Kitchen Voyage

LA RIOJA - Much more than a Wine

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 20:49:00 +0000

La Rioja is the smallest administrative region of Spain with only 300.000 inhabitants in 5000 km2 however is not easy to find in the rest of Spain where in such reduced place such mix of ancients cultures, old paths surrounded with a natural landscape that resume all the climates and biodiversity of Iberia

Given such mix of different cultures, roads and travellers that local Monks decided to write a manuscript to understand each other given birth to the Spanish Language in the actual Monastery of San Millan de la Cogolla.

La Rioja Monasterios.

When the Roman empire start to fall, the Visigoths arrive to Spain (c.V) creating some insecurity in the Riojan valleys forcing the local population to live in caves in remote parts of the forest, with the time new communities grow around the caves and new temples that afterwards La Rioja freed them self of the Muslin regime the new Christian monarchs subsidise to become important centre of the culture and Christian faith

German favourite Monasteries

Monsaterio de Valvanera

From Finca de los Arandinos , you can start going to the Santa Maria de Valvanera Monastery ( in Anguiano). Valvanera means water veins valley. That monastery represent all about La Rioja, has traces of Visigoths architecture, Romanesque and renaissance surrounded by a forest of pines, oaks, beech trees and high peaks mountain. You will feel the spirituality of the place remain intact

As mentioned before the Monsterios de San Millan de Cogolla also known as Monasterio de Yuso and Suso are a world heritage site and birth of the Spanish language, a mandatory stop. To know more about the place http://www.monasteriodesanmillan.com/

After you visit Valvanera and San Millan you can head to nearby charming town of Ezcaray or keep going to finish in one of the towns that is one of the highlights of the Saint James Path, the baroque town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada with his spectacular cathedral tower, beautiful square and rich monastery altarpieces. The town is full of legends and traditional eateries.

In your way back, in Najera is another must stop in the Monsatery of Santa Maria la Real where are buried the kings of the old kingdom of Pamplona-Najera build in 1056 sourranded by artificial caves from those troublesome years. The cloister is breathtaking.

Logrono, the capital

Logrono is the capital of La Rioja with around 150.000 inhabitants, at the side of the majestic Ebro River. Unlike other capital cities in Spain, Logrono is quite modest in monumental architecture, but the best of Logrono are the old streets where thousands of programs cross the city every year on their way to Santiago de Compostela.

David favourite walk. Starting from my aunt and uncle flat, David favourite walk start in Calle Portales to enjoy baroque buildings with very well conserved shops and cafes under the arcades, after you pass the old Post Office building (today under eternal refurbishment) and the local Museum in San Agustin Square he head to contemplate one more time the fantastic baroque cathedral towers but always glazing to his left to spot the Cafe Moderno facade and already 100 years of history.

Once we leave the Cathedral stroll around the San Juan Street until find de buzzing Fresh Market and surprise him-self of how crazy sound the stall owners.

Now when the clock has not even reached noon he knows is time to have some tapas in the frenetic Laurel Street. In a couple of streets around 50 tiny tapas restaurant, most of them only specialize in just one single dish always serves with a small glass of rioja. Without doubt David top favourite is El Soriano, which serve the best mushrooms pintxos that you had ever tested. (that is very true!)

After a couple of pintxos and red wine glasses, the best for him is going down for Calle Sagasta and cross the Iron Bridge designed by English over the rio ebro and admire from the Rio Ebro Park the gentle skyline of Logrono predominated by bell churches and storks nest in some locations.

Back to the old town using the old Stone bridge is time to head back but this time through the Sant Way official path, the Rua Vieja, check what is on in the recently opened Cultural Centre a must stop for architectural lovers. And if the sun is too strong just have rest inside the church Santiago Real with a beautiful square and tower.

Towns.

Streets of Ezcaray

Very close to Finca los Arandinos, only 7kms you can visit Navarrete, part of the Saint James path, you can visit the emblematic church and enjoy a coffee with the locals in the different terraces. The whole town centre is listed

Ezcaray 40 min by car from the hotel, no far from Santo Domingo and San Millan, really worth a visit. A little medieval Spanish gem that invite to walk through the street and under the porticos with Flemish and Renaissance elements collides in the street.

LaGuardia , without doubts my favourite, a fortified wall town in a top of the hills with views to la Rioja Alvesa vineyards, lovely houses, shops and historical buildings combine in this town in the border with the country basque. Good place to enjoy a long lunch in the many good quality restaurants. Only 30 minutes from the Finca and a good point to visit the best design wine cellars. Book you visit to the Calatrava design “bodega” Ysios

Haro is the official capital of the wine in LaRioja, the stand up of the town is the city hall build in neoclassic style, but also given their rich industrial past the house-palaces in baroque style are an authentic delight. Also pay a visit to the Wine interpretation centre and local artist modern art museum Museo del Torreon

Torrecilla de Cameros might not be historical rich as the towns mentioned above, but just go there and cross the medieval bridge over the Iregua River is a real experience to feel close with nature. Dont forget to try the local cheeses and visit the natural areas.

Landscapes and Parks

Land Art in La Cebollera

Thank you that my cousin Gabriel is professional a local expert in the region I have the pleasure to know the best landscapes of La Rioja. If you are looking more for a Natural escape, La Rioja is your place. La Rioja is where the Mediterranean climate clash with the cantabric from the north, creating all the years a very diverse landscape but especially colourful in autumn with a must visit to Parque Natural Sierra de Cebollera with wild pines, oaks and beech trees. A good place to spot deers. Also the park has its own land-art space

A different open air activity is to visit the Enciso dinosaur track finds. Yes you can find more than 1000 dinosaur track around the Enciso town which has his own learning centre.

For natural router to walk or bike in la Rioja, please download the guides from La Rioja Tourist Webpage

Vineyards and Wine Cellars.

Ysios and Marques de Riscal

La Rioja is such beautiful region that I haven’t felt the need to mention yet the importance of the Wine culture in area. The Rioja wines enjoy of big popularity thank you to their quality and taste to the point of some vineyards has made good use of their fortunes embracing modern architecture

Our Top 3 Wine cellars are without doubt Marques de Riscal and their impressive Frank Ghery Guggenheim alike style, next to the picturesque town of El Ciego. Bodega Ysios is well known for David and I thank you to my matron of honour Azucena. The wine tour is very interesting to learn all about how a modern Winery work, the building is a masterpiece and the wine.. and the wine will be your next favourite

The 3rd one, well the 3rd one you need to wait until 24th , but I can advise you a couple more like Eguren Ugarte for a perfect lunch or visit Bodegas Franco Espanolas, just in the other side Logrono Iron Bridge.

Most of the Wine cellar offers a tour and wine testing but booking is a must. Marques de Riscal has a 5 start hotel with spa and top restaurant

More!?

Yes! Even more, La Rioja has a lot of place to visit and must see is the Museo Wurth , lost between the countryside and a logistics centre you can visit a top art destination. Dont miss the change to see a Picasso or Magritte, Andy Warhol or Roy Lichtenstein of one of my favourite Spanish Joan Miro exhibition http://www.museowurth.es/

Tips:

Finca Arandinos is located on the heart of La Rioja, however public transport is not an option

Most of the destinations inside La Rioja are no more than one hour by car from la Finca or Casa Josephine.

Bilbao is the nearest International Airport, AP68 is a good motorway without much traffic. Will take you around 90 minutes

From Bilbao you can take the bus to Logrono as well, only 90 minutes and we will organize to pick you up to the hotel. Train is another alternative from Bilabo, go to www.renfe.es They don’t have many service but is cheap and the route is very enjoyable. Take 2:30 but is worth it.

If you want to visit any of the historical sites you need to remember the siesta time in Spain. Most of the places might be closed between 13:00 to 16:00.

