Foodblog: bergerka

[Abra]

Please please please get that lentejas recipe for us!

[Ondine]

Oh, yes, please consider that lentejas recipe request seconded!

I looooove lentils, and the thought of trying a new, non-Indian recipe fills me with joy!

[Ling]

Hi bergerka, just wanted to tell you I'm loving your blog. It's the only thing I've been checking on EG regularly in quite a few months!

I have a question about the chocolate olive oil mousse...(I read the description last night and couldn't get it out of my head!) I was wondering whether it's a standard chocolate mousse with just olive oil, salt and pepper on top, or are they incorporated into the mousse itself? Also, could you describe the texture--do you think it's lightened with egg whites or whipped cream, or a combination of both? I would love to try to replicate it at home.

[Ling]

C's mother, on the other hand, puts nothing like that in her lentejas.  They are just lentils, onion, garlic, carrot, scallion, a little salt and (HUGE surprise to me) a little cinnamon. 

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Are the lentils cooked in water? Chicken stock? Pork broth? Beef? Are they rounded out at the end with some sort of fat, like butter or olive oil?

[rjwong]

Kathleen, when I saw you were doing a foodblog, I had to post!!

I'm glad all is well with you in Espana, mi amiga ...

Since you're from Arizona, I would like to hear you compare Spanish cuisine from Mexican cuisine and/or Southwestern cuisine.

So, when's your debut in Los Angeles, por favor??

[bergerka]

Good morning! I'm still dealing with connection issues here - have not had a chance to get to the cafe with free wifi, but wanted to post last night and this morning.

We were invited to eat dinner at C's brother Pablo's house. He lives in a suburb of Salamanca, has a lovely house and yard. We ate outdoors, una cena romántica, as it were.

Olives, cornichons, tomatoes (this plate was so pretty I just had to get a shot of it solo)

A GORGEOUS salad of lettuce, tomatoes, beets, queso fresco, turkey, hearts of palm and walnuts

Still life of bread, salchicha and jalapeño-stuffed olives

Empanadas (of bonito, I think) with dried favas and greens

Cangrejo del rio (river crabs) in a sauce of tomatoes and paprika. YUM.

Ice cream! Chocolate, rum raisin and walnut, with a little apple liqueur over the top and a couple of cookies.

And, of course, red wine. One bottle of Marques de Arienzo Crianza Rioja, one bottle of Toro (from near Zamora).

Because it was morning, I forgot to take a picture of breakfast. I promise to do it tomorrow. It was coffee (yay!), baguettes with butter and jam, danish, and lovely cool watermelon.

I am still catching up on questions, etc., will get to them all today, I promise. Right now I'm off to buy some ham, camera in tow!

K

[patti]

Cangrejo del rio (river crabs) in a sauce of tomatoes and paprika. YUM.

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The river crabs look surprisingly like crawfish! Do my eyes deceive me?

Fantastic blog, btw. You and César make a gorgeous couple.

Edited August 17, 2007 by patti (log)

[Kent Wang]

Are there macro producers of charcuterie in Spain like Boar's Head in the US? I imagine in a culture that is more educated about charcuterie, and a land filled with superb charcutiers, a macro brand would have difficulty gaining market share like Boar's Head has done in America.

[Genny]

Are there macro producers of charcuterie in Spain like Boar's Head in the US? I imagine in a culture that is more educated about charcuterie, and a land filled with superb charcutiers, a macro brand would have difficulty gaining market share like Boar's Head has done in America.

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I could just shake people who say Boar's Head is the best anything. Ugh.

[bergerka]

Hi guys, I am checking in to apologize for the delay! I have a lovely afternoon and evening to tell you about, including lots of tapas, but I CANNOT get the connection here to stay open long enough to get the pictures uploaded, and the one wifi place in town kept giving me an error (probably has to do with my having a Mac. %$·%"!@ macs. So I will have to wait to post till tomorrow - I know we are eating lunch in a place that has free wifi and VERY good and fast! I'm offline till then, thank you for the patience and please forgive the interruption in the foodblog!

Besos,

K

[Live It Up]

I have a question about the chocolate olive oil mousse...(I read the description last night and couldn't get it out of my head!) I was wondering whether it's a standard chocolate mousse with just olive oil, salt and pepper on top, or are they incorporated into the mousse itself? Also, could you describe the texture--do you think it's lightened with egg whites or whipped cream, or a combination of both? I would love to try to replicate it at home.

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I've never had this mousse, but I was just flipping through Teresa Barrenechea's The Cuisines of Spain which I just got, and there is a recipe from Madrid for an olive oil chocolate mousse. It actually replaces dairy with olive oil and is lightened with eggwhites. I can PM it if you want.

[Peter the eater]

This is a very cool blog. I want to go to Spain more than ever, having almost made it twice, both times thwarted by something.

I see J-A had a paella on night. Since your passion for food and for Spain is so obviously large, can you describe your ideal paella for us? I have a feeling I have never had the real thing, only lame-o wannabes.

