| Spanish Recipe
Paella
INGREDIENTS:
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
½ red pepper, boiled until soft and then cut into
long thin strips
2 medium-sized tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
100g peas, cooked
200g prawns (if using cooked prawns substitute fish
stock for the water)
200g small clams
200g squid 12 mussels
350g rice (traditionally short grain rice is used
but I prefer to use long grain)
2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
a pinch of saffron strands (if you can’t get
saffron, use yellow food colouring instead and add it once you have added the liquid)
a sprig of parsley, finely chopped
olive oil
about 800ml water
PREPARATION:
MUSSELS: Wash the mussels, removing the beards.
Throw away any that don’t shut on contact with water.
FRESH SQUID: Rub off the outer dark skin. Pull
out the insides (including the transparent back bone) and pinch the eye away from the
tentacles. Save the tentacles. Cut the squid into rings.
CLAMS: Wash in water and then put in a bowl with
some salt so that the grit comes out. Throw away any that are open.
PRAWNS: Whether you peel them or not is up to
you. If you decide to peel them, save the shells and boil in water for about ten minutes.
Save the liquid and add later instead of water.
GARLIC: In a pestle and mortar, grind the
garlic, saffron (if using), parsley and a pinch of salt.
RECIPE:
Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Add
the onion, green pepper and carrot and fry gently for about five minutes. Add the chopped
tomato and squid (with the tentacles) and fry on a low heat for another ten minutes.
Add the rice and stir well to make sure that it
is thoroughly coated. Add water (or the water from boiling the prawn shells or fish stock
if using frozen fish), clams and the garlic/saffron/parsley mixture and bring to the boil.
Season with salt. Put a lid on it, turn the heat right down and cook very slowly for about
ten minutes. Add the prawns and peas and give it a stir. Arrange the mussels and strips of
red pepper artistically on top, put the lid back on and leave for another ten minutes -
checking that it has enough water. If you think it is getting too dry, add more water, but
shake the handle of the pan rather than stir so as not to upset the pattern. Once the rice
is cooked and the mussels have opened, it is ready to eat. |
Cities/Monuments/Art
Mexico City is the largest city in the world. It was built on an old lake bed; hence,
some older buildings have sunken a floor or so under ground.
Because there are so many people in Mexico City, the pollution is very heavy. Those with
sensitive eyes can feel their eyes begin to water when within five miles or so of the
city.
Traditions/History
The biggest sport of Latin America and Spain is soccer. In many countries
soccer is such a big sport, fans from opposing teams will engage in fighting in the
streets after the game. More than a few people have died due to fights after soccer games.
Join us in a week or so for more on Traditions and/or History.
Cultural Faux-pas
Many Americans have the habbit of throwing objects to other people. For example, if
someone asks me for a pen, if they were across the room from me, I would probably throw it
to them. In Latin America, however, it it completely against the rules to toss a pen to
someone.
When I was in a casual meeting in Latin America years ago, someone asked me for a pen. Not
knowing the cultural rules, I tossed the pen to the person instead of handing it to them.
The group of people was shocked and I will never make that same mistake again.
David S. Clark - Director
U.S. Institute of Languages
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