It happened to be the two gentlemen that own this bungalow we are staying in are the guys that taught the cooking class, are from Seattle and have lived here in Torrox Spain for about 9 years. Their names are Arthur and Christopher. They have a home set up on a hill in Torrox Pueblo and the class was conducted there.
We were given a list of ingredients, and as a group needed to decide on what we wanted in our Paella. We were then given a certain amount of money and our assignment was to go into the village and negotiate the purchasing and decisions on how much to buy with the money we had for the ingredients. No small tasks with the varrying of taste, but the end result all proved to be, well more about that later.
We then took a stroll through the pueblo stopping at different homes of elderly people that were selling a few pieces of vegetables and fruit brought in from the farm that the family owned. We would then continue to go to small little tiendas (stores) that had very basic supplies.
We would be up what we needed and continued to the next store, all the while being informed of the history of Torrox. We went up and down streets, up and down stairs finally winding our way to a wine and olive oil co-op. We then toured this co-op (picture above) and saw first hand how the small growers would bring in their truck loads of olives, some small, some large. From the beginning of the process to the very end where we were brought into the warehouse stocked with pure (melt in your mouth like butter) olive oil. The flavor was light and not at all strong or bitter that we get in the states or Mazatlan. The price is unbelievably good. A 1/2 gallon of this suberb olive oil was aproximately $10. At the end of our olive tour, there is also like I said part of this co-op is wine. We sampled 2 different types of wine, sweet and semi-sweet. The semi-sweet would be compared to Ice Wine at a fraction of the cost. I purchased 2 bottle of the semi-sweet for a 1/5 of the cost as the same size Ice Wine cost us when we traveled through Canada. I'm not sure those bottles will make it back to Mazatlan for our wine tastings. Sorry group!
Our last stop was at the local butcher. There came the hardest decision, what kind of meat and/or fish did we want in our Paella. Let me just say we ended up with Chicken, Rabbit, Shrimp, Squid and Chorizo pictured below.
Butcher showing the rabbit, and yes head is still attached here.
Ingredients in hand, we walk back up the hills and stairs to the casa of Christopher and Arthur to assemble the ingredients and prepare to cook the Paella. We each had a station and proceeded to clean and chop all the vegetables, the meat, clean and cut the squid and then begin.
Shown here is our only male that joined us and is shown preparing the squid. Next is the meat all skinned and chopped ready to cook. The stock was pre-made but was basically a chicken broth. I won't give you a list or recipe for Paella as this recipe cost me $75 dollars and the experience was priceless. These two men conducted a first class course all the way. I don't know how many of you reading this will make it to the Costa del Sol, but should you, this is a must do for every one. I will also put their contact information, website, etc. at the end of this as they also have rentals available in Torrox.
Shown here is Christopher putting the finishing touches in his Spanish Sangria, shown here with red wine and some other special ingredients.
Right before sitting down to our feast a picture is taken with the 6 of us that prepared the entire meal and an additional lady that joined us for the lunch only. 4 were from Australia, 1 from Sweeden, and 1 from England and myself from the US/Mexico.
So as I try and describe our meal, I want to mention that one of the assignment were for one of the group to make Sopa de Ajo Blanco (Chilled Garlic Soup). We started of with bread freshly made along with the pure olive oil from the co-op we visited accompanied by this soup. It tasted very good and I will be making this again. It of course has a strong garlic taste and is creamy. We then served ourselves the Paella along with a green salad. I steered clear of the squid, other then one bite. I honestly could not tell the difference beteen the rabbit and chicken. Another meat that shares the taste of poultry. The rice that is used is essential and the flavor and texture was a tickle for the taste buds. It was a gastronomic delight and yes, I will make this again. Remember, the ingredients can be varied somewhat, so even though there was not to much difference in the flavor of chicken and rabbit, most likely that will stay out of my next Paella. The guys surprised us with a small sample of the semi-sweet wine and their out-of-this-world flan. note: I thought I made the best flan, sorry, these two have me beat.
We all said our good-byes, exchanged email addresses and off we went 9 hours later. As I mentioned, here is their website http://www.spain-vacation-holiday.com/index.html Here you will find rentals, cooking classes and entertaining ideas.
By the way, Joel did get some leftovers of the Paella. He's a happy man!
Until next time,
Janice
Now this is what travel experiences are all about!!! Fantastic and look at the setting, too. Good for you and Joel..again, making the most of a super trip. Paella has never been a favorite of mine, but this sure looks good. Even your neighbor, Gabino, who thinks he makes the best...uh...borrring. Maybe we are going to have to have a Spain night so you can show off your skills, instead of an Italian night..who knows?
ReplyDeleteMouth is watering. I want some! (paella, wine, everything!)
ReplyDelete