Duvel

Yes, they were both in Spanish. We are now in Aragòn, a bit west of Catalonia …

I think that Spain had a quite diverse range of baked goods (and the corresponding traditions). As for the everyday bread I tend to agree with your observation: I find it less standing out (as for example a good loaf of sourdough rye would) and more of a team player with the other dishes being served. That being said - Infind even a not that outstanding piece of baguette derivative does a fantastic job as a carrier for Spanish cheeses and charcuterie, if toasted, rubbed with tomato & possibly garlic and doused with olive oil and salt …

For lunch, we went to the neighboring town of Adahuesca. Please keep in mind - this is the middle of nowhere: both Alquezar and Adahuesca have leas than 200 inhabitants. Arriving in the middle of the siesta at 14.00h, the town was dead. We walked from the place where I felt less worried to leave my car to a nondescript courtyard. The restaurant was run by a group of ladies (most likely all younger than me). Our waitress was charming and probably 9 month pregnant. She knew my FIL and while providing the menu she asked whether she should bring 4 or 5 degustation menus. He answered 4, as my MIL “wasn’t that hungry”. Little one was delighted that he got his own menu 😉 Starters: Melon soup. A sandwich from fried squid with allioli on squid ink bread. A mussels croquette. An ensphered gazpacho. Someone was happy ! A loaf of bread appeared, still warm from the oven. Next was octopus, mixed with raw apple, celery and a mayonnaise infused with piementon de la vera, smoked paprika. Very good … The best dish of the whole lunch was this: apple slices, braised in duck stock and layered with duck confit. Incredibly flavorful. For the main course we chose four different dishes and circulated … Lamb meatballs (ultra juicy and intense) Braised oxtail (in a red wine reduction). Braised pork cheek with mushrooms. Grilled secreto de iberico with local goat cheese (we’ll come back to the latter tomorrow). We were all full, but there were a few desserts … Chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream Peanut brittle cheese cake A kind of caramel creme … Just a coffee today (as I had to drive), but I guess you know how that looks … A fantastic meal in an unexpected place. I hope they’ll stay in business for a long time 😌 !

A lazy day unfolded … I was requested by my FIL to take it easy on the breakfast, because “we will have a nice lunch in the next town. You will like it.” - and who am I to spoil my day ?! A simple bocadillo: baguette, rubbed with tomato, olive oil and salt, with a fresh simple omelette and bacon. Together with a cortado. My FILs breakfast consisted of a glass of red wine (although I suspected that he had other stuff before we finally got up at 10.00h 😉).

No family perks, just maybe a faster service 😉 Normally, you show up with your camper or with just a tent. Toilets, showers, a swimming pool, self-catering kitchens, waste management, utilities are provided for and can be used. You can rent a cabin like the one we got (there are only a handful) if you prefer a more luxurious stay. The adjacent restaurant is an option for those with limited cooking equipment or skills …

Trust me - if you serve me from that well worn one, I’ll know immediately that my hostess knows how to cook and to eat !

That’s the effect that a couple of those usually have on me 😉

Thanks! I had referenced it here (with a little personal anecdote) 😊

This is just for completion sake: a simple dinner, consisting of pa amb tomaquet for the rest of the family, and one bottle of beer and two tomato slices for yours truly 😉

They are Padrón peppers …

I can see a deal coming up 🥳

After a relatively relaxed 3h drive, we reached the Somontano region and one of its most picturesque towns, Alquezar. We went there to see my parents-in-law. My father-in-law, after retiring from running a textile company, decided that he needed more challenges in his life and took over the management of a camping site there. He has since then grown the business significantly, added additional vacation offers (e.g. guided tours etc) and renewed the lease of the restaurant to some more apt proprietors. He also makes his own olive oil from the wild olive trees growing around the site. All in all, he is a workaholic, at 71 (!) years old. We got this nice bungalow … .. threw our things in and headed to the restaurant. Todays offers included: Wine & water arrived instantly. We took the melon with ham … Ravioli, filled with caramelized onion, with blue cheese sauce. Forget about the crappy cheese on top (that will be no longer featured in the future 😉) - this was great ! Eggs, potatoes and ham. I don’t get how this could be counted as a started. It was a lot … I took the char-grilled quails with garlic-parsley oil … soooo good ! My wife had the salted cod with garlic mousseline … Little one decided for the grilled lamb (of course). Local stuff - fantastic ! Dessert were ice cream, truffels and my carajillo curt de cafe … A very, very relaxed evening ensued …

I love the Din Tai Fung version. Could you share your method, please ?

If you are getting into braising now, may I suggest “The truth about braising” from eGCI ..?

