Aperitivo time

Aperitivo time...good at any time! The small hamlet of Fuente Nueva just outside the village of Orce in Granada only has a handful of full time residents, most live cave houses with the odd few residing in cortijo's. You could say that the hamlet is "muy tranquilo" most of the year - except during holiday season. Made up predominantly of cave homes the two barrios which make up Fuente Nueva are scattered with holiday caves, all of which become occupied during Easter, Summer and occasionaly for new years eve celebrations.

Our own neighbours arrive four times a year, from Barcelona and Madrid the family turns up for a couple of weeks to enjoy some time off. From one end of the spectrum to the other coming somewhere as quiet as this from the capital. Its normally around two in the afernoon that you hear a cry "Aperitivo!", a small metal table is laid out under the largest tree in the garden for shade and is covered in all manner of tapas, olives, jamon, chorizo and seafood.

The kids are usually creating havoc somewhere nearby in the campo while us adults sit down for a cerveza or two and a bite to eat. This happens every day for the duration of their stay, a very friendly affair and something to look forward to whenever the "vecinos" turn up. Plus of course there is nothing quite like a free cold beer in the sun on a weekday afternoon...

From a foodie point of view there is always something going on in the background, the bbq usually lit with escalivada roasting away and a batch from the day before being peeled by someone having been wrapped up in newspaper - Spanish tip of the day: wrap the veg for your escalivada in newspaper as it makes the skins infinately easier to peel off!

Chorizo and other sausages presented in a good selection of small tapas bowls come from Orce (carniceria de Julian) and occasionaly the market town of Huescar where you can find a small indoor market boasting fruit and veg stalls, fish shops and no less than four butchers, all of whom sell the same cured meats, hams and chorizo etc. You would think that competition would be fierce but in true Spanish style it is all very relaxed, even looking after each others store fronts while the other takes a break.

Below is one such carniceria, "secadero Ovalo" is a long established family run business with their signature "lomo de orza" (lightly fried pork tenderloin preserved in extra virgin olive oil) is always on display. There chorizo isn't half bad either with a nice sweet variety available, a favourite with the locals.

Discover more about Orce Serrano Hams suppliers (click on the image above) and find out where your hams and charcuterie comes from.

Pan fried mackerel with Iberico chorizo

Mmmmm...mackerel, how healthy are these fish! After the usual visit to the local pescaderia we came home with what seemed like kilos of mackerel. The initial idea was for a main meal but given the fact that the fish we had bought were a bit on the small size (not the usual giants) a few tapas experiments followed for the Friday lunchtime menu prior to all manner of marinade ideas for later that evening.

I must admit to being a fish filleting virgin prior to moving to Andalucia, seeing the fish guy do his stuff and making it look incredibly easy made me want to set about these fresh little gems on a weekly basis, its not just the prepping up (which I enjoy) but also the fact that you can make a cracking fish stock with the leftovers - my search for a whole monkfish head continues for a seafood paella, maybe one day this summer...

A ham carving knife comes in handy (no special fish filleting weapons in our rustic cave kitchen) so the 6 small mackerel were duley filleted, bones in a Spanish olla, boiled up for the next seafood paella. Like all simple dishes something like this takes very little time, the fillets themselves take under 3 minutes pan fried in olive oil and for the chorizo twist just a minute more.

Ingredients:

2 Small mackerel (filleted)
Flour
8 Slices Iberian chorizo
Baby spinack leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Quick Spanish Lunch:

Dust a plate with flour and add a pinch of salt and pepper to season, mix up.

Cover the mackerel fillets in the flour, both sides.

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the mackerel fillets, fry for a minute or so each side until done.

Meanwhile slice the Iberian chorizo into 2mm slices.

Lay your spinach on a plate and lay the mackerel on top, throw the chorizo in the pan and fry for one minute before serving with the fish.

Garnish with lemon and drizzle with a good extra virgin.

Hand made Spanish ceramics

Hand made Spanish ceramics. There's a lot more to Spanish ceramics than one might think... Here at Orce Serrano Hams we have continually been on the lookout for an artisan supplier of traditional ceramics, you know, one of those little back street shops that unless you knew was there would walk straight past and ultimately miss a real artisan experience. Little did we know that a day visiting the depot of our courier Nacex we would both find our supplier of some very exceptional ceramics and also visit one of oldest cave museums in Andalucia.

As with many things in rural Andalucia all good plans are thrown out the window to make way for alternative arrangements. Originaly we were having a day in the office catching up on the all important paperwork and trying to reduce a bank of 60+ recipes as well as organising a trip to a ham carving feria later in the year. A relaxing day in the office - not on your nelly!

The whole Spanish "day" began three ago weeks when the boss of Nacex (one of the most reliable couriers in Spain) sent a mini brochure from a business in Guadix that produces some of the finest serrano hams in the region. Interested we rang our man at Nacex "Rodrigo" to ask if there was anyone we should ask to speak to (not what you know its who you know). Turns out the jamon supplier was at a gourmet feria in Madrid but far be it from us to turn down a free coffee and tostada from a man who knows "many people".

