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Jesús, I'm not going to start a flame war on Spanish weather. Let me remind you, however, that the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla (and the Costa del Sol) are still part of the country . Good luck on Girona, and do tell us if you find any restaurant there worth the visit. Odds are against you .

Thanks, Bill: that possibility crossed my mind long after I posted my thread. It's a pity not to take advantage of a great and I'd say readily available product. Lack of demand, probably.

Weren't the asparagus canned? That would explain their excellence. You can find a good deal on asparagus on this thread covering piquillos I'd say you're talking about morcilla. Did they have rice? If they had, you were probably served morcilla de Burgosos. The mushroom was likely huitlacoche, the black Mexican mushroom which grows in corncobs. The soy-based sauce probably was tataki sauce, which if my memory doesn't fail me, has sesame seeds and leek besides the soy. Another classic dish from Viridiana, using boletus edulis. Let's say that Abraham's relationship with some critics is not an easy one, and he doesn't adopt a quiet position about what he considers the defects of a given type of critic in the country, which favors a very specific style of cooking. See RGS's guide to expand on this. I'd say that this is the description that would please the most to Abraham.

Without knowing more about what are your preferences, it's really hard to make any suggestions not risking sending you to a place you wouldn't like: -Weather in Spain during those months varies from region to region from very warm to freezing. -Do you want to be in the proximity (less than 50 miles) of a big city? That would narrow down the candidates. -Coast, mountain, country side? - ... How did you find the Costa Brava? Did you manage to visit El Bulli and an accomodation close to it? If I remember well, you were in quite a hurry last time around.

Bill, what do you mean with "fresh"?

Interesting. I suppose that the assumption made here to avoid the preliminary treatment is that they've already done a natural fasting.

On the contrary, Katie. The people who are most likely to see the slime trail are the snail hunters (not exactly a risky sport) and I'm sure most of them love snails!

Boris_A's post in this thread on Italy and snails has been promoted to having its own thread in Italy's forum: Snails on Italy I'm really curious about whether snails are used, how and how much in Italy...

The post that originated this thread, from Boris_A, has been extracted from a recent thread on snails in the Spain & Portugal's forum. We believe that this is the proper place for this post, which hopefully will generate some good information about the place that snails had and have in Italian cooking. I'm quite intrigued whether they have a prominent place in any of Italy's regional cuisines. Centuries ago, Romans were the pioneers of industrial breeding of snails in Europe, probably spreading their consume among France, Spain and other places in Europe.

In my case, I ate almost any kind of product (but fish) until I was twelve or so: that included kidney, brains (sesitos), crayfish (well, I tolerated some fish), snails and any kind of offal you could think of. After that, though I retained an appreciation for offals (excluding kidney and brains), I went through a phase of not tasting the rest of "strange" products that lasted until my early twenties. Coming back to snails, my first exposure to them was when I was seven or eight at my father's hometown, Belorado, a little village in Burgos but quite close to Rioja's traditions in cooking due to its geographical proximity. Cooked by my aunt in a quite spiced and hot tomato based sauce, which seemed almost all-purpose, since it was also used (as far as my memory recalls) to cook crayfish. A couple of questions: a) A reliable source of cargols a la llauna in Madrid would be appreciated, if anyone knows it. b) Snails are used in many regions in Spain, but which ones have a strong tradition of using them in their regional cooking? For instance, I've seen Galizian empanadas with snails, but some gallegos tell me about their almost religious aversion of snails.

