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Marina prepares one of the most classic deserts on the Spanish menu – Natillas – a delicious cinnamon custard.

Ingredients

1 litre of Milk (1.7 UK Pints, 2.1 US Liquid Pints)
250 grm of sugar (half a pound)
9 egg yolks
2 or 3 cinnamon sticks
cinnamon powder

Preparation

Put 3/4 of the milk in a saucepan together with half of the sugar and the cinnamon sticks, until it starts simmering. Then turn the hob off and let it cool down for about 1 hour.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks and the remaining sugar and milk. When this mixture is properly mixed, add the warm mixture slowly through a sieve, little by little, while you mix it gently with a wooden spoon. Pour all the mixture back into the saucepan and set the hob at a medium setting, while you continue to mix it with a wooden spoon every now and again. After about 5 or 6 minutes it will start thickening, at this point keep stirring constantly for another 3 or 4 minutes.

Be careful when you finish, at this point it can separate so you need to pour it very quickly into small bowls – as soon as you take it off the hob.

Let it cool down and keep in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

Tips

Tip 1 – Before serving sprinkle some cinnamon powder over each bowl. If you like you can also add a biscuit.

Tip 2 – To ensure that the mixture doesn’t separate, you can cook them in a Bain Marie instead.

Discuss this episode in the forum.

It’s been a busy few weeks at NFS, not only have we moved all the Spanish podcasts over to Notes in Spanish.com, but we have finally launched the Notes in Spanish Intermediate Podcast! We have big plans for this new site, including great new features like the Spanish Phrase of the Week. Check it out and let us know what you think!

There’s nothing that irks a Spaniard more than having to wait too long for their bill in a restaurant. Sooner or later, after asking the waiter for the third time, someone will suggest doing a ‘simpa’ (sin pagar = without paying/doing a runner). The annoyed party waits until the waiter disappears into the kitchen, then leaves quietly out of the front door, secretly willing to be challenged in order to lay into the guy in the white jacket and bow tie about the dreadful service.

Well, at a branch of VIPS (chain diner with ever-worsening cuisine) in Arganzuela, things reached historical proportions this week when a party of 200 Gypsies finished their meal and quietly got up and walked out of the front door without paying for a thing. The security guards did nothing, some of the younger members helped themselves to restaurant property as they left, and the police turned up and refused to arrest anyone. “They weren’t in a hurry, some even ordered a taxi,” reports 20 Minutos, “This may end up in the Guinness Book of Records”…

More in the forum.

Whenever we make a Cuisine from Spain podcast I’m curious about whether the ingredients we use can be found elsewhere. One of our listeners, Jacqui Aitken, has come to the rescue of anyone living in London… (which has given me an idea…)

“During the podcast you asked whether people could get a hold of fresh pimientos del padron where they were in the world. I am sure you probably have had lots of replies but in London I have been able to buy them at a couple of stalls in Borough Market including Brindisa, and at J Garcia on Portobello Road. They do come sealed in plastic bags and are not cheap, but nice for a treat in between visits to Spain. I also have them often at La Rueda on Clapham High Street, the people who run it are from A Coruna so I guess it is their signature dish.”

Arturo Pérez-Reverte‘s famous series of books comes to the big screen in Spain. My sister-in-law’s verdict: a bit convoluted and not always easy to know what is going on… Oh well, if you like slightly confusing historical masterpieces, here’s one to watch out for!

Pérez-Reverte is however a fine author who loves tangling with Spain’s complicated historical past. If you want to check out one of his novels in translation, The Fencing Master, a tale of political intrigue and wonderful sword fights in 19th Century Madrid, is a great place to start.

We have finally managed to launch notesinspanish.com which means a whole host of changes!

• This is where all the Notes in Spanish podcasts will be from now on.
• We have our own ‘store’ where we will be selling all the worksheets. We will no longer be using Lulu.com for the worksheets.
• We have had to increase the price of the worksheets slightly to cover the costs of PayPal’s percentage and site costs. The new cost is $1.85 (just under 1 British pound).
• Next week we will be launching Notes in Spanish Intermediate on the same site.

We really hope you like the new site, of course NFS will continue here as always. Any feedback on the new site, the worksheets store and anything else that comes to mind would be really welcome! ¡Que Nervios!

Check it out at notesinspanish.com. There’s a new Advanced podcast out as well – Trapicheos!

As usual it has been really difficult to pick a winner from this month’s submissions to the NFS Flickr Group, but this photo by Manuel Garcia is a work of art. I highly recommend you check out his photos on Flickr, or his photoblog.

The photo was taken during the annual horse races on Sanlúcar de Barrameda beach. These races take place over two periods of three days, the first usually in July, and the second in August, though the actual date itself depends on the tides – low tide is essential so that there is enough room for all the horses. Exact dates should be announced in plenty of time on the town website.

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Not many people put a trip to Vallecas at the top of their birthday list, but it really appealed to me! Another wonderful market lies at the centre of a very traditional Barrio Madrileño. More photos are up on Flickr.

Comment on this episode in the Notes from Spain forum.