JesusBarquin

Very fast, if I may: Monosabios and ox-tail in Casa Pepe. Salmorejo and Mazamorra, interesting but not great. In Bodegas Campos, ajoblanco and ox-tail, as well as carrilleras of ibérico pork, but also other dishes that I cannot recall now. Desserts not particularly good. Enjoy your trip!

Choco is a little restaurant which is not in the old town center: Compositor Serrano Lucena 14, Tel. 957 264 863 Family running, but not at all traditional. Also out of the usual tourist paths, Astoria Casa Matías (El Nogal 16, Tel. 957 277 653), interesting for their rices and other guisos In the town center, apart from Bodegas Campos, I like Casa Pepe de la Judería (Romero 1, Tel. 957 200 744), but prefer to stay in the lower part, where you can eat through 'raciones', than going upwards and having a formal meal. Their traditional dishes are, IMO, more interesting than their more sophisticated ones.

Talking about unforgettable meals and about a really primitive foodie (me) who does not care a couple of dimes about intellectual cooking, I must mention a very recent meal at L'Esguard. Should I be asked to rate the restaurant according to this meal, I would not doubt to give it 3 stars (Metropoli Guide, of course).

For instance? Not meaning to catch you, José Andrés, just really interested in knowing your ideas about this matter. Let me, BTW, send you my most sincere congratulations for your success, no doubt as a result of very hard work.

Maybe because daemon was "looking for something simplier than starred restaurant, something more rafa's like"? At around 30/40 km from Girona, another favorite of mine in the field of real traditional cooking from the Empordà is Bonay, at Peratallada. But then you should think also about the possibility of driving 15 min. further, to La Xicra, in Palafrugell.

I would not say 'wrong', but just that I found the whole below my expectations, and below the standards one would suppose for the prestige and prices. The service was, in general, somewhat stiff for my liking. Found only a couple of dishes really outstanding (sicilian beets, cows tongue, maybe pork feet stuffed with cigalas too), while others were correct and others even showed flaws to my palate (in the product: a too salty cod, or in the conception: snails overwhelmed by sauce). The place is very nice, but flies and wasps are not necessarily welcomed, nor by countryhearted people as we are. And, even for a lover of german baroque music, hearing Pachelbel's Canon dozens of times may be too much... Well, maybe it just was not the day.

Two separate points: - If you want a simple, cheap and country-tasting restaurant near to Girona, my rec would be Can Quel at Foixà. Do not expect anything sophisticated, but lots of rustic authenticity. IMO, the perfect counterpoint to your other targets in the area. I only doubt whether they will reopen the doors in time (they get holidays during september). - I must humbly point out that my recent visits to L'Aliança (past january) and Mas Pau (several weeks ago) have not been particularly enjoyable. Mainly because of the man supposed to be the maître at Anglès (the main dishes weren't at a high level either) and because of a variety of little details in the case of Mas Pau. None of them has produced me the willing to come back soon. But all of you know that every place can have a bad day. So, take my criticism of the latter with a pinch of salt. Instead, I have eaten repeatedly along several years at Can Quel. This is a sure bet in my book, given that one has the proper expectations.

May I ask all of you about the beverages you choosed/were recommended to pair your '06 El Bulli's menus? Any opinions about the wine list and the wine service? About water, beer, coffee, tea, spirits? Thanks in advance for any report or comment.

In fact, more than one, Rogelio. A couple of days ago I ate Zeus faber in El Puerto de Santa María and my friend at the table reminded me that the popular name in the coast of Cádiz and Huelva for that fish (and its near parent the rarer Zenopsis conchifer) is, simply, Gallo, the same as for Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis and boscii. In Sevilla, at least when I was younger, these are called Gallo and the former, Pez de San Pedro, but the fine and delicious Citharus linguatula is called Gallito or Gallo de Isla, instead of Solleta o Tapaculo, as in other areas. I see, this is a real mess for almost everybody... Conclusion: Latin rules!

Not only called in Spain Pez de San Pedro or plainly Sampedro), but also Gallo de San Pedro or (particularly in Almería) Gallopedro.

By the way, and just to state a link between the table and my previous post: an Antonio Picasso was an outstanding builder of Bodegas in the Barrio Alto of Sanlúcar in the second half of 19th Century... One of them, close to the absolute Cathedral of Sherry Wines: La Arboledilla, currently owned by Barbadillo. A overwhelming place to which a pilgrimage should be made at least once in a lifetime by any food geek...

I am sorry to be so late in this thread, but I have no doubt that 'Bar FM' in Granada should be in it as a real star, as well as Ca' Sento, Elkano, Kaia, Casa Balbino (Sanlúcar de Barrameda) and some others.

Thanks for the lesson, Pontormo, but I already knew all of it. FWIW and in spite of any other art critic's statement, I still think that Duchamp's production as a supposed artist is nearer to bullshit than to greatness. Imagine what I should say of his contribution to the advance of professional kitchen... Just my opinion. May I add that we are in the beginning of 21st century? To my mind, Duchamp seems way too less 'modern' than Piero, Velázquez or Goya... But I would not say the same of other XXth century artists like Julian Schnabel, Miguel Barceló, Luis Gordillo or José Mª Báez, among dozens and dozens, with the Historic figure of Pablo Ruiz Picasso leading all of them. Sorry for getting out of the theme... Put the blame on Luiz Horta!

