausage and a piece of chorizo. The onion is normally not served, although if someone wants to eat it, go ahead!

11. Serve them warm and enjoy that creamy broth, but above all, do not forget to dunk your bread!

Enjoy!

‘L’arròs amb fesols i naps’ is a well-known Valencian dish also known as “Caldera”, ‘Olla de San Antón’ ò “Olla Pobre” (poor man’s pot). Whichever way you call it, it is a fantastic dish, which is ever so easy to make. Commonly made all around the Valencian Community during village festivities it is on a par with Paella when it comes to feeding large crowds. Traditionally made in tall cauldron pots, it can be just as easily made at home in a large casserole pot.

In the Valencian village of El Puig de Santa Maria, cooking rice in the town square has become a yearly tradition as it marks one of the highlights of their patron saint festivities - feeding the village. San Pere is a rather unusual festivities with numerous spectacles - apart from enjoying a hot plate of hearty rustic food - they also have the rather unusual tradition of throwing rats around the town square, yes! Rats! Fortunately, it is not on the same day so there is no chance of a stray rodent flying into the cooking pots! San Pere is celebrated on the last Sunday of January each year, this year it falls on the 28th.

Usually cooked over a log fire made with orange tree wood, it is custom to prepare this on the day of the villages’ patron saint and a plate is handed out to anyone who wants one. It is not unusual to see Falleros preparing it during the Fallas festivities too.

In English, we would call it ‘Rice with beans and swede’ although it does have some meat in it as well. The basic ingredients include pork (ear, snout, trotters, nowadays some lean pork is included and sometimes bacon), white sausage, onion morcillas, white beans, swedes (also known as yellow turnip), and edible cardoon, round Valencian rice, paprika and salt. As with many dishes born out of poverty, this one is no different, nowadays it isn’t unusual to find versions which substitute some of the cheaper cuts of pork for beef or lamb which also reduces the fat content and calorie count! Additionally, other areas such as L’Horta near the camp de Turia will substitute the white beans for garrafón, the large flat bean used in paellas. However, in all cases the essential ingredient that always characterises the flavour of this dish is swede, which gives a lovely sweet touch to the broth.

This rice broth or ‘arroz caldoso’ as we would call it is without a doubt the most widely established dish in the Valencian Community especially this time of year. It is, after the paella, probably the most popular rice dish for the locals and still greatly unknown by foreigners but the ritual behind this recipe does stir up a lot of curiosity. It is enjoyed throughout the L'Horta Nord (the northern region of Valencia famous for its vegetable fields)

In Vinalesa, a village in L’horta Nord they prepare their version of this dish on the 13 and 14 of October during their annual festivities. It is a recipe that is traditionally cooked by men, as with paella, in fact in Spain, men normally prepare any recipe that involves firewood. It’s sort of like the caveman syndrome. If it needs fire it’s a man’s job if it needs sweat, it for the women, that’s why the women the day before have to peel all the vegetables and are known as the ‘peladores’ or ‘the peelers’ while the men cut up the meat and prepare the wood. It’s kind of like a barbecue back home; it’s a man’s thing isn’t it? Nonetheless, all are happy and a huge quantity of food is prepared and given out to all the village.

In Godella, the Clavarios de San Antonio prepare this rice dish, en Masalfasar they also make this dish for the day of San Anton which has just past and they call it Poorman’s Pot: ‘Olla Pobre’. In Almàssera they call it ‘Caldera’, en Estivella they prepare it for the day of San Blas, en Alaquas they celebrate ‘El Porrat’ en honour of San Francisco de Paula on the 23rd of March and hand out this dish to anyone who happens to pass by. In Foios, Villarmarxante, Olocao and practically every other village in the community will have a special day for preparing this rice broth. It is unique and well worth trying. After the paella, it doesn’t get much more Valencian.

Here is the basic recipe for 6 people : 

300g Round Rice from Valencia
300g White Beans (soaked in water overnight)
300g Pork pieces (ears & snout)
300g Lean Beef in 3 large pieces
1 Pig’s tail cut into pieces
3 Pigs trotters cut into pieces
200g Pork Pancetta / un-smoked bacon
2 Onion Morcilla
1 Large White sausage – Blanquet
3 Medium-sized swedes
2 sticks of edible cardoon
3 medium-sized Potatoes
2 tsp. Paprika (de la Vera)
Saffron
Salt           

The process is really very simple. Fill a large deep stew pot with 3 litres of water. It should fill the pot to about ¾’s of its maximum volume. Start to heat up the water on a medium heat with a large pinch of salt.

Once the water is hot, add all the meat to the water, cut it up previous into manageable pieces, but not too small so they are easy to remove afterwards if you don’t want to eat them. I am not a great fan of ears, snout or trotters, so I just use them for flavour and separate them afterwards. I prefer the beef and pancetta with the morcillas and the white sausage. It is important to remember to create a cross on either end of the morcillas with toothpicks otherwise they will disintegrate in the broth. Once all the meat is in, let it cook for an hour or so. 

Now you will need to add the swedes and the cardoon. Don’t chop the swedes up too small; they should be in medium-sized chunks/pieces. Let it cook on low heat for another hour. 

Now we will add a pinch of saffron and the paprika. Remember we should always cook the paprika before adding it to any dish, so get a small frying pan and add a little extra virgin olive oil, heat up the oil and add the paprika, stir it and fry it for a few seconds and then add a ladle of stock to the pan from the pot, stir around and pour it all back into the stew pot and mix in. 

Now we need to add the potatoes and the beans. Cut the potatoes into medium-sized chunks. After 10 minutes we will need to add the rice but check for salt before doing so. Once the rice has been added stir in and cook(simmer) for a further 15 minutes and then remove from the heat. If the rice is still a little tough it will continue cooking in the stock so don’t worry.

That’s it. Serve up in a bowl or deep plate with a mixed salad and fresh crusty bread with a glass of red wine. It is also customary to eat this with raw sweet onion cut into pieces and sprinkled onto the plate. Then again if you find this too complicated and happen to be within driving distance of El Puig, why not pop along on Sunday  29th and get a plate from the experts?

ENJOY!

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