10-15-07 Cooking School

Today I had the most amazing and valuable Spanish experience so far. Instead of my regular civilization class of 1.5 hours, it lasted for 3 hours and took place at the School of Hospitality. The school has two majors available – cooking and restaurant service. We were given a tour of the facilities as well as a short explanation of the way in which the school functioned. It was really interesting, and a cooking major would be something I would do in a heartbeat if it didn’t take 2 years of full university-level concentration.

Now, the main purpose of having class there was for us to get to learn to make a whole bunch of authentic Spanish dishes. And eat them. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it. The chefs were all ridiculously nice. We sat in our desks like good students watching them whip together professionally made ethnic dishes, while they explained to us the origins of the dishes and the tips/tricks they new. The chefs were all teachers/professors at the school so knew their stuff. The menu was as follows:

Gazpacho – a blend of tomatoes, garlic, green pepper, cucumber, onions, and a little bread into a cold, easy, and delicious soup
Tortilla de Camarones – A batter with tons of mini shrimp mixed in and fried. Sort of like onion rings with tiny shrimp.
Tortilla de Patatas – Potato pancake, really really common here. It is a mixture of egg (to keep it all together), potato (to provide filing), and a little onion (for some flavor).
Paella (Andaluz Style) – The most well known of Spanish dishes internationally, it is a mixture of veggies, rice, and various meats. Paella means pan in the language native to Valencia and is therefore the name of the dish AND the pan it is made in. The one we ate was made in the style of Andalucia (the region of Spain I’m in). It is extravagant and contains a huge array of items which are all the choices of the cook. The veggies consisted of red peppers, onions, peas, green beans, carrots, a tiny bit of tomato, and some garlic. Meat was chicken, pork, clams, oysters, large shrimp, and calamari. One of the most important ingredients, which gives the true flavor and fluffs the rice (which is added raw), is a broth made from the meat cuts not added to the paella. Another special ingredient is saffron (super-expensive spice which is a flower’s stamen), which gives a light flavor and a tint of color. All together it becomes amazing.
Arroz con Leche (Rice with Milk) – A very traditional dessert that is fantastic. It is made with some lemon rind, cinnamon, milk, sugar, and rice. Simple and tasty.
Tocino de Cielo (Heaven Bacon) – The name is a complete misdirection as to what the dish is. It is a SUPER sweet flan-like dessert that involves 22 egg yokes and 1 kilo of sugar. I though it was decent, but was a little confused by the eggy-sugaryness.

I ate it all, and lots of it. I had the seafood ridden Paella and though I avoided the clams and oysters, I actually tried and thoroughly enjoyed the shrimp and calamari. Also, I ate 2 or 3 Tortillas de Camarones, which I really liked (mom, I know you probably figured I would considering my love of Kupuk). The whole experience was great and has given me a ton of great new recipes to bring home and try out on everyone! My only worry is going broke considering the only oil they use (and swear that is the only one that can be used) was extra virgin olive oil – and lots of it.