Remember this? Well, a little over a year later a new milestone along the path towards my culinary maturity has been conquered. Yes, my dear friends… it has taken lots of courage and many years of barely satisfactory microwave diners, but it has finally happened: my humble little kitchen has been the scenario for the birth of a real Spanish paella!
Truth be told, such a great accomplishment would have never been possible without Stephanie’s help, who was a natural born leader throughout the whole process and repeatedly enlightened me with her gastronomic wisdom. French cuisine at its best, even if this time the target dish came from a little further south. Inspired by Rémy’s heroic deeds in Ratatouille, we both fought together against the clock and a totally inadequate gas cooker, we struggled against terrifying hordes of potentially carcinogenic burnt-rice samples and we finally overcame the limitations of our diminishing cooking lebensraum with tears in our eyes as a result of the heartless stabbing of an innocent white onion. Merci, mon amie! The result was a short-lived masterpiece which eagerly found its way into our tummies. Now that both the tortilla de patata and the paella have yielded their secrets to my thirst (or, in this case, rather my hunger ;-) of knowledge, only one question remains: gazpacho, cocido, fabada, arroz con leche, pulpo a la gallega, bacalao al pilpil… what shall the next challenge be? ;-P
Congrats Paco!
I know exactly what have you been through: after a couple of years cooking good and bads paellas, I must add humbly that I have mastered a bit of its art.
http://flickr.com/photos/rlpulido/313882083/
http://flickr.com/photos/rlpulido/313882083/
Cooking is a whole universe and that's why I refer you to the books of Josep Pla ("Lo que hemos comido" and "Las horas") in the first place, and the last book from Manuel Vicent, which you'll find rather amusing.
Congrats again, my friend!
Pues si que tiene buena pinta, si. Gracias por las referencias, las tendre muy en cuenta!
:-)
Además, creo que ya las hablamos en tu entrada anterior (tanto las referencias culinarias como estas historias de la paella).
Lo cierto es que existen muy pocos libros sobre cocina escritos por literatos. Por eso son tan valiosos.
Pero dime, Paco: qué ingredientes le echaste?
Menuda pinta tiene esa paella!!! Qué pena no haber estado allí para probarla!! :9