Friends roasted a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, and they saved the carcass for me to make turkey broth with. I added celery, carrot, onion, a whole head of garlic, and at the end I added fresh herbs from the garden. I then made a sofrito of fresh tomato, onion, garlic, Spanish saffron threads, and Spanish smoked paprika, and sauteed it in olive oil in my paella pan. Then the rice went in with turkey broth, and I kept adding broth until the rice was done. I added chopped turkey meat on top of the rice and garnished with blanched green beans, jarred red sweet pepper that I cut into strips, and lemon wedges for squeezing. I've made various types of paella in the past, but this was my first attempt at a turkey paella, and it looked and tasted festive.
Location: Private Home, Redlands, California. Date: November 28, 2020.
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I walked into a tapas bar on Christmas Day and saw round plates all over the place sporting slices of Spanish bread with colorful toppings. There was cream cheese with jam garnished with mint, Spanish tortilla with mayo and dried tomato, goat cheese croquettes, shrimp wrapped in ham, sardine flayed on a nasturtium leaf with mustard sauce and salmon roe (pictured), and so many more. It was all so colorful and exotic, so I asked if this was done specially for Christmas, and the waitress said no, this was everyday fare. Then she added, “Everyday is Christmas here!” When I talked with my Spanish friends, I found out that this was typical Basque tapas. I ordered a drink and was told to help myself to the food. Each slice of bread with topping had a toothpick holding it together, and when you're done, they simply count the toothpicks on your plate and charge a Euro for each one. From now on, Basque tapas will always remind me of Christmas.
Location: Golfo de Bizkaia, Vidrieria 12, Barceloneta, Barcelona, Spain. Date: December 25, 2018. I paired this spaghetti dish with grappa di moscato, a strong liquor distilled from muscat grapes. A decent amount was served in a wine glass, and it was dry with just a hint of sweet, and the floral muscat flavor came through nicely. I was told that the chef was very happy that I was trying grappa with his pasta dish. The dish itself was served with brown sourdough bread and good fruity olive oil. I dined al fresco at night in an alley that I was told wasn't safe! The pasta was cooked to al dente perfection. Sea urchin was in the sauce, and there were bits you could see on top; however, this was more about the pasta than the sea urchin. The sea urchin was a nice accent to the noteworthy pasta, and the grappa paired perfectly. No wonder the chef was happy.
Location: Meneghina, Tiradors 2-4, Barcelona, Spain. Date: December 23, 2018. When I asked which sangria was less sweet, the red or the white, the answer was the one with sparkling wine. I'd never had sparkling wine sangria at home in the U.S., so this was new to me. Not only was it delicious and refreshing, but it was also very dry. This bubbly white sangria came with pieces of orange, lemon, pear, and green apple. I love it when drinks aren't too sweet, and this wasn't sweet at all!
Location: Lonja de Tapas, Placera Montcada 5, Barcelona, Spain. Date: December 23, 2018. I had this stir fried noodle with shrimp dish twice at a Chinese family run bar in Barcelona; the first time the mother made it and the second time her son was the chef. He made the dish spicier and more photogenic. The dish consisted of perfectly cooked chewy noodles, soft onion and bok choy, and crunchy red bell pepper, as well as four nice sized sweet shrimp with shell on. It was obviously seasoned with soy sauce as well as hot pepper. This delicious dish was oily but in a good way. It was noteworthy comfort food.
Location: Bar Nito, Consell de Cent 47, Barcelona, Spain. Date: December 22, 2018. When my brother met Hector, a Panamanian living in Catalunya, he gave him a copy of my Panamanian cookbook. When I visited the area, Hector invited me to dinner. He presented a couple of gorgeous dishes: pork roast with pineapple and ensalada rusa, or Russian salad. Ensalada Rusa is popular throughout Latin America, and it typically contains potato, beets, carrots, peas, celery, and sometimes apple, as well as other ingredients like hard boiled egg, diced ham, canned tuna, and olives. It's bound together with mayonnaise and often flavored with lime or lemon juice. There are endless ways of making it, and Hector's version was not only delicious but also presented beautifully with strips of bell pepper of various colors. The recipes in my book are recreations of meals I had in budget restaurants in Panama, whereas Hector's dishes were classy examples of Panamanian home cooking.
