Natural Terracotta
Terracotta From Paelleros Direct
All of our tapas dishes and terracotta items are made in Spain by Valdearcos Martos, S.A. One of Spain’s premier manufacturers of natural terracotta.
These dishes are used in homes and restaurants across Spain for cooking and serving a whole variety of tapas and other dishes.
Terracotta dishes are perfect for cooking, baking and serving as the clay retains heat. When you use a classic terracotta cazuela to cook with, you will find it heats evenly, and retains the heat longer than any other dish. This means that when you bring your soup, stew, or sizzling garlic shrimp to the table in a you can guarantee your creation will be served at its best.
For tapas dishes ranging from 10cm to 36cm and for other tableware, cookware, kitchenware and barware please browse our online shop
Terracotta Care
Soak your Terracotta dishes in cold water for 4 hours prior to first using them. We cannot stress this point enough. The soaking will allow the material to reabsorb some moisture after it has been dried out in the firing process during manufacture. This step is not required before every use, only before using the first time.
Do not use your ceramics on any heat source before completing the above process.
When cooking with your ceramics allow them time to come up to temperature. Start them on a low heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
Never take your ceramics directly from the heat and put into water. Rapid changes in temperature can cause them to break or crack instantly. Allow them to completely cool naturally before washing.
These ceramics are dishwasher safe but we would not recommend repeatedly cleaning in this manner. To prolong the life of your dishes, wash by hand with ordinary washing up liquid.
Ensure you dry your ceramics thoroughly. They do retain some moisture so it is normal for them to occasionally develop a harmless fluffy mould due to natural atmospheric spores. This has nothing to do with the ceramics or manufacture. The mould is completely harmless and should simply be washed away.
The glaze on the dishes is perfectly safe for all applications -- it contains no lead.