Frankly, I would not agree that is a wise approach, generally speaking. I am not an art critic. My opinion is that Duchamp is, let's say... bad? Regarding Iñigo Lavado's restaurant in Irún, I second the recommendation. And regarding what to do about Michelin's stars when one writes an article on spanish restaurants: simply ignore them. I mean, not a single mention of the word 'Michelin'.

His name is Juan Mari Humada. Sorry for the misspelling.

In fact, it is Hidalgo 56 (tel. 943 27 96 54). I agree with Podolski. A most remarkable place for everyone (Juan Mari Humana is a very fine chef) and a must for winelovers. The list of wines is impressive, regarding selection and prices. The only point is that the place seems a bit small and I personally do not like much the decoration, but you can't always get everything... A step behind, another recently opened winebar with good pintxos is Alex (C/ Larramendi 10, tel. 943 46 02 25), half way between the train station and the cathedral. Young and unfussy atmosphere, wide choice of wines of the world by the glass.

I'll quickly add to my friend Alvaro's wise advices that 'yes, you should visit El Puerto de Santa María'. For instance, take the boat there for a nice trip to Cádiz. In any case, do not miss Cádiz nor Jerez. And excuse me if I cannot answer any possible question, as I am leaving on my northern holidays in hours... Enjoy your trip!

Bux, I'm so sorry I could not give you lots of mine. Adam, thanks very much for your comments and pictures. Most interesting, indeed. How did you like the Amontillado and Oloroso La Cigarrera, which are shown in the last photo. I have very good opinion of them, especially of the (relatively) light and elegant oloroso. BTW, the price is shamefully cheap, ain't it?

Toasts with manteca colorá. You can also stuff pork cheeks in it...

We should hear more about that course. As I recall, The eGullet Society was a sponsor. ← I agree. AFAIK, the conspicuous egulleteer who came to visit us those days has quite a lot of info and pictures and is preparing them for a wide article. No wonder if he is affected by the extremely common disease "lack of time".

My educated guess is that and my education came here on eGullet. After referring to a dish that was flavored with chorizo or chorizo fat, I was told the dish was actually flavored with the pepper used to flavor chorizos. ← You both are talking about manteca colorá. In the course about sherries and alta cocina that we enjoyed in march in Granada, we ate a fabulous dish by Dani García based on it.

Sorry Nicola, but not yet. I guess I won't be able to go to Marbella in the next month. But I would bet that it is worth the visit. Do not forget to tell us if you decide to eat at this restaurant, whose name is Calima if I am not wrong. BTW, not long ago I had an excellent meal at Restautante Med, in Torremolinos.

You're welcome, Alex. A pity that we will be in Carriedo's Valley only till the 14th or the 15th of july... I would have liked to challenge you in a bolera, But maybe it is not as difficult as you think to find fresh milk and cuajo in Minneapolis.

If you promise not to feel such a dangerous feeling as being eternally grateful to me, I will try to help you, But, first, the cheese question, which is not at all a symbolic issue for me, but a question of taste: by authentic quesada I mean the type of quesada I have eaten (mainly homemade by outstanding and even semipro cooks in my family) since I was a kid, for almost forty years. Any other similar dessert can be good to eat or even delicious, but it would not be exactly quesada, at least not for me. Regarding this issue, I have just confirmed that, in the way my relatives cook quesada, the milk must be curdled but you must not let it become cheese. Just a couple or three hours of curdling, putting the whey apart and then you get the milk curd with which cooking a quesada. To curdle the milk, it is very useful that you use raw milk, directly from the cow, and it is even better if you do not let it cool and add the cuajo just after milking the cow, when the milk is still warm. I know that this may sound strange for those of you who are not used to see naked animals walking around on the grass (why should it be that the name Espinosa comes to my mind? ) but it is not odd at all in the northern countryside of Spain. Once you get the milk curd (say ca. 2 litres milk for 1 kg curd), mix it thoroughly with sugar, flour, butter, eggs, grated lemon peel, a bit of salt and a little bit of cinnamon (optional). Bake the whole in a slightly buttered and not too deep oven pan for 15/20 min. at 220 centigrades till it is golden. Alex, maybe you could try to make your own milk curd. My father used to do it often even in Sevilla, using fresh or at least non UHT milk. I can see also that the frontier between a mature cuajada and a very fresh pasiego cheese is thin. So, I won't rant if you prefer to go on thinking that this stuff should be called cheese instead of milk curd. In any case, I won't eat the words this time: prefer to eat the quesada itself,

Well, it seems that you are right and they have changed the name of the province since I studied it. I thought that the name of the province was still Santander and the name for the Autonomous Community or whatever you call it in english was Cantabria. Therefore I eat my words, but it's not a problem: ¡siempre tuve buen apetito!, Regarding the cheese, Víctor and Alex, I'll phone asap my aunt Rosario, who is the best quesadamaker (and best buttermaker, btw) that I know. Hers is the authentic quesada, from my subjective point of view. And, given that it is not probable that a guy from Torrelavega is right twice out of twice against a half-pasiego like me, , for the moment I go on betting that the quesada is not cheesed, (Will continue)