Oysters

Oysters! Oysters! Oysters!

Oysters; well known for their aphrodisiac qualities though personally, apart from a slight indigestion when eaten in industrial quantities (as you might well imagine), have never seen any such effect either on me or others that I know of. Let me know if you have :-)

Oysters in Fish shop, Barcelona

I LOVE oysters though there are many who scrunch their face in disgust at the idea of eating, what they imagine is, something slimy or a live being. In fact, if not alive, to be well avoided, like all bivalves, as stale seafood is particularly noxious. And slimy? NO WAY! The actual flesh is fresh and melts in your mouth, almost without having to bite or chew.

Did you know that the oysters of the American pacific coast are hermaphrodite? How cool is that? No need to flirt or make any effort to get a mate as their reproductive organs contain both the sperm and the eggs!

There is a saying, which is a great guide, about when to eat oysters - in the months with an 'R' in them - which, if you do your calculations, are the cold months. Now why is that, you may ask? Is it because there is less chance of them being stale? Maybe, but the reality is that oysters abstain from sex in the cold months and therefore their bodies are made up primarily of glycogen and salts which makes them fat and tasty, just as we like 'em! In the summer months, an insane 80% of their bodies become sex organs....and watery and tasteless. Now you know!

I know that the purist thing is to quaff an oyster without anything, maybe a drizzle of lemon juice (watch how the animal slides away from the acid) but I personally love it with a teaspoonful of this easy to make, 'mignonette' or sauce:

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

90ml red wine vinegar

2 small eschalots, very finely chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

Combine everything in a bowl. Set aside for 15 minutes for the flavours to develop. Serve with your oysters 

Portobello bar, Madrid

And with your favourite champagne or cava.....Bon Appetit!

Jamón, Jamón!

Andreu Xarcutería en L'illa, Barcelona

The only thing stopping me from being a vegetarian is ham. And not just any ol' ham but Spanish ham or jamón. And not just ANY ol' jamón but the jamón ibérico de bellota- star of hams and NEVER to be confused with its Italian cousin, the 'prosciutto', on pain of death via stoning or flaying, you choose. I could eat this for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner... God bless Spain!

This website will tell you all that you never knew you wanted to know about jamón. 

The Spanish are brilliant at cured meats especially from pork - a very European food tradition coming from the yearly 'matanza' where a pig or pigs were killed and the whole family partook in making sure each and every part of the animal was either cured or cooked to last a whole year till the next killing season. 



Yup, you will see legs of hams hanging blatantly in many eateries and carving a leg is a particular art form with competitions too! The really good places will always hand carve their jamón, ALWAYS. 

Pau Claris, 190, Barcelona

Most, if not all bars and many restaurants will serve jamón but, don't be fooled as it will be a very mediocre sort of jamón, which is usually drier, harder and with very white, solid fat and a slightly bitter aftertaste. When you eat a good quality jamón, the taste is SO different; the meat is juicier, the fat will be semi transparent and it will coat your mouth, retaining the wonderful flavour until you take a sip of your wine/ beer/cava...

You can have this jamón with beer........                    

Mauri, Barcelona

 ....with a cold glass of wine..

Ven Ven, Barcelona

 ...in a delicious baguette...

Enrique Tomás, Barcelona

    ...on, a coca ( a Catalan bread)

The purists will argue with the Catalans that jamón, if to be served on bread, must have the bread ONLY drizzled in olive oil- basta! The Catalans will ignore this and proceed to put the jamón on bread with tomato or 'pan amb tomaquet' and only then drizzle it with olive oil. Which do I prefer? I am all for 'pan amb tomaquet' but if the jamón is a damn fine one, I really don't want to be tasting tomato - just a good crunchy bread, the almost bitter taste of a virgin olive oil and the jamón - mmmmmm 

Here is a funny thing about the Spanish :-D For many years, I taught English and it always amused me how my students just couldn't differentiate the words 'jam' and 'ham' - understandable as their 'j' is pronounced like our 'h' but with a rasp. 

It rains in 

The Plains

of Spain

where people eat ham

for breakfast

and Jam

for their main

Tuna-Mayonaise

Avocado tuna-mayonaise on toasted rye bread

Tuna-mayonaise: quintessential British bastion of nutrition - in sandwiches, on roast potatoes, in a salad, on pasta...there is something SO comforting about this mix of 2 basic ingredients - tinned tuna and mayonnaise. Cheap, cheerful, nutritious, easy to make COMFORT food.