Buy your wines directly in the wine cellars

In Spain you drink wine with food, if they put you a tapa without you asking the tapa is free

In the Laurel Street they will serve you the house wine, but you can ask for a better one

Because the area is a fertile river valley vegetables are delicatessen, like artichockes or chard, the traditional dishes are: Patatas a la riojana (potatoes with chorizo) , menestra de verduras (very light vegetable stew) pimientos del piquillo (stuffed roast peppers) chuletillas al sarmiento (lamb chops grilled over dry vine twigs) , bacalao a la Riojana ( cod with vegetables) , trucha a la riojana (trout in wine sauce) and caparrones (a smooth bean dish)

What to visit near La Rioja

La Rioja is in the centre of a wonderful area and not far of vibrant destinations

Bilbao, has shacked their industrial past and become a very trendy city. The Guggenheim museum is the reference, walk and shop in the big avenues is a pleasure. Like the rest of country Basque the food is top quality and the pintxos restaurant are a wonder.

San Sebastian is one of the most beautiful cities in the world; the promenade is a world heritage and has at least a dozen of Michelin Start restaurant, some of them quite affordable. Just remember that all the Michelin start restaurant are close Monday and Tuesday, however you can visit the pinxtos area almost at any time. The fresh market is not as interesting as used to be but still worth it a visit. If you want to learn more about the rich history of the country Basque people, San Telmo museum is your stop. Also I like the aquarium and hang over the surfer beach Zurriola

Pamplona is another gentle northern Spanish with one of the best quality life standards in Europe, famous for their running of the bulls in July. The Cathedral, the citadel and the city hall are worth a visit.

Zaragoza is another human heritage city over the Ebro River. The Basilica of the Pilar is a immense baroque temple is one of the top peregrines places in Europe.

The city has a good remain of Muslim architecture, a castle from the time of the Aragon kings and even a Roman Theatre and a Roman Forum in pretty good condition.

Zaragoza communicate by high speed with Barcelona (1:45hs) and Madrid (2:30hs)

Also is worth to visit the capital of country Basque, Vitoria which has a very nice park surrounding all the city and good museum including modern art

Burgos is not far of Logrono (70 min by car) and has a must see Cathedral also hold a very interesting museum about the Human Evolution. The food experience is similar to Logrono.

KitchenVoyage best recipes

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:48:00 +0000

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The Last Sea Bream

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:10:00 +0000

Fourteen months ago I started food blogging, one of my first recipes was a traditional Madrid Sea-Bream recipe, today I cooked the same Sea-Bream recipe to celebrate the last post of KitchenVoyage, I am restarting my professional IT career.
I would like to say thank you to the 30.000 visitors that I had in all these months, I hope that everyone has enjoyed reading like I did writing and learning about cooking, blogging on social media, really was a pleasure and a great experience

Here are my conclusions about my food blogging experience

Cooking at home

1. Eating at home is healthier and the best way to lose weight. Before I started I used to "cook" or just heat from M&S or Waitrose easy cook or ready meals, since I cook at home I lost 8 kilograms having 5 meals a day including pasta twice a week, home-made pizza and cream and butter based dishes.

2. Eating and cooking at home will develop your palate and you will have a most accurate sense of flavours and food cost and learn when an ingredient is at its best.

3. With the time you will get more selective when you are eating out and you will appreciate the skills of a good chef and understand which top restaurants really are worth visiting.

4. Traditional local British food can be very tasty and healthy like Mediterranean cuisine.

5. Eating healthy, organic and local has a cost, but a good shop planning switching between your supermarket and local food store can be the key to becoming a greener consumer.

Food blogging

1. Amateur food blogging in Europe is economically unsustainable and very competitive, a company will pay you to have a banner or promote their products in your blog, for me it is a mistake because this kind of blog are the closest with the clients. But writing is the only way that they will get in touch with you and you will receive offers for joining their social media team.

2. Dont just write your blog, you need to Tweet often, have a facebook page or Google+ make interesting comments in another foodpages and activitly participate in at least 2 food blogging communities and when more local you can be more popular. It took me a while to understand but for me was a 200% increase in my visits.

3. Reply inmediately and listen to your followers and learn how to use Google Analytics and you will see which are your strong and weakest posts, when you reach that point focus on your best. I didn't and that was one of my problems to get more visitors. Funnily enough when I started I tried to make a blog about British and Spanish Food, but my most popular blog are about travelling and Japanese recipes, but I didn't change my subject and I reach a ceiling level of visitors.

4. Many social media say that the content and find a niche market is half of the job done, and it is true but when you are writing recipes the most important is the photography by far, shot professional pictures has a cost.

5. The last one more than a conclusion is some advice. For the Spanish speaking food bloggers just let you know that the American, British and other countries that speak or understand English are very keen to learn about your local cooking, so will be very good idea to translate to English all your food heritage instead to make them to read the food interpretation of out culture of the marketing teams of Jaime Oliver or Rick Stein (for example). The other advice is for the American/British digital marketing companies, Spain and mainly South America are catching up and growing fast with the new technologies and are a really big market with a big number of companies and business that with a good local digital marketing platform can be a good investment.

Affordable and Tasty Barcelona Tapas Bar

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:14:00 +0000

Poble Sec area. Photo by Jaume Meneses

Kiosko Burger Bar

Kisoko Burger Bar, yes! Because Barcelona is a modern and trendy city they also have a fantastic gourmet places like Kiosko burger Bar that have organic burger for just € 8 with tasty toppings and excellent bread. The burger bar has a simple young and trendy design.

La Tieta

La Tieta reminds you of an old spanish tasca but actually is a fresh little wine tapas bar that has delicious gourmet tapas like salmon tartar or classics like the Spanish omelette, and all can be washed down with very affordable good quality wine for 2 or 3 euros a glass.

Views from BellaVista Restaurant. Photo by CPGXP

Bodega Cal Marino

Bodega Cal Marino is another great place with very good food in the trendy Poble Sec, the Barcelona area where the locals and established Barcelona visitors mix together. Cal Marino offers different topped toasts which are very popular in Barcelona, croquets, and plenty of seafood to have a light and tasty meal at a very good price for about 10-12 euros and with plenty of space!

Bella Vista Restaurant

Situated in the Mediterranean forest that is above the hills areas of Barcelona, the Bella Vista restaurant is totally informal with paper tablecloths in the open air, but with astonishing views and with a surprising good service. They serve one of the favourite’s dishes of whole Spain, roast chicken with fries (roasted to perfection) and tasty and natural Mediterranean salads with cold beers for the hot and pleasant day of the Mediterranean summer overlooking one of the most exiting cities of the world.

More: Gourmet Barcelona

Barcelona for foodies

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 04:00:00 +0000

The new iconic W Hotel. Photo by by xavi talleda

Three Gourmet Restaurants

Sant Pau Restuarant

Sant Pau Restuarant is at just only 48 kms from Barcelona in the charming Mediterranean village of Sant Pol de Mar where Carme Ruscalleda has built a food temple working closely with the food products of the Catalan Maresma Region which she cooks in a natural and traditional way but with a lot of imagination and full of contrasting textures with some touches of Japanese cuisine. Carme Ruscalleda is the first woman chef to achieve 6 Michelin stars. Now she has opened with her son a new venue in Barcelona - Moments Restaurant where their team cook the best seasonal products in the finest way.

The charismatic Carme in Sant Pau Restaurant. By Monmar

Abac Restaurant

Abac Restaurant and Lasarte Restaurant are the two Michelin start restaurants of Barcelona. I recommend you to try to book a table in Abac in one of the quietest and rich areas of Barcelona mainly because the famous restaurant is now in hands of what many critics believe will be the best chef of the world. Jordi Cruz only 33 years old is in charge of the restaurant establishing a new era in Catalan cuisine; even though he respects and admires profoundly the Catalan cuisine in their signature menu you can find real gems like mini spheres of soya beans and orange or cylinders of pork feet with humus.

Bravo Restaurant

I know you will visit Bravo restaurant because it is situated in the last icon of the city the W Barcelona Hotel, even if you are not staying yet you must to visit the W Hotel, the landmark building has the best Spa and bedroom views of the city, the sea and mountains and also contains the last signature restaurant of chef Carles Abellan who create the definition of “glocal cuisine” where every cuisine in the world contribute to the skills of the chef. In the beautiful rooms and breath-taking terrace of the Bravo restaurant you can find a party of Catalonia flavours cooked with innovative and modern global gastronomic techniques where most of the seafood or meats are cooked over oak coals.

