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So i'm in barcelona and enjoying the food here quite a bit. One thing i have found a bit tough is how to ask the butchers for different cuts of beef or pork. I'm not good enough with the anotomy of the animal to figure out where to ask from so if there is an online source that translates the different names of cuts that would be great. thanks, Jonny

Does anyone know where I might be able to find caraway seeds (alcaravea/carvi) in central Madrid? I have had a good look around in all the supermarkets and smaller food shops, but I just can't track any down. I thought about looking in an "ethnic" shop, but I can't think of any regions that traditionally use a lot of caraway, except maybe Poland(?), and I haven't found a Polish shop yet.

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!

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

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!

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

During the last 4 days, up until yesterday, at this place called Alcobaça, here in Portugal (120km north of Lisbon), where there is a huge 12th century gothic monastery there has been a Monastery Pastries & Licquors meeting. As one picture worths for one thousand words I'll leave you with about 9000 words...

hey friends, i am in Lisbon and, being from California, i would like to cook a Mexican style dinner (i was thinking fajitas, refried beans, and rice) for some Portuguese friends here who have no idea what this cuisine is about. luckily there is a Corte Ingles (Spanish supermarket chain) here where i can find almost everything (even tortillas and canned jalapeños!) however, i need to figure out some substitutions for the ingredients that i cannot find here....for example, Mexican chili powder for the marinade. i only saw Indian chili powder....will that do? and dried pinto beans? i saw Cranberry beans, are those the same? and what can I substitute for Serrano chilis (for the pico de gallo salsa)??? does anyone have any suggestions? oh yeah, one more question....this isn't Mexican food related but I have a recipe for a very decadent chocolate cake i would like to prepare for dessert...but it calls for mini-marshmallows and as far as i know those don't exist here....what can i do? thanks in advance!

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!

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??

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!

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

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

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.

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 love cava and Italian Prosecco. I also love cheese. Do either of these sparkling wines go well with cheese? If so, what should I buy?

We will be in Newark in July and are looking forward to a great Portuguese or Spanish dinner. My wife loves a good paella. We ate at Fornos last July and before that, Seabras. I have had problems with the service at Don Pepes and wont go back there. I see lots written that is not current or conflicting. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hello, My husband and I are planning a trip in Portugal, visiting Lisbon, Sintra, Obidos, Coimbra, the Serra de Estrela mountains, and the Douro river valley, and finishing up in Porto. I've been lurking in this forum for a while reading all the great recommendations for dining in at least some of those places. Thanks for all of that, it's making my mouth water. I have a very specific question, though, and I was hoping some of the resident Portugal experts could help me out: I am gluten intolerant, which, if you're not familiar with it, means that I cannot eat anything made of wheat or its relatives (rye, barley, spelt). That includes, obviously, bread and pastries and pasta, but also even the tiniest bit of flour added as a thickener in a sauce, or lightly coating a fish about to be fried. I'm highly sensitive to it, like an allergy (though technically it's not an allergy, it's an intolerance). In general I've worked out how to eat out very well, I know obvious things to avoid, and it's not a problem travelling when I speak the language. But, while I can read Portuguese I can't speak it really at all, so my question is: can you point out some things that might contain wheat that I wouldn't necessarily expect? For example: -Do some people use wheat starch to thicken a flan or custard in Portugal? (I have heard of this in general as a danger, but I wonder about Portuguese habits in particular.) -What about sausage? I know there is at least one specialty sausage made with flour or bread, but should I worry about things like that being added to other sausages? -When fish is fried, including sardines and bacalhao, do people flour it? I'm just talking about average, traditional, seafood and grill type places, of the sort that so many people have recommended in the Portugal threads. Obviously a more upscale restaurant is less predictable. And don't worry about giving me wrong advice--if I get glutened it won't be life-threatening, I'll just be unhappy for a few days. Thanks, I'd appreciate any guidance. Anne

Editing recipes from recent trip to Spain, and one of the chefs (Carles Abellan of Comerc 24 and Tapac 24) has used mushrooms that were identified as 'perros chicos.' they are small, and the caps are quite rounded, so much that they almost look like chickpeas. Does anyone know of which I speak, and ideally, can you provide a Latin name? As ever, thanks.