Spanish cuisine is a very healthy, varied and traditional. It has very traditional and delicious dishes. Most of them, coming from peasants and farm workers. And today we are going to see one of those ancient recipes: the Spanish migas recipe.
This recipe is made with bread from the day before. To take advantage of the bread that gets hard and not throw it away. The bread is cooked cut into small cubes, and accompanied by bacon and chorizo. In Spain they are also known as Shepherd`s migas.
Spanish migas are a perfect recipe for cold days. They are eaten especially in winter. And it is common to accompany them with fruits, to contrast with the chorizo and bacon. The most popular fruits to accompany migas are grapes or oranges. They can also be accompanied with a fried egg, which is spectacular, or with fried peppers.
Even this recipe, elaborated to take advantage of the leftovers of bread, has another recipe to take advantage of the leftovers of the migas. And it has its origins in a time when you could not throw away any food. If there were leftover Spanish migas (never leftover bacon or chorizo), the garlic was removed (if there was any left over) and eaten with a little milk, as breakfast. Even the leftovers of the leftovers recipe were used!
History of Spanish Migas
The origin of this popular dish dates back to pre-Roman times. They were already sautéing slices of bread with fat and different meats. But it was in the 16th century when Spanish migas appeared for the first time written in a recipe book.
Spanish Migas recipe
Ingredients
- 20 Oz Bread
- 3 Chorizos (fresh chorizos)
- 5 Strips of bacon
- 5 Garlic cloves (unpeeled)
- Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- The night before making the recipe, we are going to prepare the bread: we cut it into small cubes. We put the sliced bread in a bowl and sprinkle with a little salted water. To do this, we mix a glass of water with a teaspoon of salt. Wetting our fingers (dipping them in the water), we sprinkle the crumbs and mix in the bowl. We repeat until they are moistened. We reserve covering with a cloth over the bowl until the next day.20 Oz Bread, Salt
- The next day, when we start the recipe, we check that the crumbs are still moist. If not, we moisten them again in the same way. Cut the chorizo into slices and the bacon into strips.3 Chorizos, 5 Strips of bacon
- We put a good jet of oil in a frying pan, enough to cover the bottom but not more than one centimeter high. Fry the bacon and the chorizo. Set aside on a plate.3 Chorizos, Extra virgin olive oil, 5 Strips of bacon
- In the same frying pan, fry the whole garlic cloves. When they are golden brown (be careful not to burn them), set aside.5 Garlic cloves
- We continue the recipe with the same frying pan and the same oil where we have cooked the garlic and the meat. Now add the crumbs and stir well, so that all of them are impregnated with the oil. The trick is to stir, stir and stir. We are going to see how the crumbs are toasting, once we see them toasted and loose, it is the moment to add the bacon and the chorizo, and the garlic.20 Oz Bread, 3 Chorizos, 5 Garlic cloves, 5 Strips of bacon
- Cook everything together for a few minutes, stirring constantly, and we have our delicious dish ready to eat. We can accompany them with a fried egg and grapes.
Notes
Note: The bread that we use to elaborate this dish is the one that we have left over. Before it gets too hard, we cut it into small cubes and we keep it in a tightly closed bag, until we have enough for the portions we want to prepare of migas. How to accompany our plate of migas?
There are many options, but what I recommend the most is to top them with a fried egg and eat them with grapes. The contrast of the migas with the grapes is very good.
In other places they eat them with orange segments.
It is also very common to accompany them with fried peppers.
With migas, any option is good.
Nutrition
Did you know that this dish is typical of Castilla la Mancha? Although each region has its own elaboration, and they accompany them with some or other ingredients, the most traditional one has its origin in Castilla la Mancha, land of Don Quixote.
There, the popular tradition says that migas manchegas is a collective meal; that is to say, they have to be eaten in a group. That is why it is common to find migas contests all over Spain.
It is also said that Spanish migas used to be eaten on rainy days. Since, in the past, when it rained a lot, they could not pass carts through the streets, since they were not asphalted, it was impossible to take them through the mud. Those days, people had to eat with what was in the pantry, which was usually hard bread, meat from the slaughter, garlic…. And with that, they already had enough ingredients to make a spectacular Spanish migas recipe.
And you, do you dare to try these delicious Spanish migas? Did you already know this dish? Remember to leave us your comments, ideas, opinions, tips… We love to read you! And remember to follow us on social networks, you can find us on Twitter and Instagram.