Three Gourmet Tapas Bar

Tickets

Albert Adria in the Tickets Kitchen. Photo by Petits et Maman

Tickets is much more than a gourmet Tapas Bar, it is real Avant—garde cuisine; Albert Adrià former Creative Director & Pastry Chef at their brothers brother Ferran Adrià El Bulli is now the head chef of Tickets, where the food is served in a theatrical atmosphere where deconstructed tapas or a simple and traditional pan tumaca are made with refined skills. The good news is that the Adrià brother’s new adventure is a relatively affordable restaurant where you can find all the flavours of Barcelona and el Bulli for about 50 euros and you can book online. The late serving turn (after 10:30pm) is where you meet the locals

Dos palillos

In the famous Raval neighbourhood you can find Dos Palillos (Two sticks) where the traditional Spanish tapas get all the flavours of Asia thanks to the creativity of also former Bulli chef Albert Raurich. Dos Palillos doesn’t have a wow factor decoration- it’s even a bit kitsch and minimalist but in the Asian counter you can watch the kitchen in full action cooking real delicacies like won-ton of meat and vegetables (Chinese ravioli), razor clams Thai style or a kind of very crispy chicken nuggets and also the Japo Burger, a mini ox burger with black sesame seeds on the bread.

La Boqueria fresh market

The Boqueria is a festival of colours and flavours. By Mariano

La Boqueria market is a temple of the Catalonia food, sometimes a tourist spot, but is a must stop for any foodie where you can appreciate all that the Mediterranean sea and the mountains surrounding Barcelona can offer and understand part of the lifestyle of the city. Also the market has some very good places that serve very fresh tapas like the familiar tapas bar El quim with specialties like fideuá and black rice or just opposite Pinotxo bar where they cook just fresh food, so fresh that they don’t even bother to have a menu. If you find them too busy, just go to Llegums Cuits (stall 317) a stall that sale legumes (vegetables) but also have tasty legumes take away dishes

Three Gourmet Shops

Woki Market is around the impressive Cataluña Square. Photo by xn44

Woki Organic Market

Woki Organic Market is just around the corner of Catalunya Square where you can find plenty of organic Spanish products to put in your luggage, because when you go to Barcelona for sure you don’t want to come back empty handed to your kitchen. Also have an organic tapas bar managed by Michelin start chef Xavier Pellicer (now in Can Fabes) or before you go to Barcelona you can book some cooking courses.

Cacao Sampaka

Delicacies of Cacao Sampaka Barcelona. Photo by Yuichi Sakuraba

Barcelona is one of the chocolate capitals of the world, where their chocolate master always has been in the avant-garde of the industry like the new chocolate architect Oriol Balaguer, Enric Rovira a deluxe chocolate maker or the Escursell family that opened its first chocolate shop in 1897

Cacao Sampaka is one of the best chocolate shops in the whole of Europe that produce more than 100 chocolate varieties in an elegant shop including herbal and flowers chocolate collections or chocolates with spices like saffron or Jamaican black pepper.

Food Cultura

Food Cultura is an art space where food and art mix together, you can find pop art kitchenware, food posters, weird kitchen appliance or extensive recipe book bibliotheca, but Food Cultura is not a food museum and not even an art gallery, it is a place to explore the universe of food and art through workshops and different art activities. If you want to go, please first contact them at contactus@foodcultura.org

Spanish Easter Sweet recipes

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Torrijas

You need: 80g sugar – 250ml full fat milk (lukewarm) 8x 10mm slices of stale white bread (preservative free) 4 eggs (beaten) – 1 tsp of ground cinnamon - About 240ml oil for frying – Honey to serve

1. In a big bowl or dish mix 50 g sugar with the milk. Leave the bread slices to soak 5 minutes. Turnover and let soak 3 extra minutes.
2. Then in another bowl get ready the beaten eggs, and dip in the bread slices until all well cover with egg.

Soaking the bread

Frying the bread

3. Heat in a medium heat, the frying oil, when is hot start to cook in batches the bread slices, until golden brown in both sides. Set aside in a dish with kitchen towels.
4. Mix the remaining 30g of sugar with the ground cinnamon and sprinkle over the bread slices with some honey.

Buñuelos the Spanish Easter doughnuts

You need: 200g plain flour – 50g butter (chopped) – 4-5 eggs – 500ml milk – 200 ml water – 2tsp grated lemon peel – Sugar and ground cinnamon for serve – Oil for frying- Wooden spoon

1. In a sauce pan in a medium heat mix water, milk, grated lemon peel and a pinch of salt. Add the butter
2. When the butter is totally melted and the milk is going to boil add all the flour in at once. Quickly stir with a wooden spoon, lowing the heat to minimum, until the flour is well mixed with the wet ingredients
3. Heat up again and keep stirring until the mix start to separate from the sides of the saucepan and you start to have a kind of dough. When the dough doesn’t stick anymore to the sides of the pan, means that the flour is cooked.
4. Remove from the heat and let cool down for 5 minutes or until the dough is just warm.

When you add the eggs the batter will
be a bit runny

You need a dough that does not
stick to the pan

5. Crack the eggs one by one, mixing, stirring and incorporating the eggs to the dough, until you have a running and smooth dough. Set aside in the fridge for one hour or so.
6. Heat your frying oil until a medium high temperature (2 inched deep will be enough) . Remove the batter mix from the fridge and start dropping 1tsp of the batter to the hot oil. The buñuelos should be turned over alone, and move them around until golden brown. Remove and set aside in a dish with kitchen towels.
7. Mix some sugar and bit of ground cinnamon and sprinkle over the buñuelos when they still hot.
8. Serve them with hot chocolate and a strong tea or coffee

Traditional Spanish Easter Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:23:00 +0000

Semana Santa in Leon. Photo by Jaus

The Holy week of Castilla y León in North-West Spain that traces its history to the medieval kingdoms is characterized by seriousness, order and the artistic quality of its carvings. The silence of the public is only interrupted by the bands of trumpets and drums; the astonishing sounds fill the Gothic or Romanesque styles churches and the medieval street of every city of town of Castile and Leon. In cities like Zamora, Salamanca, Leon or Burgos were set the big procession. The passion and fervour are the common denominator of all processions in Spain, perhaps the big difference with the famous procession of Seville is that in Castile and Leon everyone is solemn instead of showing their passion like most of the South of Spain.
Also another big difference for me is the weather, when in Seville and whole Andalucia the weather is almost like spring, in Castile and Leon the last winter days are still harsh. I remember once how a good and nutritional garlic soup helps me out to go through to the most profane of the processions the Genarin burial (Thursday night) in Leon or how a big spinach and chickpea stew comfort me after seeing the slow advance of a procession under the cold shadow of a Salmanca church. But also the Holy Week is full of energetic sweet and pastries, like Buñuelos, Torrijas o aceitada served with hot chocolate.
Even though I am not catholic, the holy week (Semana Santa in Spanish) for me is a time to think and travel around Spain to discover the ancient traditions of the country.

Garlic Soup or Castile Soup Serves 4-6

You need: 150g Serrano ham (chopped) – 40g of garlic cloves (peeled and sliced) – 10 slices of stale home-made bread or free of preservatives bread from the bakery (35-40g in total will be fine) – 2200ml of your favourite stock – 50ml olive oil – 2tbsp of Spanish sweet Spanish paprika. 1 egg by serve – 1 laurel leaf.

1. Peel and slice the garlic and the bread. The bread slices between 7mm and 12mm is the ideal.
2. In a pan with some depth, start to heat the olive in a low heat with the garlic inside, stirring very often, until the garlic starts to get a slightly brown colour, avoiding any burning or your soup will be ruined. In the middle of the process add the Serrano ham. Mix very well.

