Calamares & Red Wine

Last night my daughter decided to try an new recipe for calamares, which we bought from the fresh fish counter in Intermarche.
Calamares is squid which can be purchased whole, though we buy strips as preparing a whole squid can be quite fiddly.

The following quantities serve four people.
Ingredients
1/2 kilo calamares strips
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 glass red wine
1 courgette
1/2 aubergine
1 yellow pepper
1/2 carton frito
Olive oil
Season to taste


Method
1: Dice onion finely and crush garlic then saute until soft in a little olive oil.
2: Dice calamares, and add to onions with glass of wine. Leave to simmer for 15/18 minutes.
3: In a second pan, add all other vegetable, cut into chunks. We usually keep these quite large as it helps the vegetable to keep their texture.
4: Cook until soft, and add frito to mixture.
5: When calamares are ready, mix the contents of both pans and allow mixture to reduce until you are satisfied with the thickness of the sauce.

Serve with pasta, or cous cous.

Heavy Rainfall in Rojales

The last week or so of poor weather, in particular heavy rain, has had a rather dramatic effect on the Rio Segura.

My daughter and I went out for a walk this afternoon and we were surprised to see just how high the water had risen. The water had brought down lots of rubbish with it, and the council had sent a tractor down to start clearing it away. I can see it being a big job for them!

The Segura is usually in a state of semi drought although it has been known to flood in the past due to torrential rain. However since the canal system was put in place in the 1990s, flooding has not been a problem in this area, as they help to move the water more efficiently.

We are hoping that this cold spell will finish soon and we will have some lovely sunshine again!

Chocolat & Churros

Recently my daughter and I decided to try a typical Spanish treat- chocolat and churros. We visited a little churrería on the main street of Guardamar which was clearly very popular with all the locals.

If you have a sweet tooth then this is a perfect breakfast or snack. The chocolat is a cup of hot melted dark chocolate, served with churros- a sweet fried pastry. It is traditional to dip the churros into the chocolat, and very delicious!

Some people say that churros are named after the churro breed of sheep, as the ridged strands are remeniscent of the sheeps horns.

My daughter is a total chocoholic and says everyone should try it!

AngloINFO information

If you need any information on the Costa Blanca this is a great website to visit http://www.costablanca.angloinfo.com/ there are also websites in Spain for Costa del Sol, Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. There is every kind of information, E postcards to send, maps, the weather forecast, games and in fact everything you could possibly need. The forums are also very useful to sell or buy, air a point of view, ask or answer a question or to socialise.
Angloinfo also has websites for many other areas of Europe and is continuously expanding.

Bullfighting dying out

The national traditional of bullfighting in Spain is dying out, young people have lost interest and the animal rights campaigners are starting to influence the authorities. Bullfighting has been a big industry in Spain employing 200,000 people from the bull breeders to the bullfighters assistants and the turnover is around 1.5 billion euros. Around 12000 bulls are killed each year around Spain, and the bullfighters are compared to film stars in their celebrity status. The typical bullfighting public now consists of elderly men, and around 72% of Spaniards have no interest in bullfighting. Catalonia is the only Spanish region to reduce bullfights, where Barcelona and 20 other municipalities have declared themselves anti bullfight.