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Emilio’s Authentic Spanish Cuisine |
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PAELLA Paella is originally from the Three or four little stones were taken from the road and the
paella pan was set on top, with a fire underneath. They wanted to make something fresh so one
person would bring chicken, another person would bring vegetables from their
garden, and rice could be found everywhere.
They used water from river channels to cook it. One person started it while others
continued to work. When it was done,
everyone would take a break and enjoy vino con gaseosa to drink which later became sangria. Fresh fruits such as oranges and lemons
were plentiful. They would each pick a
couple of pieces of citrus and some apples and cut them up and put it in the
wine. Sueca is about 5 miles from the beach and
in summer people used to make barracas (thatched
roof houses) on the land they purchased and spend the whole season on
beach. Seafood was fresh and plentiful
and was added to the paellas, along with the chickens that were raised and
the vegetables from their gardens.
People from other regions would come to the south of The week of August 14th-20th is called Semana
de San Roque.
Nobody in town works that week.
Their time is spent on the beach, getting together with friends and
family, and making paella every day.
Everyone in the family takes turns and soon a contest started to
see who made the best. Emilio’s family
still does this. La Fiesta Populares de Sueca is the first week of September which celebrates the
Virgin de Sales. The whole week is a
big party in the streets complete with festivals and bull fights. Soon they thought, “Why not start a paella contest?”
Sueca’s city hall thought that was a great
idea so they made a place to do it, organized everything, raised money, and
convinced some businesses to donate chickens, vegetables, etc for the
contest. It was widely promoted and
people signed up from all over the area.
Through the years, the paella contest became so competitive, too many
people wanted to do it. It was decided
that the 32 best chefs and people from around |
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TAPAS It is said that Tapas have an uncertain origin, although it is generally thought
that they began at least a century ago in western Andalucia’s
sherry country. Since sherry is a
fortified wine served as an aperitif, it cries out for an accompanying
nibble. The custom developed of
serving a slice of ham, some olives, or other tidbits on a little plate that
covered the mouth of the sherry glass.
A cover or a lid in Spanish is called a “tapa”
(tapar means “to cover”), and thus the word became
associated with appetizer food. From this humble beginning, an enormous variety of tapas
emerged, and each region of Today tapas have finally become a significant food trend, and
have arrived in |