Top Spanish Tapas...

Chufi Horchata - Horchata de Valencia

Wow its hot in England this week! Lets hope it stays that way for this weekends BBQ's, Wimbledon and generally a taste of summer - a bit of good weather to cheer everyone up after all of this years doom and gloom, stop reading the papers, turn off the TV and fire up the barby!

Here is a drink the Spanish enjoy, outside the bar or on the patio an ice cold Horchata hits the spot on a summers day....



Horchata de Valencia is made from "Tiger Nuts" and has a very unique flavour, milk shake consistency but very refreshing and very, very healthy.



Horchata is available in both "Original" and "Maestro" the latter being slightly thicker and having more tiger nuts in the recipe.

Lovely stuff for the hot weather and the kids will enjoy it too.

Fancy a glass? >>>

Sobrasada, the Mallorcan sausage...

Sobrasada is one of those unique delights from Spain which is still relatively undiscovered. Unique in both flavour and its somewhat strange appearance the sobrasada sausage is enjoyed all over Spain and goes exceptionally well with - Honey.

In fact its almost criminal not to have sobrasada with honey! The two flavours go so well together that there are not that many recipes out there for this sausage. Staying with the honey theme here we have one of the simplest sobrasada recipes available with an added twist of fruit...



Take one french stick and cut into slices and toast.

Spread a good portion of sobrasada on top of each toast.

Drizzle with honey.

Slice up a ripe kiwi fruit and place on top.

Serve and enjoy, a very Summery Spanish breakfast.

Serrano ham and Manchego cheese - perfect tapas? Well we think so although accompanied by a good red wine really does compliment the duo quite nicely!

Not that often we write a promotional post on this blog but for the benefit of our readers in the EU we thought this would be something worth letting you know about...

Meet the Serrano Ham "Anejo" translation into English roughly means "Aged". This ham is cured for no less than 24 months, weighs in at 8 kilos + and boasts a fabulous texture, flavour and aroma. One of the finest artisan hams from Granada.



So why the big fuss? Well, if you haven't visited our online Spanish Delicatessen yet the Anejo currently has 10% off its usual website price but that's not all...

Throughout the summer of 2009 the Serrano Ham Anejo also comes with a wheel of mixed milk Spanish cheese for your enjoyment - absolutely FREE! The cheese itself is a mixture of cows and ewes milk - perfect for tapas and a fine accompaniment to the grand reserva "jamon". What makes this offer even more attractive is that the cheese is a substantial 1.8 kilo's - a decent round of cheese that will accompany the ham from the first slice to the last. Tapas Perfection!



Take advantage of this fantastic offer and visit Orce Serrano Hams and have a browse through our Spanish ham and embutidos pages.

Serrano Ham Anejo


Need Ham Tapas Ideas? Discover more >>>

Serrano ham pieces are great if you don't need a full ham, they are of course boneless, easy to carve and unlike full leg serrano hams can be kept in the fridge. Looking after your ham piece is very simple and much the same as a full ham - simply rub a little olive oil over the most recently cut area, cover with a ham sock (tea towel works just as well) and place in the fridge for next time.



...If you have a friendly local butcher why not trade a few slices and get them to machine cut some of you ham piece, wafer thin slices with a nice Manchego and bottle or red...lovely!



Recipe: Serrano Ham and Pear Salad

Ingredients

100g Mixed salad leaves
1 Pear (sliced)
30g Toasted almonds (chopped)
Good splash extra virgin olive oil
Splash white wine vinegar
300g Serrano ham
100g Manchego cheese
Broad leaf parsley (chopped)

Method

Mix the pear almonds and salad leaves in a large cazuela.

Whisk together the olive oil and vinegar, add to the salad and toss.

Cut your serrano ham into inch long (approx) slivers and spread around the salad with the cheese.

Scatter with parsley.