Spanish Night at my House

We had a small get together at my house 2 nights ago for some Spanish Tapas, appetizers, etc.. My Mom is in town and she brought some great Cold Cuts and Cheese fort he night. The Get together was for her friends and relatives.

For Starters, we had some cheese: Truffled Brie and Clarines French Cheese with some Melba Toast and Fuet (A Catalan type of Salchichon) (sorry no picture). With this, we had a 2007 Martin Codax, a fresh, fruity Albariño which I enjoy even as an appetizer wine.

As more gusts arrived, we immediately served the Cold Cuts: Salchichon Iberico, Chorizo Iberico, Lomo Iberico and Jamon Iberico de Bellota (All these cold cuts are Iberico, meaning they come from a special free range Iberian Pig). This give the deli a distinctive and different taste, somewhat like the Kobe of Beef or the Kurobota of Pork. We also had some Olivas rellenas de Anchoas (Anchovy filled Olives)

I then opened the first bottle red wine, a 2004 Muga Reserva Especial, which I decanted for around 1.5 hours before serving. I have been enjoying lately Muga wines, since they are classic Rioja wines, medium bodied but very elegant in structure. Since this was quite young, the decanting was the only for this wine to reach its potential.

Then, more Spanish goodies: Tortilla de Patata y Chorizo and Croquetas de Pollo. I made the Tortilla myself and the Croquetas were ordered from a friend. Both delicious and a good match for the wine, a 2001 Beronia Reserva. I normally have stock of this in my cav since it's a great everyday wine, easy to drink and medium bodied. It goes very well with any kind of Spanish Tapas.

We also had Fideua, a sort of noodle Paella. It is cooked the same way as a Paella, but instead of rice, short noodles (fideos) are used. This one was very tasty although I did not have any more time to add seafood, like Shrimps, Squid, etc. This is also normally served with All i Oli (I make mine with Egg yolk, Garlic and Olive oil, with a pinch of salt and Lemon).

It was a quite enjoyable night. Most of the Tapas were gone, so next time I know that I should make more. I love this kind of dinners, since you eat in smaller portions and it's a more informal way of having people over. Our guests enjoyed the Spanish goodies and promised to come back again for more soon (until my next trip to Spain, so that I can bring back more fresh cold cuts).