The Musuem, the Perfect Anchovy

Like the movie “The Perfect Storm” but with a gastronomic twist, thanks to the ambition of one person, something simple has been amplified to something much more.  Javier Cruz has selected personally the prime material of anchovies in Cantabria, specifically Santoña.  The process has been developed with the business, Coronil.  But, it could not be any more Andalusian.  They clean with great care each loin, and conserve it in salt until the optimal point of consumption.  If you appreciate the excellence of anchovies, your jaws will drop with these.  Imagine: each fillet, delicate and clean, ready to take those who taste it to heaven.  Worthy of a museum. 

Santo-EME, Abantal, and Primavera-Ser, Stars of Sevilla

Salomón Hachuel is featured in a photoshoot for the magazine, Primavera Ser (of the radio station, Cadena Ser), that is distributed throughout Sevilla at the start of Semana Santa (Holy Week).  I want to show a bit of what is in the magazine: of the work of the restaurants that have earned the regards of the Michelin Guide.  My photos are featured in the round-up article, a great honor.  Balta and Julio prepared for the magazine two plates reminiscent of Sevilla, like the smell of the orange trees in the streets.  The plate prepared by Santo EME is “Milkshake, Orange Marmalade of Sevilla, honey ice cream with jasmine and a touch of lemon-lime.”  Julio plays with chocolate and orange in his “Carpaccio of strawberries with a gelatin of lemon blossom and chocolate of bitter orange.”  The pictures of each are presented above.  The color and construction of each one gives us an idea of why they are premier professionals with the highest knowledge of their craft.  I want to send thanks to Salomón Hachuel, to Cadena Ser, to Sonsoles Ferrín and José Vicente Dorado of the program “Ser Viajeros.”

Kulit Manis: The Taste of Terengganu’s Heritage

At last I can speak of this phenomenal book.  It was the winner of the Gourmand awards in the category of local restaurant, in competition with my book.  May Chua was the designer who in a span of three years coordinated the project and gave me a fantastic edition.  The Rosita family, the cooks who inspired this grand anthropological study, has to be more than proud of the result.  It is a work of art that connects customs, kitchen equipment, drawings, and last but not least, recipes.  Infinite recipe suggestions with hundreds of ingredient combinations from the region of Malaysia.  I want to share in this blog this book.  If anyone wants to buy it, you can welcome to contact me through email, and I will pass your interest along.  It is wonderful, something you have to add to your collection.  And it is thanks to a creative team to presenting us to it.

The Chefs of Manolo Mayo

Ángeles and Loli are two professionals with drive and ambition, who have demonstrated that traditional Spanish cuisine can evolve with grace, realized with great technique.  As I have already said at various gastronomy conferences, these women enrich whatever they contemplate and learn whatever they find interesting.  This recipe, although old, should be tried because of the textures and tastes that mix together and surprise you. This recipe contains all ingredients from the land, none from the sea.  Mushrooms, Goat Cheese, Foie, Cream.

A Tower of Mushrooms and Paté with Cheese

Ingredients:

1 jar of sautéed mushrooms

1 Brie Cheese

1 Goat Cheese

1 tin of duck liver or pig liver paté  

Circular Mold

Sweet Smelling Wine

White Sherry

To begin, fry the mushrooms with half of the brie and half of the paté.  In the mold, put a slice of goat cheese, a slice of paté and fill the rest with the sautéed mushrooms.  Once the mold is full, cook it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 180 degrees C, turning once. When we take it out of the oven, we put it on a plate and decorate it with a sauce.  To make the sauce we reduce the white wine with the sweet wine. 

A Sample Recipe from My Tapas Book

Here is a sample recipe from my book of tapas photography, which just earned third place at the international level in the category "Best Local Cuisine" at the 2010 Gourmound Cookbook Awards.

Gusasacaca

Ingredients: 

1 avocado cut into small cubes

1/2 onion cut into small cubes

1 hard-boiled egg

1/2 peeled tomato without seeds

1 bunch of cilantro, stems removed

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Olive Oil

Salt

Accompanying dish:

1 Plantain

250 grams of precooked corn flour

Instructions:

To prepare the Guasacaca, we mix all of the ingredients together carefully and season them.

