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Are there any Spanish/Small Plate type restaurants in Denver/Boulder?

So, as near as I can tell, chorizo is sometimes a salami-like sausage from Europe with a lot of paprika and a bit of a zing to it that happens to go really well with dried apples, and other times an incredibly spicy Mexican sausage, also with paprika that needs to be cooked but makes a mean taco. I have also been led to believe liguica (or linguica -- it seems to go both ways) is a milder version of chorico, but I'm hazy on what relationship, if any, chorico has with either chorizo. Is it more or less the same thing as the Mexican one?

Please recommend some really good Spanish restaurants in Sydney. We're looking for places that cook excellent paella and have a decent tapas selection. Thanks!

While eating at the now defunct Mangere Italian Restaurant in Dorado, Puerto Rico, I asked for the ingredients for an Italian penne dish made with bacon and prosciutto. One of the ingredients that the waiter could not translate was something like "albaca". None of my Puerto Rican friends know what this is. Does anyone out there have an idea? Am not sure the spelling is correct, I wrote this stuff down as fast as the waiter was naming off the ingredients. My assumption at the time was it was "bacon" but I know now that isn't what it is. Thanks! doc

The2006 Independent News and Media Limited Published: 14 December 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2073028.ece

I've recently discovered Fideua at a local Spanish restaurant and have fell in love wth it! The noodle used in this dish has a vey nice texture. What type of noodle is usually used in this dish? Anyone tried making this at home with success? Please share!

This year I won't be able to attend, but I'd love to hear news from those who are in Madrid this week. Today Pascal Barbot is doing his presentation. Big names in attendance this year: Ferran, Heston, Arzak, Tetsuya, Trotter, Achatz. I'd LOVE to hear what they had to say! here's the link, for those who might not have it yet, Madrid Fusion thanks!

Dear Friends, Kindly take a second or two to become aware of my serious condition and its remedy. I have just finished a leg of Joselito's Gran Reserva. It was 7 1/2 kilos and lasted almost a year. At the same time, another blow hit my larder. With tears in my eyes I had to cook the last four remaining pieces of bacalao, the pil-pil cut. As my travel plans will not take me to Spain for a few months, is there any decent e-shop you know that I could buy joselito and bacalao from? I hope there is at least one noble and able soul, who will help me resolve the urgent condition I am confined in. Thank you

Note from the host: This discussion started in the Fabada thread. I think the issues discussed deserve their own thread I really like José Andrés' restaurants in DC--and respect him as a chef--but I don't quite agree. I think the pork products (and fish and shellfish) available in the US are quite inferior to what is so easily available here. The best items from Spain are not imported. It is possible to source decent alternatives for some items, but you will have to look hard at small suppliers and pay quite a premium. All the more reason to come for a visit...

I recently spent some time in Spain, including several days in Asturias, and was privileged to have a lunch of Fabada Asturiana at the restaurant La Maquina in Lugones, which specializes in this wonderful dish. Always nice to start at the top. For the edification of those who may not be familiar with fabada -- sadly, most Americans have never heard of it -- it is a deceptively simple dish. In the most classic version, white beans (fabes in Asturiano) are cooked low and slow with saffron, black morcilla, chorizo and lacón (the salt-cured foreleg of a pig). A large bowl of beans in liquid comes to the table and a plate with a few small pieces of each of the three meats. That's it. But that's only really the beginning. The white beans I had were of a wonderful local variety (granja variety?) -- similar in appearance to the familiar Italian cannellini, but significantly longer and creamier in texture. The beans were all whole. Not one single one was split or broken, nor did they break apart on the way to our bowls or up to our lips. And yet, upon the slightest pressure from the teeth it was as though they immediately transformed into creamy softness. Some of this was the quality and variety of the beans, no doubt, but I can only assume that some of it was also the result of many decades of experience and expertise. This fabada was by no means a light dish, and yet it was certainly less rich (and less meaty) than other well-known bean dishes such as cassoulet. Really, it was all about the beans. The few small bits of meat that came along with the beans seemed more like condiments for the beans than fundamental structural elements of the dish. Since that eye-opening lunch, I have come to understand that there are many different versions and styles of fabada. I have heard good things about fabadas with clams and also what sounded like a very interesting fabada with centollo (giant spider crab). As will be apparent to our Spanish members, and those more familiar with Spain than I, my knowledge and experience in this area is very meager at this point. But I'd like to learn more! What can you tell me about fabada? Is there any possibility of approximating this dish back here in NYC? What are some favorite recipes and variations?

