A toast to tapas
A Spanish chef gives the lowdown on making these bite-sized starters
The Festival of Spain instantaneously conjures up a messy image of red, tomato-pulp stained clothes thanks to a recent super-hit film. But the festivities in Mumbai were anything but messy. Over chilled lemonade, Chef Guillermo Hidalgo gave us a lowdown on making tapas, bite-sized starters that are best friends to your glass of wine, whiskey or in our case lemonade. "In Spanish cuisine we respect the flavour of the product we are working with. We don't add too many spices or herbs," says the chef as he starts off frying potatoes for a Spanish omelette.
Though he is using white onions, he personally prefers the red onions commonly found in India. "They caramelise easily and give the omelette a sweet flavour," he says. In the meantime, he gets the Spanish cured ham ready and crisp in the oven to top the Montadito, Spain's answer to the Italian Burschetta. "You find some similarities between Italian and Spanish cuisines, but Italian is too liberal with herbs and condiments," says the chef. "These are very simple tapas that people can recreate in their kitchen. For example, the Montadito can be made with almost any topping. You can use peppers or mushrooms," he adds, as he readies the Montaditos and Tortilla de Patata (Spanish omelette).
The omelette too has a lot of scope for creativity — chorizo, peppers, or mushrooms can be added. But the tapas I enjoyed the most was stuffed mushrooms topped with manchego cheese. Sure, manchego cheese might be hard to find, but the chef is okay with using any other cheese too. The recipe calls for taking out the stalks and baking the mushrooms with a dash of butter in their cavities.
The chef used chopped onions, chopped stalks of the mushroom and some cream to make the stuffing. "And we have marinated the mushrooms in red wine, chillie flakes and a touch of thyme for about an hour to add some flavour," he explained.
A Spanish chef gives the lowdown on making these bite-sized starters
The Festival of Spain instantaneously conjures up a messy image of red, tomato-pulp stained clothes thanks to a recent super-hit film. But the festivities in Mumbai were anything but messy. Over chilled lemonade, Chef Guillermo Hidalgo gave us a lowdown on making tapas, bite-sized starters that are best friends to your glass of wine, whiskey or in our case lemonade. "In Spanish cuisine we respect the flavour of the product we are working with. We don't add too many spices or herbs," says the chef as he starts off frying potatoes for a Spanish omelette.
Though he is using white onions, he personally prefers the red onions commonly found in India. "They caramelise easily and give the omelette a sweet flavour," he says. In the meantime, he gets the Spanish cured ham ready and crisp in the oven to top the Montadito, Spain's answer to the Italian Burschetta. "You find some similarities between Italian and Spanish cuisines, but Italian is too liberal with herbs and condiments," says the chef. "These are very simple tapas that people can recreate in their kitchen. For example, the Montadito can be made with almost any topping. You can use peppers or mushrooms," he adds, as he readies the Montaditos and Tortilla de Patata (Spanish omelette).
The omelette too has a lot of scope for creativity — chorizo, peppers, or mushrooms can be added. But the tapas I enjoyed the most was stuffed mushrooms topped with manchego cheese. Sure, manchego cheese might be hard to find, but the chef is okay with using any other cheese too. The recipe calls for taking out the stalks and baking the mushrooms with a dash of butter in their cavities.
The chef used chopped onions, chopped stalks of the mushroom and some cream to make the stuffing. "And we have marinated the mushrooms in red wine, chillie flakes and a touch of thyme for about an hour to add some flavour," he explained.
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