Coat very well the bread with the oil and paprika

3. Then add over 5 slices of the bread, leave for a minute or so that absorb some oil and turnover the bread. Now remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle over the 2 tbsp. of sweet Spanish paprika (if you like you can use the spicy one as well). Stir everything very well until the bread gets well coloured. Put back the pan in a very low heat for 2 minutes and then add the stock with the laurel leaf. Simmer for 20 minutes, and never allow to boil
4. After 20 minutes, season with salt and pepper and add the remaining bread, let soak in the simmering water for another 3-5 minutes, until the bread has softened. Add an extra tablespoon of olive oil.
5. Crack the eggs and introduce them in the simmering water, let them cook for 2-3 minutes or just how you like to have poached eggs.
6. Remove the laurel leaf. The traditional way of serving is piping hot in an earth bowl! But with any soup bowl will be simple delicious.

Quick Lent Stew or Chickpea Stew. Serves 4

Sometimes I like to top the stew with a chopped boiled egg

You need: 400g canned chickpeas (washed and drain) – 500g fresh or frozen spinach (washed and roughly chopped) - 1 laurel leaf – 2 garlic cloves (peeled and sliced) – 2 white onions (chopped very finely) 1 tbsp Spanish paprika – 2 tomatoes weaving around 150g (peeled and chopped very finely) – 150g cod fillet in chunks – 1tbsp of plain flour – 1tbsp of chopped parsley

1. Heat in a pan with some depth on a medium low heat one tbsp of olive oil, then add the chopped onions and sliced garlic. Sauté 3 minutes and then add the tomatoes, and let simmer for 5 extra minutes. Add to the pan the flour, stir, then add the paprika and without stop stirring cook another extra minute.
2. Add the cod chunks and the laurel leaf cover with 1 litre of cold water or fish stock and let simmer for 15 minutes. Season
3. Add the spinach and parsley; let simmer for another 10 minutes. Finally add the canned chickpeas, simmering for another 4 minutes.

Note: Traditional in Spain they use dry chickpeas soaked overnight and then cooked in simmering water with a laurel leaf. Also traditionally they use salted cod, which as well they leave unsalted overnight for about 36 hours. In Easter they use cod, because the Holy Friday in the Catholic religion you can´t have meat like a sacrifice. On another day is also popular make the same stew, but instead of cod you are using pancetta, black pudding and chorizo; which you remove before adding the spinach and serve them like a side dish.

More: Spanish Easter Tea Time Recipes

Riddle and Finns Fish Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Riddle and Finns is possibly the best fish restaurant in Brighton. In the small dining room you sit at marble topped tables adorned by silver candlearbras. On the weekend we visited the place was packed but service was friendly and prompt
Being on the coast the fish is clearly fresh and perfectly cooked. There is an extensive wine and champagne list and this reviewer had champagne and guinness served in a silver tankard.

Oyster are prepared in several forms, cold or warm and always delicious, and you always need to take a look of the board were generally you can find the best catch of the day in the locals water where the source and the freshness of the ingredients has been one of the best reason for visit this tinny and atmospheric restaurant.

Another things that I really like in Riddle & Finns it is the bread basket, no just served with with good quality butter but also with fish pâté and tabasco
To eat we had brighton scallops with chorizo to start followed by tempura prawns and smoked haddock fillet with colcannon, poached egg and champagne sauce.
Having eaten here many times I cannot recommend this venue highly enough.

Reviews of the Best Restaurants in Brighton

Stromboli bread recipes

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Lemons Bottle and Stromboli Volcano. Photo by Adam Butler

Stromboli bread is always present in Sicilian dinner parties, like the Stromboli Volcano this stuffed bread can be full of surprises and explosive simple south Italy flavours. Works very well like anti-pasti, snack or even a main dish with a side salad

Stromboli dough recipe

Stromboli bread with mozzarella and basil leaves

You need for 1 long loaf: 350g strong white flour - 5g quick dried yeast -200ml warm water – ½ tsp caster sugar – 1tsp of salt - 1 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves – Olive oil.

1. In a big bowl sieve the flour and stir in the yeast, sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm water, mix everything with your hands until you have sticky dough.
2. Transfer to a lightly floured working surface and knead about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
3. Shape the dough into a ball and put in in a big bowl previously oiled. Cover with a cling film, pierce once and keep in a warm temperature (about 25ºC) for 60 minutes.
4. Put back the almost double size dough in the working surface (previously floured) and with the rolling pin (also bit floured) shape the roll in a 30 x 25cm rectangle. Cover for 5 minutes.
5. Oil a baking tray and pre-heat the oven at 200ºC
6. Uncover the dough rectangle and scatter over your favourite filling, leaving 1 cm free- fillings from the edges.
7. Starting for the short size, roll up the dough, tucking the side edges under to seal.
8. Transfer the roll seal down to the baking tray. Cover again with a cling film and let rest again in a temperature not below to 25ºC for 30 minutes.
9. Now brush the roll with 1 tbsp of olive oil, and prick some holes all over the bread. Finally sprinkle over the chopped rosemary leaves.
10. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.
11. Let cool down a bit and serve with a salad or like a morning snack with a nice cup of tea.

For the filling

Photo by Uberculture

Mozzarella and basil: Mix 2 chopped mozzarella balls previously drained in a bowl, with 70g grated parmesan cheese, 1 grated garlic and 3 tbsp. of shredded basil leaves. Season with ground black pepper.
Mozzarella with Italian hams: Mix 2 chopped mozzarella balls previously drained in a bowl, with 100g chopped prosciutto ham, bresaola or salami or a mix of each one, plus 100g chopped roast peppers. Season with ground black pepper.

More:

Photos of Adam Butler

Antonio Carluccio Recipes

Recipes with meatballs for busy days

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:04:00 +0000

The last week in the post about Spaghetti meatballs vs Chorizo pasta I was speaking about how great and tasty is comfort food for the whole family.
Well this week I have been very busy with external works, trips and meeting in London that barely I had time for blogging but also I have even less time to cook, so I needed to help me out my meatballs leftover from the spaghetti meatballs of the last week

Asian Broth Meatballs

After a long meeting in a more than ever foggy and misty London city I walked back through China Town, the Asian flavours set in my mind all the train journey to Brighton so when arrived at home only one things was for sure I needed an Asian broth for recover from my day. With some of pork mince leftovers I made more meatballs.

You need: 250g lean pork mince for 10 meatballs – 6 spring onions (3 finely chopped) – 1 tsp grated ginger – 2cm ginger (peeled and sliced) – 1 red chilli (1/2 finely chopped) – 1tbsp of breadcrumbs – 1 litre meat stock , 2 star anise, 100g kale (shredded and remove the woody bites) – Splash of soy sauce – splash of sesame oil

1. For the meatballs in a big bowl mix the meat with the finely chopped spring onions, finely chopped red chilli, breadcrumbs and ½ tsp sesame oil. Season with fresh ground black pepper.
2. Wet your hands with water and start to roll the meat mixture in marble sized balls (about 3-4g each) and deposit the meatballs in the dish with the flour. Lightly coat the meatballs in the flour, and shake any excess. - Now you can freeze the meatballs that you won’t need-
3. In a wok or a deep pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and brown all over the meatballs. Set aside.
4. In the same pan or wok, add the stock, star anise, sliced ginger and 2 tbsp of soy sauce, simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile slice the rest of the spring onions and the rest of the red chilli.
6. Add the meatballs and kale to the simmering broth and simmer for an extra 10 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat, serve in large bowls and sprinkle over some sliced chilli and spring onions and if you like some extra sesame oil.

Meatballs with pitted olives tomato sauce

Photo by FotoosVanRobin

Friday morning before leaving for Chichester (last month I posted East Sussex towns, now is the turn of West Sussex Towns) I remember to defrost my leftovers salami meatballs because I knewt that after exploring Chichester for the whole day I will be looking for real comfort food without much effort in the kitchen.