Tostada devoured in a hotel that is owned by another guy who supplies cheese to Orce Serrano Hams we were thinking well what now? Remember the guy who makes the ceramics said Rodrigo, yes we replied, then lets go and see him. After driving through several back streets only negotiable through local knowledge we arrived in front of a seemingly normal shop/production premises that boasted plenty of terracotta.

Upon entering through the somewhat intrigueing doors I wish I had had the camera set up, a middle age man carefully striking away at a ceramic pot over a bench, almost head to toe in clay. The concentration on his face said it all. Looking to the right revealed rows and racks of ceramics from decorative pieces to the smallest tapas servers.

Juan Manuel, the maker of such things welcomes us and the camera into his establishment as well as Rodrigo who is by now in full Spanish swing talking about what we do, what we send to the UK and how interested we are in his ceramics. Now its one thing walking into a shop and eyeing up the whole array of products on offer but to see a old workbench covered in terracotta, sponges, tools and nearly finished pieces is quite another. Little be known to Juan Manuel the decision had more or less already been made to stock his items, it simply just doesn't come any better than this.

Like Orce, the town of Guadix is famous for its cave dwellings. You get the feeling though that Guadix although a bigger town has grasped the whole tourism angle much quicker than other neighbouring towns and villages. This became immediatly apparent looking at the ceramic cave novelties lined up row after row on the shelves, well finshed and very unique, you can tell Juan Manuel knows his supply and demand.

All became even clearer when after a bombardment of questions from us he suddenly asked "would you like to see the cave museum?" Of course we said yes thinking that this would be another excursion around the town but the museum was directly across the road only a few yards away from wher we had parked. It actually looked like a bar from the outside but upon entering you soon realised that it was in fact, an old cave full of Spanish antiques and of course a ceramic shop attached...

More on the cave museum later.

Elaborate pieces, these items are again hand made, its not until you get up close that you can fully appreciate the time and work that goes into something like this. Can't for the life of me remember what they are called but these pieces are traditional items from Gaudix town.

Less than 24 hours later our order of tapas bowls, olive servers, chupitos and quite a few other items arrived with Nacex. The new range is planned to go live for the end of April.

Spring tapas

Well its definately Springtime in Andalucia. After the amount of rain the region has had over the past few months I dare say one and all are enjoying a welcome break with some sunshine. Still chilly with a light frost in the morning but come lunchtime very pleasant. Tulips... a sign of spring and one of the few flowers that does well in the "campo mud"

After a long winter its good to see some real colour both in the garden and in the campo, the fields, albeit for a short time resemble bonnie Scotland with a green blanket creeping up the mountains. A short break perhaps as nature changes the seasons, Spring never lasts very long in Andalucia before you are into the raging heat of the Spanish summer.

On to some foodie thoughts... Spanish ham goes well with orange, the sweetness of the orange with a slight saltiness of the ham compliment each other quite nicely. A little cracked black pepper never goes a miss either nor does a drizzle of very good olive oil. Wrap em up! Nice and simple, easy tapas.

Carving Spanish Ham

Carving Spanish ham, one of the more common questions we get asked here at Orce Serrano Hams is how to carve a Spanish ham or at least how to start it off or "break into it". A Spanish ham can be quite a significant purchase so for it all to go wrong under the knife would be a disaster!

To try and demonstrate we have put together this short video which details how to go about cutting that first slice and acheiving the first plate of wafer thin tapas. Its worth noting that ham carving techniques differ quite considerably, this is simply my preferred method which is the most comfortable for me personally.



So there we have it, the first few slices. In the next ham carving video we will be demonstrating what happens when you get further down the ham and meet obsticles such as the hip bone and also keeping the ham moist and fresh.

For more hints and tips take a look at these useful links:

Ham Carving

Ham Storage

Easter Eating

Easter time in Orce is a big event as with all of Spain, Easter also means that Orce village and our small hamlet of Fuente Nueva becomes extremly busy. There are quite a few Spanish from the North of the country who have cave holiday homes in the area many of whom have been coming here for nearly 20 years. The community is quite tight knit so everyone knows everything about everyone! When it comes to social events though we always get an invite and although we can't attend every one we do like to work hard and party harder - or should that be fiesta harder?

This year saw some neighbours arrive for a short Easter break, just a few days but just enough time to organise a get together one afternoon for a home made "Fabada Asturiana" made by another friend originaly from Asturias. Having never had a "true" Fabada Asturiana before we were very much looking forward it, after all if a chef from Asturias can't make it then who can?

The table was set for ten including the kids who were running around outside trying to find Easter eggs. The neighbours had broght presents in the form of two walkie talkies for the boys so it was a mass and very well executed operation to find the camoflauged hard boiled eggs. There is a way to eat Fabada Asturiana which was all new to us, beans first with bread then the meat accomapnied with salad. The fava beans were something we have never seen the likes of, again from a small producer in Astirias these beans were enormous...! Almost a meal in itself.

Then comes the meat, smoked chorizo, morcilla (black pud) and some ribs for good measure, all cooked to perfection. Now all we need is the recipe as long as its not a closely guarded secret we'll try and get it posted here asap.

...and then...a well earned siesta. Just the job.