[bergerka]

FINALLY! I am sitting out in front of the Hotel Puente de Piedra in Zamora, discovered by Eric when we came up here for the vocal competition in May (I didn't make the finals, but was awarded a concert in Alicante. Ah, Spain.). This hotel is a TERRIFIC bargain, when we were here it was €25 a night for a double room for single person use (I think in high season it's more like €40, but still a great deal), big rooms, your own (big) bathroom, quiet, free wifi, a wonderful restaurant and one of the most welcoming atmospheres I've ever found, largely due to Dani, the proprietor, who must have a portrait aging in the attic, because he looks about 25. He's also so gorgeous that the first time Eric,Re'ut (a mezzosoprano friend) and I saw him, there were three simultaneous "thuds" as our jaws hit he floor.

First, a couple of answers. C's mother's lentejas are cooked in water, with everything else, all ingredients together. I don't know what the EXACT amounts are of everything...and when I asked, she just smiled and wagged her finger at me.

The chocolate mousse at Asturianos is, as far as I know, just a regular chocolate mousse, although slightly more dense than others I've had, but I think that's because Julia uses a lot of cream. on top, you float really, really good olive oil, a little sea salt, a little fresh ground pepper, and mix it all up JUST before you eat it (in other words, they serve it to you floated on top, you mix it yourself).

Unfortunately, I don't yet know enough about paella to give the definitive answer, but I loved the arroz con conejo y caracolas (a paella with snails and rabbit) that Eric and I recently had in El Campello, just outside Alicante.

Spanish food and Mexican food are different animals entirely - it's like comparing, say, Spanish and Italian food, or Spanish and American food. Just start with the tortilla - in Spain, it's a potato, egg and onion omelet. In Mexico, it's a flatbread.

So we'll start from our ham-buying excursion, yesterday (yes, ewindels, some of it is for you), to this store in Salamanca:

Some of the house-made embutidos

more, packaged

Jamón and various cured sausages hanging on the wall.

Naturally, we had to sample the jamón to make sure it was ok, so we headed to C's brother Jesus's house for a pre-lunch snack

That's olives, queso de oveja (sheep) from Zamora, fuet (sausage) and the jamón, which was indeed delicious, and we drank white vermouth.

Next up...lunch!

[bergerka]

For lunch we headed back to C's mom's house. She had made gazpacho (hers is more strongly flavored than the traditional one, as she uses more garlic. It's delicious), plus we had MORE of the jamón. The gazpacho is in the glasses.

We then had spaghetti with egg and bacon, sort of like a carbonara, only, you know, not. Delicious César gave me enough for three or four people, which was interesting...as it wasn't the final course!

The final course was a pisto, made with tomatoes, onion, pepper, zucchini and bonito (tuna). I was, unfortunately, only able to eat a little, but it was delish.

I then headed off for a two hour siesta, as my brain had stopped functioning and gone into a food coma.

Last night, we went to eat tapas with my friend Erin, who lives in Salamanca.

First, we took a couple of pictures.

Here's the frog. Can you find it???

There is also an astronaut on the side of the cathedral. Yes, really.

Here I am in front of the cathedral. The light at this moment was amazing, it looked like gold because of the piedra de Villamayor (the stone out of which the cathedral is made, as well as half of the buildings in Salamanca).

And I just had to get this pic of the dome, because there was one bird on each of the towers.

Enough pretty stuff. On to the food!

First we stopped at Bar La Viga, to eat jeta (basically deep fried pork cheek).

The jeta. Funny story, the waitress told us to sit at a table that was already full of people who had paid. She smacked our jeta order down on the table, and said to the people there "don't touch that!" We didn't know whether to laugh or be horrified!

Jeta, with a nice glass of Rioja.

We then headed off to Casa Paca.

Erin and César, in front

My favorite waiter there, who is ALWAYS there,

First tapas, with Rioja. Huevos rotos, sort of a scrambled eggs, but better, and revuelto de morcilla, a delicious blood sausage omelet.

Second tapas, patatas meneadas (potatoes with a ton of paprika and, I think, onion), revuelto de farinato (a sausage that is a specialty of the region) and

OOOOOOF.

After all that, we went to bar El Reloj, in the Plaza Mayor, under the famous clock (El reloj).

Erin and me, in the Plaza Mayor

The bar

Tapas, with more rioja - huevos rotos con jamón, a salad of tomato, lettuce and queso fresco, and a crepe filled with crab, merluza (hake) and mayonnaise.

We then met up with C's friends Ivan and Giuliana and went to a terrace bar to have some lovely mojitos, accompanied by a Brazilian band.

César and his harem, Erin, Giuliana and me.

Mojitos

I then staggered off to bed.

[docsconz]

Unfortunately, I don't yet know enough about paella to give the definitive answer, but I loved the arroz con conejo y caracolas (a paella with snails and rabbit) that Eric and I recently had in El Campello, just outside Alicante.

Though made in various forms throughout Spain, Alicante and Valencia are considered the principle paella area of the country and therefore the world. I know that the only time I have ever had paella even remotely resembling the quality and sumpruousness of what I had in Valencia last spring was the paella made by the same person when he was at The World of Flavors Conference in California last fall. In both cases it was awesome!

