Cooking in Spain: Chili Cook-Off

I started off this beautiful September morning having a cafe con leche with one of my closest friends, who studied here with me back in 2006 and felt the need to return a little over a year ago. One of the cafés between my house and her work offers an ¨anti-crisis¨ breakfast with a perfectly made espresso with the most exquisitely foamed milk and the trademark of someone who knows what their doing behind an espresso machine, the rosetta. The perfect coffee also comes with two pieces of toasted baguette and jam for only €1,20. ($1.70)

Take that Starbucks! I love living in a city small enough not to be tainted by the presence of that coffee shop which would undoubtedly make the cafés around here think that they, too, could charge un riñon, y la mitad del otro. (a kidney and half of the other, the way Spaniards say an arm and a leg...)

After a budget-friendly breakfast, I took off to go to the supermarket to search for some important ingredients that I wasn´t sure I´d be able to find here in Spain. This being the first week of what everyone accepts to be ¨fall,¨ I´ve been having hankerings for my father´s award winning steak chili. (Maybe I´ll post the recipe if I´m feeling really generous/not lazy.)

I went looking for whole cumin seeds that are toasted and a huge part of the depth of flavor in the dish, chili powder, jalepeños which are suprisingly hard to find... we´re not in Mexico, and the right types of steak and ground chuck that make this chili different than any 99 cent cup you get at Wendy´s. My SuperMarket Sweep was pretty successful. I found the cumin seeds, figured I could make do with some spicy (and smoky *bonus!*) paprika instead of chili powder, found some canned jalepeños in the Mexican section, and found some pre-cubed steak and regular ground beef that should work out.

I´ll post later on today, hopefully with pictures of how this American recipe for the best steak chili does after crossing the ocean. It´s funny how recipes change when they change countries. For example, I´ve tried to make the Spanish staple, tortilla española or Spanish omelette, for my family when I was back in the States. I don´t know what it is but it just never tastes the same.

Do you have any favorite recipes that you couldn´t live without if you made the jump to live in Spain? I looooooove hearing and talking about food. I think a little too much.

Besos from Spain,

T

Update: As I began this tailgate food cooking extravaganza, I lit my stove and was reheating a bit of food for lunch when I realized the flame went out. It was what I had been fearing. My butane tank had run out! Look for the next entry to explain the oddities of the Spanish kitchen.

The chili was made at my friend´s house and was a perfect accompainment to kickoff of college football season but this time I didn´t get the chance to do my picture/ recipe sharing. You just wait for when I have my brand new kitchen to make all sorts of goodies!