In the second week of September, our long summer drought ended at last with a thunderstorm and some welcome rain. The countryside has taken on a fresh, green look and under the parched stubble of dried grasses, new growth is sprouting. There is always something in flower in the mountains of Guájar Alto; at the moment, there are tall spikes of sea squill (Urginea maritima). Although, as the name suggests, it’s a maritime plant, it’s not uncommon to find it growing inland (see photo). It’s a bulbous plant and with its clustered, starry white flowers, looks very striking. Interestingly, it’s one of the oldest medicinal plants of the Mediterranean. The Egyptians, for example, used it to treat snake bites because of its calming effect.
In the vegetable garden, it’s changeover time; we’re pulling up all the summer crops which have finished and replanting with winter vegetables. The squashes this year have been particularly nice, due no doubt to all the long hours of hot sunshine. In the province of Granada they do very well and everyone grows them so that, not surprisingly, there are lots of ways of cooking them. Mari- Carmen, who runs a bar and restaurant in the village, serves some delicious squash dishes but I think she’s a bit reluctant about giving away the secrets of her recipes. However, I managed to find out that one of her tastiest dishes is made from wedges of squash fried in butter, with onions; York ham is added and then the mixture, topped with grated cheese, is baked in the oven. Here’s another recipe called crema de calabaza:
Fry gently in butter, without browning, some sliced leeks and chopped pumkin (or any other variety of squash); add some vegetable or chicken stock and simmer until the squash is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated; add seasoning plus some freshly grated ginger root and put into the blender with some cream. Pour the mixture, which should be nice and smooth, into an ovenproof, shallow dish, top with a generous amount of grated cheese, to which some parmesan has been added, and bake until the top is browned. This dish is always well-received at dinner parties and the hint of ginger gives it an exotic flavour.
Although we haven’t had a good tomato crop this year, due to blight, the cherry tomatoes, which are more resistent, have done well. They are very versatile because they can be used not only in salads but also in hot dishes. They go particularly well with the delicious chorizo which we buy in our village shop. In an ovenproof dish, on top of a generous amount of cherry tomatoes, I lay some chorizo sausages, some capers and soft green peppercorns and a big bunch of mountain and garden herbs wrapped in bay leaves. I pour a can of cider over the sausages and bake the dish in a moderate oven for about an hour, by which time the tomatoes have softened but still retain their shape.
Spanish gardeners grow lilies for the house among the vegetables and at the moment nardos are flowering. I’m afraid I don’t know the botanical name because I’ve only ever seen them growing here. They are tall spikes of small, pinkish flowers and although they’re not as spectacular as other lilies usually are, at night they give off the most divine scent imaginable and just one lily will perfume the whole house.
Although we haven’t had a good tomato crop this year, due to blight, the cherry tomatoes, which are more resistent, have done well. They are very versatile because they can be used not only in salads but also in hot dishes. They go particularly well with the delicious chorizo which we buy in our village shop. In an ovenproof dish, on top of a generous amount of cherry tomatoes, I lay some chorizo sausages, some capers and soft green peppercorns and a big bunch of mountain and garden herbs wrapped in bay leaves. I pour a can of cider over the sausages and bake the dish in a moderate oven for about an hour, by which time the tomatoes have softened but still retain their shape.
Spanish gardeners grow lilies for the house among the vegetables and at the moment nardos are flowering. I’m afraid I don’t know the botanical name because I’ve only ever seen them growing here. They are tall spikes of small, pinkish flowers and although they’re not as spectacular as other lilies usually are, at night they give off the most divine scent imaginable and just one lily will perfume the whole house.
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