In keeping with the idea that goats and their cheese were brought to France through Spain by the Saracens, I have decided to start my dishes for this week in Spain and then move into French cuisine. Empanadillas are the smaller version of an empanada. The name is derived from the Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. However they can be made by wrapping a pastry or a bread dough around a filling. This dish was possibly influenced by the "fatay", a dish brought into Spain by the Saracens during their occupation of the Iberian peninsula. This dish is essentially a Galician dish, Galicia being in north west Spain, but there are variations across Spain and even into South America. I have chosen to make empanadillas stuffed with tuna, goats cheese, pine nuts, capers, olives, onion, garlic and spiced with smoked paprika. Paprika is an essential spice in Spanish cooking and "La Chinata", smoked paprika, is amazing with a deep rich smokey flavor that emparts a wonderful flavour to your food. In Brisbane you can buy it from Black Pearl Epicure for around $8. I used puff pastry which is not a traditional option but for the purposes of time efficiency worked out well.
In keeping with my tapas theme I thought I would also choose a few other classic Spanish tapas. We had "Alcachofas En Vinagreta Aromatica", boiled artichokes with a vinaigrette spiced with cumin, chilli and coriander powder. This dish was another nod to the Saracens influence on Spannish food.
Dish number three is definitely a Spanish classic which I have eaten in Spain while I was there: "Patatas Bravas". This dish involved twice-fried potato cubes served with a tomato sauce, spiced with paprika and cayenne pepper. The double frying of the potatoes keeps them extra crisp and prevents the sauce making them soggy.
Another classic on the menu was "Garbonzos Con Chorizo", or chickpeas with chorizo. Chorizo is the classic Spanish sausage made from pork and paprika, and chickpeas are also a very classic component of Spanish cuisine. The chickpeas were cooked in chicken stock along with a bay leaf, cinnamon quill and cloves. This gave the chickpeas a mouthwatering mildly spiced flavour that really added complexity and depth to the dish.
The last dish was an afterthought brought about by spotting some thin sweet peppers at the markets at West End on our weekly shopping trip. "Pimientos Rellenos", or stuffed peppers, are probably a dish many people have had or heard of. I stuffed mine with rice (par cooked in chicken stock), ground beef and spiced with cayenne pepper and paprika.
Well that is it for my Spanish feast. Next stop... France!
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