As I mentioned in my Bodegas Bentomiz post from April we found ourselves in Spain for Christmas for the first time in 2019. We like to push the boat out at Christmas as everyone does and have cooked many multi-course lunches for family and friends, at our place in France. One Christmas lunch – our first Spanish themed one – was 9 courses for 14 people. We are lucky enough not to be working in the winter, so have – and needed! - plenty of time, space and plates to cater for that. Our little Spanish house has *ahem* more limited equipment and space, in fact we didn’t even have enough wine glasses for six people. Our little fridge has a tiny freezer compartment which is normally home to massive Spanish ice cubes and little else. I dismissed these issues and ploughed on regardless, planning a seven-course lunch for ourselves and four closest friends in Spain. I wanted to as usual highlight Spanish produce and local specialities as much as possible and try some new techniques. Fast forward to the day itself. Sunny enough to have canapes of smoked salmon with goat’s curd and herbs with couple of bottles of Juve Camps Cava on the terrace. In fact, it was a bit too hot, but I was up and down to the kitchen in any case, so saved getting sunburned. Our lovely Norwegian neighbours had no idea what Christmas crackers were all about, but were happy to sport the obligatory paper crown and cringe at the terrible puns. I think they ‘won’ a compass keyring and a tiny tape measure as their prizes – lucky them! To start - A warm soup always seems a bit incongruous in Spain, but a squash and pecan soup seemed like a nod to wintery Christmases past. In any case, a soup is always a good start and Adrian’s was a smooth, velvety delight. Not too sweet either, accompanied as it was by more of that crisp, dry cava. The fish course - I had heard of Mojama and seen it in the shops but we had never bought any, not really having had an idea what to do with it. Also, I am a bit fussy with salty fish so probably pulled a face to be honest! But you have to try new things so I had determined to get it on the menu some way. Mojama - cured and air-dried tuna - is a speciality that has been around for hundreds of years. Originating from along the East coast of Spain near the border with Portugal the tuna is caught by funnelling them into nets, in a way that has changed little since it began. Researching recipes suggested using very thin shavings was the way to incorporate mojama into dishes, that it is very strong with an umami punch that I wanted to use to effectively ‘season’ a dish. We bought a smallish piece and I tried slicing it by hand but just couldn’t get it fine enough, so we invested in small electric slicer. No doubt it will come in handy for jamón and mojama in the near future. I wanted to keep it light, so settled on a salad. I mixed the freshness of shaved raw fennel with some soft fennel confit for contrast. The salty sourness of the fish was tamed by the sweetness of a black garlic vinaigrette and I added some texture and earthiness with Marcona almonds. It really worked as a dish and I would definitely make it again. The fish acted in the way a good sauce should – adding its own flavour, enhancing the other flavours but not overpowering them. I was impressed actually and I am very critical of my own food! You might remember that the Bentomiz post was about my search for a particular wine to go with this course. As I explained, I was unable to find it at Christmas, so I paired the salad with a Galician wine from Rias Baxas. Faustino Rivero Ulecia produce this 2018 from the Albarino grape. It had good sharp fruit, I got apples and white grapes, and the typically slightly briny note from wines of the area. Lacked a bit of punch and dryness for me, but was a good accompaniment to the salad. To be fair we had had quite a lot of sharp cava before this, so it was fine. Sorry I don’t have a photo of this. The meaty starter – Now, I had been ruminating on this one for a while, thinking about how to use Iberico pork in another way than just a lump of – admittedly delicious – meat on plate. Inspiration came in the form of iberico pork burgers from the local supermarket. No, I didn’t do burger and chips for a 2nd starter! You hardly ever see terrines on a menu these days and I think it is a real shame, but they seem out of fashion. I guess chefs don’t see a way to elevate a slab of terrine to new heights, but I think they are missing a trick. Firstly, if you use great ingredients you will likely get a great tasting terrine and what would be the argument against that? Second, they do look nice on a plate in my opinion. Thirdly, from a chef's perspective they are fairly easy to make and easy to portion control! So as it was Christmas dinner and I was doing ‘posh’, how was *I* going to elevate it? Well, there is that great main product, minced Iberico pork. Plenty of flavour from that deliciously fatty meat. I decided to add in pistachios to add some texture and colour, along with minced shallots, herbs, pimentón and a splash of Oloroso. To really go big on flavour I also added some chunky black truffle salsa. Combined with one egg my burgers were transformed into a juicy, umami rich and flavoursome terrine. And to take this up a notch further I tried something completely new. Salt cured egg yolks. What, you say? Why would you want to cure an egg yolk? Well I didn’t know I did, but now I want to find more things I can use them on! Curing them for just a few hours makes that