Catalonia in September
July 26, 2010
We have three spaces available on our Epicurean Girona trip in September. Join us for cooking classes with the best teaching chef in Northern Catalonia, outstanding cuisine in the likes of 3-Michelin starred El Celler de Can Roca, 1-Michelin starred BoTic, market visit, visit cheese and anchovy producers, DO Empordà wineries, stay in exclusive restored village townhouse.
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Octopus
July 15, 2010
David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria fame and author of The New Portuguese Table is in Spain. Or at least he was in Spain. And he wrote a blog post Octopus with Paprika about pimentón–Spanish paprika–and included a recipe for Pulpo a la gallega–Galician Octopus. His timing couldn’t be better, on the heels of Paul the German octopus predicting Spain’s recent World Cup victory and octopus sales skyrocketing in Spain as a result.
Notice that the recipe from Simone Ortega instructs you to freeze the optopus overnight prior to cooking. This is the way they do it in Galicia. The recipe does not instruct you to beat the octopus before cooking in order to tenderize it as I have seen done in Galicia.
Note: Do use Spanish smoked paprika–pimentón de la Vera. Enjoy, and celebrate Spain’s victory with this lovely dish. Pulpo a la gallega
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Market Masterpiece
July 11, 2010
George Semler, author of Barcelonawalks and Fodor’s Barcelona, wrote recently in Saveur about his long-time favorite Boqueria Market stands and restaurants. Take a look at George’s list.
Eating at El Quim de la Boqueria or Bar Pinotxo: The trick is to get to the market early enough to secure a seat at the famed Quim de la Boqueria or Bar Pinotxo. Before 10:00 AM is best unless you’re willing to wait in line. Only there isn’t a line, but a mass of people, beer or glass of Cava in hand, waiting. Your job is to ascertain who is last in “line”, and not to lose sight of them. Once they have been seated, you’re next. Buen provecho.
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Córdoba Past and Present
July 6, 2010
A beautiful article in CN Traveler called “Córdoba: City of Secrets” reveals Córdoba past in La Mezquita, the Jewish synagogue and the paintings of Julio Romero de Torres and Córdoba present in the narrow twisting streets of the old quarter, the tapas and fino and the 21st century mosque.
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El Celler de Can Roca
June 20, 2010
The three Roca brothers of Celler de Can Roca–3 Michelin star restaurant in Girona–talk about their roles as Chef, Pastry Chef and Sommelier in a new video. Roca Brothers Video. In Catalan with Spanish subtitles.
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Conquering Croquetas
June 2, 2010
Amy MacDonald-Persons
The mere mention of croquetas can make me swoon. Creamy, luscious, savory, the very definition of lightness, cocooned in a crispy coating; who wouldn’t swoon?
This describes croquetas at their best. Until recently those I had prepared were more like an evil twin. Leaden, sodden, heavy, with a mouthfeel akin to hockey pucks rather than ambrosia, I had all but given up preparing them at home.
Enter Willy Moya, of Sevilla, and my croqueta life changed. I recently spent time in the kitchen of Chef Moya, with the express purpose of nailing the croqueta perfecta. At his able side, this was within reach. Chef didn’t have a recipe to share with me; for him croquetas are a technique-driven dish. Given this, I scrutinized every movement, every culinary decision in the hope of creating a similar dish almost four thousand miles away from his kitchen. I wouldn’t say mine are better, but they are darn good enough and I am happy to share the recipe with you.
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More Eating Well in Barcelona
May 25, 2010
GranTurismo (2 people, 12 months, 24 destinations) spent time recently in Barcelona, and ate alot. Then they wrote reviews of restaurants and tapas bars/cafés. Many of the places on their lists are on the Vancouver Sun’s list (previous post) and on our personal list.
We will be adding our Barcelona experts’ lists here. Stay tuned…
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A List for Eating Well in Barcelona
May 25, 2010
You’re off to Barcelona, expecting to eat extremely well. Wait! There are so many bars, cafés and restaurants that you need an eating roadmap. Here’s a list of Barcelona eats from the Vancouver Sun that hits the mark in almost all cases. There’s only one choice I disagree with, but the rest are sure hits.
Check out this review from no expert of Moments Restaurant, Chef Carme Ruscalleda’s (5 Michelin stars) restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
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Viridian Farm’s Foodie Trip in Spain
May 8, 2010
Manuel Recio and Leslie Lukas-Recio of Viridian Farms near Portland spent time with Chef Haritz in San Sebastián shopping at La Bretxa Market and cooking up a vegetable storm. Here’s what Manuel wrote to us after the shopping + cooking we arranged for them:
“I just wanted to let you know how delighted we were with our cooking class in San Sebastian. Chef Haritz did an incredible job of exposing us to what San Sebastian has to offer on a deeper, market-driven level—and made our day with him at the market and cooking class the highlight of our trip.
By introducing us to various fish mongers, farmers, produce importers, and specialty food shopkeepers, we gained a greater understanding of how Donosti chefs acquire the raw products for their culinary creations. Later, the dishes we prepared during our cooking class were inspired by what we selected at the market in the morning—improvised and truly driven by what was fresh and in season. His friendliness, professionalism, culinary knowledge, and sincere enthusiasm in helping us learn about gastronomy in San Sebastian were outstanding.
We typically shy away from organized tours, but we were so impressed with our Epicurean Ways experience that we will definitely “travel” with you again whenever we go to Spain.”
Mix Magazine, Portland’s Magazine of Food + Drink, has an article about their food trip in Spain in March.
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Spanish Culinary Blogs Worth Reading
May 2, 2010
This is not an exhaustive list, but I want to point you to some excellent blogs specialized in Spanish food and wine. All are written by Americans, living in Spain or frequent travelers to Spain, and all are excellent resources on the foods of Spain, wine and wine regions, restaurants, etc. Read on!
Gerry Dawes’ Spain
Janet Mendel’s My Kitchen in Spain
Ryan and Gabriella Opaz’ Catavino