Spanish food and Mexican food are different animals entirely - it's like comparing, say, Spanish and Italian food, or Spanish and American food.  Just start with the tortilla - in Spain, it's a potato, egg and onion omelet.  In Mexico, it's a flatbread.

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So true, except that comparisons of Spanish to Italian food are much easier to make as they are quite close in style and content in many areas due to overlapping history and similar geography. In fact the Tortilla Española that you mention, was something that growing up I always thought of as Italian as it was a staple in my Neapolitan heritage mother's family kitchen. Of course there is a huge overlap in history and tradition between Campania and Spain. Even the Neapolitan dialect of Italian probably owes almost as much to the Spanish language as it does to Italian. While a Spanish influence in Mexican cuisine certainly exists to varying degrees on a regional basis, the geography, local traditions and native flora and fauna are and were so different that the cuisines remain quite different even though mutual influences are apparent within each cuisine.

[Domestic Goddess]

Kathleen, how about a pic of the demon holding an ice cream cone?

[docsconz]

The frog is located on the skull slightly to the left of center of the photo.

[bergerka]

This morning, we slept in, then had breakfast at C's mother's house.

I had coffee and pan con aceite, basically toasted baguette with olive oil and a little salt. Yum.

Breakfast

Breakfast closeup

Then it was off to Zamora to meet up with Eric and eat at the hotel!

You have to love Dani, when I called to make the reservation (MUST RESERVE saturdays and sundays or you WILL NOT get a table), he said "...is this Kathleen???" He remembered me from MAY.

We had a Toro wine. Well, Eric and César had wine. I tasted a little, but I have to sing.

We started with pulpo a la gallega, octopus boiled and served with paprika, olive oil and potatoes. I never liked octopus till I tried it in Spain, now I LOVE it...and this hotel does one of the best I've had.

We also had mollejas (sweetbreads), cooked in a highly spiced sauce with tomatoes, cumin, olive oil, onion, and other stuff.

...I really like sweetbreads.

Second courses were as follows: I had entrecote of beef with pepper sauce (and the omnipresent french fries!)

César had entrecote with Roquefort. His was a bit overcooked. Mine was perfect, really rare.

And Eric had lubina (sea bass), grilled with lots of garlic!

Desserts at the Puente de Piedra are all homemade and all incredible.

I had the pineapple mousse, which tastes sexy enough to give C ideas.

He had the flan, which did the same for me.

And Eric had the cuajada with honey, which was more solid than some versions and incredibly tasty.

Dani was kind enough to take a photo with the boys in front of the hotel/restaurant! If you ever go there, tell him the American soprano sent you.

We are now off to Fermoselle, almost an hour away, near the border of Portugal. I'll sing a concert, then we'll go back to Salamanca for the night. I may or may not be able to post until tomorrow...till then, enjoy!!!

K

[docsconz]

Break a leg!

[Kent Wang]

That's olives, queso de oveja (sheep) from Zamora, fuet (sausage) and the jamón, which was indeed delicious, and we drank white vermouth.

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Is vermouth more commonly consumed by itself in Spain than it is in the US? Was it a Spanish brand? It seems like there are no more than a dozen vermouth brands available here.

[Ling]

The chocolate mousse at Asturianos is, as far as I know, just a regular chocolate mousse, although slightly more dense than others I've had, but I think that's because Julia uses a lot of cream.  on top, you float really, really good olive oil, a little sea salt, a little fresh ground pepper, and mix it all up JUST before you eat it (in other words, they serve it to you floated on top, you mix it yourself).

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Thank-you! I am going to do a version of this for dessert tomorrow and serve it with wild fennel pollen biscotti.

[judiu]

Dang; I was adding a response, and all of a sudden, it was gone! Thanks for this blog, armchair traveler that I am, it's too cool!

[judiu]

Oh, K, this is a most wonderful blog. As you may know, I'm an armchair traveler, and do SO love to be conducted 'round different places. Spain is SO cool! and I do Wish I were there eating with you

[Abra]

Tell us about tapas etiquette. When a group of you go and order several dishes, do you have small plates and serve yourselves a portion, or does everyone just share from the main dish?

Oh, and what did you sing?

Edited August 19, 2007 by Abra (log)

[markemorse]

Such a great blog, thanks for persisting...

This is truly a case when a picture would've been worth the next 100 words, but I'll do it anyway: last summer I ate canned bonito in olive oil almost every day, and I thoroughly wish I had some in the house right now (there are normally 3 or 4 tins stashed here or there): our usual brand is Dani. So it's Dani Bonito, which is of course the first thing I thought of when you said your hotel proprietor's name...and then the subsequent dinner you couldn't finish had me scurrying around for my camera. But yes, we have no bonito!

And note to anyone out there who enjoys or tolerates regular supermarket tuna like I'd been doing: you must try some canned bonito in olive oil, it's worlds beyond, and not terribly expensive (at least here it's not). It's worth every extra cent.

Thanks again for the superb photos and words....

Edited August 19, 2007 by markemorse (log)