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.)

It's cold outside but I have soup for lunch!!

With the current cold weather outside looking beautiful through the window it is necessary to keep warm when you go outside.  I came back from walking the dog this morning and very much in need of warming up inside!  So naturally I went straight to my pot of chicken stock.

Last night for supper I roasted a small chicken, rubbing the outside with rapeseed oil and sprinkling Tropical Sun Rub Rub for Meat over the top. Into a roasting dish and around the outside I added chopped celery, a couple of tomatoes, onion and half a red pepper.  I roasted this all in a hot oven for about 1 hour 30 mins.

Whilst the chicken rested I put all the veggies, oils and juices into a sauce pan and added a tin of Italian plum tomatoes, some tomato puree and 1/2 teaspoon of Gran Luchito Mexican chilli and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

This made a meal of roast chicken, pasta shells and sauce for myself and Mr R. There was enough for Mr R's sandwiches to take to work, some morsels for the dog and a carcass for me to make my soup broth.

With my broth made (carcass now ready for the hedgehogs to feast on)

I added some of the tomato-vegetable sauce and chicken pieces and blitzed this together. In my bowl I added some left over pasta shells, a dollop of the sauce and some Total Greek Yoghurt sprinkled with a sweet paprika. Heaven in a bowl and just what I needed on a cold, wintery day.

I had thought of saving some for Mr R but it was so good I ate the lot for my lunch today!

Tropical Sun can be found using the link above or follow them on Facebook or Twitter (@TropicalSunFood) for more details.

Gran Luchito can also be found on Facebook or Twitter (@Luchito_Mexico) to find out about the magical Mexican chillis used to make this essential ingredient.