So here's my follow up. Can you believe the La Española Meats order came and I didn't get to try ANY of it?? I ignorantly ordered 3 different kinds of chorizo, ALL OF THEM of the cooking chorizo variety. ARGH! The lomo looked fine, but we were all surprised that the jamon serrano was not dry, but very very moist/wet. They opened the package, put it in the refrigerator, and the cold, dry air did the job in a few hours.

alejandro, you might want to try the Spanish Art section of Tienda.com . Just go to their main page, then click on PRODUCTS, then SPANISH ART, then there you go! They don't have much of a selection however.

Saludos, MadridMan

Did I hear "fabada"? YUM!!! Does anyone have a good fabada recipe or one for lentejas that is SPANISH? I'm always finding cheap Latin American imitations...and nothing can replace the delicious cocido español!

I'm logging onto La Española...you should see if they'll advertise on the MM site, MM! I would love to say "MadridMan sent me"!

Oops...I just posted and realized that I had inadvertently placed the English "YUM".

Unbeknownst to many, the Spanish version of that is "ñam ñam". The things you learn while supping from the pages of "Mortadelo y Filemón"!!! Anybody else read those 'books'?

Hehehe.. Good idea Calibasco, but... nah nah nah nah nah nah... hehehe.. I already thought of it. La Española Meats has already been "solicited" (as has Tienda.com), but have received no reply yet. Ah well. That's how it is sometimes with big companies.

I too have to settle for the cheap latin american 'version' of Fabada-in-a-can and I like it a lot, but prefer the cans of garbanzos, chorizo, potatoes, and ham. Mmmm... Sooo gooood..... I saw another place online that only sold green olives and olive oil from Spain. I don't recall the URL right now...

Saludos, MadridMan

When I lived in Madrid in the 70s I often visited a small neighborhood restaurant that in winter always offered a fabada. That, together with a "media de tinto" was wonderful reinforcement against the cold.

In trying to replicate that dish in later years here in the USA, I always failed--because I lacked both a good morcilla and the proper pimenton.

When I finally acquired some of the La Chinata sweet, smoked pimenton, the dish came together as the one I remembered from that tiny restaurant. It was the pimenton that was essential to creating the familiar flavor.

By the way, a reliable recipe for fabada can be found in the Penelope Casas book, "The Foods and Wines of Spain."

Ms. Casas' recipe includes pimenton, but does not specify that it must be the Spanish smoked type. Although she does refer to that elsewhere in the book. Que aproveche!
Cantabene

[This message has been edited by cantabene (edited 11-15-2000).]

Thanks, cantabene. I actually am too cheap to buy those books, so I rely on my fellow friends who love Spain to have them...I'm in luck, and I'm in the kitchen!

After reading this thread I checked out Tienda.com and found so many great items for reasonable prices.....although I didn't buy any whole jamon or queso. Yikes! I got about 10 different items for $60(including shipping) Thanks everyone.