Recipes

[NRiz]

Not sure if this is a suitable topic or not for this forum, but I figure if you're learning a language, you should also spend some time learning about the culture that language comes from. One of my favorite things about different cultures are all the different ways that we can prepare food! What are some of your spanish inspired recipes?

[petesede]

In Nicaragaua where I currently am...  Gallo Pinto... haha.. it is rice mixed with beans.  It is a very poor country so they just combine two very cheap foods and give it a new name ( it is not ´rice and beans´) and is served with basically all meals.

One thing I really enjoy here is nacatamoles.  Hard to describe but basically it is like cornflour, with some pork and a few other things wrapped in banana leaves and then boiled.

Another thing I really enjoy here that I never had in the USA are friend platinos with cinnamon.  It is strange because you let the platino (similar to a large banana) get to the point where it is black and looks terrible, then you peel it, slice it and fry it in a little oil.  It ends up very sweet tasting.

Nicaragua really does not have that many interesting dishes.  Even when I visit well-off families for meals it is just typical chicken, rice, steamed vegetable type meals.

[NRiz]

Haha awesome, thanks for sharing! I don't really have any recipes of my own, but when I'm living on a budget, I've found that I can make a delicious and filling meal out of a can of beans, a can of chicken, and some salsa. Mix it up all together, add some spices and cheese, heat it up a little if you want, or just eat it cold. Delicioso

[SpringBreeze]

I'm on a budget too. And I travel a lot. So, I no longer have time or money to cook elaborate meals. I keep it simple now. And one simple Latin-inspired dish that I like to make is guacomole.

Yo hago guacamole con aguacate, cebolla, tomate, limon, cilantro, sal, y perejil. Si yo quiero algo muy saludable, incluyo espinacas.

[LivetoErr]

I love to make Spanish rice, ceviche, guacamole, salsas, nopales con chorizo, carne asada,  etc. We've really embraced the Mexican culture food wise.

I have a Mexican cook book that I go through and make whatever looks and/or sounds good. I make it a bit more Mexican because the cookbook uses a lot of pre-made items (like salsa) and I prefer to make mine from scratch.

Also, we tend to eat a lot of tacos, traditional ones that is, not the Old El Paso ones. 

[sidney]

I love tacos and most Spanish viands like menudo and adobo, and being from the Philippines, those Spanish foods are really common because the Spaniards colonized us for 300 years, so even if I'm not from Spain, we inherited a lot of the Spaniard's culture.

[joeldeperu]

I am from Peru and to respond to your inquiry, here you have a very famous and delicious recipe from my country. This is for preparing "Ceviche". First cut any fish meat into small dices, then add lemon juice, salt, pepper, onion in thin slices and mix it all together. And there you have, a simple but very tasty ceviche. This the national plate in my country.

[Trellum]

I personally love ''Menudo'' y ''Tamales'', the former is a soup of spaniard origin, but with a very mexican touch: corn! It looks like this:

It's known as ''callos'' in Spain, but instead of cooked corn they use chickpeas. We loved to eat this every Sunday morning along  with some coffee.

The Tamales are a 100% dish, but other latino american countries created their own version.  The average tamal is made with maseca (nixtamal) or corn meal... We fill them with different things, some people like the ones with work and red salsa, others with green chillies and cheese, beans or even mole. They are cooked inside a special pot with steam only, each tamal is wrapper in a dry corn leaf:

[Trellum]

I love to make Spanish rice, ceviche, guacamole, salsas, nopales con chorizo, carne asada,  etc. We've really embraced the Mexican culture food wise.

I have a Mexican cook book that I go through and make whatever looks and/or sounds good. I make it a bit more Mexican because the cookbook uses a lot of pre-made items (like salsa) and I prefer to make mine from scratch.

Also, we tend to eat a lot of tacos, traditional ones that is, not the Old El Paso ones.

Good for you for enjoying all the things that both cultures (your own and the Mexican one) has to offer. I personally enjoy the carne asada and the real tacos made with corn tortillas. Those are awesome!  I specially like my tacos to be dorados, the potato ones only tho.  I then add cabbage, queso fresco, tomato and a nice spicy sauce   The fish tacos are also wonderful!

[czarina84]

I like tacos and quesadilla, mostly.  One of my former friends introduced me to seasoned rice and beans.  I know this isn't a recipe, but another friend of mine (that I sadly fell out of touch with after her second child) gave me a Malta Goya.  It's a soda-type thing.  It's really good.  It has this odd taste that takes some getting used to.  You take a sip and something makes you curious for another sip.  Before you know it, you're hooked.