For those who don't know how to make this, make sure you always use tinned tuna in sunflower or olive oil. Tuna in water or brine is just way too dry, flakey and tasteless. Also, there is no point using a really high quality bonito as you can't appreciate that delicate taste when it is mashed with mayo and garnishes. 

BASIC RECIPE: Just take a tin of tuna, drain it, add a tablespoon of mayonnaise and with a fork, give it some good ol' elbow grease. This is your basic tuna-mayo for one.

Once you have mastered the basics of a tuna-mayo ( 5 minutes should do the trick), you can let your imagination run wild and add some interesting ingredients- parsley, coriander, basil, chives, finely chopped rocket, spring onions, onions, shallots, capers, olives, sun dried tomatoes, avocado, any seeds ( do toast these first except chia seeds which don't need toasting) or nuts... go on, be brave! What is the worst that can happen?- that you don't like it! That is ok, you can try again. 

AVOCADO TUNA-MAYO:
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 tins of tuna
2 tablespoons of mayo
1/2 an avocado
A small bunch of coriander, chopped
A teaspoonful of any: finely chopped spring onions/onions/chives
Salt and Pepper
Method:
Scoop the avocado from its skin and mash it with a fork. Drain the tuna and add it and all the other ingredients except the pepper and mash away till you are happy with the consistency. Some like it roughly mashed while others like it creamy - up to you. Scoop over your favourite carb - steamed? boiled? roast? jacket? potato or pasta or rice or quinoa or.... Also yum on a salad. Mill your pepper at the end and just as you are about to take your first bite. Mmmmmm

Tuna-mayonaise on steamed potato

I sometimes make a basic tuna mayo and either add truffles or truffle oil over the top and Oh My, gourmet heaven is achieved. 

Tales from the Sea - Part 3

Grilled bonito with stir fried vegetables

Fish, Fish ♪ 
♪ Glorious Fish

There's nothing quite like it to ♪
make a yum dish
so follow me follow me ♪
down to the hollow
and there we will wallow in
Glorious FISH ♪
(Very free translation of the hippopotamus song)


I am going to be honest with you, I just DON'T get how people can classify ALL fish into one ridiculous statement, "I HATE fish". My question to them is always, "WHICH fish do you mean?" There are SO many and they all taste SO different ( am clutching my hair in frustration at this point usually). For when we think of meat, we put it into so many different categories like beef, pork, mutton, venison, boar etc so why not with fish? How can you compare a steaky tuna to a flakey cod or a firm fleshed monkfish? Or an oily sardine to a rainbow trout which keeps repeating throughout the day? Burp!

Salmon tataki with salad and black olive tapenade

And do you mean fish which is raw? cooked? smoked? semi-cooked like a quick seared tataki? marinated? dried? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU IGNORAMUS!" Huff, puff, Grrrrrrrrr.... Take the above, a lovely salmon sirloin absolutely oozing Omega 3s, which has been pan seared and then cut into thin slices and served under a salad. Will you honestly say it is the same as the below? 

Grilled hake with mashed potatoes and a demi-glace sauce

Here you have a wonderfully firm but flakey, white fleshed hake which has been pan fried to perfection, lying on a beautifully mashed bed of potatoes and with a wonderful demi-glace sauce poured over. Sluuuurp. There is NO comparison! Each fish has its own taste and firmness. Here is a wonderful pdf which shows you the categories of fish - basically round, flat and others including crustaceans, shellfish, squid and octopus. 

Cod ravioli, Can Ros, Barelona

Here above is a ravioli made of cod - would you seriously say you hate 'Fish' if you got faced with one of these? 

Braised plae with lobster sauce, Café Duus, Keflavik, Iceland

One of my abiding memories of Iceland, apart from the awe-inspiring landscape, is the great fish you get there. The chef who made the above, obviously knew how to make the fish just right, he must have added some mild 'garam massala' to the flour before pan frying it. The lobster sauce was yummy and I made sure to dip my delicious bacon tossed baby potatoes in it.

Grilled scallops in Seagriffin, Reykjavik, Iceland

And then there is the 'Saegriffin' in Reykjavik where you chose your fish/seafood and they grilled it to perfection and served it to you. Awesomeness itself!

Steinbitur

The Icelanders also eat something I found a bit odd but had a very mild and more-ish taste, dried Catfish! A great source of protein plus a handy snack as long as you don't mind its fishy smell! 

Malaysian snack, ikan bilis

South East Asians are great dried fish lovers - they use em for a variety of amazing dishes and here, while wandering in Malacca in Malaysia, we had some 'ikan bilis' or dried anchovies which were a salty snack - keep a bottle of water handy, though!

