Best Spanish Recipes

Most Spanish regions sport their own variation of this simple, quick recipe. It is easy, cheap and delicious so it features on every Spanish mum’s trick bag when feeding the family. This is as close as it gets to Spanish fast food. Only healthier, and much better tasting!

This dish is an original recipe. It is a dish for spring, mixing winter and summer ingredients into a bright, flavoursome combination. Its colour, scent, textures and taste are all designed to wake up the senses after the winter lull. Try it at sunset after a day of sun and some showers.

Cava originates from Catalonia, and so does this dish, delicious as a main, a side to game or fish or as part of contemporary creations. Initially prepared as a way to use a day-old half bottle of flat left-over cava, it has been adopted by contemporary Catalan cuisine as an indigenous new dish that combines european influences with local produce and years of rich winemaking history. Today Arroz al Cava can be found in the best restaurants, where it is made using only the best Spanish paella rice and the most sought-after Cava vintages.

Pan de Calatrava is a variation on Flan. Legend says that Flan was strengthened with bread donated by the village folk at Calatrava’s monastery, becoming one of the dietary staples for the monks who lived there and who had access to the other ingredients -eggs, milk and sugar- at their own little walled farm. Today it is a sough-after dessert full of infinite possibilities and variation.

A typical dish of Valencia, Spain originated in the 1960s when noodles were used instead of rice in the popular dish paella. Relatively obscure until very recently, Fideuà has quickly become a favourite at Spain’s top restaurants. Its versatility, flexibility and the ability to use the freshest seasonal produce in its preparation make it the perfect blend of tradition and modernity for the aspiring star chef to make his/her mark.

Traditional sangría recipe with red wine, spirits and fruit. White wine can be used instead of red, in which case the result is called sangría blanca. Each region, town and bar in Spain seem to have their own recipe, this is a traditional one from generations ago.

I created this dish last year for a Christmas dinner. Based on a the traditional recipe and adding some oriental inspiration while using only traditional Spanish ingredients, the results are surprising yet somehow familiar. A very successful creation, guaranteed to excel at any occasion.

Contemporary salad recipe inspired by a trend towards healthier options and new forms of using traditional ingredients. The base pepper-based medley known as a vinagreta which typically appears as accompaniment to fish fillets or mussels becomes the main attraction, almost relegating the delicate octopus to a supporting role.

This is a delicious coffee-flavoured warm alcoholic drink. What is really special about this recipe is that, while it is being prepared, people recite a spell to do away with all the ills of the soul… and scare the witches away! In this tradition there is a lot that is pagan and mysterious. Everyone sitting in the dark, forming a circle around the pot, stirring, casting the spell…

Delicious and very easy to prepare, pulpo a la gallega is often consumed as tapas on a bed of hot potatoes. It can also be consumed as a light main at lunchtime. On hot summer days the hot potatoes are left out and the cool octopus is spooned with warm olive oil to create a refreshing, lukewarm delicacy.