Coffee Mill

Spain is famous for its cuisine, especially its olive oil, wine and ham. Those and many other Mediterranean delights can be enjoyed without visiting the country at the ongoing Spanish Food Festival in Beijing.

Minzu Hotel, together with Turespana, the official organization to promote Spain as a destination abroad, jointly organized the festival, which began on the evening of Aug 30 and will last until Sept 30.

According to Turespana, besides the country's sunshine and beaches, its delicious cuisine and great wines are another attraction for foreign tourists.

“Just taste everything! I try to present the real Spanish food and taste here,” said Spanish chef Nicolas Diaz Jogeix. He worked in a Michelin two-star restaurant for 10 years and now works in a restaurant in Madrid.

He is collaborating with Wang Chundong, master chef of the hotel's Coffee Mill restaurant, to present more than 80 Spanish dishes during the month. At Coffee Mill, diners can enjoy a buffet surrounded by Spanish-style furniture and Lladro porcelain figures from Spain. It seems as if the small, elegant Spanish statues are dancing on the table as the guests sample the cuisine.

The one-month festival presents four theme weeks - the passionate bull fighting, Spanish soccer, the romantic flamenco and the Spanish culture. There are performances each Friday and discounts are available on some Chinese group-buying websites.

Tomato cold soup

Diaz Jogeix recommends the Gazpacho, a Spanish cold tomato soup, as a starter, saying it is refreshing.

The classic soup, which originated in the southern Spanish area of Andalucia, contains onion, pepper, tomato and cucumber. It is usually served in summer.

For the main dish, he recommended braised cod in green sauce with clams, a traditional dish from his hometown, Bilbao, in the north of Spain. The fish is served with with asparagus and clams in a garlic parsley sauce.

“It's the most special dish I cook for Chinese guests. In Spain, it's not expensive and everyone likes it,” he said.

Roasted suckling pig

He also said one mustn't miss the lechon, or roasted suckling pig, a popular dish in the center of the Spain.

Chef Wang said the dish differs from the Chinese suckling pig. The Spanish brush lard, salt, garlic and thyme on both sides of the split suckling pig and let it sit several hours. It is then roasted until it turns brownish red.

“The skin is crispy, but the meat is very soft,” Wang said.

Diaz Jogeix said that although paella, or seafood mixed with rice, is ubiquitous in Spain, the Spanish mostly only make it at weekends at home when they're with family or friends.

After sautéing onion, pepper and the seafood one chooses, rice, water and salt are added. Diaz Jogeix also adds a little saffron after the dish has been stewing a while.

Spain is also famous for its tapas — selections of small Spanish snacks. Diaz Jogeix recommends the tuna salad, tomato omelet and ham served at the festival.

“It's the Spanish tradition to go to bars and talk with friends. We may spend four hours at the table, and there are drinks and various dishes to taste. We can finish one dish after another and spend the whole day eating tapas,” he said.

He said he could make any dish as tapas. The point of tapas is to share food at the table, with a small plate of just enough for people to taste.

“We always use fresh ingredients and can make different dishes with the same ingredient. The secret to cooking is that you want to make something better than yesterday. You're not cooking food for others, but sharing delicious cuisine with them.”

Minzu Hotel is also having lucky draws every day on popular social networking services Sina Weibo and WeChat, with prizes such as Spanish olive oil and Lladro porcelain. First prize is round-trip tickets to Spain for two people.??

If you go:

Where: Coffee Mill, Minzu Hotel, Fuxingmennei Dajie 51, Xicheng District.

Price: 158 yuan for buffet lunch and 188 yuan for buffet supper

When: 11:30 am to 14 pm, 17:30 pm to 21 pm, till Sept 30

Tel: 010-6601-4466