CHRIS RUNDLE

THREE CHORIZO-THEMED RECIPES THAT OFFER A TASTE OF SPAIN

- 

WAS moved to use some intemperate language when I recently read about the holidaymaker who came back from Greece complaining there was only Greek food on offer and chips only appeared on the table once during her stay.

I see the consensus of the barrage of social media comments is that she should stick to Skegness in future and not go abroad and give British tourists a worse reputation than they already have.

Like most right-thinking people, I regard trying different cuisines as part of the holiday experience and was duly delighted to be served, during a short break to northern Spain last week, two local specialities - oxtail followed by rice pudding.

I didn’t really expect to encounter either in Cantabria, I must say. But there they were on the menu of the Michelin-listed restaurant whence we repaired one evening - and who am I to refuse either when they are offered?

Subsequent inspection of other menus in the town revealed that the Spanish have quite a penchant for rice pudding (that evening's version came with a dusting of cinnamon and a few drops of lemon oil) and it was therefore a matter of some regret that our stay was only three days long and the delightful prospect of rice pudding every day for a fortnight had to remain a dream.

As to the oxtail, the last time I ate beef that had been so perfectly cooked was a few years ago in Annecy in a restaurant serving only beef and potatoes, though cooked in a myriad different ways and the ox cheek arrived after 36 hours in a slow oven and they gave you a spoon to eat it with because that was all you needed.