Turrón from Jijona

It is said that 'Turrón' was originated at the arabian peninsula, in the XI century a book called 'De medicinis et cibis semplicibus' was published, inside there is a recipe of a sweet called 'turun'. Later on, the arabs brought that recipe to Spain where it was changed a little.

The original recipe was more simple than today, it was a mixture of toasted almonds and cooked honey. Instead of almonds, it was possible to see the turrón made of hazelnuts, pinions or walnuts.

In the XV century it is possible to identify different types of turrón depending of the geographical zone of Spain. Hazelnut turrón was made at the north Mediterranean region, At the south plateau and Andalucía was the 'alajú' a turrón made of pinions, walnuts and almonds. In Alicante region was typical the turrón made of almonds.

The end of october is the end of the agricultural cycle , after that, farmers start the elaboration of the turrón to be ready to be sold at Christmas.

It is said that the turrón was known at the Royal Court thanks to Philip the Second. Also, the authorities from Alicante spent a lot of money to give turrón to famous people from Madrid and Valencia as a present , soon it became part of the salary at Christmas time.

In the XVII century the turrón started to be exported to Europe , at that time, the egg whites were added to the original recipe, this way, the turrón did not leak honey and its colour was clearer.

In the XVIII century , the honey started to be scarce, so farmers decided to add sugar to the original recipe, leaving the recipe as it is known today.

The first time when Turrón from Jijona was elaborated was in the XIX century, it is the result of grinding turrón from Alicante, it was specially made for children and elder people.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 2 rectangular tupperwares.
• 300 grams of marcona almond.
• 100 grams floral honey.
• 100 grams sugar.
• 1 egg white.
• Ground lemon rind.
• a teaspoon of cinnamon.

 

Method:

 

1-  Take a frying pan, toast without oil almond flour or whole almonds, that you are going to grind later.

 

 

2-  You can add some toast almond pieces to the mixture.

3-  Take a casserole, add the sugar and honey, put on a low heat , and stir until all the sugar is disolved , then you add cinnamon and lemon rind.

 

 

4-  Whisk the egg's whites until they go stiff.

 

 

5-  Put the heat off , Add the whites to the mixture and stir with encircle movements. .

6-  Put on a low fire , add the ground almonds , stir well during 2 minutes and let cool.

 

 

7-  Put some parchment paper over one tupper. Knead the mixture with the hands, then put it in the tupper. Smash the mixture , this way the almonds  will release its oil

 

 

8-  Cover the turrón with parchment paper, place other tupper over it, afterwards place some weight in the tupper, as you can see at the pictures:

 

 

 

 9-  Let stand for 3 or 4 days at room temperature.

Alicante

«Alicante (provincia)» de Ulaidh & HansenBCN - Trabajo propio. Disponible bajo la licencia GFDL vía Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alicante_(provincia).svg#mediaviewer/File:Alicante_(provincia).svg



 

Arroz con costra (arròs amb costra)

  Arroz con costra (arròs amb costra) is considered the most ancient recipe of rice from Spain. This recipe appeared in 1490 at the book 'Lybre de doctrina per ben servir, de tallar y el art de coch' from Ruperto Nola ,the cook of the king of Naples, this book was so successful that it was translated into spanish some years later.

This rice is typical from Elche and the regions of Vega Baja, Bajo Vinalopó. 

This is a strong dish, with chicken, rabbit, sausages, rice and chickpeas.

The costra is made from a layer of beaten eggs over the rice cooked in oven , it provides the rice with softeness and a special taste.

Dependig on the region the ingredients vary a little, the recipe I bring today is the variety from Elche.

It is better and traditional if you use a clay cooking pot.

Ingredients:

• A clay pot (I used one with 30 cm of diameter).
• 4 or 5 ripe tomatos.
• 6 or 7 litle white sausages.
• Red sausige.
• 1/2 blanquet (or white butifarra).
• 1/2 black butifarra.
• 5 or 6 tablespoons of cooked chickpeas.
• 250 grams of  chicken meat in little pieces and without the skin.
• 250 grams of rabbit meat in little pieces and without the skin.
• 2 and a half  cups of rice.
• Some saffron threads.
• 2 eggs per person plus one additional egg.
• Salt.
• Sugar.

 

Method:

 

1-  Put the tomatoes, oil, salt and sugar in a frying pan. Put the fire on a low heat and cook until the tomatoes are soft and the meat is clearly separated from the meat.

Pass the tomato through a ricer to gt rid of the skin and seeds.

 

2- Cut into slices black and white butifarras.

 

 

3- Put some oil in a large clay cooking pot, fry at medium heat the white butifarra 1 minute by every side, put aside.

 

 

4 - Fry at medium heat the black butifarra 1 minute by every side, put aside.

 

 

5- Cut white sausages in little pieces , add some salt and fry with the same oil until the meat is done.

Put aside.

 

 

6 - Cut red sausage in litle pieces, add salt and fry until the meat is done.

Put aside.

 

 

 

7 - Add salt to the chicken and rabbit, and fry until the meat is done.

 

 

8 - Add the tomato you made at step 1, add chickpeas and safron threads. Cook at medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes.

 

 

9 - Add water until de chicken and rabbit are covered, bear in mind that the quantity of rice that you will add later should be half of the quantity of water that you are adding now, cook at medium heat for half an hour.

 

 

10 - Add the rice, put on a high heat, once it reaches boiling point , put on a low heat and add all the sausages well spread all over the surface. Cook 12-13 minutes until there is no water and the rice is well done.

 

 

11- Meanwhile add salt to the eggs , beat them. Preheat oven at 220 ºC heat over and below.

 

 

 

 

 

12- Once the rice is done, add the eggs over the rice. Put the pot inside the oven at the same temperature for some minutes until you see the 'costra' , it is the eggs are done.

 

Where to buy the ingredients:

The white and black sausages can be bought at the butcher shop.

The blanquet, white and black butifarra from Alicante you can buy them in Madrid at Mantequería La Gloria , plaza Prosperidad 5. 

You can also use catalan butifarra , maybe it is easier to find out of Cataluña, in Madrid I found it at La Garriga, en Serrano 93 http://www.lagarrigacharcuteria.com/

 

 

 



Alicante

«Alicante (provincia)» de Ulaidh & HansenBCN - Trabajo propio. Disponible bajo la licencia GFDL vía Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alicante_(provincia).svg#mediaviewer/File:Alicante_(provincia).svg