You need: 10 salami meatballs for 2 serves - 3 sliced garlic - 400g can tomatoes – 3 cloves – 15 pitted green olives (chopped) – 120g tagliatelle or another long pasta. Bunch of shredded basil

1. Heat a tbsp. of olive oil in a saucepan; add the slices garlic and meatballs, brown all over the meatballs. Then scoop out the meatballs and set aside.
2. Add the canned tomatoes, and the 3 cloves to the saucepan with the garlic and meat juices.. Let simmer for 15 minutes until you have a thick sauce.
3. After the sauce has thickened add the meatballs and the chopped olives, simmer for another 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile start to cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
5. Serve the pasta in individual dishes and top with the meatballs and the sauce, scatter over some shredded basil

Spanish Meatball tapa

Photo by agvnono

With the last handful of meatballs and with what I knew was to be a great Sunday Football match between Real Madrid vs Malaga F.C the town team of one of my best friends I remembered a conversation that we had some time ago with him in a great traditional tapas bar in Segovia. For some reason TV chef celebrities and their books or also in much of the Spanish tapas bar in England they offer like an authentic Spanish tapa meatballs. In Spain the albondigas (meatballs) came from the Arabian times in Andalucía but despite its long history I hardly remember good tapas bars that serve meatballs like a tapa, for sure in Country Basque they have cod meatballs and are in delicatessens. My friend was agreeing with me, but the local waitress proves us wrong when we just finish the conversation she pops up with a huge meatbals tray full of Arabian flavours.

You need: 16 meatballs for 4 serves – 60g onion (chopped) – 2 tomatoes (peeled, deseeded and chopped) – ½ lemon juice – 2 garlic cloves sliced – Bunch of flat parsley to serve.

1. In a frying pan in a medium heat with a tbsp. of olive oil fry the meatballs, moving around often to brown them well over. Keep moving for 6-8 minutes.
2. Add the chopped onion and sliced garlic, soften for 3 minutes.
3. Squeeze some lemon juice into the pan and add the chopped tomatoes, simmer for an extra 3 minutes stirring very often. Season.
4. Serve in individual little earth ware dishes for an even more traditional Spanish style and sprinkle over the chopped parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

More

If you are looking for more meatballs ideas, check out this Mint and Mustard Meatballs from Mummy, I can cook! blog

My Spaghetti with salami meatballs recipe

Tomato sauce recipes

The Black Rat Winchester review

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:08:00 +0000

The Black Rat Restaurant

A former pub in Winchester, is now a one star Michelin restaurant that serve high quality food with locally produced ingredients.

The Black Rat rooms are cosy with log fires and quirky antiques scattered around the alcoves and bookshelves.

Service is at best haphazard and some of the waiting staff clearly need retraining. On the plus side the food is superb with a spanish influence over a typical British menu.

Local Hare base in a celeriac puree

This restaurant really is all about the food. A very strong menu and the day specials led to difficult choices.

The starters sound and taste wonderful and very well presented, the last time we picked Scallops with cured morcilla with lobster oil and red cress and Beetroot salad with goat cheese and pistacho crumble

Cornish Brill in a landcress emulsion

For main courses we had Local Hare with pickled pear and truffle Gnocchi and Roasted Cornish Brill with white asparagus. Both were very well executed and delicious.

If the owners sort out the service issues and offer a better wine list then The Black Rat will deserve its Michelin status.

Some Food news

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Easy eight a day

Five a day NHS planning tool

Five a day is the National Health Service (NHS) nutritional plant to encourage British to eat healthier based on the advice of the World Health Organization which recommends eating a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables a day to lower the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Now the Oxford University has told that for fight heart diseases we need to consume 8 a day. Waitrose Nutritionist Nathalie Winn gives us some tips to reach the 8 a day fruits and vegetables.

* Add to you breakfast a fresh made glass of orange juice and add some frozen mixed berries to your porridge, Add a good tablespoon of dried mixed fruit to yoghurt.
* Slice a medium tomato and two slices of cucumber to your lunch sandwich.
* Have an apple or banana for mid-afternoon snack
* Add 3 heaped tablespoon of vegetables such mushrooms, peas or carrots to your dinners.

Pineberries

Pineberries. Photo my Mirror.co.uk

Pineberries will be in season in exclusive supermarkets in a few weeks, the ancient variety named because they have a taste reminiscent to pineapple is the oldest strawberry variety, brought in the 18th century from Chile to France. The Pineberries were left behind because their scarce yielding and was a fragile plant. Now farmers are working hard to bring the pineberries to the supermarkets again selecting healthy cuttings.

Tell me which sandwich you like and I will tell who you are

Photo by FotoosVanRobin

Dr Elizabhet Jones carried out a study for bread maker Warburtons to match kinds of bread and filling with personality groups.

Ham salad on white bread = forward thinkers

Beef roll = impulsive
Cheese and pickle = braniacs
Egg mayo = home bodies
Tuna and Sweetcorn = high flyers
Prawns in brown bread = sensitive souls
Chicken salad wraps = extroverts

Spaghetti with salami meatballs vs Spanish Chorizo Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:34:00 +0000

I just love these two pastas at any day of the week, I often have some leftover meatballs in the freezer sometimes from other meatballs recipes or sometimes from meatballs from a burger mix. A great alternative to meatballs is to add to the pasta some pieces of Spanish chorizo. and you will have the perfect comfort food dish all the week for all the family. Kids are going to love it and also will be a good excuse to open that bottle of rioja or red Italian

Spaghetti with salami meatballs.

First start to cook one of the easy canned tomatoes sauces.

You need for up to 20 meatballs: 100g minced lamb – 100g minced beef – 100g Neapolitan spicy salami (finely chopped) – 100g breadcrumbs (homemade is the best) – 2 eggs – 6 tbsp. plain flour. Olive oil for fry (about 200ml) – Chopped basil to serve

1. Mix in a big bowl the minced meats with the salami, breadcrumbs and 2 eggs. Season with a pinch of salt and 1 tsp. of ground black pepper. Mix all very well squeezing with your hands
2. Then in a plate sprinkle the flour.
3. Wet your hands with water and start to roll the meat mixture in marble sized balls (about 3-4g each) and deposit the meatballs in the dish with the flour. Lightly coat the meatballs in the flour, and shake any excess. - Now you can freeze the meatballs that you wont need-

4. Heat the olive oil and start to fry the meatballs in batches, turning around frequently for brown all the sides, the cooking time in a medium heat will be about 3 minutes, but always check if the meatball has been cook through. Keep it warm.
5. Cook the spaghettis in a pan of boiling water following the packet instructions and checking that the pasta is al dente. When is ready drain
6. Three minutes before the pasta is ready, add the meatballs to the hot tomato sauce.
7. Serve the pasta in individual dishes and top with the tomato sauce and meatballs or mix everything in a serving dish scattering some chopped basil, put in the centre of the table and let everyone serve themselves.

Wine options

Antica Vigna Masseria Biscardo 2007. From the "new" gastronomic area of Italy, this Puglia Wine is a rich weighty red blending Lambrusco and Negroamaro grapes, a perfect italian grape mix for a very italian dish.

Cavalleresco 2008. From Tuscany with love and plenty of cherry flavours with a nice acidity. The mid-depth scarlet colour is a perfect match for tomato and meat mix dishes.

Spanish Chorizo Pasta

You need: 60g pasta per serving - 200g spanish chorizo for cooking (chopped) – 2 shallots (finely chopped) – 2 ripe tomatoes (grated) – 200ml tomato passata – ¼ tsp mild spanish paprika – ½ tsp red chilli – 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped) – Grated parmesan cheese and parsley to serve.

