The rice constitutes
one of the great chapters in the culinary history of this
region. You can cook it in more than 300 different manner of ways
and styles:
- arroz a la marinera (fisherman's rice)
- arroz al horno (oven-baked rice)
- arroz amb fesols i naps (with beans and turnips)
-
arroz con costra (topped with a "crust" of omelette)
Other variations allow for the rice to be flavoured with squid
(calamar) and tunny fish, chicken and fillet of pork, baby squid
(chipirones) and garlic shoots, or tunny fish and shrimps
(gambas).
At the seaside, shellfish and salt-dried fish are on the menus
of every restaurant. The day's choice might include gilthead
(dorada), bass baked in salt (lubina a la sal), seafood with a
squeeze of lemon, or some delicious sea-fresh red mullet
(salmonete) and whiting (pescadilla).
In the mountain areas, rice forms an integral part of the
olleta, a typical dish in which it is mixed with pork, sausage
meats, pumpkin, turnip, chard stalks, chickpeas and string
beans.
The inland areas offer excellent meat dishes, e.g. pork,
cutlets, rabbit cooked in garlic and tomato, leg of lamb, and
local sausage meats.
The
mouthwatering desserts of the Alicante region feature Jijona
turrón, ice-cream, grapes, raisins, dates and almond pastries
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Recipe
- Paella valenciana de la huerta |
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a
rice dish for six persons:
600 g rice
480 g rabbit
600 g chicken
24 snails
180 g grated tomato
180 g "garrofe" (special beans for paella)
180 g "tabella" (normal white beans)
6 tbsps olive oil
a few strands of saffron
1 tbsp sweet red pepper
salt and yellow colouring for paella
200 g ferraura (green beans for paella) |
| Place
the paella over the heat with olive oil and some salt, when it
is hot add the chicken and rabbit frying them over a low heat
until gold brown. Add all the beans, fry a little longer and add
the tomato. When these has been fried, add the sweet pepper and
the water very fast (2.5 - 3 l). At boiling point add the
snails, cleaned and boiled previously, saffron, colouring and a
pinch of salt. After boiling for 15 minutes, the rice will be
distributed evenly, after that it will be cooked for 6 minutes
over fast heat and over a low heat for the rest of the time
until it is done. |
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