I decided to make the Portuguese Sweet Bread recipe from BBA and followed the directions (although I did convert from active dry yeast to instant -- don't worry, I didn't do a direct substitution). I made the starter and after about 70 minutes it looked quite lovely. I've made starters before (usually poolishes) and I can definitely tell an active starter. At that point I creamed the butter, shortening, dry milk, sugar, and salt until everything looked uniform (I used my KitchenAid for this). I then added the eggs, oil extracts, the starter, and all of the flour called for in the recipe. I measured out the water and had it at the ready. I then started the KA on low with the dough hook, but the air today is so humid that not only did I not have to add any of the reserved water, I actually had to add about 1/4 cup more flour for the dough to come together into a soft ball. I then needed on speed 2 on my KA for 11 minutes (BBA called for between 10-12 using a stand mixer). The dough felt quite soft and there was definite gluten development. I then left it in my workbowl and covered it with plastic. It is now two hours later and not one sign of rise has happened. I know the yeast was active in the starter when I added it. I understand that rich doughs with lots of sugar and fat take longer to form gluten. Could the 11 minutes on the stand mixer have been too much? Any thoughts? BTW, the ambient air temperature is around 80 deg with about 86 percent relative humidity. All ingredients were room temperature before being added to the bowl. Thanks!

I'm the mother of an almost-six-month-old, and I'm thinking a lot about how to raise a daughter with a good palette. Rice cereal (the traditional first food in America) doesn't seem like a good start-- I certainly wouldn't eat it very happily. So I'm wondering about other countries and other traditions-- What's the traditional first food for babies in Spain? (I'm also going to post this in the following forums: Italy, France, Japan, India, China, Middle East, and Mexico. Apologies to those who run across this question in other places!)

Good news for Albariño lovers. It looks like this year's harvest is going to be both abundant and high in quality - two characteristics that don't always go hand-in-hand in grape-growing. This is especially good news considering the dreadful forest fires that raged in Galicia in the first half of August and which affected some of the vineyards of D.O. Rias Baixas. Rias Baixas produces most of the Albariño that you are familiar with. Overall damage to the vineyards apparently was not extensive. Ironically, some say that the fires may have contributed to a premature ripening of the grapes (the harvest is expected to be early this year - Sept. 10), because the heat and smoke created a kind of small-scale greenhouse effect and kept nighttime temperatures higher than normal. At least that's one theory that has been thrown around. But the summer has been very warm and very sunny for Galicia (Spain in general is going through a severe drought), so I figure that has been the mot important factor. By the way, the D.O. in July rated last year's (2005) vintage as "Excellent", so keep that in mind for your next purchase.

The supplier for the upcoming Worlds of Flavors-Spain program at the CIA campus in Napa emailed me to see if I could help him to procure tripa de bacalao, salt cod tripe. Some of the stellar line up of superstar Spanish chefs want it for their demonstrations. Ideally, the source would be in the US or Canada. If that fails, he's interested in a source in Spain, preferably one that has a website and the ablility to cryovac it. Let me know if you have any leads or ideas! Thanks! On a side note, anyone know how to get me a ticket into the long sold out conference??

As tapas becomes more popular in the US, I've also noticed the rise of numerous non-Spanish cuisine restaurants that serve typically American cuisine in the format of tapas: small dishes often accompanied with wine. Here in Austin, we have 219 West, which you can see their menus online. I would guess that there are similar establishments in DC with which you are familar. Do you think this movement embracing smaller dishes is a positive change for the US dining scene? Are there fundamental elements of the tapas format that these American restaurant are failing to consider when designing their dishes -- or in other words, what criticism would you offer to these restaurants?

Hola Jose! I work in gastronomic tourism here in Barcelona, and most of our clients are Americans. So I was wondering if you had come to any conclusions about what the main appeal of Spanish (and, may I say, Catalan!) cuisine is for Americans? What are the characteristic flavours, textures and/or techniques that intrigue and entice them? What do you think they would like to know more about (or what do you think they SHOULD know more about?!) Thanks for doing my market research for me ;-} Kirsten

Hola Chef Andrés, every time I am in Spain I am amazed at the pristine quality of the fresh seafood. We also have great seafood in the US, especially in the Chesapeake Bay region near your restaurants. Would you be willing to share some of your sources for excellent seafood? Another specialty I miss from Spain is top quality bacalao, from the lomo to the tripa de bacalao. I am always disappointed in the quality that I find, at least here on the West Coast. If you are willing to share, I'd love to know who provides your D.C. restaurants with these difficult to find products? Thanks so much!

