My Spanish grandmother and I have never been particularly close – both in distance and also because it can be hard to be close to someone who you rarely see and don’t speak the same language as… Even though we have limited ways of communicating, the thing that has always been clear is that we both share a bit of an obsession with cooking and food. Cooking for my Abuela is something of an art form – no expense is spared to create the perfect croqueta, no time wasted or corners cut and I can tell that she waits with smug anticipation as we try things and tell her that it indeed is the best we’ve ever had.
Last summer, I asked my Abuela if I could make copies of her recipes books – she has two handwritten books, one of her own collection from over the last 50+ years and another that belonged to her mother. I painstakingly made copies of both books containing hundreds and hundreds of recipes, all obviously in Spanish and some of questionable legibility, unsure then what my plan for them would be.
Once I got back home, I decided that I would spend time cooking my way (and translating!) through the recipes to share, as a way to connect to my Spanish family and heritage, and keep these old recipes alive. Not gonna lie, a couple that I’ve stumbled across so far have been a little weird… but I plan to adapt to my slightly more modern tastes. Plus, the availability of cow’s brains in Surrey is somewhat limited.
Hopefully from these recipes, you’ll see that there’s a lot more to Spanish cooking than chorizo, paella and tapas. Although there’s probably gonna be some of that too!
Check out the first recipe I tried out – Abuela’s Aluvias con Verduras (Beans with Vegetables)!
