Paella with onion rings

As I had some good feedback about my previous post about how to do some fried eggs I am going to write about cooking again ... this time though not about what to do but about "cultural differences" and some aberrations I have suffered myself with the paellas.

In case you didn't know/imagine each country has its own cooking traditions and taste. So, when opening a "foreign" restaurant you usually need to adapt a bit the recipes. This can either be because some of the ingredients are impossible to find, because in the new country they don't like a particular condiment, because some of the ingredients taste quite different, …
So you find yourself a few odd things like Indian curry in the UK being a lot milder than the original … rabbits in the UK are better known as pets but in Spain they are a food source ... Italian lasagna being hot as hell in India … Mexican people having to add the entire contents of a chilly oil bottle to their enchiladas … the list is endless!

So, I should know better and when I see a Spanish restaurant run away as if it was cursed. But is not that easy!
First error: You have this kind of nostalgia … or you are with friends that hate you … or friends that think you are going to be extremely happy by eating something that completely falls short of your expectations … anyway, one way or another you always end up going in!
Second error: Ordering your favorite dish!

In my case one of my favorite dishes is the "paella". In theory it is quite simple because it is no more than rice with things. It can be either meat or fish or a mix of the two. So there are a lot of different recipes and ways of cooking but the end result should fall within some pretty standard taste range. Now, I think it is in the human nature not to read the instructions before doing something … and I admit I have done that quite a few times … but if you are a professional cook you should at least take a quick look at the recipes and not just at the picture that goes with it! Because, judging by the range of strange things that is what they tend to do.
In case any cook follows this blog I'll add a quick list of what not to put on a paella:

• Yes, I know that on the picture you had some lemon wedges … they were just an ornament! Don't cook them with the rice!


• And yes, I know that is called "paella Valencia" and that oranges are typical from there … and that if you cook the rice with lemon wedges, why not oranges? Well, don't!


• Olives?!? Cooked?!? Where did you see that?


• Chorizo … with a fish paella … Mt Cook: you should go to the doctor to check those taste buds.


• Onion rings?!? Are you sure that they weren't fried squid rings?!? And still, that is definitely not part of any traditional (or any modern) recipe.


• But most important of all: the yellow color of the paella rice comes from saffron, not from freaking curry species! Mr Canteen's Cook: you don't know how close to death you were that day!

Cooking recipe: fried eggs!

The other day I had a friend around and I was cooking us dinner. All of a sudden she looked puzzled and asked: "why are you doing it like this?" I realized that, as with most things, I cook in a completely different way compared to the rest of the world! So let me share it with you and see what you think.

My cooking style is based in patience! Yes: patience. Basically it takes me about ten minutes to fry an egg!

The normal approach is to have the oil pretty hot, dump the egg in the pan ... and unleash hell with boiling oil splashing all around ... the egg white burnt on the outside but raw on the middle ... and you with third degree burns, stressed out and an anxiety crisis.

Me, on the other hand, I have the hob at the lowest possible mark. The oil is not that hot, you dump the egg ... nothing happens at first. You have all the time in the world to fetch the salt and add any extra seasoning or toppings. And just leave it in there ... patience ... no need to stir, no need to splash the top of the egg with boiling oil, no need to do anything. Just wait! You will see that the egg white starts cooking slowly from underneath until it is all perfectly and homogeneously cooked. The yolk is still going to be raw: the perfect fried egg (if you leave if for too long the worst that can happen is that the yolk is going to cook as well) And no hot oil splashing anywhere.
Voilà: done!

Note that I said you have time to add "extra toppings" apart from salt. From time to time I do what people call "pizza fried eggs". Basically you do like in a pizza and add bacon, cheese, oregano, peperoni, ... whatever you want to the egg white, just after putting the egg into the pan. The ingredients are going to cook slowly and get fused with the egg white. Yummy, yummy! :-)

So, when you have friends around: do you prefer to spend a couple of minutes worrying, burning yourself, making a mess of the kitchen? Or do you prefer spending ten minutes drinking beer and chatting with them? ... I always go for the beer option! :-D