Paellas will be freshly cooked on the Lawn and ready to serve by 12.30pm. Last service for paella will be at 2.30pm with the Bar to purchase drinks and desserts open till 3pm.

ANNOUNCEMENT: We’ve got two excellent singer/guitar musicians ready to serenade you throughout the afternoon, one British and one Spanish (which is of course the best possible mix of nationalities anyone can possibly have)!

Lunch gets a fanfare at 12.30pm with a set from Miki Cruz, a passionate Spanish performer who blends Latin rhythms, flamenco roots, and timeless ballads into an emotional and unforgettable live experience. From the romantic soul of Luis Miguel to the fiery spirit of the Gipsy Kings, his music is a heartfelt tribute to his roots and his journey. He describes himself as “A music lover who shares his music with an extra dose of energy”.

From 1.45pm, Baldy (aka Ian Roberts) takes the stage. Many will know him as the Paella Man and one half of Idelica, but he has been performing live music longer than he has been cooking. His style is relaxed with over 35 years of work to call upon.  Expect laid back gentle sounds from him this time as the occasion befits.

There may be some seating laid on by the Greyfriars team but we advise you bring a chair or a blanket to get comfortable on.

Come along, stay awhile and enjoy a mini Spanish Fiesta in our home town of Ringwood.

We are now taking pre-orders on our website for three options of paella portions (Chicken & Chorizo, Seafood or Vegetable with Burnt Basque Cheesecake or Fresh Fruit Salad to follow). To avoid disappointment: Pre-order now!

The post Viva España in Ringwood on 1st June 2025 appeared first on Idelica.

What is it all about?

We developed our frozen range as a result of wanting to ensure we kept waste to a minimum. One of the challenges of being a paella caterer is that you can’t just add another portion on to the cook – it is about planning and prep. As a result, we overcook but, rather than waste high quality food, we freeze what we don’t sell fresh as quickly as we are able to ensure that we keep the high quality and freshness that we are known for.

Where are we heading?

Buy direct from us:

Follow the link below to take you straight through to our ordering page.

https://www.idelica.com/product-category/frozen-paella-portions/

Visit us on Facebook and Instagram as well to keep in touch with what we are up to:

https://www.facebook.com/paelladorsethampshire

https://www.instagram.com/idelica_paella/

For now, Emma and Baldy want to wish you all a very enjoyable sunny day and if you fancy some frozen paella, you know where to come!!

The post Frozen Spanish Meals – Our journey so far appeared first on Idelica.

After last year’s heartwarming participation from our community of fun-loving foodies in ‘Paella Sunday Lunch on the Lawn at Greyfriars’, we’ve made it a priority to get a date in for this Summer. We’ve settled on Sunday 1st June, not long to wait so save the date!

More details to be announced nearer the time, but here’s a list of highlights:

• Freshly-cooked paella served from the pan in all the varieties!
• Pre-order facility to guarantee your meal on the day: Click here to purchase 
• Delicious Desserts Bar.
• Spanish Sangria Bar – with or without alcohol.
• Live Baldy Music.

Can’t wait to see you there!

The post Paella Lunch Party on the Lawn at Greyfriars 2025 appeared first on Idelica.

Paella that has been carefully prepared, slow-cooked, rested a little and served fresh from the pan is THE best way to enjoy it, and this is what has kept us so popular as a mobile caterer at food festivals, weddings, parties & private dining where our customers and guests can also see (and smell) it all happening in front of them. Thousands of people over the last 10+ years will vouch for us I’m sure.

Rest assured we do our very best to harness all the goodness of that all-important paella cooking method in every portion we serve – whether it’s completely freshly cooked or safely hot-held. We have never sold re-heated paella to our customers and we never will. Our only exception to our service of freshly cooked paella are our frozen paella portions which which we started developing during the pivoting of Covid and which we continue to sell in The Spanish Place, and will occasionally use as an ingredient in street food pop-ups (like our paella nachos and tacos at The PIG BEER Brewery & Tap Room).

So how do we manage to make Fresh Paella Takeaway viable under these conditions, from our little corner of the Platinum Jubilee Business Park? It’s been a long and unfolding story but for a while now every Thursday we have been cooking one, two or three varieties of paella to be ready for 5pm, and getting the word out that we’ll have freshly-cooked portions available to purchase and collect from our Unit. There’s been a lot of guesswork to anticipate the demand for each paella variety, but we have now taken this to the next level – and today we launch our very own website pre-ordering facility.