Chef- In the US we have relatively few authentic Spanish restaurants as opposed to say Italian restaurants or French ones. It is true that Spain and it's food (besides tapas) is gaining popularity and I am very happy about that becuase it is a remarkable cuisine, but still in a city as big as Houston, you will find maybe one or two Spanish restaurants, and even those they mainly emphasize tapas. In her book, The New Spanish Table, Anya Von Bremzen attributes that to the extreme regionality and ingredient specific dishes that can be only found in Spain. Meaning that many Spanish dishes cannot be made properly outside of their hometown. Do you agree? If not what is your take on the subject? I'll reserve my opinion of her statement till you post yours Many thanks for taking the time to join us Chef!

Notes from a tasting of wines from Spain and ex-Spanish territories. 2005 Quinta do Ameal Vinho Verde – OK, so this was from Portugal, the organiser also allowed this – Iberian peninsula and all. Not much nose until it warmed up, then some smoke. Bit flat in the middle, finshed better than it started, an obvious attempt at a ‘more serious’ VV. Maybe some wines aren’t meant to be serious…. 1995 Remurez de Ganuza Rioja – nose of toasty oak and well developed fruit, on the ripe side. Fairly youthful in the mouth with good length and an uplift of acidity at the end. New age Rioja made the way the reviewers (who like California cab) like to see them. 1994 Pesquera – this Crianza is now in prime drinking range. It showed a mildly stinky nose with some cheesiness, backed by cocoa and spice, a nice mouth feel, soft tannins and good length. Perhaps the most traditional wine of the evening. 1996 Errazuriz Don Maximiano Cabernet – didn’t give much varietal cab clue, but a nose that was more honey, the fruit not huge, then sliding into a spiciness and soft tannin. Nice now. I almost brought my 1993 – guess I should get into them to see what is happening. Our only new world entry. 2001 Terra d’Hom Priorat – sweet cocoa nose with huge fruit, excellent balance and surprisingly soft tannin. New world style, and not built for the long haul, rather for early pleasure. Would work well instead of Port with cheese. 2000 Quinta do Valle D. Maria - a wine from the Douro with a heavily oaked nose, lots of in your face fruit, a bit hot, sweet and fruity on palate and not too complex. Better try my 1998 soon. 2002 Finca Sandoval – from Manchuela, a combination of mostly syrah with mourvedre – a Spanish Rhone, if you will. Another non-traditional wine with a warm nose, sweet, young, blackberry and anise, tannic, young and not complex. Would be interesting to see if it improves with age – I’m not sure if it will or not. Anyway, tasty when young!.

Chef Andres, Your work in popularizing both avant garde and Spanish cuisine in the US has been exemplary. In that vein, which style of cooking is more "you," that of El Bulli/Minibar or the types of recipes included in your cookbook and at your other restaurants? Are they mutually exclusive in your mind?

Jeeze, this is exciting, I have about a zillion questions and don't know where to start. I guess I'll make the most of your combined knowledge of Spanish cuisine and American tastes. The U.S. is an increasingly important market for Spanish wine in both volume and money. What do you think Americans' attitude towards Spanish wine is the moment? Are they more aware of it? In know this is a pretty broad question, but I would love to hear some of your thoughts on the subject. ¡Gracias!

Hi folks, Need a little help here. I am looking for any RED Canary Island wine, preferably from the largest of the Canary Islands: Tenerife. I hoping one of these is available in the States. Is there a "Tenerife" wine available in the states? Thanks, KarlK

Hello everyone, I wanted to introduce my new cookbook, The New Spanish Table, just out from Workman Publishing. I've been covering Spain for the last ten years for publications like Food&Wine, Travel+Leisure, and Los Angeles Times. The New Spanish Table is packed with 300 recipes ranging from traditional to the avant-garde, color photos, and essays on regional ingrdients, interesting chefs, history, and traditions. There are recipes from chefs like Arzak, Adria, Dani Garcia, and Carles Abellan, as well as from more traditional tabernas and tapas bars--all tested and retested and adapted to the American home kitchen. Provecho!

I've never seen fresh cranberries in Spain, but then again I've never looked before... We've got a guiri gathering planned for Thanksgiving and I would like to make cranberry sauce from scratch if I can get my hands on some... Has anyone seen fresh cranberries lately at their local market? I asked around at our market (Mercado de la Cebada) and our usual fruterías and no one has them or knows what they are. I have been referring to them as arándanos agrios (trying to distinguish them from the somewhat more available blueberry/arándano)? Is there another name for them? Or is this a lost cause? Thanks! Here's a picture of the fruit in question, if that helps:

Could anyone here supply me with the names and addressess of some Asian retail stores please? May be Indian, Chinese or South East Asian Thank you