Spanish goals content report

Over the past week we've all been going Spanish with a new batch of goals, and now is the time to have a look at the various goodies which were unearthed by working through the quest.

We'll start with the Spanish Stove which was unlocked upon completion of the opening goal. As ever the harvesting of some parts was a necessity, with 6 Yellow Steel, 6 Brass Diverters and 4 Spanish Knobs needed to construct the new appliance. The last of these is the first of two new parts introduced with these goals.

Spanish Knob and Cinnamon Knob

Although the standard addition of two fresh parts continues, it is interesting to note the Yellow Steel making an unusual appearance. I reckon the Ancient Sands Stove from the Ancient Egyptian goals was the last new cooker to call for this long time part, and so its inclusion on both of the new appliances is somewhat surprising. And the Plum Nozzle, which appears on the later drink machine, has only ever been utilised once - that was on the Juice Machine.

On the other hand, the Mallet and Iron Press are both absent, which is notable. The Iron Press has only come into fashion over the last few months, but I'm sure most of you will be well aware of the Mallet's prominence. Incredibly this is the first time since the Mallet was added in May 2015 that it has been overlooked for both goal appliances! A fine run, but it's time for it to move over and let other parts take the limelight!

Onwards with the Spanish Stove, and it holds three new recipes for your cooking enjoyment.

Spanish Stove recipes

So the cultural insight begins! Patatas Bravas may sound like an exotic location from Game of Thrones, but it's actually fried potatoes which are then covered in some form of sauce. Empanadas are a more widespread dish which originates in Spain, and is similar to what we here in the UK would call a pasty. Then there's the Flamenquines which is ham and pork based, plus it has an awesome name!

In terms of looks these are cool looking dishes, with the cocktail sticks in the Patatas Bravas a particularly nice touch. But will the recipe ratings be favourable?

Patatas Bravas
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	10	2	8	5	5.9

Empanadas
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	6	1	8	5	3.8

Flamenquines
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	4	2	10	5	3.2

Yellow and orange seem to the leading colour with these ratings, which is always a bad sign. The profit and portion figures are poor across the board, with the XP gain proving the more eye-catching factor. You'll notice that all three foods offer 60 XP - this constant is something we've seen occasionally before, and it gives varying results.

For the 1 hour Patatas Bravas it's great news, with it joining nine other recipes which have enjoyed this strange set-up. Only two efforts of the same length yield more XP. Of course it gets progressively less impressive as the duration increases, with the 5 hour Flamenquines very much a middling dish on the XP front.

Let's move on to the two sidestep goals, which each pull the padlock on a floor decoration. The Wrought Iron Divider comes first and makes it two new dividers in as many weeks following the release of the Kangaroo Divider a fortnight ago. This in itself is good to see, and with this being a slightly more generic design I can envisage a lot of players utilising it. However be wary - at 4,000 coins each you could run a fair bill quickly if using it liberally.

I do like this divider, but at the same time I think it could have been executed slightly better. It's the separation between neighbouring copies that frustrates me, and that's partly caused by the curly legs. Ideally I'd have preferred those to be left off giving for a straight and simple iron fence. Nevertheless it's still a nice addition and certainly one worth considering if you need a dividing mechanism in an outdoor space.

 Spanish theme

 20/04/16 Goals
 20/04/16 Update

The other sidestep prize is the Flamenco Dancers. Featuring a couple dressed in traditional red outfits, they are swinging their hips to the sound of a guitarist plucking the strings as he watches on. The size of his eyes is a little alarming, but maybe he's just transfixed at the quality of dancing before him!

I'm sorry to say that I feel Storm8 have missed a trick here. This is a cool 2x2 piece, but it could have been done differently. I'd have loved the couple to be on their own rather than with the musician as then we could have multiple couples prancing around a dance floor. We still could but each would need their own personal guitarist which is not ideal! I'm sure most would have been chuffed to get the couple and musician as separate decorations. But I can't complain too much as it is still a nicely finished item.

Now to the second appliance unwrapped in this quest - the Spanish Mixer - which calls for 6 Yellow Steel, 6 Plum Nozzles and 4 Cinnamon Knobs to construct. As you'd expect, this mixer houses another three fresh dishes.

Spanish Mixer recipes

Like with the cocktail sticks earlier, it's the additional bits and bobs which truly complete these recipes. The Horchata is a refreshing drink made using ground nuts and the Mango Agua Fresca translates as fresh water flavoured with mango. Although this is Spanish, this drink is more native to Central America and Mexico - at least it looks good! Finally the Spanish Chocolate needs no introduction - it's a purer hot chocolate with a stronger flavour.

Let's have the ratings...

Horchata
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	7	2	7	5	4.2

Mango Agua Fresca
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	5	2	10	5	4.2

Spanish Chocolate
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	1	3	10	5	3.6

If anything the warm colours are yet more prevalent here, although at least that reminds me of Spain! The flat XP is again present, and while it gives the Horchata a high score for that factor, it also results in a shocker for the Spanish Chocolate. Only four of the 70 dishes of 8 hour length provide less XP.

As with the Spanish Stove recipes, the profit and portions scores are very average, which leaves us with little to get particularly excited about. Just enjoy the presentation of these thirst quenching drinks!

We'll conclude with the final goal prize, which is the Spanish Fountain. It's only 3x3 in size which is less than we've come to expect from climactic prizes, but it's still decent. It's got a golden tone and the deeper shade of the water works well with this. The downside is the sparkles which have been applied to the water. Why?! It's your standard unnecessary glint, and adds literally nothing to the impact of the fountain.

It's also worth pointing out that additional fountains will cost you 40 gems. It's not unheard of for the final prize to have a gem price tag, but in this case it's probably frustrating for some players. That's because this is the kind of decoration that you'll often find folks like to have two of - one on either side of something else - in a kind of symmetry. To do that here will require quite the outlay.

Overall I do like this theme. The goal content doesn't reach the level I'd hoped for, but that's probably more indicative of the high quality of the stuff that's available outside of the goals. These country themed updates are definitely right up my street, as the attempts to decipher some of the recipes show!