San2
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Hi, well you seem to be in the right direction. It is important not to have prejudices that limit you cooking so take it from a Spaniard; any good, fresh and well-prepared product with a touch of imagination can make an excellent Spanish Tapa. The "Spanish flavor" comes from certain cultural preconceptions of flavors used in some areas of Spain and the Hispanic world. Hence, although I am sure you know most of what I am going to explain, doing so will not hurt and I will also provide you with some recipes for basic sauces you might use to “hispanizar” or wich´m´callit your products.
Maybe it would help to differentiate tapas from pinchos and raciones. Also U seem to be going to Bangkok and that will condition some how the type of products that are more fresh and accessible. Other important criteria are preparation time and complexity. So for example unless you have mastered croquetas the time you need to do them right and waiting to have the béchamel at the right consistency, not doing it by adding more flour - harina but by reduction of milk-butter, takes many hours of work that will take a way from other tapas and pinchos.
Hence if I were you apart from the tapa - pincho - ración division, I would think, fried, raw, cooked.
Frying: make sure the oil is always hot enough or you croquetas and rest will not come right. Also use a generous amount of oil because despite opinions, the more oil to fry or deep fry the less oily the product will come. After frying deposit fried items over white paper or cloth to further take of grease.
Raw: Products must be very fresh. So you must buy them same day that you are going to do them. Combine fresh products with seasoned cured or adobados, cured with Oil-Lemmon / Vinegar /Wine - or dry salted and smoked products.
Cooked: Involves boiling and maybe other processing like sautéing too e.g. potatoes, onions and other material, which is easy and provides a source for creating tapas, pinchos o raciones. Example Ensaladilla rusa, patatas ali-oli, patatas bravas etc.
Tapas: are basically slices of bread, usually "french" bread because it has a more neutral flavour, covered (tapadas - verbo tapar) with some product. They do not have to be necessarily Spanish products since this are often difficult to access in other countries or if there are some either they are very expensive or not very tasty e.g. German jamon serrano or some canned goods.
Pinchos: A pincho is a point or spear, an instrument of wood or steel that has products speared through it. Again while basic ingredients are good and the combination harmonic they are good, independent if they are Spanish products or not. Basic also distinguish pinchos and banderillas.
Raciones: One dish you prepare together in oven, cooking or frying. You can use it also to make tapas and pichos. The most important is the quality of the recipee and the freshness of ingredients (qual. too)
Pinchos are normally cooked while banderillas are not. While pinchos need harmony banderillas need contrast. So try to unify pinchos even product are multiple unifying the flavour with similar or one common sauce -adobo per piNcho type. Banderillas need contrast so even though they have a strong wine, vinegar, lemon, smoked flavour it is the combination of this contrasts that works and think generally people don’t swallow a whole Banderilla unless its a Torera (tooth pick size).
Good pincho materials are:
Cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers green red or any colour, guindillas (fresh red or green hot paprikas), pepinos -cucumbers (fresh or adobadas), and probably many interesting fresh or cured Tai products vegetables and fish/meats are delicious too.
Good banderilla materials are: dried tomatoes, mini-spring onions, pepinillos or gherkins (mini- cucumbers), mini- corn, mini carrots or chopped carrots adobadas, different types of lemmon/v/w cured small fish or crustaceans (from shrimps to lobster anything works) and also smoked fish and meats very thinly sliced from smoked octopus, fish roes -huevas, spawns eggs, salmon, etc- what ever you find delicious and smoked on the Tai market.
Tapas: There are as many tapas and pinchos as imagination you have. I will mention here some that are delicious too me because they are quite easy and delicious.
Escalopes o filetes empanados. Coated (breadcrumbs and egg) pork or cow steaks cut and shaped in smaller pieces before frying.
Merluza con mayonesa. Fried Hake with small lump of mayonnaise on top
Anchoas al ajillo. Anchovies with garlic sauce (below)
Salmon ahumado: smoked salmon
Smoked or salted Roe: Huevas saladas o ahumadas.
Tortilla de patatas con mayonesa
Raciones: ration or whole plates, which you prepare as one single dish and then you can either serve in small oval individual or general dishes, or separate to use as material for tapas or for pinchos. Example Tortilla de patata (exception to the oil rule for the tortilla yet not for the potatoes), ensaladilla rusa, patatas ali-oli, fish, veggies or meats prepared as one and then added as tape or as part of the pincho.
Marinades and Sauces:
Here are several basic recipes for sauces and marinades that will add the Spanish flavor to any product. You can use to marinade (adobar), and as sauce for dipping (mojar). They are all quite strong so cooking can be done without adding anything to the product and then add sauce separate in the plate since a little tastes a lot.
The method is the same more or less for all depending on the consistency so I write the one for Alí-oli and mayonnaise, which is the thickest and most critical. Place all ingredients except the acid, lemon/vinegar or wine, together in mini-pimmer vase and add oil while you are mixing / mashing with the mini-pimmer (need two hands or person one to operate mini-pimmer other to add continuously or uninterruptedly the oil till it becomes so thick that it stops moving. Stop. Same process for Mayonesa.
Salsas Verdes: Mojos, Chimichurris, Adobos
Ingredients:
Parsley: Perejíl is the base of these sauces helps conservation and adds distinctive taste
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of thyme - tomillo
Pinch of rosemary - romero
Pinch of mint - hierbabuena
Salt
1/2 lemon_ all its juice or use instead two table spoons of wine / sherry / fino or Balsamic vinegar. Depend of your preferences.
Salsas Rojas or Red Paprika Sauce/Marinade Salsa Brava or Mojo Picón:
Ingredients for 3 garlic teeth
olive oil - virgin or refined
½ Ground paprika - pimentón dulce
½ Ground paprika - Pimentón picante
Pinch of cumin - Comino
salt
Vinegar. Depending of your preferences use instead two tablespoons of wine / sherry / fino or 1/2 lemon_ all its juice or.
Salsas Amarillas: Ali-Olí & Mayonesa
Ingredients:
3 garlic teeth
olive oil - virgin or refined
1 egg + 1 yolk
Salt
1/2 lemon_ all its or vinegar depending of your preferences.
Place all ingredients except lemon/vinegar together and add oil while you are mixing and mashing with mini-pimmer (need two hands or person one to operate mini-pimmer other to add continuously oil till it becomes so thick that it stops moving. Same process for Mayonesa.
Mayonesa:
Ingredients:
olive oil - virgin or refined
1 egg + 1 yolk
Salt
1/2 lemon_ all its or vinegar depending of your preferences.
You can do it by hand or also minipimer, or blender. By hand you star mashing or pureeing the 3 tooth of garlic with salt till they are liquid, add one glass of oil, if no olive you can replace with sunflower oil best or corn oil second best, the you add the herbs of which oregano would be a 50% thyme 25% rosemary 5 %, mint 15 %, pepper grains 5% depend on how hot you want it. With blender through first garlic and oil +salt till liquefies, then add the spices and work in slowly - lemon blend all together well. The consistency depends if you want to use as dip, sauce or marinade. If you want to marinade just make it more liquid by adding more oil and lemon also for conserving and to marinade for same day consumption take oil and replace with milk, and of course no lemon mix with food to eat, meat fish or veggies and leave it seat for 4-5 hours to one day, more is not recommendable since the milk version might start breaking up.
Hope it helps
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