I’ve recently been introduced to a fantastic little piece of equipment that no one but the Spanish seem to know about. This is probably common all over the world for all I know, but I’d never seen it until a few months ago when I walked into my favorite mexitesence in Edinburgh.
A cazuela de barro is an earthenware pot that is glazed on the inside. I’m not sure where it originally came from, could’ve been France, but the Spanish seem to have taken full advantage of its beauty. The best thing about the cazuela de barro is that you can do anything to it. It can go on gas or electric stove tops, in the microwave or convection oven, dishwasher, fridge, and freezer. The only requirement is that it doesn’t change temperature too quickly – always start on a low heat and allow it to cool before fridge/freezing.
They come in all sizes too. Large ones can be used like a casserole dish to serve the whole family. Then there’s the normal size which will hold a main meal for one person, and then the smaller cazuelita de barro that’s perfect for serving tapas.
Although it’s amazing to cook and serve a family meal in a cazuela, it is most valuable for a single person or couple as it minimises washing up. You can literally serve a perfectly good meal and have nothing left to wash except the Cazuela de Barro and a fork. Naturally I bought myself one of these the first day I settled into my new flat in Spain.
Since this is my new favorite thing in the world, I’ll be cooking out of it constantly for at least the next couple of days until I get distracted by something else. So keep a look out for recipes to come. If you don’t have a cazuela de barro but still want to follow the recipes, just use a frying pan and transfer to a casserole dish if it needs to go into the oven. Click on Cazuela de Barro under the Food menu at the top of the page to see related blog posts.
Bibliography:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cazuela_de_barro