Preply: The Most Mouthwatering Spanish Lessons

    NEW YORK, NY, April 26, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- An idea to go on a food tour came when I was warming up my evening pizza. What if I visited a new country and brought at least three recipes to cook in my own kitchen?

At this point, I should mention my love to seafood and herbs. I became a fan of Spanish cuisine a year ago. Its spicy hot temper still makes me feel in one of those tapas bars surrounded by the evening Barcelona sounds.

I think what actually induced me to start cooking and buy a return ticket to Spain was Elizabeth Gilberth's book Eat, Pray, Love.

It inspired me to begin serious preparations. I got back to learning Spanish and finally bought kitchen utensils.

Before I'd never strived to stand at the hot oven with all hands in dough. My mom spent days and nights in the kitchen to provide our large family with healthy and fresh meals. So, after I began living on my own I treated cooking rather boring and burdensome activity.

Eat, Cook, Learn

Gilberth's philosophy had a good influence on my life and it began changing. So, before the trip, I learnt two dozens of my mom's recipes, became more fluent in Spanish, and burnt four kitchen towels. My mom checked on my meals telling me what l'd done wrong. We began Skype chatting more often and I felt how happy she was to share her cooking skills with me.

By the way, learning Spanish I also used Skype. I'm more a home person and had little time to attend in-class courses after work. That's why I decided to learn Spanish online. I found the Spanish tutor, I choose a native speaker. I was lucky because in Barcelona he was my guide for quite a long time.

Coming to Spain, I realized that no local chefs would share their professional secrets with a tourist. But I knew that local people would gladly do. Again my tutor helped me with this.

Three souvenir recipes from Spain

Classic Spanish Tortilla De Patatas
I love this meal for its unbelievable flavor, taste, and simplicity. It was the first dish I cooked in my Spanish rented flat. My tortilla was totally classic with thinly sliced potatoes, olive oil, chopped onions, and eggs. Yet, this dish allows so much creativity that now I add cherry tomatoes, jamon, greens, and cheese. And recently I've tried this exclusive Morcilla restaurant recipe worth to cook when you feel missing summer.

Paella Valenciana
It almost teases your palate with sun rich fresh vegetables, fried soft chicken and rabbit redolent with paprika, saffron, and rosemary. But what impressed me was the taste of paella rice. It melted on my tongue resembling risotto a bit yet it created its clear Mediterranean savor.

I spent a few days in my own kitchen to handle the authentic recipe I got from my Spanish teacher's abuelita (grandma). First, I was hysterical and frantic to reproduce a recipe with the slightest details.

I bought special rice that is supposed to absorb 30% of broth. It looked like in grandma's pan but the taste was a bit dry. So, I went for searching and was quite surprise to reveal a simple trick that keeps paella rice so delicious. It turned out that you shouldn't stir your paella after you spread it on the pan.

Gazpacho
I've always loved hot chicken soup but after I tasted gazpacho I betrayed my childhood preference. Its original recipe you can find right here. Otherwise, you can try it in one of tapas bars in Barcelona like La Xina & Lucia which I was lucky to visit.

Gazpacho is served as an appetizer and you can drink it straight from the bowl. However, don't confuse it with the fresh-blended vegetable juice since gazpacho is usually chilled during 3 hours to reach the appropriate consistency.

The trick about this meal is to first taste it when it's suffocating hot outside. Then you'll catch the main purpose of this meal in Spanish cuisine which is to refresh and energize. I included this recipe into my diet nutrition plan since it's low-calorie and nourishing.

This was my first food tour ever taken. But I promised myself to try another country as soon as the taste of Spanish meals becomes the part of my routine dishes. I'm still learning Spanish online with the same amazing tutor on Preply and I've never been so confident and inspired to continue.

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