Rose's August Shop Watch - Brindisa Paella Kit

Paella Kit

Brindisa

What?
Brindisa Classic Paella Kit

Why?
A flamenco summer supper party 

Paella is the food of the sun. The food of a Spanish feast. A great communal dish to share. And summer is the time to cook it. Forget its “Costa” image because, made authentically, it is one of the great party dishes. What a shame we tend to look down on some of the great dishes of Spain. Even tapas is getting itself a bad name in ersatz wine bars passing off indifferent food under a trendy name. Yet the cooking of Spain is fantastic and deeply varied, its flavours having an earthy gutsiness. 

Take paella – it comes in as many forms as an Italian risotto. In the country, chicken, pork, rabbit, sausages are the common ingredients with maybe a few snails thrown in for good measure. At the coast, seafood only combinations abound – with sweet juicy clams, mussels, gambas and squid. There is even an “arroz negro” or black rice version made with the ink of squid. Then seasonal ingredients make an appearance: freshly podded peas, broad beans, butter beans, green beans, artichokes, spinach. My favourite, and the one that always seems to go down well, is the classic chicken and seafood combination. In fact, paella is one of the best exponents of this type of cooking – mar e montanya – or sea and mountain, which is so typical of Spanish cuisine. Delia’s recipe uses prawns, chicken and chorizo sausage.

The secret of a good paella is to sauté all the initial ingredients like the chicken and chorizo in the paella pan first so that all the flavours are already there when the rice goes in. Then make a “sofrito” with sautéed onion, garlic and pepper, with tomatoes added later. Pour in the rice using only the Spanish short grain variety and don’t stir the rice once it has gone in. You can cook it on top of the stove, and even on the barbecue if the weather is kind.

And to make things easier for your summer flamenco supper party you can buy all the essential kit from Brindisa. If you look under Hampers and Gifts on their website you will see the Brindisa Classic Paella Kit. It includes a special paella rice - Calasperra - which absorbs all the flavours; saffron strands; Arbequina - a beautifully peppery extra virgin olive oil; La Chinata smoked paprika; a jar of whole piquillo peppers which have been roasted and peeled, with an intense flavour and just a hint of piquancy; and a rich tomato sofrito sauce. No more hunting for authentic ingredients. It also contains a good quality Spanish enamelled paella pan for 4 people, which I found really easy to wash afterwards. Just adjust Delia’s recipe to 4 people and use half the sofrito sauce instead of the tomatoes. And if you already have a large frying pan to make it in, you can simply buy the Brindisa paella ingredients set.

Make the paella the centrepiece so just serve some Serrano ham, olives and Manchego cheese beforehand. And dessert something as simple as mixed berries in Sangria. Add a click of castanets and some stirring music.

Conclusion:
Olé

Product Details:
Brindisa Classic Paella Kit
£65
Also Brindisa Paella Ingredients Set £20
(Look at the recipe for seafood paella on their website)

Contact:
brindisa.com

Price and availability as at 31st July 2023

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