Tag Archives: Spain

Paella – The Spanish Way

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Well, we are back from our holiday in Spain and are currently sitting it out at the in-laws’ place for a few weeks while they are in France and someone else is occupying our flat. One big home-swapping chain! I can’t wait to finally get back to my own bed and have all of my things in one place but alas, no doubt as soon as that happens we will have to pack it all up again and move into our new home. I am excited about the move (honest)… Just not so keen on the packing and unpacking. I actually think I’m beginning to feel a bit  like the littlest hobo might have felt but with MUCH more baggage!

Our last few days in Spain went far too fast for my liking and we ran out of time to cover all the areas we wanted to visit. However, our final base in Mijas was just what the doctor ordered and we even managed to find some time for a fabulous lesson on how to make Paella from the very lovely Janet Mendal. Janet is an American-born author who has written five Spanish cookery books. I think she was definitely the one to learn from. It was a great help that she wasn’t speaking in Spanish to us like everyone else and as I had never really even eaten a decent Paella before (let alone made one), I really learnt a lot in the hour or so we were with her. Our wonderful host provided us with entrees and wine whilst she cooked up a storm with great ease and explained how things were done. Then we just popped next door, lit up the mosquito candle, poured the wine and stuffed ourselves silly on the terrace. Bliss.

Rather than listening to me ramble on about how to make Paella why not take a look here on Janet’s blog – My Kitchen in Spain (Why would you want to hear it from me – A pure novice? ) Her blog is very insightful and has spurred me on to try and cook some more traditional Spanish dishes in the near future.

Janet has a lovely home just a short drive away from the center of Mijas and we stayed in the private studio next door. It took me a good few days to get used to the bugs in the surrounding area but I think I actually conquered my fears and can now actually ignore the buzzing of the wasps without running around and flapping my arms about like a mad woman with a rocket up her rear end! I tracked her studio down after hours of searching on the net for an affordable place for two, that was private and a bit more secluded than the usual hotel option. Being surrounded by the olive trees and hills really gave us the sense of being part of the real Spain and we were well away from the saturated holiday resorts that most people travel to the Costa Del Sol for.

The only thing that we were not initially looking forward to about the studio was the separate beds, but let me tell you with the weather as hot as it was it was an absolute blessing to be on my own and not fighting off the covers that usually get thrown on top of me when a certain someone doesn’t want them!

I’d thoroughly recommend getting in touch with Janet if you too would like to learn how to make Paella and need a place to stay. It made for a lovely evening and lasted us for two nights, costing much less than the same meal in a restaurant.

Our Fab host showing us the Paella way.

Part way through…

The finished product…

Going, going...


Gone!

You can see more of Janet’s Studio here if you are interested in hiring somewhere affordable for your trip to Spain: http://www.holiday-home-rentals.co.uk/rentals/5837.html

Costa Del Sol

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We’ve been in the Costa Del Sol for five whole days now and I’ve spent most those days melting in the heat. I’m not moaning – Just melting! It has been between 34-38 degrees every day and as lovely as a bit of heat is, it has taken some time to adjust. We now understand the Spanish routine of late, long and large lunches and small, very late dinners, but it’s really tricky getting into the habit when you’ve had the opposite drummed into you for over 30 years.

I wasn’t quite sure that Spain and I would get on at first, but it’s definitely growing on me. Not speaking the language we’ve found some things a bit tricky and I have been doing a lot pointing at menus, or simply pretending to know what people are saying. I don’t feel I’m going to get the most out of eating over here as I can’t read everything on the menu. I’d rather eat in one of the restaurants for the locals rather than the ones that feel obliged to put chicken and chips on the menu… I know, I know, I should have learned the language!

We spent the first three days driving around and checking out places such as Cadiz  (which apparently could be the oldest city in Europe) and Jerez De La Frontera. We stayed in a fab hotel right in the center of town in Jerez called the Hotel Palacio Garvey. I’d love to have spent more time in the town and would definitely head back there. We hit a fabulous food market in Cadiz but unfortunately couldn’t take any of it with us for fear of it actually cooking in the boot of the car. It was nice enough there but Jerez won me over out of the two.

For the rest of our trip we will be based in Mijas which is about half an hour from Malaga. It’s full to the brim with English people. I knew this would be the case but wasn’t expecting quite so many. For that reason we have decided to take quite a few day trips to try to see a bit more of the real Spain… If that’s possible in the high summer season with our rubbish knowledge of the language. It’s so English that one of the restaurant owners (who was a full on Spaniard)  asked us how we were in the cockney-ist of accents to try to entice us to eat at his place.

Alex sussing out the olives.

Look at the garlic on those… I did whiff for a while!

Wouldn’t need five of these in my stir fry.

Me. Still need to work on the tan.