Again, there is a bit of mix up here. Let’s talk primarily of salt, not of acidic, oily of whatever “marinades”. I have an issue with articles (scientific or not) that are aimed at a certain goal, yet claim to investigate free of bias. The cited article is geared towards “busting a myth” and subsequently designs the experiments to support the goal. If you marinate a piece of meat, find out to much surprise (although there is plenty of scientific literature) that penetration of the marinate is just a few mm, then remove this part and cook only the interieurs you will get no difference. If you would have understood that the cooking part accelerates the diffusion inside the meat and is part of the process, you would not come up with biased experimental setup, and in return would get apt results. Plenty of research has gone into salt diffusion in meats, especially where it counts - in curing meats (e.g. briskets, hams, …). Strangely, the cure reaches the center and doesn’t stop at a few mm. If you do the process at elevated temperatures, it speeds up dramatically (about factor 2 for every 10 oC), so if one follows @btbyrds advice to cook with salt in a back, you not only get a perfectly cooked, but also a thoroughly flavored piece of meat. If your sauce is overpowering strong, and you need only the texture of the meat, maybe. If you have a decent (and larger) piece of protein and a delicate sauce, you will be disappointed with the flavors of the meat itself.

A multilevel question, touching some very fundamental issues. If you place a of meat into a watery liquid, it will undergo an equilibrium process. The cells in the tissue will slowly equilibrate their sodium chloride (and others) concentration with the surrounding aqueous solution in a passive way. Increasing the temperature will facilitate/speed up the process (as does physical damage to the cells). Along with the flux of water other (flavor relevant) compounds tag along, especially when cell integrity is impaired. You can call this process leaching. If you braise your meat in a salted stock, chances are that the flux of water goes from the piece from the meat towards the surrounding liquid. If you braise your meat in water, flux will be directed into the meat, leading to a dilution of flavor and possibly leaching of cellular liquid into the surrounding stock. You are not interested in either.

Today I got the empanadas - they sell two varieties, which to my surprise contain both tuna, in a kind of patty form. One had roasted peppers in them, the other was with onions & sesame. Not bad at all … We will be driving up today to Aragon, to the beautiful city of Alquézar. The next installment will be a bit delayed, as we will meet with my wife’s parents there (full story to follow) and there will be - naturally - a lot of catching up to do. Please be patient and don’t wander off 😉

It might be aimed at the international crowds, that swamp this town (in all seriousness: I heard only one couple speaking French, and one kid screaming in German so far here …). The other side of the Xiringuito displays an equally cosmopolitan word to lure in far-travelled drinkers …

Could you share an approximate version here as well, to conclude the topic ?

At least according to the cited article, both are fine … There are three cooking methods – boiling, steaming, and stewing. 1. Mince the lean and fat meat and blend. Add chopped leeks, ginger, a spoonful of sugar and two eggs. Stir. … but at the end, wouldn’t you agree that probably there are many small variations around the general LHM theme ? If you find time, maybe you can give the OP a quick translation of a recipe you deem the most authentic and then she is well equipped with a bandwidth of options should her “someone” challenge her food again …

Maybe there is more that one school of thought for this ..?

Late in the evening (after nap & some games) we headed out to the town & beach. It was a very pleasant evening, and as lunch wasn’t that much we decided to drop by one of the two Xiringuitos of the town. A Xiringuito is a kind of pop-up restaurant directly on the beach, mainly focusing on alcoholic beverages (these monsters !) and simple eats … Nothing beats a crisp fresh draft beer on the beach … Some mixed croquettes to start with (the mushroom ones were excellent) … Fried squid … And patates braves (fried potato cubes with spicy sauce) … We enjoyed the sunset and headed slowly home, as the bar emptied …

And then there was lunch (at around 16.00h) … Today might be a bit boring, as we were just catching up with a cousin of my wife, so I threw together what we had at home. Pa amb tomaquet, some sausages and cheeses, the beans & blood sausage, a salad with some really good tuna confit, confit onions (brought by our guests), bunyols de bacalla (salt cod fritters, also brought by our guests), crisps, octopus, olives, … Verdict of the lunch: I need to learn to make some really good bunyols de bacalla (because these weren’t that great) 😌

This recipe looks decent. It uses what I would consider the right cooking sequence of shallow frying & steaming. I would add a pinch MSG to up the umami, but that’s just me … Regarding the Udon noodles: I do like them a lot, and can see them working here (although, as @liuzhou has rightfully pointed out, they are Japanese). They are, however, just made from flour and water, and the quick-boil ones are actually just put into the boiling water to heat through and soften. They disintegrate very quickly, especially if you expect a cooking behaviour of Italian pasta, for example, and overcook by even 30 seconds. I think egg noodles are more forgiving, but the texture of perfectly cooked Udon is lovely. If I may add my two cents: I would not worry too much about the authenticity (just as in the Italian case). If you aim for -1.5% saltiness in your protein, and adjust the sauce after cooking to your liking you should be all set. And if that “someone” complains again he better be someone special or prepare his/her better dish next time him/herself 😉

Same here, actually … They claim “limited production” on the information display in town, so that might be actually true. The description you cited fits perfectly !