Location: Private Home, Viladrau, Catalunya, Spain. Date: December 21, 2018. The lunch place I chose was at the entrance to the ancient plaza in Vic; the sandy plaza and the narrow cobblestone streets around it took me back a thousand years or so. I ordered red wine with my menu of the day and got a whole bottle included in the already very economical price! Apparently, this is the norm in Spain. I started my lunch with seafood soup which contained pieces of various fish, a mussel on the shell, a large whole prawn, and croutons on the side; it was fishy but in a good way. For my main course I ordered a dish composed of two slices of salty ham and two slices of melty brie cheese. It was served with crusty bread and was simple but delicious. (Remember I'm going through a bottle of wine; this dish was perfect for that.) For desert I had “flan de la casa”, a smooth set custard with a bittersweet caramelized sugar sauce. During my meal, “One of Us”, a song I love, played over the sound system. It happens a lot in my life: a favorite song comes on at the best moment! This lunch was memorable. Location: Bar Sport, Verdaguer 5, Vic, Catalunya, Spain. Date: December 17, 2018. This was one of the set menu lunches (or lunch of the day) at a bar in the very quaint mountain town of Figaró in Catalunya. I could choose between black sausages, white sausages, or one of each (which is what I chose). The black sausage was blood sausage which turned out to be a beautiful savory pudding in a casing. It oozed out when cut. The white pork sausage was mild, savory, and even though it was juicy it seemed a little dry compared to the black one. The sausages came with fries that were a little soggy but that's actually how I like them; when they're fried until crispy you lose that nice potato texture and taste. To sum up, while I'm a big fan of white sausages, this was the first time I've preferred a blood sausage to a white one of any type!
Location: Bar El Cau, Figaró, Catalunya, Spain. Date: December 16, 2018. These snails were very tasty as they were cooked in a tasty broth. They were one of the tapas that we snacked on before the main meal of special rice. I was invited to the Christmas celebration of a Menorcan family which they held earlier than usual because some family members were heading off to Thailand for the holidays. Some of these snails were added to the rice, along with all kinds of other things, including little wild birds, and the boy sitting next to me didn't like snails so he put his on my plate (he was fine with the little birds). You eat the snails by sucking on the opening of the shell until the meat starts to come out, and then you can pull it out with your fingers or use a toothpick. The meat was a little chewy, but really very tender, and you got a little broth out of the shell to enhance the meat. I enjoyed quite a few of these. Location: Private Residence, Ciutadella, Menorca, Spain. Date: December 15, 2018. My friend Jacky introduced me to a homeless man, Pepe, who invited us to his camp in the woods, close to the sea, for lunch. We parked the car by the road, and walked for about forty minutes on a muddy trail to reach the site. When we got there, Pepe took us into the woods an showed us, hanging from a tree branch, the carcass of the wild goat that he had caught. While Jacky and I went on a walk by the sea, Pepe prepared the goat and cooked it. When we got back, there was a table set in a clearing in the woods, complete with tablecloth and wine glasses. Jacky had brought wine and bread, and while we were drinking Pepe suddenly jumped up, grabbed a wine bottle, and ran over to the goat that was cooking over a wood fire. When he came back, he said that the goat had called out to him and asked for wine! The goat arrived on the table well cooked and quite delicious. Soaking up the olive oil and wine sauce with the bread was, as is often the case with me, my favorite part of the meal. After we ate, Pepe invited us for coffee and liqueur tasting. He brewed decent coffee, and the home made herbal liqueurs were given to him by the man who made them. Pepe, who'd been living at his little campsite for over thirty years, gave me a most memorable culinary experience to say the least. Location: Private Campsite on Menorca, Spain. Date: December 14, 2018. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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