“In his conception of the world, the snails play a major role. They serve him as touchstone to classify people. Pau is a fifty snails. Pere, a hundred and fifty snails. Berenguer, a two hundred snails. His friends move around fifty snails. Those who don’t reach that quantity form the world of ruins – a kind of limbo without fire or light, neither ember nor smoke. - How many did you eat yesterday, Nuts? I told him. - Three hundreds. I’m a three hundreds snails, though it’s not right for me to say it. - Who is the most important person you’ve met? - Grandpa Rovira […]. He’s a five hundreds snails. - Have you seen him eating them? - Certainly.” Josep Pla, El Cuaderno Gris This is what Josep Pla wrote about a walk in a November afternoon at the Emporda, back in 1918. Truly, snails (Catalonian cargols, Spanish caracoles) are a customary part of traditional Catalonian (and many other Spanish regions) cooking. Their use in Catalonian cooking is recorded in documents dating back to 1357, as well as in cookbooks from the XVII and XVII centuries. Though Lleida is the Catalonian province where more snails are consumed, claiming to be the snail capital of the country and having a yearly event around them (L’Aplec del Caragol), snails are appreciated all over Catalonia and I’ve had a number of chances to sample them during the two weeks I’ve spent over there. As you all know, there are two main varieties of snails used for cooking: the country snail (caracol de campo) or helix aspersa and the vineyard snail (caracol de viña) or helix pomata, though I must say that in Spain probably under that denomination you’d get helix lactea. The latter, helix pomata, is also known as escargot de Bourgogne in France, being larger than the country snail. Which of these two varieties is actually better for food purposes is a continuous source of debate and discussion amongst connoisseurs alike. There’s a whole industry around the breeding of snails, which dates back to the ancient Romans as its name evokes: heliciculture. Since France is the largest consumer of snails, it’s no surprise that this industry is quite developed there. Nonetheless, it doesn’t cover the needs of the internal market since a lot of the snails consumed in France come from other countries. Cooking snails is an intensive work, which requires a lot of preparation in the restaurant unless it buys them precooked. I’ve came across contradictory sources regarding theoretic differences between the way of cooking the snails in Spain and that of cooking them in France. It seems clear that in Spain the snails go through a somewhat long period of fasting (several days when not a couple of weeks), whereas is not that clear that this is a prerequisite in France. If my memory serves me well, I recall Arturo Pardos from the missed Gastroteca de Arturo y Stephane closed some years ago, telling me that fasting was an aberration because the foam that the snails lose in the process have some properties not to be neglected from a gastronomic point of view. Naturally, other views on this point would be more than welcome. A consequence of the fasting process is that the meat of the snail gets dryer, perhaps giving more concentrated flavors. After this fasting period, snails are shortly boiled. Again, a cooking branch appears: though with larger snails it seems clear that it’s mandatory to remove them from the shell and eviscerate them, this evisceration is not “required” by the canon with the smaller snails (helix aspersa). Now is when the actual boiling takes place with the herbs commonly used to give them flavor, with farigola (tomillo in Spanish, thyme in English) taking a predominant place in Catalonia. Whether the shell is to be used or not is another decision to make, with the precaution of sterilizing them if they’re going to be finally used. I’m sure that when snails are used as a secondary (but decisive) ingredient in some dishes, quickly coming to my mind the rice with rabbit and snails, it should exist a shorter process precluding extracting them from their shells. Anyway, I had the opportunity to sample three different approaches to cooking snails while in Girona. At La Xicra (Palafrugell), they come as the shining ingredient in one of those vertiginous mar i muntanya dishes of which they’re so fond of in the Empordà. You find them surrounded by some mussels, Dublin Bay prawns (obviously not from Ireland) crabs and whatever other seafood they have at hand in the kitchen. All this is sauced with a marvelous sofrito of tomatoes, onions and peppers (?) where some all i oli is stirred at the end, leaving its trace among the snails’ shells. A mention has to be made to La Xicra providing with what in principle seems to be an instrument of torture, but which proves as a useful tool to avoid using your hands. More classic dishes were offered at Can Bech (Fontanillas) and Els Tinars (near Llagostera). Basically, both were versions of cargols a la llauna. This dish takes its name from the original llauna (metal sheet) where you put the snails bottom up with a sauce of, let’s say, oil, thyme, garlic, pepper and salt. Afterwards, you take the llauna and put it into a fire ideally made from wood. The oven is a common shortcut nowadays. Can Bech and Els Tinars differed in the sauce used to cook them: whereas Can Bech presented a more Spartan version of the snails with sauces (tomato and all i oli) on the side, having used a quite simple oil based sauce in the cooking, Els Tinars, without renouncing to give you some all i oli to complement the dish, used a more elaborated sauce which had almost a gratin aspect where all i oli was used in a similar La Xicra’s way. The possibility of having half portions of a dish in many Spanish restaurants has been cited more than once has a nice way to sample more dishes on a single visit. Well, I found another use for this: you can also order a dish and a half, as I did on my last visit to Can Bech of the several we made these two weeks, shortly before having to return to Madrid! Which, retrospectively, wasn’t the most sensible thing to do. I should have ordered two portions. Little I knew that when I was almost thinking to forget snails for about a year or so, the same day of my return to Madrid Viridiana’s chef, Abraham García, had his version of cargols a la llauna waiting for me. But that’s another thread. Or the famous snail porridge I was going to have at The Fat Duck. But that’s even another forum. And remember what a friend told to Josep Plà: “Are you a thirty snails? Stop kidding yourself! You’ll never achieve anything in your life, never, ever, … No matter what you do” Josep Plà, Lo que hemos comido

I assume you already know about this site, but just in case: La Tienda This site pops now and then in the Spain and Portugal's forum.

I'm afraid we're having a translation issue here: I'm pretty sure that the Spanish term cocina al vacío is what you're referring to as sous vide, whereas I translated cocina al vacío as vacuum cooking. Wrongly translated, it looks like. Now this leads me to the issue of the actual difference between sous vide an vacuum cooking. Would you please clarify this?

It's going to be a difficult case to present, but I'd suggest you to give a try to their Customer Relationship department. It usually gives better results than going through a Sales department. But as I said, it's not going to be easy. Let me add that I wouldn't disqualify Riedel as a whole because of a single bad experience. My experience with Riedel glasses is that they're excellent. A number of things (i.e. unnoticed sudden changes of temperature) could have happened to that glass of which Riedel is not accountable for.