1. In a sauce pan of boiling salty water start to cook the pasta. When is ready drain
2. In a sauce pan at medium heat with 4 tbsp of olive oil add the shallots, the garlic and the chorizo. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring often to avoid any browning in the vegetables.
3. Then stir in the grated ripe tomatoes, mix everything very well.
4. Finally put in the tomato passata and the Spanish paprika (pimenton), stir everything and let bubble for 2-3 minutes.
5. Your pasta should be almost ready, check if pasta is al dente, remove from the heat, drain and add to the chorizo sauce pan. Mix everything very well
6. Serve in individual dishes and scatter over some chopped parsley and parmesan to taste

Wine options

Monsaterio de Santa Cruz 2010. This red from Catalonia is made from Monsatrell grapes and tempranillo, Has intense and spicy flavour, perfect match for this hearty pasta dish

Baron de Barbon 2009. Classic Tempranillo flavours with vanilla ans strawberry touches with enough character to enjoy with chorizo recipes

Five Seafood pasta recipes - Traditional Spanish pasta - How to cook spaghetti

A gourmet day in Winchester

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:26:00 +0000

Winchester Cathedral from the Square

09: 30 First awake in one of the hotels in historic Winchester. The Wykeham Arms 18th inn is one of the best options as is the Winchester Hotel Du Vin the very first Hotel du Vin as usual offers good accommodation in the heart of historic Winchester , the breakfast menu offers very well cooked traditional English breakfasts with very good French pastries like pain au chocolat or croissants

10:45 Ahead to the Westgate and then go to the Great Hall and Sally Port, the only surviving parts of the Winchester Castle, the medieval building founded in 1067 after the Norman invasion at the time was an important stronghold that served as the English capital before moving to London. Henry III adds the impressive Great Hall. Inside is hanging over one of the walls a medieval representation of the king Arthur’s round table, weighing 1200kg and made form English oak and later on painted in times of Henry VIII catapult your imagination to the English knights tales. Attached to the Hall is an enjoyable small museum with the history of Winchester through historic documents and photographs.

Winchester High Street has a local food market on Wednesday

11:30 Walk back to West-gate and walk down all the pedestrianized High Street, most of the shop are chains that offer nothing new, but take a close look at the impressive architecture with Regency and Elizabethan bow-fronted windows, the impressive clock of the Lloyds Bank Building (also have a quick glance inside) . Almost at the end you can find the Winchester Guildhall with a historic Victorian façade and next are the Abbey Gardens a nice place to rest and have a takeaway snack.

Winchester City Mill over the river

12:15 Stay in the High Street and a street after the gardens you will find the Winchester City Mill. Now this historic working mill is really worth a visit to discover the history and techniques of milling over the River Itchen. Once inside look-up for the 18th century timber roof and in the centre of the room it is a proper millstone that thanks to the National Trust is still milling. Downstairs is the Waterwheel and gears moved by the power of the millrace. Again in the main room a door leads to a little and charming island garden. Also the Winchester City mill is an otter watch centre.

Hotel du Vin dine room

13:30. Lunch time. Again The Wykeham Arms is a very good option like Hotel Du Vin. Hotel Du Vin menu offers since Burger in a brioche bread or a very tender ox cheek dish with an impressive wine menu in a well design dinners room

Winchester medieval tiles

15:30 From the restaurant go to the Winchester Cathedral a real architecture gem founded 1079 but works continued to 16th century. Inside the cathedral you find rich bishop’s tombs, chapels, great examples of medieval architecture and in particular I was impressed by the floor medieval tiles dated from 13th century the largest area of this kind in whole United Kingdom.

16:30 Cross the little square outside the Cathedral and have a quick glance to the Winchester City Museum, roman tiles and old fashion shops are on display. And walk in a narrow street full of restaurants and shops (Pizza Gourmet is always with students and the Pizzas are quite good) and come back to the High Street. Have a coffee break in the modern interior design Caracoli a high quality coffee shop that also offers seasonal cakes and biscuits for your coffee.

House overt the River Itchen

17:15 With the late afternoon lights of Winchester is good idea stroll around by the streets. Come back to the Cathedral, and explore the Pilgrims Hall area with the Winchester Cathedral Close houses in Tudor style. Pass the Gates and walk down College Street in the way to Winchester College, in the right side is Jane Austin house and the college. Winchester College is still running since 1382 and for this reason the tours have restricted time. Further Down in the left side the Bishops House and Wolvesey castle ruins. At the end of College Street it is the Winchester walls surrounded by gardens and the River Itchen where you can sit down to watch playful ducks.

Black Boy pub is a collectors dream

Inside of the Black Boy Pub

18:30 Getting dark and bit tired. Cross the river and ahead to Wharf Hill, a beautiful garden spot. Up the Hill is waiting for you one of the best English Pub that you can imagine brewing local ales and interesting pub dishes full of quality and charming fires. The Black Boy is much more than a simple pub it is a real collectors museum, whatever you sit or which area of the pub you are you will be amazed by the different objects old vintage bottles, model airplanes and donkey and monkeys (not real, well I guess) that they look all engaged with the conversation of the local drinkers.

Hare at the black Rat

20:00 Just up to the corner of the Black Boy and by the same owner is the Black Rat Restaurant, another interior where you feel amazed by the details, that really feel that you are in another time being served Michelin star food with a lot of Spanish glimpses to the south Spanish countryside cuisine by Chris Bailey

Japan elderly food

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:41:00 +0000

Stylish Japanese old lady, the new food industry target

Food Japanese companies, like House Foods Corp. and other great manufacturers are exclusive food product for elderly Japanese people and for people that require medical care, focusing in quality to please the taste of the eldest . The ageing of the Japanese population is well known worldwide and now has become the target of the food companies. In October, House Foods sent low protein meals for patients with renal diseases. The company tries to duplicate its line of products for old and ill people, reaching 25 articles this year.
Another company Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd. also began to sell in Tokyo food for patients who require medical care, the dishes conserve the shape of the conventional foods but that they are sufficiently smooth to eat without chewing.
At the same time, Kewpie Corp., decided in September to lower the prices in 20 of its 49 products specifically designed for those adults who receive medical attention.
The Japanese food market for elderly people has reach already the £ 834.3067 (U$1322) numbers that will be increasing given the natural ageing of the Japanese population

Clams and mushroom risotto

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:37:00 +0000

My clam risotto with razor clams

Has been a while since I cooked risotto, my love affair with risotto recipes started time ago in a Venice restaurant, risotto to be perfectly creamy need a good quantity of butter( buffala butter even better) The last week watching one of the David de Jorge recipes I find out a clam risotto recipe made it with Mascarpone cheese by guest blogger and food styler Aran Goyoaga. Adding Mascarpone cheese instead of butter transform your dish in a low fat risotto

Yesterday in the Hove Fish market when I saw the whole kilogram of clams for just 9 pounds, I thought will be a good idea try one day the recipe, but when I saw as well in the fish counter the razor clams, was like a will have definitely a Seafood risotto for lunch.

Let absorb well all the stock

You need: 2 garlic (sliced) 500g clams (washed in running water) - 4 razor clams – 2 tbsp of parsley (chopped) – 100ml dry white wine – 100g mixed frozen mushroom (or a fresh mix when are in season) – 200g risotto rice – 1tbsp of mascarpone cheese – Chopped tarragon for garnish.

1. In a saucepan heat 2 tbsp of olive oil at medium heat, then add one of the sliced garlic, and parsley, stir and add the clams with 50ml white wine. Bring the heat to a medium high, cover and wait until the clams opens. Between 4-5 minutes is the most usual time. Set aside
2. In a wide saucepan. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil at medium heat, add the remaining garlic and mixed mushrooms, cook for 3 minutes, and then add the rice, stir the rice until is well coated in the oil and cook for one extra minute. Add 50ml of wine, let absorb.
3. Then add one ladleful of stock, stir a couple of times and once the stock has been absorbed add the next ladleful. Repeat the same process until the rice is creamy and has a bite. More or less take between 17 to 20 minutes. If you need more stock just add a bit of hot water.

Grill razor clams are just delicious in their own

4. Meanwhile you are cooking the rice, hot a grill pan until is very hot and just add the razor clams. Will take at least 4 minutes until they open. Keep them warm.
5. Two minutes before the rice is done add the mascarpone cheese, mix very well and add the clams with all the juices in the pan. Season with a pinch of salt and plenty black ground pepper.
6. Serve the risotto and mushrooms in individual plates, garnish with chopped tarragon and top each plate with a razor clam and a sprinkle of olive oil.

