Cooking Like Grandma | Learn To Cooking The Costa Blanca

Mediterranean life revolves around friends, family and enjoying an evening together with wonderful food. Generations have passed on traditional recipes which families, restaurants and locals continue to enjoy. Those who buy a home in the Costa Blanca make the move because of their love of the area including the lifestyle and cuisine so why not learn to cook like your Spanish neighbours who will have learned to cook from their Abuelas (Grandmothers) and impress your friends? Your next purchase should be a local cookbook and perhaps see if any of the local restaurants offer lessons, some do.

Costa Blanca Ingredients

Fresh ingredients and simplicity are the most important elements of food in the Costa Blanca and locally sources seafood, vegetables and olive oil feature a lot in the family recipes of the area. Dishes are started with a sofrito which is a flavour base made of chopped onions, garlic and tomatoes simmered in locally produced olive oil, this will act as the base for many local dishes. Grandma’s larder might include plump tomatoes, peppers, artichokes and green beans, rice, the liquid gold that is extra virgin olive oil. Her spices will include paprika, saffron and in her close to the kitchen she will probably grow her own rosemary, thyme, sage and other herbs. From this stock of goodies, a variety of wonderful dishes can be made either in combination with fish, seafood, poultry or meat. Local wine is also excellent both in your cooking stock and to accompany the finished dish.

Costa Blanca flavour

Now you have stocked up from your local market you will be ready to prepare a Costa Blanca supper that Grandma can be proud of! What might your friends enjoy? When you buy a villa in the Costa Blanca you may want to invite people to your new home. Why not learn some local recipes for them to try? Paella is a classic Valencian dish which has countless variations so that there is one that will suit all tastes, including a completely vegetarian version. Usually the dish will include chicken, rabbit, beans and vegetables cooked in a saffron broth and started with that classis sofrito. If you want you can add seafood or just use have a fish based paella. Alternatively you can make Fideuà which is similar to paella but, with noodles instead of rice, it is great to show of fresh catch of the day seafood and fish.

Mar y Montaña is a dish that blends everything the Costa Blanca has to offer from sea to mountain and will include chicken or rabbit together with prawns or mussels. Cocido Valenciano is great during the slightly cooler months of winter and is a stew with various meats (a great leftover dish if you have had a roast dinner at the weekend), chickpeas, vegetables and a sausage known as botifarra. Fresh bread and allioli are served with many meals, the creamy garlic and olive oil dip is great with the bread and generally as an accompaniment to your menu.

Grandma’s tips and techniques

The spirit of Grandma’s cooking in the Costa Blanca is the inherited love of the region and the fresh local produce of the area. Source your ingredients at a local market, be generous with the olive oil and master the making of your sofrito, season wisely and taste as you go. Take it slowly and enjoy creating a wonderful meal allowing it to simmer and develop flavour and don’t be afraid to experiment and bring something of yourself to the table!!!

Conclusion

Cooking like Grandma is so much more than following a recipe it is about being inspired by your surroundings, enjoying the place and the people and infusing your recipes with the passion that all elements of life in the Costa Blanca brings to the table. When you feel ready let us know, at Hamiltons of London we love a good meal!!!