NEWS AND EVENTS

FEBRUARY 2012

Spanish Recipe Book

Spanish recipes by their very simplicity are some of the easiest and most flavoursome Mediterranean recipes to make. Take ‘la paella’, traditionally a poor mans dish from Valencia yet now the country’s most famous culinary export. Over the years we have added recipes to our website in the form of homemade Spanish tapas, meat, fish, chicken and vegetarian, many of the dishes come from local bars and restaurants in Orce village, others from local residents, friends and neighbours all over Spain, some are also our own culinary experiments using the wide choice of fresh ingredients available from rural Andalucia.

We are pleased to announce that you can find over one hundred of these recipes in our new e-book which is available for 2012. Taking some of our personal favourites, Spanish classics and some of the more unique yet no less tasty recipes you now have a delicious collection of great Spanish recipes all in one handy book. How did it all come about? Well Gayle has always fancied writing a recipe book, being a serious Spanish food enthusiast Gayle is always cooking, buying fantastic ingredients and experimenting with recipes for the entire family. Her Spanish recipes began to grab attention back in 2009 when acclaimed author Victoria Twead was on the hunt for typically Spanish recipes to include in her then new book ‘Chicken, Mules and two old fools’, of course we were glad to help with a little rustic cooking and are pleased to have some of our dishes in Victoria’s tale of two expats in southern Spain which is now an Amazon best seller.

Victoria Twead: “Two years ago, my first book, 'Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools' was released and Joe and I held our breaths. Would anyone want to read about two old fools who moved to a Spanish mountain village to become reluctant chicken farmers? Would readers find our misadventures as funny as we did? To our astonishment, the book was snapped up and became an Amazon Bestseller. People wanted to know about Cocky, the most dangerous cockerel in Spain, the village mule and how we rescued a vulture. There were so many stories that I began to write the sequel, 'Two Old Fools - Olé!' which was released as an ebook, with the paperback to follow soon.”

“When I was writing 'Chickens', I had a few recipes given to me by the village ladies that I wanted to include. However, I wanted more. What a stroke of luck it was when I found Gayle and Iain at Orce Seranno Hams! "Of course!" they said. "Help yourself! Use any recipes you want." So I did, and have plundered recipes and expertise shamelessly ever since. Readers from all over the world email me, wanting to know more about our village and telling me they've used and enjoyed the recipes. So I thank you, Gayle and Iain. I am positive your generosity helped 'Chickens' become a Bestseller, and I'm hoping that people will enjoy 'Olé!' equally.”

Working with Victoria has been an absolute pleasure so ‘Mouthwatering Spanish Recipes’ seemed the natural thing to do combining writing, ideas, culinary exploits, photography and some typically rustic Spain, creating a recipe book packed with some wonderful ideas and down to earth information such as looking after your terracotta cazuelas, the lowdown on the Spanish kitchen, typical kitchen cupboard ingredients and a whole lot more.

A Passion for Spain . . .

The versatility of Spanish recipes speaks for itself so you won’t find any hard and fast rules regarding ingredients in this book, indeed even some of the old classics from our local village, recipes handed down through the generations have been adapted perhaps because an ingredient was missing or a little extra spice was required depending on personal taste. You will also find an element of ‘rustic’ cooking and preparation particularly with Andalucian recipes where the likes of carrots are added unpeeled and simply broken in half leaving the goodness of the vegetable to be enjoyed in a slow baked ‘asado’ or winter warming casserole. In short ‘Mouthwatering Spanish Recipes’ is a recipe book designed to inspire, a collection of culinary ideas and rustic cooking from Spain for Spanish food enthusiasts of all levels.

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