Forum Santiago 2012

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The Forum of Santiago was held for the third year in the capital of Galicia Santiago de Compostela on 26, 27 and 28 February 2012 with an estimate of 15.000 visitors. With this new edition the Forum Santiago becomes the Spanish national gastronomic event . In the forum take place several activities: live cooking sessions, workshops and tasting for a small audience, guided tastings, lectures and debates, contests and prizes, product presentations of the exhibitors, culinary workshops for children

The forum has plenty of Spanish young chefs, and some top star like the Roca Brothers or Xavier Pellicer that held several Michelin Stars and likes work with biodynamic ingredients.

Also the Forum Santiago is a good platform to know the best wines of Galicia, personally I think is if the Galician winemakers stay working in the same direction soon Galician Wines will become one of the favourites wine region for wine lovers.

Joan Roca

The big news this year was the new gastronomic concept that the Roca brothers are working at the moment, having not enough to have already one of the best restaurants of the world’s El Celler de Can Roca

The new idea consists in having just twelve fellow dinners sit down in isolated dining room where they are going to enjoy a kind of culinary opera. The dishes or aromas on the round table will be supported by video art and music with the idea to come together all the senses and following a common narrative.

Fran Abreu video artist and opera manager is helping with the project of the Roca Brothers that are looking for new paths to the avant-garde cuisine

More Spanish Gastronomic Festivals: Madrid Fusion 2012

Rocket Nutritional Facts

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Rocket leaves. Photo by kelpenhagen

Is an edible annual plant naturally from the Mediterranean basin, easy to find in the wild or beside routes or around the city in countries like, Portugal, Morocco, Greece, Spain or Italy, once upon the time considered a bad vegetable; since the Roman times has never enjoyed such a popularity like now, starting such popularity two decades ago when top restaurant started to use like a side dish. Today rocket is present in a lot of salad recipes because the peppery acid flavour of the rocket leaves stand up over the rest of salad leaves. Rockets leaves are at their best at the end of the winter.

Rocket Nutrition Facts per 100g

Kcal	Fat	Carbohydrates	Vitamin C	Vitamin A	Iron	Calcium
25 kcal	0,6g	3,65g	15 mg	2373 IU	1,46mg	160g

Like other greens, rocket is a very low calorie vegetable; just 100g of fresh leaves provides just 25 calories and also has many vital phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals that can immensely benefit our health. The rocket is rich in Vitamin A (beta-carotene) and Vitamin C, the last one help to a better absorption of the Iron that is also in the rocket leaves. Also rockets are good in fibre and the bitter flavour helps the digestive system.

In the market

Today rocket is harvested all year around in green houses, but the rocket natural season start to end of the winter to beginning of the summer. In the supermarket or fresh market look for crispy green colour young leaves. Discard any with yellow, wilted, bruised leaves. At home place in the vegetable container of your fridge.

Why I love English Cider and Three Cider recipes

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:31:00 +0000

Cider barrel. Photo by Jojo 77

I always associate cider with joy, in our private family celebration my mother always like to say cheers with a flute glass (like the English aristocracy in the 17th century) of Spanish cider rather than champagne, I am not sure if it was because she really liked it or because the little low content in alcohol or perhaps because the more little in the family can have a little sip without getting tipsy
Then when I grow up and I become a rugby fan Bulmers and Magners cider with their heavy advertisement in Pubs and rugby events did the rest for me, so now I am the kind of guy that I am going first for a cider in the pub rather than a pint of beer.
The cider making process doesn’t differ too much from the wine one, first the apples are washed and pressed, then the yeast is added and fermented for some weeks and then siphoned off from the yeast to mature further in steel tanks, bottles or even oak barrels to add more character.

English Apples. Photo by ant-photos

Luckily England has several regions where you can find great quality cider and even very good organic cider and some very traditional brands of cider makers since 2 centuries ago and don't forget that cider has been drunk in England since before the Romans landed in the British shores
Cider was considered the English champagne, now the English cider is recovering its status lost in the past century (considered a cheap drink for the drunks) and not just the big brands are doing well in the big supermarket, you also can find local and smaller producer making traditional cider and another making new blends, because at the end in Britain there are around 2000 apples varieties.
The last big triumph of the cider makers has been to catch the eye of the rising British cuisine and media chefs like Heston Blumenthal, Jaime Oliver and the BBC Hairy Bikers that are cooking with cider instead of wine or brandy.

Three easy recipes with recipes

Before to start, cooking get a flat cider non-carbonated, start with dry or medium dry ciders before to explore some sweet ciders for your recipes. Cider is a great substitute in wine cooking recipes.

Simple Hake in cider

Hake with cider is traditional dish from north Spain

You need for 4 serves: 4 hake fillets – 400ml apple cider – 400g potatoes (peeled and diced in 2x2 cms) – 1 small onion (finely chopped) – 2 garlic cloves (chopped) – 100ml olive oil – 2 cooking apples (peeled and diced) - Flour for coating and chopped parsley to serve. Oven at 180ºC

1. Wash and pat dry the hake, then season with salt and black ground pepper. Then coat in the flour shaking any excess.

2. In a deep frying pan heat the olive oil in a medium heat, and fry the fish fillet from both sides by 2 minutes each side. Set aside.

3.Then stir in the potatoes and fry them until golden brown, at the end add the garlic, onion and apple and cook 3 extra minutes. Remove from the heat.

4. Return the fish to the pan and pour over the cider. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until the fish is done.

5. Serve the fish with the potatoes and rest of the ingredients in individual plates, pour over some of the cider juices and scatter over some parsley.

Pork loin with cider

You need for 4 serves: 750g – 1 kg of pork boneless loin roast – 400ml apple cider – 3 green apples – 8 prunes – 4 tbsp of olive oil. Oven at 200ºC

1. In a roasting try coated with olive oil, rub the loin roast with salt, pepper and the olive oil. Before putting in the oven pour over the cider. Cook for about 50 minutes (check the cooking recommendation of your loin), pouring over the juices every 12 minutes.

2. Meanwhile wash the apples, slice them in the middle and remove the seeds (without peeling the apples).

3. After 30 minutes of the loin is in the oven spread into the baking tray the apple and prunes. If the cider has been evaporated, just add some more.

4. When the cooking time is finished remove from the oven, set aside the loin pork to rest. Remove also the apple, without burning yourself remove the apple peel and blend the apples..

5. Fillet your loin pork, serve in individual dishes, with the apple puree in one side and the prunes in another side of the dish. Pour over some juices from the baking tray.

Mussels with vegetables and cider

Use apple cider instead of the classic white wine

You need: 1kg of mussels (cleaned and de-bearded) – half leek (in Juliana) half carrot (in Juliana) – 50g chopped onion – 50g chopped celery – 2 tbsp thyme leaves only - 150ml apple cider – 100ml cream. Chopped parsley to serve.

1. In a deep pan at medium high heat add first the mussels and top them with the vegetables and thyme. Cover with a lid. And shake a couple of times during the cooking process

2. After 3 minutes, pour in the cream, shake again, and cook for an extra minute without the lid.

3. Discard any mussels that have not opened and serve with some chopped parsley

Terroirs London

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:08:00 +0000

Terroirs Is part of a good quality littlegroup that serves some great dishes from Provence with a very interesting organic wine menu it is a short walk from the National Gallery.
The Terroirs wine menu includes wines from Nantes, Rhone, Alsace (Domain Matassa Roussillon) and even the Alps. The organic Bourguevil from Catherine & Pierre Breton is a real find with a really nice finish after the stinky blue cheese flavours from the beginning . Another good option is to try a very nice Pinot Noir from Jean –Francois Ganevat without sulphite and biodynamic production that will fill your palate with rich, juicy and sweet notes of ripe fruit.

Also for me was a total pleasure to find a rare Rioja wine, Gran Cerdo an outsider to the Rioja wine regulation, the taste of this almost unique organic Rioja will play with your taste and mind, but don’t expect classic rioja flavours here!

Cheese selection at Terroirs

Terroirs London offer as well very well done seasonal dishes or tasty French charcuterie, pates or cheeses also seasonal to have with your wine wines, for me the pork pistachio terrine is divine.

