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.

Recipe of Restaurant "Terraza Carmona"

The moment has arrived.  Antonio Carmona of Vera is one of the best Andalusian chefs today.  He has worked hard to understand the cuisine and market of Andalusia.  The high cuisine of the products.  This recipe is simple, but in your hands it will become an explosion of natural flavors. It was one of the collaborations of the book, Puro Sabor of 2007, edited by CAAE.  Do not forget to do it with the best ingredients.

REMOJÓN ALMERIENSE CON NARANJAS Y BACALAO

Cod and Orange Salad

Antonio Carmona, Terraza Carmona (Vera, Almeria)

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes

3 dry peppers

2 tomatoes

1 small onion

1 shallot

200 grs. salted cod

1 dl of Olive Oil

2 oranges

125 grs. of black olives

4 tablespoons of sherry vinegar

salt

We cook chunks of potatoes in batches together with sliced onion, the whole piece of cod, the tomatoes, and the dried peppers.  Once the potatoes are cooked, we removed them from the heat and let them sit.  Extract the stock.  Take out the dried peppers and crush them with a mortar.  Continuing, we add the tomatoes and crush them too.  Add the puree to the potatoes.  Crumble the cod, and mix the pieces into the potatoes.  Add slices of onion and the olives.  Finally, drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.  We present it here in a fountain shape where we add pieces of orange, onion, oregano, and black olives for decoration. 

Restaurant "Puratasca:" Pure, Pure

At last I went to Puratasca, this little shabby gastrobar with little decoration.  The friendliness of the staff is exquisite, which the cuisine matches.  Now I can explain to myself that it is possible to have good food in this environment.  It is a bar with personality, which is lacking in Sevilla.  Raúl Cayetano and the staff are united in providing quality, something appealing and fun.  Illustrated here is a creamy white garlic soup with a touch of iced sangria, refreshing.  The other dish consisted of vegetables and beef fillet.  I have to come by here more often.  See the English restaurant review of Puratasca from the "Sevilla Tapas" blog by Azahar here.

Willy Moya Returns the Emotion

Today was a special day.  For a promotion, Willy Moya and I did a photo shoot in Cartuja.  This guy has returned with something brilliant; he has prepared a splendid version of fried hake ("Pavía de merluza rebozada. Serie Oro") – like a golden nugget.  I like it a lot.  This is definitely an Andalusian dish, with a modern touch.  Great to admire and afterward, delicious to consume.  What great work. How delicious.  As Sergio Fernández say on the food channel: “ponle peguitas.” 

One Shrimp: "Veta de Palma"

One of the most difficult recipes, and for a time the most popular in western Andalusia throughout the summer, is the “Tortillita de Camarones” (Fried Shrimp Chips).  I took photos for a Sevilla-native business and had to cook the various recipes.  The “tortillitas” should remain light and crunchy, as a result of the texture of the dough, the temperature of the oil, and the frying equipment.  In this case, I used the wired slotted spoon to get rid of the excess dough.  They came out wonderfully.  The shrimp should be of the best quality (Veta de Palma), which is raw, and if you have some luck and a little salt you will have the best result.  This called for garbanzo flour and optional sugar, mixed together with a lot of onion, some chopped fresh parsley, and olive oil.  Also best when served with a glass of cold sherry.

Cookbook of the Denomination of Origin “Estepa"

Recently I have concluded another collaboration with the Denomination of Origin of Spain in producing a cookbook.  The recipes, sent from the region, involved an interesting problem:  presenting simple recipes was quite a challenge.  We worked with an artisan breadsmith named Fidel Pernía de MasaBambini.  The country bread was quite the discovery.