Oh No! Not Paella again!

Last week, we cooked a meal for an old lady in the little village of Valles, near where we live in Valencia. There was so much food available, that we also fed a group of local Spanish villagers. They were so grateful for our hospitality, that they said that they would cook traditional paella for us next week.

Oh no, not paella again – I hate paella! However, we would never offend people by refusing their food, especially when they are preparing it in our honour – even though it is paella.

We decided to make the ‘postre’ – dessert. Sheila made her chocolate cake and coconut cake then we did something we had never done before, we made a rhubarb cheesecake. We never make anything for an event that we have not tried and tested out beforehand, but we found a good recipe and decided to go for it. We were due to eat at two o’clock, but we were working on Spanish time of course. That means anytime between one o’clock and three o’clock. The paella arrived at three thirty.

It turned out that the paella was made by a group of hunters. It was actually made in the ‘campo’ (the land) where all the natural ingredients are to be found. This is the original Valencian way of making paella. Before they could start cooking, they had to catch the ingredients first. The rabbit came from the land, the chicken from somebody’s garden and the pork came from a wild boar which happened to stray too far from home.

We knew they were working on the meal, because one of them kept coming back to the bar for more bottles of wine. They didn’t say if the wine was for the paella or for the cooks.

When it eventually arrived (in the back of a van), we were very pleasantly surprised. It was actually the best paella we have ever tasted. The first thing we noticed was the lack of garlic. Sheila is allergic to garlic so that was a definite plus. But there was a wonderful aroma of rosemary, thyme and some things we couldn’t readily identify – and they wouldn’t tell us what the ‘secret’ ingredients were.

I hate to say this, but it tasted absolutely wonderful!

At the end of the meal, they did a curious thing. One of the men handed round a piece of paper to everyone. We had to mark the meal out of ten. It turned out that this is a regular occurrence, and they all take it in turn to make the paella. They score each others recipes and cooking skills, and at the end of the year they have a special celebration for the guy with the most points. We thought it good enough to get 10 out of 10. The guy who did the cooking today actually achieved 75 out of 100.

Now it was Sheila’s turn. If we knew we were to be marked, we wouldn’t have done the cheesecake. But we needn’t have worried. Sheila got twelve out of ten for her chocolate cake.

Sheila’s Recipes

Rhubarb Cheesecake

If you can’t get hold of curd cheese for this, cottage cheese will do but it must be sieved first.

For the crumb base:
5 digestive biscuits, crushed to fine crumbs .
5 ginger biscuits crushed to crumbs
2 oz butter, melted (50 g)
For the cheesecake:
12 oz rhubarb, chopped (350 g)
3 oz brown sugar (75 g)
1 level teaspoon ground ginger
3 size 1 eggs
6 oz curd cheese (175 g)
2 level teaspoons powdered gelatine
1/4 pint double cream (150 ml)

One buttered 8-inch (20 cm) cake tin with a removable base. Place the biscuits in a plastic bag, laying them out flat then, using a rolling pin, crush them to fine crumbs. Mix them with the butter next and press them all over the base of the cake tin. Now put the rhubarb, ginger and sugar in a pan, then cover and cook very gently until soft but not too mushy. In a bowl, beat the eggs, then gradually beat in the cooked rhubarb and juices. Return the mixture to the pan and stir over a low heat until it thickens, but don’t allow it to boil or it will curdle. Then remove the pan from the heat, beat in the curd cheese and leave to cool.

Now in a small bowl, or old cup, mix the gelatine with 2 tablespoons of water. Leave to soften for a few minutes; then stand the bowl in a pan of hot simmering water and stir until the gelatine liquid is clear; then strain it into the rhubarb mixture. Next, beat the cream to a soft, floppy consistency, then fold it into the rhubarb mixture and pour it into the prepared tin. Cover with foil and chill for several hours before serving.

For decoration, we kept it simple and just placed four lavender flowers and a piece of lavender foliage in the centre. You could also put whipped cream around the edge of the cheesecake.

Chocolate Cake

For this recipe we used a standard chocolate sponge cake recipe

8 oz sugar
8 oz margarine
6 1/2 oz of self-raising flour
1 1/2 oz cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 tea spoon of baking powder
pinch of salt
milk to loosen the batter if necessary

Add the margarine and sugar to a large bowl and cream well using an electric whisk. Sieve the flour, cocoa and baking powder into the mixture, adding the beaten eggs and whisk to a smooth batter until a dropping consistency is achieved. Divide the batter between two 8 inch (20cm) cake tins, well buttered and lined with parchment or silicone paper,and bake for approximately 25 minutes at 180 c when cooked, allow to stand for ten minutes before turning out onto a wire stand to cool completely.

For this occasion, Sheila used a chocolate butter icing between the layers and on top of the cake, but you can finish the cake in any way that you prefer.

Bill & Sheila – the spanishchef team

baking with Bill & Sheila
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