For the accompanying dish:
We peel the green plantain and cut it into slices of about 3 centimeters each.  To continue, we fry them in abundant olive oil and crush each slice with the help of a knife.  We continue to fry it and reserve it.

For the fritters ("arepitas"), we make dough with the corn flour mixed with lukewarm water and salt, and wait for it to rest.

With wet hands we form balls in the shape of thick coins and fry them in abundant olive oil.   

Hope you enjoy.

Sevilla en Boca de Todos (Tapas Competition) - 3

We just enjoyed a wonderful tapas crawl on Saturday.  We started at Yerbabuena, located in the market of the street Feria.  “Tierra y mar” is the name given to a combination of offerings, appropriately, of the earth and the ocean.  Those who see the rustic tapa smile; it consists of a top-quality tomato with salt, a salted fillet of anchovy and a salt-cured slice of tuna, accompanied by a couple of almonds.  How curious it is that it is traditional to accompany “huevas de mújol” with almonds; the reason is that the nuts facilitated chewing.  At Al-Aljibe in la Alameda, a tapa was a combination of the best flavors.  It was an intense explosion, very delicious.  And to conclude at La Alameda, a big traditional café, Bobo offered us domed fillet of beef.  I had to eat it slowly to extract all of the flavors.  Visually this plate appeared to us very striking—more than other tapas we consumed.  Would like to hear what you think as well.

Egaña-Oriza, Tapas and Pinchos

After the sudden reemergence of Egaña-Oriza on the Sevilla scene, this restaurant, working hard to understand the culinary of the city, has captured two important elements: a fantastic tapas bar (which offers selections I describe), and San Sebastian-style pinchos.  The latter is the greatest gastronomic pleasure to come to Sevilla.  The concept of the pincho is something altogether different.  It is playful, traditional, and occupies its own space.  José Mari has entered the scene with a cookbook “Sevillaenboca.”  Scallops au gratin, with a creamy puree of potatoes, is accompanied by a delicious sauce made from shellfish and potatoes.  The other pictures consist of the classic “Chistorra” (Basque sausage), cooked to perfection by Manuel Bermejo, the wonderful chef of Fitero, and some his pinchos.  I think that of all the food here, I recommend a special stop at Egaña with a great glass of wine.

Sevilla en Boca de Todos (Tapas Competition) – 2

The differences in the next slew of tapas may surprise you.  The divergent styles make these tapas irresistible.  To realize what has been prepared is a revelation.  With a hand of God, the tapas have been offered with love and sophistication.  Variety is endorsed by Periqui Chico, who in Gustavo Bacarisas presents us with a delicious shrimp salad.  Los Cuevas on Paraíso combines the traditional stew of pig feet with foie mounted on roasted potatoes.  A classic on the tapas scene, Rio Grande, under the direction of Fran Trigo, offers a piece of wild boar with forest fruit jelly and potatoes, extraordinary.  And Los Alcalareños, on Virgen de Luján, treated us to an artisanal toasted bread with shredded tomato, extra virgin olive oil and small cubes of ham from "Taquito King" (a client I have featured before).  Again, there was no lack of variety here.  Looking forward to the third part of this series.

Sevilla en Boca de Todos (Tapas Competition) – 1

The “Feria de la Tapa” (Sevilla en Boca de Todos (Tapas Competition)) has begun in Sevilla.  I have visited several restaurants to take part in the playful competition and show on this blog some of what I have eaten, offering a bit of critique (although most comments will be positive).  The harsh reviews are for the official judge.  I begin with a tapa of Azafrán de República Argentina to pay homage to Santi Santamaría, who has combined a tender piece of chicken with baked strawberries and shoots of asparagus, finished off with a confit of tomato and a flower for visual effect.  The bar, Tribuna en Concha Espina in Triana, presents us with a ball of Roquefort and chocolate, coated with pieces of nuts—creamy and crunchy at the same time—complemented by strawberry jelly.  Nantara of Virgen del Valle, with the help of executive chef Nacho Fernández, offers a samosa of cream of shellfish, wonderful fried and accompanied by cream of peppers and parsley olive oil and alloli.  All very delicious.  I invite you to map out your own tapas crawl and draw our own conclusions.  Until the next post.