umami yolkiness even more intense. I soft cured mine as I wanted to sauce the warm slice of terrine with it. I should have done them an hour or so less (they were in a 50/50 salt and sugar mix in the fridge for 9 hours) but most were just about right. As you can see from the photo, they looked like perfect, smooth round apricots, but the slightly chewy outside gave way to an unctuous centre. I served with some caper berries for some mad crunch and local white bread rolls that come slathered with olive oil and topped with sea salt. So good. This needed a red wine with some cojones but nothing too dry. We had a Faustino V, Rioja Reserva 2013. This did the job well, medium bodied Tempranillo (mostly) with plenty of red fruit, backed with tobacco and leather hints. This meant it was complex enough but did not distract from the pork or egg. A well-known brand but it fitted the bill for this course and was not expensive – though I can’t actually remember how much it was! We need a pause and something refreshing. What better than a granita? Previous parties have seen the rise and rise of my granitas.... I remember one NYE where a neighbour got more than a bit worse for wear and bad ice-cream head from having three glasses of my Bloody Mary granita. I should give a shout to my sister Lucie for the recipe for that, which has port and sherry in the mix and is hands down the best Bloody Mary going. When in Spain, what do you drink to perk yourself up? Gin Tonic of course! My ‘Larios con tonica’ granita took three days to freeze in our tiny ice box! I think I MAY have put a little too much gin in but, hey ho... Eventually it set enough to break up into delicious boozy crystals which we crunched and slurped through. The main event - As one of our guests is not good with hunks of meat, I went fish for the main course. A distinctly non-Spanish salmon, spinach and leeks ‘en croute’, mainly because I knew she would be able to eat and enjoy it. I sneaked a little Spanish influence in by the addition of saffron into my butter sauce. Accompanied by Pommes Anna, which are a favourite, their buttery crispiness is a winning combination and some roast asparagus. We asked our guests to bring some rosé to accompany the salmon. I only did a vague tasting note for one of the wines they brought, but it was miraculous that I did any at all by this stage to be honest! It was another Faustino V in actual fact from 2014, 100% Tempranillo and none the worse for that. A good weight for a rosé which I prefer with drinking with food. The only other things I noted were a light nose (not very descriptive!) and red fruits, the colour was really deep – again, hardly earth-shattering news for a rosé. Stomachs straining a little we agreed on a polite pause to swap Christmas gifts before attempting to squeeze dessert in. The kitchen wasn’t in too bad a state, considering – helped in part by us needing to wash plates between courses – so we could relax finally. Adrian had made the final course some days earlier – which was a good thing, as it took all that time to freeze. Turron is Spanish nougat that comes in many forms – chocolate, crunch, soft, with and without nuts. We used the soft creamy Jijona version, blended some and mixed small chunks into a semi-fredo. I pickled some blackberries to get some acidity to balance all that super-sweetness and a salted dark chocolate sauce also helped reign in the sugar. What could be more perfect to accompany this than a (small) glass of Pedro Ximenez Nectar from Gonzalez-Byass. The sweet sherry that is like liquid Christmas cake and a revelation for all of our guests. Pedro Ximenez or PX is a grape variety mostly grown on the Montilla-Moriles region and the grapes are left out to dry in the sun. This goes to producing a fortified sherry wine that is heady with raisins, slightly syrupy and downright delicious. We were very happy and so were our mates. We love entertaining and although both couples had been around on several occasions for a meal – we had never made so much effort for them before. Good food, super wine and great friends – it was like microcosm of the Spanish way of life itself! We yearn to make it our full-time home and really integrate into the local sunshine life. That way I can enjoy and share even more with our family, friends and you. The Menu
Smoked salmon toasts with goats curd and herbs Cava – Juve Camps Pumpkin & pecan soup Cava Mojama, shaved and confit fennel, Marcona almonds, black garlic vinaigrette Faustino Rivera Ulecia, Rias Baixas, Albarino 2018 Warm Iberico pork, truffle & pistachio terrine, soft salt cured egg yolk, caperberries Faustino V, Rioja Reserva 2013 Gin tonic granita Salmon, leek and spinach ‘en croute’, pommes Anna, roast asparagus, saffron butter sauce Faustino V, rosé Tempranillo 2014 Semifredo of Jijon turron with salted dark chocolate sauce and pickled blackberries Pedro Ximenez Nectar
2 Comments
Matthew Buckley
10/10/2020 03:54:14 am
Beautiful looking dishes. It’s made me hungry now!
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9/27/2022 03:50:05 am
Thanks, I am really happy with these great tips! A private cooking lesson allows you to learn whatever you’d like to cook, ask as many questions as you like, and be guided through dishes and recipes With M.
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AuthorAlex Gonnord-Luty, chef, aspiring good blog writer, Hispanophile, lives currently in France & Spain. Archives
September 2020
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