As chef Abraham Garcia recently said when asked for an interview what was the most exotic dish he had ever tasted "it was a well cooked paella". The inherent difficulty of producing a good paella, often overlooked, has appeared before in the site.

For your purposes and given the duration of the trip, I'd probably call for a stay in a Girona based hotel. I can't recommend you any hotel in the city which I've stayed in, simply because I haven't, but I'm sure you can find some that will serve you well. There are a couple of 4-stars in the Guía Campsa, with some 3-stars also. If you feel like driving some miles, Mas Pau and Mas Torrent are options to consider, though I would place them on the expensive segment. Pals, Peratallada and Ullastret would be worth the trip in terms of sightseeing. I'm sure that the area located to the west of Girona, Olot and La Garrotxa, are worth the visit, but I haven't visited them since I was a child.

There's a connection, Bux. Caldero, as I said, refers to the original pot where the food is cooked. I don't know of any rice cooked in a caldero that it's not caldoso, though that is possible simply by evaporation. But the opposite is not necessarily true: caldoso simply means that it's not a dry rice (like the paellas), but it has some broth or caldo. There are many ways to cook rice other than in a caldero that would result in a caldoso rice. Even in a paella (which as you all know is the name of the flat, wide and not too deep pan where rice is tipically cooked in Spain), I'd say.

nimzo, I guess I have to thank you for the early immersion into UK prices. Do you think that we won't be able to find a couple of good (very good, I'd say) bottles for about 100 pounds (that is around 150€, isn't it?)? I don't intend to find Montrachet at 30€, but ... I'll take a look to the Sherries, but knowing the price of them in Spain will give me a hard time. I'll have a talk with the sommelier (thanks for bringing that up, nimzo), and that with a look into the wine list will make the call.

I've seen on the FD site that they have an option to match wines with their tasting menu for 50 pounds per person (where the hell is the pound character in a Spanish keyboard?). I was wondering if anyone has recently gone through this option. Are the wines worth it?

Tough question that would require a better answer than the present. Lavinia has a very good selection of wines from all over Spain, and their staff is well trained and don't get a commission on the sales, so they are able to provide you a reasonable independent advice. There goes some recommendations which shouldn't be hard to get in Lavinia: Red wines: - Martinet Bru: The basic wine from Priorat's producer of Clos Martinet - Casa Castillo Pie Franco: A monastrell wine from Jumilla, a region which is recovering from its a granel production to offer very interesting wines - Any of Enrique Mendoza's wines, also from the southeast of the country. - Finca Sandoval, from the newest D.O. in the country, Manchuela. One of the best Syrah's in the country, if not the best, made by vserna, a fellow eGulleter. - From El Bierzo region, get a Dominio de Tares Cepas Viejas or a Bembibre - From the Toro region, San Román will hardly disappoint you, though some argue that it's more an author's wine (from Mariano García, one of the best winemakers in the country). Quinta Quietud or Finca Sobreño are other good options from the same region. Castilla La Mancha, the largest D.O. in the world, is going through a transformation process which is giving very good results: from the inexpensive Finca La Estacada to more expensive wines from Marqués de Griñón. White wines I'm not a big fan myself of Spanish white wines: if I believe that we have first class red wines to compete with the best in the world, white wines is an area where I think we yet have a lot of ground to cover. Nonetheless, Albariños from Galizia are excellent, as are some of the historic wines from López Heredia. Other than that I would urge you to try some Sherries: if you're already familiar with Fino and Manzanilla, go and try Olorosos, Amontillados, Palos Cortados, PX, ... There's a whole world there at bargain prices waiting to be discovered! As you've seen, I've skipped Rioja and Ribera del Duero, asuming they would fall in the category of "famous regions". Let me know if you'd like some recommendation of wines from those regions.

Afaik, they don't have a web page. Regarding the tasting menu, a couple of weeks ago they charged me 75€ per person. A bargain, I should say. Josep Roca, who's in charge of the dining room and the wine cellar, is in love with German wines and one of the best sumillers in the country. Give him some indications on budget and preferences and let him do the work. You'd hardly be dissapointed. I'll thoroughly describe my meal there when I come back from London, but after having visited El Bulli, Can Fabes, Sant Pau and Can Roca, the latter would be the chosen one to return if I had just one shot. Then Can Fabes, El Bulli and probably I wouldn't return to Sant Pau in quite some time. Carme Ruscalleda's resturant was a disappointment in more than one way. Returning to El Celler de Can Roca, this is their address and phone/fax number: El Celler de Can Roca Carretera Taialà, nº 40 - Girona Phone: +34 972 222 157 Fax: +34 972 485 259

That's terrible, nimzo. I can imagine your disappointment. Were you able to find a last second backup plan while in Barcelona?

I was offered monkfish liver at El Bulli back in 1999. So really it's not a new ingredient to El Bulli.

Thanks for the tips, Paco. Is there any Korean restaurant that you would recommend? If there're any, I'd say we all would appreciate a help with the dishes...

You probably had arroz al caldero, where caldero refers to the original recipient where this dish was cooked (you can still find places where the caldero is used to cook rice).