Click on the image below to go straight to our FRESH PAELLA THURSDAY WEEKLY TAKEAWAY webshop page.

Now you can pre-order your paella up to 5 days in advance of the ‘Fresh Paella Thursday’ Takeaway Night (5pm-7pm) and guarantee that your portions of choice will be ready to collect. You can also book a delivery of your order if your postcode is within BH24. The pre-order deadline is 10am on the Wednesday before, but thereafter up until 5pm on the Thursday you can pre-order from any of the paella varieties that are still showing as ‘in stock’.

Of course, we aren’t going completely digital! The Spanish Place – and Idelica’s office – is open to visitors from 10am-5pm every weekday if you want to visit and order in person, so maybe pick up some frozen paella or something else from our Spanish deli range, or try something from our cafe takeaway menu, or talk to us about any of our food and catering services too. And we will still take your order details or check if there are any portions available last minute by phone if you want call it in on 01425 350350.

The post A fresh take on Takeaway Night in BH24 – Pre-order online @ idelica.com appeared first on Idelica.

Greyfriars Community Centre, 44 Christchurch Rd, Ringwood BH24 1DW

Sunday 29th September 2024

Spanish Drinks and Dessert Bar open from 12pm

Fiesta-style Paellas cooked on the Lawn and served fresh from the pans from 12.30pm

Choose from Chicken and Chorizo Paella £10, Seafood Paella £12 and Mixed Vegetable Paella £10. All Paellas are gluten, nut and milk free, and the Vegetable Paella is suitable for Vegans

Live Music with Baldy & Friends from 1pm.

Bring your mates, bring out your seat or blanket, get comfy and enjoy! No need to book, just turn up! Last month’s event was such fun to host and we’ve had such positive feedback, we couldn’t let the Summer go by without putting on another one. Hope to see you there!

The post Announcing Paella on the Lawn at Greyfriars #2 – appeared first on Idelica.

Greyfriars Community Centre is a treasure to the people of Ringwood who enjoy social events of all kinds, and we are really looking forward to bring our event to their location. Being so central we hope that many more of you that were sad to have missed our last Paella Sunday Lunch at The Spanish Place will be able to make it this time round.

Be set for a laid-back afternoon of delicious freshly-cooked foodiness and friendliness whether you are eating with us or taking away! We have doubled the window of opportunity from 2 to 4 hours, our first set of paellas will be ready from 12pm and we’ll be serving until 4pm, or until we’re sold out. Everything will be cooked from scratch onsite so it will be an excellent opportunity to pick up some paella cookery tips as well as lunch on a portion.

We’ll have a drinks and dessert bar to purchase from too – and you’re welcome to bring a picnic blanket or chair if you are staying long. Relax, eat, drink and chat and maybe even wiggle-it-a-bit to our cool eclectic musical backdrop provided by DJ King Razor (Rubberbus, Coosticks the Band, Mean Beats).

MENU del DIA 04.08.24

Lunch: Chicken and Chorizo Paella £10, Mixed Seafood Paella £12, Mixed Vegetable Paella £10.

Dessert: Burnt Basque Cheesecake £4, Santiago Almond Tart £4, Chocolate & Espresso Olive Oil Cake £4.

For the freezer: Frozen Paella Portions – any 4 for £20

The post Paella Sunday Lunch on The Lawn at Greyfriars on 4th August 2024 appeared first on Idelica.

We are back to welcome you to the third of our very own events at The Spanish Place:

Paella Sunday Lunch on 21st July 2024.

We really hope you are able to come!

We’ll be taking over our car park courtyard again to create laid-back afternoon of delicious freshly-cooked foodiness and friendliness whether you are eating with us or taking away! We are also doubling the window of opportunity for people to pop over to us from 2 hours to 4 hours – we’re opening from 12pm – 4pm. There’ll be extra seating and we’ll provide shelter (from sun or rain, we are taking bets!). Stay if you wish and enjoy a mocktail and soft drink refreshment from at the bar, and relax, eat and chat alongside a cool eclectic musical backdrop, this time provided by DJ King Razor (Rubberbus, Coosticks the Band, Mean Beats).

MENU del DIA 21.7.24

Chicken and Chorizo Paella £10, Mixed Seafood Paella £12, Mixed Vegetable Paella £10.

