Spanish Rice Dish Called Paella

Every country has its own speciality of rice dish. In India, we enjoy Biryani, Indonesians like Nasi Goreg, Chinese like fry rice, Thais like Khao paat, and Spanish like Paella All the rice dishes have common ingredients of vegetables and meat of your choice, but the only difference is the method of its preparation. Even the utensils differ from country to country. It could be a deep pot containing layers of coloured rice, covered tightly, and cooked under steam, or it could be opened wok to simply stir fry the rice with mixed veggies and meat. Spanish use a huge flat pan. Vegetables or meat stock is separately made which is used for boiling rice instead of plain water although some may just use veggie or chicken cubes. My niece made for me veggie paella and it was quite delicious. She put 2 tablespoons of olive oil and fried the ground paste of one large onion and one teaspoon of crushed garlic. Next she added one tin of Soya bean chunks and stir fried till light brown. She then added assorted veggies such as carrots, beans, mushrooms, corn, green peas, red and green capsicum, tomato paste and also tomato puree. When she saw the oil bubbling, she added five hundred grams of par boiled rice, and then added veggie cube, five glasses of water, paella powder, saffron strands, perejil powder and salt. She covered the pan with foil and steamed it till it was tender. For garnishing, she put slices of lime. Non vegetarians use chicken, pork, clamps, octopus and shrimps Spanish can’t eat chillies, not even a pinch of chilli powder; I find their food very bland. Thank Gawd, I carry my own bottle of chilli sauce in my purse whenever I go dinning in a Spanish restaurant.

Evening Walk by Puerto de la Cruz

The evening stroll from Playa Martinez to Lago ( in Puerto De La Cruz ) makes an interesting walk. The streets are even tiled and well-lit path; it is a no traffic zone, it is laced with waterfront on one side and rows of shops and restaurants on other side.This place is a walker’s paradise Puerto De La Cruz is the interesting place in the north of this island. The climate in Puerto de la Cruz is pleasant throughout the year and is flooded with tourist all day long. In the mornings, you will see them bathing at the beach or at Logo (which is the group of swimming pools) and evenings, you will see them jay walking, enjoying the sea breeze. There are lots of activities in this area, even during late hours when the restaurants host live musical shows that are not only entertaining their customers but also to people out on the streets. The restaurants have chairs and tables spread out on the streets. I was tired of walking so I sat and enjoyed sipping coffee and the cool sea breeze and watched the continuous stream of tourist walking at easy pace, It was interesting to stop by to watch the street performers or getting the picture painted by those street painters.

Rakhi Day

After a gap of three years, I am in Tenerife for this year’s Rakhi day. I had planned to make a nice one (I prefer to make them rather than to buy from market)..Ready made rakhis don’t have that personal touch….but since my injured right hand refused to cooperate I just made kaju sweets with my niece’s help and tied those Rakhis that were posted from India by my other two sisters.(My brother never removes them till they come off by itself and I put just one, on behalf of all three sisters) Rakhi is such an important day on Hindu calendar (How do Europeans and Americans express their affection for their siblings?) and Hindu woman remembers and blesses her brother on this special day. It is the day to remind her brothers to be alert and help his sister when the need arises. Personally thinking, I don’t need this day of tying the thread to remind my brother, and expecting cash and snatching it. I am quite sure that my brother is there for me whenever I need him (he has never let me down). My festival lasts just two minutes. It is just tie and dye event. I would be too embarrassed to put tikka, do aarti and chant rhymes like in films. I cannot do that. I cannot spell affection. I will make my brother’s favourite dish, help him if he needs my help and be within the easy reach for communication but I don’t utter dialogues that a script writer would be interested. I cannot. For me, it is just important that he should be happy. I would not do anything which would cause him grief. I am always amused by the way people celebrate this festival. It is a great business stunt for many and a great day to see the cash flow from the jingle boxes of card sellers, rakhi sellers, sweets shops and now, networks. On facebook, tuenti, hi5 and other social networks, you see pictures that are clicked especially for sharing with friends. Brothers can now enjoy a well dressed sister with a silver tray containing flowers, rakhi, diya and vermillion, she will bless her brother khule aam…lets the world watch while she ties a sacred bond.

15th August .A Day to celebrate

The Indian club of Tenerife celebrated ´Independence Day´ by saluting to the national flag, singing national anthem, putting up a small variety entertainment show and then enjoying a lunch party. But, here I am, staying far from NRI society, surrounded by the population who are not even aware of my big day. But they have a holiday too and they are celebrating their own festival which is important on their calendar called ´Dia de Candelaria´ To celebrate this day I am invited for a swim and Paella (Spanish traditional rice dish) to our club. The weather lets me down by hiding the sun behind the clouds and it is too cold to swim. Most of the members, who are dressed to swim have just wrapped themselves with scarf or towels and are waiting for the paella to cook. There is a small cubicle near the pools where the cooks are busy preparing two big pans of rice dish that contains pork, chicken, and sea food. It takes them two hours to prepare the dish. I spend my time, walking around the pool, chatting with different people as I pass by their inclined seats. There are various people playing basket ball or tennis on the other side of the pool. In the children’s area there is inflated outdoor equipment where children are enjoying jumping and sliding down the soft corners. It is nice to meet so many people, most of them I am meeting after a long time. Spanish are very friendly people and they can never run out of conversation. Just by nodding my head, I can assist them to continue their long, long stories. When I am tired of walking, I come and sit closer to the cubicle. When the paella is ready, they announce it on mike and a big serpentine line crawls towards the cubicle. One gentleman brings my share to the table which is served with bread and beer. Paella is very tasty for Spanish palate, but for me, it is bland because there is neither chilli nor any spice at all. But still, I nod my head in affirmative when the Spanish lady, sitting next to me, sweetly asks me, “Te gusta? Muy rico. No? ¨

Trekking to the Holy Shrine at Candelaria

Everybody is talking about trekking during this week-end. There is a fiesta this week end called ´Dia de Candelaria´ when pilgrims all over Tenerife walk or trek to a shrine of Virgin Mary at Candelaria. It is a long walk and you see them making groups and heading towards the church which is closer to Santacruz and North airport. While most of the pilgrim leave from Santa Cruz t at 12 midnight and reach the shrine during the early hours of the morning, here in Icod de Los Vinos, pilgrims begin their journey one or two days earlier. I met the group of 15, who left at 3pm from Icod de Los Vinos. They looked cheerful with haversack containing food and drinks, torch and a walking stick for a journey of 70 kms which would take them about 15 hours to reach. I have neither strength nor stamina to walk with them, so I followed them for a while and then retreated my steps as I saw them disappear into the woods. The trek is through the steep beaten path of hills, trees and shrubs. There are path-signs at regular interval directing the proper route to follow. There is one point on the route which is the meeting point where different groups from different parts of the island meet. This point offers the beautiful panoramic view of the island. It is the resting place and they share their eats and drinks and let their hair down. In between their journey of beaten path, they cut through concrete roads, where there is traffic and if somebody is too tired to walk, he can continue his journey in the car that may be driven by one of their friends. The last five hours of the trek are quite difficult and the route is going downhill, climbing down the huge rocks. At the end of the journey, they are breathless, tired and silent, they offer their prayers at the secret shrine and are back home to sleep for next 24 hours brushing away the pains from their tired limbs.