A night at La Tasca Glasgow

I had an e-mail invite to go to La Tasca in Glasgow the e-mail said

La Tasca on Renfield Street in Glasgow is hosting a special event on Tuesday 25th September.  The event will celebrate the launch of our new autumn / winter menu and will see Antonio Bennetto - La Tasca's executive chef, who masterminds all our delicious dishes, deliver a fantastic paella master class for our guests. 

 The evening event will kick off at about 6pm - 6.30pm with a cocktail and sangria master class - and there will be of course the opportunity to sample these!  After this Antonio will deliver his paella master class and give lots of tips and tricks of the trade, which we hope will allow you to re-create a mouth watering and tasty paella at home.  We will also be showcasing our new menu with plenty of tasters for all to enjoy.  

Well how could a food blogger turn down such an opportunity? So I said yes and toddled off having invited Janice Thompson from a working mum as my +1 and agreeing to meet up with both her and Janice Pattie from farmersgirl kitchen at the train station in Glasgow.

Also met up with Graeme for Scots Larder and Briony who runs The Glasgow food blog with Graeme.

We spent time mingling and drinking, for those that drink, before we were invited to come across and watch the paella being made. Antonio talked us through the ideas behind the dish, how he travels extensively to see and research new ideas and then adapt them for the British lifestyle and tastes. He explained each step of the process, explaining about the different types of rice, the importance of a good stock, and about the individual ingredients. Thomas the chef was doing the cooking, and I loved the way he put the rice in in a cross shape across the pan, and he explained this was to make it easier to gently distribute the rice into the liquid without stirring it too much.

When making this dish I was surprised how soon the prawns and the vegetables went it, I would have left them till nearer the end but they were put in much earlier on and were in for more than half an hour, and I was surprised that they did not taste mushy or overcooked.  We all got to sample the finished dish, and I have to admit I picked out the squid as it did not appeal and the prawns as I dont like them either but the rest was very pleasant.

the finished paella

Now the main reason for the invite for this evening was to introduce the new dishes on their menu.

NEW! PAELLA NEGRA (VALENCIA)

The famous black paella with squid and lemon.

I have to admit again I did into try this as it just does not appeal. But the other bloggers at out table shared this pan full and were very impressed with it. 

NEW! OVEN-BAKED FLAT BREAD (BALEARIC ISLANDS)

Topped with fire roast peppers, onion and cheddar cheese - great to share!

NEW! HOME-MADE BEEF BURGERS (CATALUÑA)

Two fresh mini home-made beef burgers with all the Spanish toppings.

These were beautiful, really meaty, no evidence of cheap nasty fillers, and were really juicy inside. 

NEW! CHORIZO & MORCILLA (CASTILLA Y LEÓN)

Spanish black pudding and chorizo cooked with fire roast peppers, basil and onion.

NEW! SPICY ROASTED VEGETABLE CASSOLO WITH ALMOND (CASTILE LA MANCHA)

Butternut squash, red onion, chickpeas, celeriac and cannellini beans in a winter warming spicy tomato sauce topped with crushed almonds and parsley.

This I found very pleasant., not to spicy

NEW! FENNEL, TOMATO, RADISH AND ORANGE SALAD (MURCIA)

Fresh and zingy.

NEW! ROMESCO CHICKEN (CATALUÑA)

Succulent chicken thighs with an amazing roasted tomato, pepper & almond spiced sauce.

NEW! SLOW-COOKED PAN-FRIED DUCK WINGS (EXTREMADURA)

With a lentil & serrano ham stew

NEW! SLOW-COOKED PORK CHEEKS (CASTILLA Y LEÓN) WITH PEDRO XIMENEZ

Served with creamed mashed potato.

NEW! FENNEL, TOMATO, RADISH AND ORANGE SALAD (MURCIA)

Fresh and zingy.

NEW! HUEVOS CABREAOS (CATALUÑA)

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Amazing Spanish take on egg and chips, needs to be cut before eating.

This was a runny  fried egg with french fries and a spicy sauce on it, this was a very pleasant dish and slightly different from the normal

Sorry did not get pictures of all the foods as my camera (or maybe the operator) not good in half light. 

I have to say it was a lovely evening, the hospitality was excellent, and it was well attended 

enjoying the mingle

Our hostess (RHS) and a colleague