bignoseduglyguy

Sausage & Beans - Spanish style

Up until now, I have been very lucky in that when I have needed ingredients for Spanish dishes, I have been able to get them through friends and colleagues. However, my store cupboard ran dry and I decided that a more local solution was needed.

A small amount of judicious enquiry revealed that if one wanted authentic Spanish ingredients in London, there were only really two choices - Garcia's autoservicio supermarket and P. De La Fuente's grocery. In a city of 7 million people, the fact that these two stores are literally a stone's throw from each other in Notting Hill's Portobello Road might seem a little surprising - but not so when you dig a little deeper. Although there are no real ‘Spanish districts’ as such in London, it is estimated that some 7,000 to 8,000 Spanish live in North Kensington and around another 4,000 to 5,000 in neighbouring Victoria. The Notting Hill's Spanish School, where a colleague friend studied, is also a gravitating point for the Spanish in London.

Demographic studies over, I asked my friend his opinion and he advised that I should head for Fuente's. With wife, daughters and one daughter's friend in tow, yesterday morning saw me heading off to the world-famous Portobello Road Market. After an hour of steering a baby buggy through one of the world's largest street markets whilst trying to track the movements of 5 women trying clothes and the like, we finally arrived at the door of P. De La Fuente's shop. Inside, the shop is fairly small with an incredible variety of goods on ceiling high shelves. The fresh and chilled produce is displayed in a cabinet along the rear wall of the shop and it was behind this that I met the incredibly friendly and helpful Leo. Leo immediately struck me as a smiling, happy and knowledgable Padron and was happy to discuss my requirements for the best chorizo, morcilla and Spanish pancetta with which I will be making a fabada Asturiana. Whilst slicing and wrappping the sausages and ham, he also exchanged a few simple greetings and phrases with my eldest, who is learning Spanish at school. Although a little shy, she answered and was obviously chuffed to have used her newly acquired language 'for real'.

Although I have yet to cook my fabada, the samples I was offered in the shop were very tasty and I am pretty sure they will make for a rich and authentic dish. So, if you are looking for that elusive Iberian ingredient, I would recommend that you pop by Fuente's and see for yourself.