I first ate zarzuela a few years back. A gang of us went to a Spanish restaurant for a leaving dinner for a few of the group that were off to Europe indefinitely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a brilliant night with beautiful food, great friends, kitschy flamenco music, lots of sangria and many embarrassing stories from the past. The details are a little sketchy but one thing I do remember particularly well is that the restaurant was about the size of a small sailboat; it had less than 7 tables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite this it was very comfortable. The seating was wooden benches scattered with randomly colored, embroidered cushions. The walls were a very warm wood covered with interesting, often brightly colored paintings in no particular theme. It all made the place incredibly social and comfortable despite its size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also remember the food. Now usually, with that much frivolity and sangria, I would be forgiven, even as a chef, for not remembering the food. But I remember every detail of every dish that night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We ordered various shared tapas and were thoroughly impressed with each one. The champinones al ajillo (garlic mushrooms) were the texture of expensive meat, the mejillomes rellenos (stuffed mussels) looked and smelled as though they had crept from the net to the plate, they were that fresh. The albondigas (Spanish veal meatballs) were melt in your mouth tender, and the pollo al ajillo (garlic chicken) and tortilla Espanola were both deliciously rustic. But the dish I was most excited about was one we didn\u2019t even order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we sat eating and chatting, Miguel, sitting at a table for one next to us, received his main course. Miguel was Spanish and away from home traveling. He had come to eat some food that would remind him of home. He said \u201cThis is the only place since I left Spain that do zarzuela proper.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a seriously impressive looking dish sitting before him, with seafood teeming from the steaming broth as though it were a fisherman\u2019s net. As impressive as it looked, though, it was the aroma that got my attention. It was a very different aroma to what you expect from tomato-based seafood dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As quizzed Miguel about the dish, he called to the kitchen, \u201cJuan, you have any zarzuela sauce left for these fine gentleman?\u201d I embarrassingly mumbled, \u201cNo, no, that\u2019s alright.\u201d This level of comfort, shouting casually out to the chef was part of the magic of the place. Juan happily shouted back, \u201cIt\u2019s already in the pan. I serve it in a couple a minutes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, the chef would not divulge his zarzuela recipe; any good restaurant\u2019s business is built on such food. However, at the time I was working in an Italian restaurant with a very proud Spaniard, Susannah from Barcelona. She was the head waitress and always claimed Spanish things were better than all things Italian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I asked her to get her mother’s zarzuela recipe, and she was more than happy to show our Italian boss that it was better than his traditional marinara. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find zarzuela an absolutely magnificent dish. I hope that you enjoy discovering this little Spanish secret as much as I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note:<\/strong> Keep in mind that this is a sort of a stew so don\u2019t get too caught up on the actual seafood ingredients, use what you can source and what is fresh.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n ![\"Zarzuela](\"https:\/\/www.chefspencil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1081.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\nZarzuela by Chef Paul Hegeman<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.chefspencil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bfi_thumb\/5bdf5576a9c49-nyl9x4o24ufnbfhblx5vsp0lvwz4nmf8r5arapych8.jpg\")
<\/span>Paul Hegeman<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n