More: National Gallery food paintings

Basque Culinary Center

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:30:00 +0000

VAUMM arkitektura has designed the new Basque Culinary Centre. The new building needed to be built in a hilly landscape and the Vaumm studio came with a project full or art and reference to the gastronomy and also linked with the landscape. The building façade looks like a pile of plates , meanwhile the building side closer to the neighbourhood houses have a more human look.

The aim of the Basque Culinary Centre in San Sebastian is training and research, innovation and knowledge and technology transfer in the different areas of the Gastronomic Sciences. The International Advisory Members have chef such as Adriá, Hattori or Blumenthal. The Basque Culinary Centre has signed agreements with various restaurants at national level with which to collaborate and also have the sponsor of the best Basque and international gastronomic brands and the local government and where you can get a Degree in Gastronomy and Culinary Arts offer by the Mondragon University. Also the Basque Culinary Centre offer course for food enthusiasts

Vertical Farming

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:11:00 +0000

Vertical Farms are a relative a new concept in architecture, the original idea from the New York Columbia University teacher Dickson Despommier. The main idea is to create vertical farm buildings in the cities avoiding the waste of CO2 emission created by the transport of food to the city, another advantage of the Vertical Farms are, use of eco-friendly energy like wind energy or solar energy. The ability to produce food all the year around like in a greenhouse. The production will not suffer from countryside for drought or flooding. Lees water consumption and saving in production and transport.
The last year Loft London Farm Tower Awards have very interesting project to build over the Thames River even still looking a bit futuristic and they seem rather expensive.

Ground breaking ceremony in Linköping, Photo by Tommy Hvitfeldt

Anyway Sweden has taken note and is already building the first Vertical Farm in Linkoping and seem that will be ready in about over a year. The Plantagon Greenhouse dramatically change the way we produce ecological food. The Plantagon Greenhouse cut costs and environmental damage by eliminating transportation and delivering directly to consumers in city areas. The basic idea is to grow vegetables in pots in a vertical building. The pots are then put into trays, which are transported around the growing helix where the cultivation takes place.

The trays are equipped with a light sealed nutrient solution reservoir, and the pots are irrigated about three times per day using an ebb-and-flow technique. A capillary mat at the bottom of each tray protects the individual plants from drought. Excess nutrient solution is collected and reused after disinfestation.

http://plantagon.com/plantagon/urban-agriculture

Climate Protection Supermarket

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:39:00 +0000

The Love Architecture Studio has designed the first energy self-sufficient store that produces more energy than it uses.

Organic products and a healthy lifestyle are mega trends in our society and therefore in the food industry as well.
When building supermarkets, environmental friendliness and sustainability are becoming increasingly important. Economically and ecologically sustainable construction and operation minimize the ecological footprint and reduce the life-cycle cost of buildings.
The project has received a gold certification from the ÖGNI (Austrian Green Building Council). In fact, the site produces more energy than the store uses, making it Austria’s first energy self-sufficient supermarket.

The Spar supermarket façade consists of galvanized sheet steel and wood. Due to their contrast, the two materials convey the different themes, while also creating additional excitement. The roof was designed as a fifth façade, with circular, hill-shaped green spaces.

In order to achieve the goal of a climate protection store, a wide variety of measures were necessary, which can be summarized in five large areas:

The highly-insulating building envelope minimizes both energy loss and energy input.

The building technology includes room ventilation, heat recovery and a sectional foundation slab for cooling and heating; lighting with LED technology and daylight control systems.

The use of sustainable, separable and reusable building materials, preferably solvent-free and non-toxic.

The micro climate at the site. This means the creation of as many green spaces as possible, including on the roof.

The energy generation. In addition, a photovoltaic power plant is located in the parking lot, and a hydropower turbine will be installed in the adjacent Mühlgang stream for energy generation. These features create more energy than the store uses.

Juan Mari Arzak Formula One Food

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:15:00 +0000

The last year Formula One season the worst team so for in the competition was the Hispania Racing Team but seems that this year they are going to have a better season. For the first time the team pass the “crash test”which means that they will be in the last training season in Catalonia with all the rest of the formula one teams and presumably they are going to have a more competitive car.
Whatever happens in the racing, one thing is very sure for HRT, they are going to have one of the best chefs and their catering team behind them

Recipes for watch the Formula One with your mates

The acclaimed Spanish chef Juan Mari Arzak will be in charge through the catering company Arzak-Bokado of the food for the HRT Formula One team for the coming season.

Sorpionfish puding with fried noodles by Arzak. Photo by

The Arzak-Bokado chefs will travel with the Hispania Racing Team through all the 2012 Formula One circuit, having their base in their own HRT Motorhome (now in Caja Magica Madrid) for the European races and outside Europe the Arzak-Bokado will use the facilities of the different circuits.

Juan Marzi was the first chef in Spain to win three Michelin stars and has inspired several generations of chefs with cutting-edge food and now is the first chef of such status that will be in charge of the food of a F1 team.
The chef said that is a great opportunity to promote the Spanish gastronomy around the world and as well a great challenge to Arzak-Bokado catering team.

Juan Mari Arzak recipe of Crêpes with smoked salmon and yogurt sauce and oranges

Juan Mari Arzak Créps, with a Michelin Star touch and very easy to cook

You need for the crêpes: 2 eggs – 40g flour, 250ml milk – 3 tbsp of beer – 12g butter (softened) – pinch of salt.

1. For the crêpes just mix very well all the ingredients in a blender and let rest aside for 30 minutes.
2. Then add some butter in a pan, add a dollop of the batter and cook both sides until golden brown. When you are finished set aside and keep warm. The size of the crêpes should be around 12 centimetres diameter.

You need for the filling: 4 slices of smoked salmon – 6 tbsp of cream – 50g cream cheese – 1 tsp of junipers (chopped) – 1 fennel (chopped) – 1 sweet red pepper (finely chopped) – 1tsp of lemon juice.

1. In a bowl mix the cream with the lemon and add the salmon slices finely chopped.
2. Then add to the mix the junipers, fennel and sweet red pepper

You need for the sauce: 36g of thick Greek yogurt – 1 orange (finely chopped) – 1tsp of sugar –

1. In a bowl mix very well the yogurt with the sugar and orange until you have a smooth sauce.

For the serving you need:

1. Spread some filling over each crêpes and then make a roll.
2. Serve with the sauce in one side of each plate and sprinkle some chopped parsley.

Recipe translated from HogarUtil

5 tips to promote your Restaurant in Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (German) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:25:00 +0000

I think twitter must be the best social network for restaurants more or less because you can find out if your clients are already in your table and what they are saying. And also is a good way to follow your clients and another restaurant in the area. Lately I have been following some great Chefs, but unfortunately they little speak about their restaurant, I receiving lot information about food and perhaps their style but not much about what is going on inside the restaurant. I think with the following 5 tips for restaurant in Twitter you can make your restaurant more interesting to follow and also more interesting for the people to go more often to your table

Brighton Restaurants Review

KitchenVoyage 5 tips to promote your Restaurant in Twitter

1. Expand your tweets. Tweet every day and in an often and quality way can be a hard task. Maybe the best you can do is hiring somebody to write your tweets or a blog. But a good approach is to get involved your staff, from the room manager to the last kitchen assistant, they can produce very interesting tweets under a previously policy and target agreement. For me will be nice to know for example what you waitress was tweeting in the lunchtime or from where came the oyster that your kitchen staff was preparing earlier
2. Listen to your clients and also make some benchmarking, choose a popular restaurant already in twitter and read their tweets, reply, subject and which ones are the most re-tweet and find out the best #hashtags for you restaurant style
3. Engage with your clients. If one client tweets about your restaurant don’t just reply with a thank you. Maintain a little conversation with them, ask why they like your restaurant, which are the favourites dishes or find out more about your service or what your clients would like to improve, like more fish in the menu or gluten free dishes.
4. Create twitter lists and share. You should be creating twitter list with your clients, with another restaurant of same area or kind of food and list with locals and food blogger. Then share what they are saying and also you always will know what are they doing or thinking.
5. Tell good histories. Don’t just tweet the dish of the days , a restaurant is a great source of history, you have histories of all your staff, your clients and providers and how interesting is creating dishes for them