Burnt Basque Cheesecake £4, Santiago Almond Tart £4, Chocolate & Espresso Olive Oil Cake £4.

Any Dessert with cream/fresh fruit £6.

 

No need to book, but if you want to let us know that you are planning to come along we can properly look forward to seeing you!

Call on 01425 350350 or email ian@idelica.com

Scenes from our Tapas Saturday Night at The Spanish Place on 15 June 2024

If you made it to our last Paella Lunch on 15 May, or the Tapas Night on 12 June, or you’ve caught up with us at a public or private event somewhere recently, hopefully you’ll know how much it means to us that you enjoy the time you share with us as much as the food we make. Your honest feedback is really important to us, and we do listen.

If you can spare a moment please do tell us how any experiences you have had with our food or service has been for you, and what you would really like to see us do in the future.

Email emma@idelica.com

To see the food festivals and public events we are at this year, refer to the listings page on our website here.

Ian and I spent some time this week brainstorming the values at the heart of all of the events we cater for, and we came up with our own what3words: celebration.authenticity.quality (which sounds a lot better than our actual what3words location code for Idelica & The Spanish Place – shortcuts.managed.gossiped)!

We are planning to do more events at The Spanish Place, but we have been scoping the locality for alternative venues, ones that would be more suitable in the colder months and will allow us to carry the licensable activities that lots of celebrations require, i.e. the playing of music to sing and dance if we want to (or not), the serving of alcoholic drinks alongside soft ones, and the ability to cater with differents types of Spanish cuisine to suit the event. And we have already found some hidden – and some not-so-hidden – gems. So if you have been thinking about having us cater at your party and you don’t want a load of people messing up your house, give us a call first as we may be able to help and save you hassle from the get-go.

Call on 01425 350350 or email ian@idelica.com

The post UPDATE: CANCELLED Events at The Spanish Place appeared first on Idelica.

A FUN, FRIENDLY & RELAXED SETTING WITH PLENTY TO KEEP YOUR TASTEBUDS TANTALISED ALL EVENING.

PLUS: WINE & BEER TASTINGS AND AMBIENT LIVE MUSIC SESSIONS.

APERITIVOS

Enjoy a welcome drink and Tapitos on arrival from 7pm.

The Spanish Place Bar will remain open for further drinks to be purchased throughout the evening until 11pm.

ENTREMESES

Spanish Cheeses & Cured Meats, Boquerones, Manzanilla Olives & Pickled Chilli Peppers, Bread.

TAPAS

Gambas Pil Pil en Tostadas – Prawns with Chilli, Garlic & Olive Oil on Toast.

Pinchos Morunos – Skewers of Pork marinated in Moorish Spices with Lemon & Olive Oil.

Pimientos Mixtos Asados con Manchego – Oven-baked Mixed Peppers with Manchego Cheese, Garlic, and an Olive Oil & Sherry Balsamic Vinegar Dressing.

Calabaza y Coliflor Àrabe – Roasted Butternut Squash and Cauliflower with Ras el Hanout, Olive Oil & Black Sea Salt.

Rabo de Toro – Slow-cooked Oxtail in Red Wine, Tomato & Garlic Jus with Beef Fat Sautéed Potatoes.

POSTRES

Burnt Basque Cheesecake or Santiago Almond Tarte.

£45 per person (inc VAT)

To Book: use the contact form on our website to leave your details and make a booking enquiry. Please advise us if there are any allergen and dietary issues that you or your guests have at the time of booking so we can advise and accommodate. We will respond as promptly as possible during our standard business hours (10am-4pm Mon-Fri) and email you a payment link to complete your booking. Places are limited to 30 on this event so best to book early to avoid missing out. Full payment in advance is required to secure your places and an emailed receipt for your booking will be provided. Our books for this event will close on Sunday 9^th June.

Address for Idelica Paella & Tapas (and The Spanish Place) is: Unit D1 Platinum Jubilee Business Park, Hopclover Way, Ringwood BH24 3FW. Tel 10425 350350. www.idelica.com.

The post Tapas Saturday Night at The Spanish Place on 15 June 2024 appeared first on Idelica.

