Omar Allibhoy and The Rice House - La Arroceria

I have mentioned before how hard 29 year old Madrid born chef, OmarAllibhoy is working to get Spanish Tapas into every home and I was very pleased to be invited to his pop-up evening meal a ‘La Arroceria’ held at a great place in Chiswick Park (Maggie & Rose a private members’ club) and concentrating on rice the staple of many Spanish villages.

We were given a drink of Sangria (or two!) on arrival and waited in anticipation to see what culinary treats Omar had in store for us!

Omar came out of the kitchen to introduce us to the menu and the significance behind it and then disappeared to produce some really mouth watering and tasty dishes.

 

It is hard to get a photo of Omar in focus as he never stands still!!

Rice is a popular ingredient in Spanish cooking, not just for the traditional Paella.  Arrocerias or Valencian Rice House which are now all over Spain are where you can pre-order rice dishes to take away.  Omar wanted to show us the versatility of rice with different types of rice dishes e.g. dry (arroz seco), brothy (meloso) or soupy (caldoso).  We sampled four rice dishes including Omar's signature Paella from Valencia (Paella Valenciana)

Our starter was delicious featuring a huge grilled, garlicky prawn (Gamba a la plancha) as well as garlic bread, what Omar called a tomato dip (Salmorejo) and thin slices of ham.

 

 

Along with the starter we were offered a black pudding and goats cheese salad (Ensalada de morcilla y questode cabra) - My friend Val loved this but goat's cheese is the only cheese I really don't eat!
 

Omar carried out huge pots and pans of each of the following courses such as this one a squid, prawn and squid ink rice (Arroz negro).

 

I had never tried pasta or rice with squid ink before and probably won't again although I do appreciate the chance to try it.  It was a bit 'inky' for me but was perfectly cooked and elegantly presented!

Seafood Paella (Arroz a banda) was the second dish and this time I really liked it.  I frequently order Paella when we are in Spain and am rarely disappointed and certainly was not with this one!

My favourite Paella of the evening was Lobster Rice (Arros caldoso con bogavantes), this really floated my boat!

And for the grand finale - Valencian chicken & rabbit paella (Paella Valenciana)!

And then to round off an already sumptuous meal we were treated to a sweet surprise indeed.  This dessert was a sort of custard but without any milk or cream and if translated it is called "Fat from Heaven" custard (Tocinillo de cielo)

All that fantastic food came out of a relatively small kitchen!

Check out the size of that paella pan!

I was the guest of La Arroceria with my friend Val and we both thoroughly enjoyed our evening. Good luck for your future Omar!

Retaste Spain - Bringing The Food Home

You are sitting at a restaurant by the beach in Spain eating a local version of the legendary paella and you are wishing you could eat this next week after you return home to the UK!

Well now you can! Retaste Spain have come up with the perfect solution.  Packs of everything you will need (including paella pan with the paella) to create that exact tapas meal at home.  They have 13 different tapas for you to make at home. The list includes Paella, Gazpacho, Patas Bravas and Tortilla Espanola to name a few.

You can order from their web site but there will be postage.  The main idea is that you would purchase these kits in especially selected shops in Spain (like the local airport) and bring them home with you.

You will need to purchase the fresh ingredients such as a lemon or a couple of potatoes but everything else is provided. (I have always wanted a paella pan!)

 

How easy does this look? This is all you need to make a genuine Spanish paella.  You can decide to serve with lemon wedges if you want. My Paella pack included the Paellera Valenciana pan, large can of broth, Spanish rice, a special wooden spoon for paellas and a recipe.  The pack did not include a lemon (optional).

At first I was a bit worried because the contents of the can was quite a watery stock, however, adding the rice and letting it start to bubble and it soon started to thicken as the rice absorbed the liquid.

There were only two pieces of chicken per person i8n the can and large green beans but plenty of rice.  The pack stated it would serve 2-3 persons and providing one was a child it would for a meal.  It would perfectly serve 3-4 as part of a selection of tapas with some chunky bread.

All set to serve with a mixed salad. I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted so good and very authentic. Next time I am in Spain I will look out for more in the range.

Clearly there was nothing wrong with this meal - Mr R cleaned his plate!

 

 

(I was given this pack to take home and try at The Speciality Fine Food Fair in September.  I did not receive payment to write this review and all opinions are my own.)