I am uncertain as to whether the paella is the national dish of Spain because I have not had the pleasure of visiting. Let us just say that is a very popular dish indeed. The origins of classic dishes such as the Paella are fascinating. We can learn so much about the culture and history of a  country by looking at the underlying ingredients. Two of the critical ingredients are peppers (and her derivatives such as paprika) and tomatoes and are both indigenous to the Americas. The underlying short-grain rice that appears in the dish traces its origins to Africa. The white beans also likely moved to Spain from Africa. The saffron that forms a critical element of the dish likely came from somewhere in the middle-east. I recall that chicken was originally native to Asia.

With this knowledge in mind what can we conclude: Spain was a great trading nation, and has a strong African connection. We of course know this from our study of history, although it is neat how a similar conclusion can be reached by just studying the underlying ingredients and their origins! The point of all of this is that trade and conquest make delicious cuisine and without, life would be very bland indeed!

The ingredients: I have attempted to make this as classic as possible. Apparently the classic recipe also calls for rabbit*. The garlic has been crushed with salt. The saffron has also been ground with salt as this  helps release the color and flavor whilst cooking.

Brown the chicken very well. Color is flavor. Add the grated tomatoes, sliced chopped raw red peppers, boiled white lima beans and green peas.

Add Paprika (i’m using sweet smoked and plain sweet together) along with saffron, salt and garlic. Coat chicken and other ingredients.

A lot of recipes use chicken stock. Frankly I do not see the need. I find water is absolutely fine. First add the water, the ratio is 3 parts water to 1 part of rice. Bring to the boil and check seasoning. This part is critical, make sure seasoning is right before adding the rice, because this is the last opportunity. Add the rice and stir. I lined the top with pre-roasted red-peppers only because I think they add an additional element of flavor.

Boil rigorously for 8 minutes without stirring, turn to low for 10 minutes, then take off the heat and cover for 5-10 minutes. There should be a nice burnt crust forming at the bottom. Adjust times accordingly if there is too much or too little liquid.

Top with fresh olive oil and serve with fresh lemon/limes. Absolutely perfect.

*I am also told snails feature in the classic dish

There are fewer eating joys than ravishing a tender and flavorful piece of beef that is charred on the outside and red and bloody on the inside, and so it was to my delight when I came across a hunk of cow in the supermarket. It was my intention to purchase fish and try and eat healthier after a few too many drinks the previous evening. Perhaps unfortunately, the wandering eye of a male-primate is easily overcome with instinct when passing the beef section of the supermarket, with no other choice other than to suspend all previous rational thoughts and pounce on the best looking piece of cow possible.

When it comes to ingesting the perfect steak many variables are outside the control of the home-cook. Living on a small island in the middle of the Caribbean also limits the quality of beef available for selection. There are a few critical elements to the perfect steak that the home cook has control over, they are as follows:

1. The steak must have a decent crust on the outside, while the inside is cooked to medium-rare;
2. There should be an even color inside, indicating that the steak has an even temperature throughout the meat;
3. The steak should be well salt and peppered;
4. There flavor of the steak could be enhanced through a very simple butter sauce; and
5. We are not savages, consider a non-meat side such as a potato dish.

The first two elements require some care. I have lost count of how many cookbooks, youtube videos and blogposts I have entertained to understand how to get this part right. I am not going to go through literally hundreds of methods, instead I will jump to what I have settled on. First, unpack your piece of meat and allow the surface to get as dry as possible, either do this in the fridge or under a fan. In this instance I left the steak on cake rack under the AC and ceiling fan for about an hour. Water is the enemy of the meat browning – this is a critical step.

Secondly, To ensure a good crust on the outside heat a cast-iron pan until it is glowing hot. I do not salt or pepper the meat at this point, I find it makes no difference at all to the overall result. I simply brush on some high smoke point oil on the steak and line the hot pan with a bit more oil. I then employ Heston Blumenthal’s technique of flipping the steak every 15-20 seconds to ensure the no side of the steak gets too hot. This allows a crust to form, without overcooking the center

The steak is still red raw inside. I employ Sous Vide cooking to finish it off. At this point I salt and pepper the steak, and I add some thyme to the sous vide bag. The steak is cooked at exactly 54 degrees Celsius for 2 hours.

To add some intensely amazing flavor to the steak I create a thyme/herb infused brown butter to shower over the final steak. I crush some fresh thyme, bay leaf and juniper berry and add them to the butter to slowly infuse. Water is also added to slow down the cooking process. What is left is the most intense thyme flavored butter that is out of this world.

The steak is removed from the sous vide bath, and completely dried with paper towels. The browned butter is brushed on, and salt and pepper are added. For an extra crust on the steak I sear it on very high heat for 20 seconds a side and finish it off with another dash of browned butter.

The steak does not need resting as it was cooked sous vide. It is served with saffron-infused roast potatoes (next post) with the thyme-butter on the side for good measure.

The steak achieves all the elements discussed earlier. It is as close to perfect as it can get.

I am finally back in my apartment for a full weekend. Lots of cooking is in order. Today’s recipe is an adaption from Raymond Blanc. I have added a top notch caribbean rum instead of a sweet dessert wine. The recipe is long and complicated needing at least a day of preparation.

Prepare: candied walnuts; candied pecans; creme anglaise; and caramel sauce. The preparation of these condiments took a few hours in itself.

Remove the frozen sabayon from the tin, and plate with nuts, caramel and vanilla cream.

2. The lamb should fall off the bone in one piece, cut away any noticeable fat or tendons and cut the boned lamb neck into two clear pieces.

3. Strain the roasting liquid, reduce and season until required flavor is reached. Strain away the fat. I added balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Add the lamb to the pan and baste then put in a very hot oven until crispy at the sides.

4.  Now for the beans. I used dry cannellini beans, soaked and boiled them until tender. They were pureed using an immersion blender, then passed through a fine sieve. Nothing else was added to the beans other than water to keep moist.

5. Serve the finished masterpiece with bean puree, and the shallots, garlic and tomato from the roasting tray, and of course the jus!

Tasting notes: Incredibly tender and gelatinous, bland white beans go very well with the rich sauce and lamb. Perfect

Now recall the previous post with similar ingredients, but a very different finish: