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Dan Ryan

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Everything posted by Dan Ryan

  1. Oops, MM has come upon me rather suddenly. Will have to break out some of my old recipes. As ever, a shot is 25 ml. The Harper glass: collins 2 shots gin 1 shot extra dry vermouth 1 shot cointreau 1 shot lime juice top up with soda Shake first four ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass, then top up with soda. Created when I sat on the jury for the Slovenian cocktail championships, and a long gin drink was requested. This refreshing combination popped into my head immediately. Don't overdo the soda. The Melbellini glass: flute 1 shot fresh white peach purée 1 spoon fresh raspberry purée 1 spoon creme de framboise top up with prosecco Add first three ingredients to glass and stir, then top up with prosecco. Bellinis are great, and so is peach melba. How hard could it be to come up with this combination? Be ready to adjust for sweetness/acidity according to how ripe your fruit is. The Solano glass: flute 1 spoon creme de cassis 1½ shots grapefruit juice top up with prosecco / champagne according to how extravagant you are Add first two ingredients to glass and stir, then top up with prosecco. Another blackcurrant and grapefruit combo, this makes a great aperitif. I love grapefruit in cocktails.
  2. Yeah, noticed the same thing about horse. None of it looks as well-hung as what I'm used to. If you know what I mean... However there are ways around it. I've done a bit of fridge-ageing at home. There was an article by Heston Blumenthal about it a few years ago in the Guardian. Can stink up the fridge a bit, but no more so than some top-notch cheese.
  3. Bacchus No shortage of threads here. Or proprietors...
  4. A successful opening gathering yesterday evening for the privileged invited few, and the even-more-privileged blagging many. It was great to meet Silly Disciple and chat about their ideas and prospects. There'll be no problem getting customers if they continue to give away such delicious free wine, but I suspect it won't form the basis of a very stable business model. Anyway, the stuffed pasta was coming out great - I'll be interested to see how they keep up with the volume there - and there were some nice variations in the long stuff: cuttlefish ink, beetroot (one of my favourite tricks too, that one). The stall also looks even more striking than the photos suggest: those fabulous tiles really do stand out. So good luck to Silly, Pedro and the boys, and I look foward to renewing a bit of England/Argentina rivalry with them on the football field, with many days of pasta-based refuelling. No photos because, well, I haven't got a camera. But there were at least a couple of journos there, so expect coverage soon...
  5. Well, I'll definitely stop by on Saturday then, maybe even at the same time as Steve. Get that extruder going, and good luck...
  6. Well, this is the way I like it: 2½ shots gin 1½ shots lemon juice ½ shot maraschino (I use Maraska) 1 spoon crème de violette where a shot is 25 ml. Gives a tart yet rounded drink, with a good whack of gin. A few of these and you know about it...
  7. Only one entry for me this month. Just couldn’t get round to drinking some cream in this summer heat, so I’ve gone for an old friend. I did have visions of doing an aviation-leaning version of the Angel’s Tit, with cream, maraschino, gin, crème de violette and lemon juice, but that will have to wait for another day, or maybe another time of year. Anyway, here’s one I made earlier: The Cavalletta 1½ shots crème de cacao 1½ shots Branca Menta 1½ shots cream Shake with ice, and serve straight up in a cocktail glass. A little variation on the Grasshopper. To my mind Branca Menta is so much more interesting than crème de menthe, and it doesn’t do any harm to inject just a little bitterness. Let’s face it, any drinks using crème de menthe could probably use it… Anyway, yes, it’s sweet. But it’s not the worst after-dinner drink in the world. You wouldn’t want more than one, though, unless perhaps you slapped a good measure of brandy in there. Hang on: equal proportions of brandy, crème de cacao, Branca Menta and cream, and we might be going places…
  8. There's at least one stall selling horse at the Boqueria, and a horse butcher's just outside, near where the uncovered market is. Saw another horse butcher the other day, but can't remember where... Anyway, I'm a huge fan of horse. Beats beef for flavour at all price points I reckon. You treat it in exactly the same way. A well-hung horse rump is a fine thing, and makes a magnificent carpaccio. Good stewing from other parts like shin. And once you have a horseburger you'll never go back...
  9. Really? Haven't been for a while. Thanks for the info...
  10. Oh yeah, bakeries: Mistral, Barcelona Reykjavik Good good bread. Not cheap. But good.
  11. Well here are a few names to play with: Tapas: Cerveseria Catalana, Quimet i Quimet, Onofre, La Plata (does only three things, but it's a great bar) Good lunch restaurants: Lluis de les Moles, Dolso, Anima Cheap and cheerful regional Spanish: Meson David (Galician), Bar Salvador (Catalan, lunch only), Casa Valencia (guess what) Great food shops: Vila Viniteca, Formatgeria La Seu, Jamonisimo Desserts: Espai Sucre, Dolso (both dessert restaurants), Bubo, Cremeria Toscana (ice cream) Oops, I'm hungry in Gracia: Abissinia, Shojiro The more upmarket places are well-covered in other threads. I'd highly recommend Cinc Sentits. General tips: eat as many sausages as you can: they're superb, in all forms. Go to Anima for lunch or dinner; it's pretty much my favourite restaurant in the city. And try some cheeses at Vila Viniteca (ask for Juan Carlos) and La Seu (the charming Katherine). Cheese is good.
  12. No shortage of threads about Barcelona if you search. What sort of thing are you (or is she) looking for? I can give plenty of recommendations...
  13. Dan Ryan

    MxMo XV

    Ah, the nuances and challenges of tequila (a silver 100% agave of course). How to let the agave character shine through, while building layers of flavour. Is salt essential? Perhaps not, but it certainly can round out the mouthfeel. Anyway, three entries, and a variation or two. Hope these lead to some experimentation, for all of us… The Sadler 1½ shots tequila (I used Herradura blanco in all of these, and a shot is 25 ml or so) 1½ shots lime juice 1½ shots celery syrup a drop or two of lime bitters Shake with ice, and serve straight up in a cocktail glass. Named after Italian chef Claudio Sadler, who produces one of the world’s greatest desserts using the same ingredients. To make the celery syrup, simply simmer 400 g of celery, 200 g of sugar, 500 ml of water and a good pinch of salt in a pan for 40 minutes, incorporating the zest of 1 lime for the last five minutes or so, and then purée. I used my homemade lime bitters, but you could substitute orange or lemon bitters, or just add a bit more lime zest to the syrup. For a variation, add 12 or so mint leaves, a spoonful of crème de bananes and an extra half-shot of lime juice before shaking. The Miramare (aka the Roselle Roselle) ¾ shot tequila 1 shot strawberry soup 1 shot very strong hibiscus tea 1 spoon Cointreau cava or prosecco Chill the first four ingredients (or stir with plentiful ice, but be careful, you don’t really want any dilution), pour into a flute, stir well, and top up with the ice-cold sparkling wine of your choice. Exquisite blood-red colours, with a delightful mousse to be admired and savoured. Make the strawberry soup by dicing some top-quality fresh strawberries into a large glass bowl with a sprinkle of sugar, just the lightest sprinkle, covering with clingfilm, and placing over a saucepan of simmering water for a good hour, before passing through a sieve. Leave plenty of pulp behind. For an extra layer of flavour, infuse some basil in the warm soup (purple basil works particularly well here). Remove the leaves before serving. Check the ingredients for sweet/sour balance before you add the wine: it must be sweet enough to cope with the bubbly you’re using. Add more sugar to the hibiscus tea (which really does need to be very strong) if it’s not. The Azalea 1½ shots tequila 1½ shots grapefruit juice, lightly salted ¾ shot Campari ¾ shot Cointreau Shake with ice, and serve straight up in a cocktail glass. Lip-smackingly bitter refreshment that will leave you wanting more. I tried some fresh ginger in here too, but it shifted the balance of the drink slightly, and needed correcting with the liqueurs. But the unadulterated version is better anyway, or the first six or so were…
  14. Great to hear that PX has a new fan, and thanks for this great report. There's probably a world of vintage sherry bottlings ready to be discovered, alhough the solera system will remain the rightful bedrock of larger scale production. One thing though, I think you owe it to yourself to persist with the oloroso. If you like palo cortado, I can't see how you won't one day appreciate the oloroso style too. Try it chilled, try it with all manner of food, keep at it. Eventually it will seduce you...
  15. Well, thanks to everyone for their tips and suggestions. Turned out to be a pretty good trip, but then I’m sure you knew it would be. We decided to skip the starred places, stay in town and try as many pintxos as possible. And it so happens that that’s quite a lot… I’d say I’ve eaten a lot more foie gras than I usually do over the course of a weekend, I’ve drunk a lot more txacoli and Spanish white wine than I thought possible, and probably shelled a lot more cash than is good for either my finances or my trousers. Immediate impressions: how green the Basque country is, reminiscent of England far more than other regions of Spain. I immediately thought of good lamb... and rain, of course. And then the general dedication to good food: the pride of the bartenders, the casual commitment to freshness and hospitality, the sense that a culinary revelation could be around the next corner. Anyway, there’s some pretty good advice upthread, so I’ll stick to what I can add. The first stop was Bar Txepetxa for anchovies. Now me and anchovies have a deep and powerful relationship, so I was happy. Particularly with some sea urchin slapped on top. Didn’t revisit, but it set a good fishy opening tone to the weekend. This was the old town, which stays open later and louder than the rest of the city, so we remained there for the rest of the night’s eating (actually we hoofed it into Gros at one point to pass by some fascinating closed places). Next stop was Gandarias, for the first bar-top pintxos, which proved to be competent. Probably its best feature is the selection of wines by the glass. Then came the wasted walk over the river, and back again, to reach Gambara, absolutely hopping by this time. The emphasis here is more on little plates ordered fresh from the kitchen, and that meant an unusual deep-fried asparagus dish (that Jerry-Springer-obese white asparagus from Navarre, battered, not bad) and a big platter of sautéed morels. Ah morels, always tricky to get down... Got talking to some fellow bar-proppers and traded a morel or two for some of their percebes. Which gave us enough energy to head for Cuchara San Telmo, and I can echo the recommendations above. What you get are small plates of lip-smacking brown goodness: sweetbreads, cheeks, duck bits, snouts. One reservation would be the tendency to season everything with generic brown reduction, which makes it all a bit samey. Not much to say about the veg either… But it’s worth at least one visit if you’re in town and want to sample some offally stuff. The next day was the full session. Lunch brought us into Gros again, with the added attraction of bars and restaurants actually being open. The Patio de Ramuntxo was a fair start for lunch: excellent wines by the glass, although perhaps the pintxos are not as exciting on the plate as they sound on the menu. Then came the highlight one-two. Alona Berri is indeed the bomb. The creativity of the menu more than compensates for the slightly less welcoming atmosphere. Or maybe I’m just nursing a grudge at the main man for giving us bum information about his opening times on the Sunday, which meant I could only eat the contrast of anchovies once (well, twice, if truth be told). I cry to think of it now. Anchovy sorbet, a warm mixture of little fruits and vegetables, bound with a grain mustard vinaigrette. Waves of hot and cold, sweet and savoury, then the mustard comes through at the end and cleans it all up, and you want more, more, more of this joyous fishy crack. As Txacoli so rightly says, order everything on the menu. All of it. And giggle a bit. But I want to drop a new name into the mix now: Senra, our next stop in Gros, just round the corner on San Francisco. They might well have the best bar pintxos in town. Does mushroom mousse with chunks of ceps sound good? Or onion marmalade, mayonnaise, ceps and jamon? The jamon even gets to see the plancha for two or three seconds, and, believe me, it does not suffer for this experience. How about grilled goat’s cheese, tomato, mango and jamon? These pintxos may not be elegant, sculpted or deftly plated. They’re simply hearty and magnificent. And then you reach for the bar menu, and you order the solomillo of duck with foie gras and apple. A little plate of perfection comes your way, pink bird encasing melting liver, the crunch of the lattice potatoes, the weighty decision of how much apple to incorporate into each bite. Another, and another. And you talk about the skate dish with your host, and then he brings a little tortilla to try, and you think you might have room for some more pintxos… Senra also stays open all day. On Sunday. It’s great. It was back to the old town later for another newbie: A Fuego Negro, a shiny new bar you can hardly miss on 31 de Agosto. Again, a wonderful selection of wines by the glass. More white for me, as by this time I was nurturing a full-blown verdejo addiction. A huge list of creative dishes is chalked up on the wall running the length of the bar, and they all sound good. Little shots of fruits, vegetables, cheeses and meats. Salads, at last. Squab. A cheeky dish of dense pig, delicate cream foam, and wasabi peas. And slick, accommodating bar staff. By this time we’d walked past Astelana on the Plaza de la Constitucion several times. Eventually tempted to enter, we were intrigued to see that half of the bar display was given over to items that needed a final cooking: croquetas, kebabs, little spring rolls. The simple advice is to avoid the pistachio croqueta (suspiciously green, like bad pistachio gelato) and make a beeline for one of the most magical items to be found in San Sebastian. This is a round pie, fashioned from puff pastry, a heretical pasty if you will, filled with mushrooms and foie gras. We found these in several places, but those of Astelana were the finest. Crisp, flaky layers, with a richly succulent yet earthy stuffing. Truly an exquisite fast track to gout. Be warned, you will need more than one. Each. And, of course, we made it to La Cepa at one point. The jabugo was magnificent, but there was little else to tempt us by this stage, except a plate of fine-looking St George’s mushrooms (unfortunately, having blown a fair amount of wedge on fresh morels, we felt unable to burn more on these, to my lasting regret). This bar might get regular recommendations from locals, but it wouldn’t be among my top choices when I return. Plenty of space though, so you might want to stop by for some jamon. So any negatives? Well, Spanish cider is no nearer to convincing me that it’s drinkable. There doesn’t appear to be a lunch menu at Bodegon Alejandro. And now I really want to go to Mugaritz… How to Enjoy Donostia / San Sebastian Go to Cuchara San Telmo, get some duck or some offal. Just a bit. Drop by A Fuego Negro, order some salad, and a couple of avant garde combos. Hang out with the shiny people. Slip into Astelana, and gorge on the mushroom and foie pie. Try not to order another 48 of them. Live in Senra for a day. Take plenty of pintxos, but make sure you get the solomillo de pato. Twice. Find out when Alona Berri is open. Go there. Do not leave without trying everything. Yes, everything. Treat yourself regularly to a fine glass of wine, maybe a verdejo, maybe some red. Do this at Gandarias or Patio de Ramuntxo. Repeat until impoverished, or good-humouredly dead.
  16. And I'll keep pushing peppermint as the ideal variety. With any soft herbs, it's all about avoiding grassy flavours. Obviously, careful deployment is important, but with peppermint you have more menthol for less leaf. It does make sense. You could do a comparative and let us know...
  17. But I love that bourbon/sugar/herb interplay. So bourbon it is for me. And peppermint too. You don't need very much, but it is a thing of beauty. I wonder how pennyroyal would go... And rye. Anyone favour rye in their julep?
  18. Salt (sodium chloride) is pH neutral. I assume that its activity in counteracting acidity and bitterness comes from tongue receptor effects. Heston Blumenthal cites an interesting experiment on the salt / bitter effect, where salt is gradually added to tonic water making it taste sweeter and sweeter. It will be interesting to see what umami can bring too. I did experiement once with a tamari martini, but the umami effect made the gin botanicals taste extremely harsh. Maybe I need to go back to work on this...
  19. This is a perceived acidity effect. Like adding sugar to an acidic solution: the acidity remains the same, but the perceived acidity is much reduced. Salt is much more powerful at counteracting bitterness though. Which is why it really brings out different nuances in grapefruit, and makes it taste quite sweet.
  20. Congrats Phil, and thanks for the updates and responses. Looking forward to eating at yours next time I'm up the smoke...
  21. Yeah, that's a bullshot. Spice it up the same way you would a bloody mary.
  22. A few quickies: Alla Vecchia Bettola, Piazza Torquato Tasso The business. Trad, friendly, my favourite restaurant in Florence. Great value, great atmosphere, better food than Mario or I Latini. Nerbone Owned by the same people. A bar/stall inside the Mercato Centrale. Good, solid dishes. Also does sandwiches of bollito (beef) or tripe. But for the best lampredotto sandwich, which you simply have to try, for my money the finest of all comes from the stall on Via dell'Albero. Get the chilli oil, salsa verde, and ask for the bread bagnato. Superb. Magazzino, Piazza della Passera If you get the taste for tripe then this is a great well-priced restaurant on Piazza della Passera, next to the famous Quatro Leoni. Caffe Italiano, Via dell'Isola delle Stinche Great pizza. Evenings only, of course. Queues likely, but hang in there. It's worth it. Drink the beer. Sabatino, Via Pisana Very trad, very basic, but reliable. And pretty good too. Right by the Porta San Frediano. Pop straight over the road for a great microbrewery experience too. Il Santo Bevitore, Via di Santo Spirito A little (only a little) pricier, but excellent wine and more modern cuisine. Great service and a vibrant atmosphere.
  23. I often make herb and citrus syrups for cocktails, and salt is essential. And once you've salted a grapefruit, it has all five of the recognised tastes. Great mouthfeel.
  24. Thanks for the comments so far. Please, if you're reading this and there's anything you can add, help me out. Even if it's a single dish in a single place. That's just the sort of thing we could be looking for...
  25. Going there for a few days next month (a Fri, Sat, Sun) and want to know exactly where to go. Help please... Is a visit to the likes of Arzak or Mugaritz a necessity? Is there a more informal place to get avant-garde cuisine? Where for pintxos? Five or six meals' worth... Any interesting places for a menu del dia that might be better than picking from the bar? Any breakfast recommendations? Any cheese / charcuterie / booze stalls or shops that need to be tried? And unmissable bars? All suggestions welcomed. Don't have to be fancy, ultra-traditional or tourist-friendly. Just good.
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