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Octopus and Vegetable Risotto

ingredients for 4 people 400g cooked octopus, cut into chunks. 350g arborio rice. 1 sweet onion. 4 garlic cloves. 2 small green peppers. 2 small red peppers. 1 potato. 1 carrot. 1 small zucchini. 100g green beans. 50g peas. 120ml dry white wine. 1 teaspoon sweet paprika. chopped parsley. salt and black pepper. 4 or 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. 1.5 liters vegetable broth. grated Parmesan cheese. preparation Wash the vegetables and dice them into small cubes. In a small pot with salted boiling water, cook the green beans, potato, and carrot until just tender — they'll finish cooking later with the rice, so don't overdo them. In a deep, wide pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the peppers and zucchini, stirring everything together. Once the sofrito is ready, pour in the wine and let the alcohol cook off for a minute or two. Then add the parboiled vegetables (well-drained), the octopus pieces, paprika, pe...

Pairing Olive Oil, Bread, and Chocolate


Back on May 27th, I had the chance to attend a tasting session pairing olive oil with chocolate and different types of bread. It was led by Mr. Josep Mº Audí Vallespir, who teaches the intermediate course on oils and wines at INS Josep Vallverdú. He's also on Catalonia's official olive oil tasting panel, and his students helped out with the event.

We tried these combinations:
Crusty country bread with Picual olive oil, then the same oil paired with milk chocolate
Arboçana oil (grown in the Tarragona region) with sesame bread and chocolate with 45% cocoa
Sourdough bread with Koroneiki oil (from Greece) and chocolate with 75% cocoa
And finally, Verdiel oil (from Les Garrigues) with plain bread and chocolate with 85% cocoa.


These three ingredients — oil, bread, and chocolate — are so familiar to us that sometimes we take them for granted. But after listening to Mr. Josep Ma and tasting these pairings, I realized how different each one tastes depending on what you pair it with. It's amazing what a difference the right combination makes.

Many thanks to everyone who made this possible!
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