I had been very surprised when we were invited to cater with paella at the last Premiere League match for AFCB of the season. That’s because I hadn’t known that since last year the manager of The Cherries was a Spaniard, who allegedly eats paella and drinks Estrella and probably other things that (just about) rhyme with Andoni Iraola. Ian knew this (of course!) and we agreed to go and see if the fans would follow their team’s leader on the paella front. It was explained that we would be pitching up in the new Fanzone area at the Vitality stadium, built to offer all the fans a bit of civilised pre-match hospitality: a well-stocked and reasonably priced bar, quality street food options from local suppliers, a big screen for the build-up broadcasts and live music.

We turned up with our big pans etc on the morning of Saturday 11th May and were set up next to the bar (our favourite place!). Hordes of Vitality Stadium staff were all working hard to get things ready for crowds of Home fans to start coming in from Midday, and for Away fans to follow along closer to the start time of 3pm. In that time we enjoyed a slow but steady stream of slightly bewildered customers, some of whom were taking the plunge into a paella for the first time, and others who had already had our paella before but were definitely not expecting to see us at a football match. I had redeemed myself for my earlier ignorance by coming up with a sign slogan to help us break the ice with any pie die-hards.

We were unaware that a hungry reporter called @EchoSportJack at the Bournemouth Echo had bought dishes from all three of the street food stalls there that day, and a few days later he published the findings and summarised…

“Not everyone can say they’ve had paella at a Premiere League ground – perhaps at least outside of hospitality! In fact, the novelty of the paella – combined with the quality – placed it top of my rankings, with the pizza and fish & chips in close second and third.”

Subscribers can read Jack Tanner’s full article in the Bournemouth Daily Echo, published on 15 May 2024 at https://trib.al/4EI8rKg

The post Who ate all the Paella!? appeared first on Idelica.

As a mobile catering business, our biggest unique challenge is in managing our food waste. Having food waste rotting in landfill is one of the biggest causes of methane pollution that we as humans can do something about, and unbelievably it’s still not mandatory for businesses to separate out food waste in England (unlike Wales for example where it became law last year).  At Idelica we are proud to have been doing this since we started catering in 2012. It’s not hard to achieve as long as you have a simple and clearly-explained process in place that all team members can take on, and it really helps if your senior team is made up of people who had parents barking comments at them like ‘waste not, want not’ and ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’.

1. When planning our catering at events, especially public events where we pitch our kitchen tent and sell hot food directly to paying customers, it’s an important (and risky) job to identify what dishes are best suited to the event and how many servings we think we will sell. This is most challenging with our paellas, as we always cook from scratch onsite and forecasting badly can mean a lot of paella left in the pans that we need to clean before we can even think about packing down. In this aspect we prefer private catering as we can spend a lot of time discussing requirements with our clients. It’s not in anyone’s interest to have ordered more food that is likely to be consumed, so being mindful and drawing on our expertise at the planning stages helps keep waste – and cost – down all round.
2. When purchasing ingredients with shorter shelf lives, we always check what’s already in stock against what we are going to need only for the immediate events ahead and we try not to be tempted by promotional discounts to overbuy. (this is hard, who doesn’t love a bargain especially when cheese is involved?)
3. When ingredients are delivered and while in storage at our premises (which we affectionately know as Tapas Towers), the condition of each one needs to be properly monitored for dates of use by, packaging integrity and the storage temperature limits for safe use in food preparation. (This means we have the best chance of using up all our ingredients while occasionally creating a new and ‘interesting’ recipe in the process.)
4. Food waste at all stages of preparation and after consumption needs to be separated, so we need a lot of food waste bins and bags of all shapes and sizes as we potentially have several different food preparation sites on the same day. They all make it to our bigger food waste bin which is collected by our business waste management company every two weeks.
5. When cooking, hot-holding and cooling paella, we make sure that we carefully handle and properly monitor any surplus paella. This means that we can properly label, chill and/or freeze portions of this surplus to sell as a fully-prepped paella ready meal or to donate to charities, like Hope for Food who have been using them for hot and nutritious meals for the homeless in their twice-weekly pop up Community Kitchens in central Bournemouth.

We do have other concerns about our impact on the environment, mainly with food packaging and less avoidably with the fuel we use when we cook and we transport ingredients, equipment, products and people to provide our catering services. At home and at work we suffer with information gaps and advice overwhelm from suppliers that tell us this recyclable thing is good but that compostable thing is bad, and to dispose of that biodegradable thing here but don’t recycle that there.

We’ll just have to keep doing our best to keep things planet-friendly where we can.

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