Tapas and Paco

It’s very hot. I know we shouldn’t complain when it’s hot but i reckon it’s high 30s here. Writing a little earlier today as we have the evening and tomorrow off to sober up and digest the mountain of food we have cooked and eaten over the last two days. Most of the day we were chopping and slicing but we had a brief trip to the butcher who is a celebrity in these parts. Some people from Vejer went to watch Real Madrid play carrying a banner saying “If Sergio Ramos gives us his shirt, we will give him some lomo en Manteca” which is a local pork dish made by Paco Melero, the butcher of Vejer. The moment he removes his shirt and runs to the guys with the banner is available on YouTube. Overnight, Paco became famous and his small shop was bombarded by the worldwide press. Well deserved as it’s incredibly tasty! Here he is shaking hands with a fellow butcher who is on our cooking course…

So on today’s menu, we cooked tuna salad, prawns in garlic oil, orange and lemon cake, octopus salad, tortilla, meatballs and carrot salad. The octopus prep was the best – and it melted in your mouth. Not sure whether Waitrose in Godalming stocks a lot of octopus but will be on the hunt when I get home. And I want one of the octopus jugs like AnnieB’s – Zara home apparently! Tuna salad was good, meatballs were chorizo and pork so tasty and the carrot salad was nice. But the best dish was the prawns in garlic oil. Whenever I cook them at home they turn out dry and like cardboard. Next time, am hoping for the mouthwatering deliciousness produced by Pepe. The trick is to buy frozen prawns with their skins on. And to use a whole head of garlic. Can’t wait to try this at home.

Another new skill was cooking a tortilla. Potatoes were peeled and cut into chips and then large cubes. There was a ton of olive oil put in the pan and the potatoes were left to cook without stirring for 20 mins – a couple of small stirs and then onion and green peppers were added for about 10 mins. Then everything drained (oil saved for reuse). Eggs beaten and potato mixture added then poured into clean pan and stirred quite a bit to start with. Left for about 5 mins – tossed and left for a few more minutes. Delicious. My car crash tortilla which ends up half in the pan and half cooked are a thing of the past, I hope!

All this was washed down with the obligatory five different types of sherry. All tasted better than the last. And pudding was a cake that was even better than yesterday’s chocolate cake, served with creme fraiche and fresh peaches.