Rachael Davis
Anyone can master the basics of Spanish cuisine at home, says famed chef José Pizarro – with some key ingredients, done right.
“We know Spanish food is very popular now, since so many very creative chefs have been doing more irregular food – but the reality of Spanish cuisine is the simplicity,” says the 53-year-old restauranteur. “It’s all about ingredients that are top bar by themselves.”
Originally from a rural village near Cáceres, Extremadura, Pizarro has lived in London for almost 25 years and now has eight restaurants under his name.
A regular guest on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, ITV’s This Morning and Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, Pizarro has become known to many as the Godfather of Spanish cuisine in the UK.
His latest book, The Spanish Pantry, focusses on ingredients key to the cuisine, from chorizo, jamón and Manchego to almonds, chickpeas and saffron. Cutting it down to just 12 items was 'challenging', he says, but everything included is accessible, easy to find and 'the recipes are very easy for people to cook'.
So what’s his advice for getting one of the key ingredients in Spanish cuisine right every time? Perhaps the chief among them is the tomato, and Pizarro has some tips for those that could elevate all of your tomato-based cooking.
Tomatoes are at the heart of so many Spanish classics, from gazpacho to pan con tomate, and you’ll often find them alongside fish dishes.
But firstly, how do you pick the right ones?
“There are so many bad tomatoes around,” says Pizarro. “For me, the tomato is about the juice and the smell."
But you can't exactly go slicing a tomato up in the supermarket or greengrocer to see how juicy it is, so how can you tell without even touching it?
"If you can see all the tomatoes looking a little different [rather than uniform] then it’s a good tomato," Pizarro continued.
"They are not made in a laboratory.
“But wait until the season comes and just buy the tomatoes where they grow in their proper place.
"We are lucky enough that we can get very good tomatoes here in the UK, but the tomatoes that grow under 40 degrees are always going to taste much, much better. So Spain, Italy… As a chef, you just want to cut them in the middle, good extra virgin olive oil and some good salt, and life is good!”
Use vine tomatoes for soups and sauces, he suggests, 'Because they have the perfect balance of liquid inside', while the big, round tomatoes are best for salads.