Planning a Spanish Themed Dinner....
I live in the East end and need to find these three ingredients for the dishes we plan to make. Spanish Red Wine Vinegar / Chorizo Sausage / Spanish Paprika (Pimenton Dulce ?). If anyone can give me a clue where I can buy these ingredients or if you have any suggestions of what could be used as substitutes I would be very grateful.
Thanks in advance !
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Nelson
Mar 5, 2007 10:06 AM
St. Lawrence Market is your best one-stop location nearest to the east end; as mentioned by Mila, don't bypass the fabulous Serrano ham from Schefflers that is an amazing tapa on its own draped in fragrant folds over a toasted, olive oil drizzled chunk of Ciabatta or a few quickly-seared fresh figs, drizzled with sherry vinegar . . . they have all the four varieties of Spanish paprika (hot, sweet, hot smoked and sweet smoked--wouldn't substitute Hungarian as it is quite differently flavoured) and sherry vinegar as well. Fresh chorizo is available from several of the meat vendors--have tried most and all were good.
Have also bought good chorizo from Meat on the Beach and Longo's, but for the most authentic ingredients, you should really make the trip to Little Portugal on College Street. Can't recall the name of the little fish shop/grocery I found last time I was there, but they had multiple varieties of house-made chorizo that was among the best I have ever tasted, as well as real Portugese breads, a variety of Spanish and Portugese vinegars and olive oils and incredible custard tarts . . . well worth the journey!
Apropos Spanish cuisine in general, 2006 was the year of tapas in our household when US-based chef Jose Andres' cookbook arrived under the Christmas tree: A Taste of Spain in America. It's full of great (and mainly very easy) inventive Spanish tapas recipes and makes a wonderful meal planner--have cooked 90% of the recipes and all garnered rave reviews. Here is a small taste:
http://recipes.egullet.org/dosearch.p... -
We had a Spanish Tapas party 2 weeks ago and it was loads of fun to make and eat.
Spanish Sherry Vinegar I got at Domino's (SLM) after I finished a bottle from Pasquale Bros, who are sadly no longer downtown.
Chorizo I got in Kensington from Segovia which was good, but my friend picked up some Mexican Sausages from Rowe Farms in the north market (Saturday) which were amazing.
Spanish paprika, smoked and sweet, is at Schefflers at St Lawrence. They also have a great selection of Spanish cheese: Manchego, Valdeon Blue, Spanish Goat's Cheese; the goat's cheese was excellent. Oh, and Serrano ham of course which was suprisingly inexpensive.
I ordered small empanadas from Jumbo Empanadas in Kensington for $1.50 each.
Here was our menu if you're looking for any more ideas. Have a great party !
Tortilla Española & Romesco Sauce
Olives marinated with Seville Oranges, Roasted Garlic, Thyme, Fennel seed and Bay Laurel
Sautéed Mushrooms with Hazelnut Gremolata
Chickpeas and Spinach Salad with crumbled Chorizo
Rapini with White beans and Shaved Manchego
Patatas Bravas with Romesco Sauce
Roasted Almonds with Rosemary and Lemon Peel
Asparagus with Roasted Garlic and Lemon Aioli
Arugula & Roasted Beets with Goat’s Cheese
Baguette & FlatbreadsSerrano Ham & Manchego Cheese with Fresh Figs
Garlic & Chile Shrimp
Meatballs with Almond Sauce
Grilled Chorizo & Roasted Peppers
Salt Cod Fritters with Lime Chipotle mayonnaise
Empanadas with Salsa Fresco›1 Reply -
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Full tummy
Mar 3, 2007 06:08 PM
There's excellent chorizo sausage at Royal Beef on Danforth, north side, west of Woodbine. They may also have smoked paprika, though I'm not sure.
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