A Spanish Vegetable Stew with Chorizo and the Gilda, a Pintxos recipe from a cooking Masterclass in beautiful San Sebastian

 

I had an abundance of vegetables in my refrigerator crisper needing to be used during the week, and rather than do a traybake with them, or donate them eventually to the compost bin or the worm farm, I decided to make a rich vegetable stew with a Spanish theme and Mediterranean flavours. In the process, I also rediscovered the Gilda, a delicious and famous Spanish Pinxtos.

Search for the source of your food

 https://www.facebook.com/FlavourCrusader

I have just discovered this website after reading a very well written article in the Life section of the Weekend Australian today by Laura Dalrymple, about how important it is to know the source of our food, the importance of buying locally grown produce when possible, and not being "anaesthetised by choice and abundance" or by the packaging on foods we buy.

Local produce at the farmers markets in San Sebastian, Spain. When travelling overseas,
I am always impressed by the habit of shopping  daily at the local markets.

At home, we are growing as much of our own produce as we can in our own backyard, and some of the front yard as well, however it is realistic to expect that in suburbia we are still dependent on purchasing many items from the local markets, supermarkets, or IGAs.

Spanish artichokes

As retirees with more time on our hands, we are swapping or just giving away surplus produce excess to our needs. This not only reduces waste, but it also feels really good to share.

Cured meats for sale at the San Sebastian markets

I'll see how the Flavour Crusader website develops, but I am becoming increasingly passionate about this whole issue.

As Laura says in her article, "the decisions we make at the check-out are proving to be the most effective change agent in the retail sector. Never underestimate the power of one."

The flower markets-San Sebastian