Salmon tartare Thai style, Bamboo rice, Le Blanc, France

Here is another versatile way to make fish - raw and in a tartare. Chop your fish up and add chopped onions, capers, herbs.. Here is a yummy and easy peasy recipe. The above was made in a Thai resto and had corander, lemongrass, onions, chilli and soya sauce and was HEAVEN. 

Cod confit with stuffed cabbage and grapes, Coure, Barcelona

Then you have something called a confit which is basically cooking a meat like duck, in its own fat at very low temperature and over a long period and then preserving it. Cod doesn't come with blubber but this confit had been slow cooked in olive oil and just melted in your mouth. 

Stuffed smoked salmon

I LOVE smoked salmon and usually have some in my fridge. It's a great way to eat fish without ANY cooking and very versatile. The above dish is REE-AH-LEEEE simple:

Serves 1
Ingredients:
100 gms of smoked salmon
Half a courgette grated
Tartare sauce
Chives
That's it!
Method:
Grate the courgette
Add as much or little of a good tartare sauce you like
Add a heaped tablespoon in the centre of 1 salmon sheet and roll. Repeat with the others
Sprinkle chives on top
Voilá

Steamed sea bass with ginger and onion, Shanghai 1930, Barcelona

Mmmm, steamed fish. I wont say more....

Tales from the Squid - Part 2

Baby squid grilled with garlic and parsley, Bar Ton, Barcelona

I LOVE squid - don't you? There is something just SO good about these critters, whether baby or adult. When fresh, as you invariably get in Spain, you bite through the protein rich flesh - it shouldn't be chewy and if you find you are eating squid with a chewing gum consistency then, my friend, spit it right out! And on the table, for if the restaurant does you the disservice of serving this, you must spit-pro-quo. Hrumph!

Squid on vegetables, Bar Ton, Barcelona

Squid is plentiful in the many fishmongers here and a popular dish made in MANY ways. My favourite is the simple way:

Stir fried squid in Ven Ven, Barcelona

Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 large squid, diced into 1 inch cubes
1 clove of garlic, diced finely
1 tbsp olive oil
Some parsley chopped up
Salt and pepper
Method:
Heat the oil in a pan/wok and add the garlic and fry till beginning to turn golden
Add the squid and cook till firm, at high heat
Add salt
Remove from pan, sprinkle with pepper and then parsley and ENJOY, you lucky fu**er!

Squid in ink with Fava beans, Madrid

I love the fact that squid is versatile, tasty, healthy AND cheap! They are intelligent beings so tis a pity to eat them so I try not to think about that last fact. Forget I said that. Right now!
Hope the following photo will distract you...

Squid and Fava beans, Bardot, Barcelona

Feeling distracted? I am feeling hungry!

Tales from the Sea - Part 1

Fresh crab with eggs

A long time ago, I kind of did the famous 'Camino de Santiago' also known as Way/Path/Trail of St. James, Route of Santiago de Compostela or Road to Santiago. This is meant to be a spiritual trip and all routes ( from Spain, France and Portugal) or Pilgrim roads lead to the shrine of the Apostle St James, in the awe inspiring Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, in N.W. Spain. You can also take it as a way to commune with nature as you walk or cycle across swathes of countryside and even as a personal challenge to yourself as you venture into an unknown landscape, away from technology and creature comforts. 

Ok, so mine was not the hardcore version, rather, it was to take the train and then the plane as the trip got further west, returning each time to Barcelona to pick up the kids, go to work etc but hey, I still did the trip and stopped at many places and ate THE most divine food...

So once Santiago is reached, for those for whom it is anticlimatic, you can prolong the trip by going about 80kms more, to a place called Finisterre or Earth's end. Not a very beautiful place as such but with a beautiful harbour and some excellent restaurants, a perfect way for a foodie to end this trip...

Finisterre

..and have what I had, a seafood FEAST! For Galicia is known for its seafood and oh my! This crab was raw and fresh and the eggs just popped in your mouth.

Crab heaven

Followed by razor clams which were small and so sweet, I could have eaten another serving easy peasy.

Razor clams

Don't you just love these variegated scallops (wonderfully called 'zamburiñas' in Spanish) grilled with a garlic/ parsley oil? 

Variegated scallops

Back in Barcelona, I continue my love affair with these wonderful scallops and had some 'smoked' ones with a tomato chutney - sublime!

Smoked scallops with tomato chutney

Talking of seafood, how, I mean HOW can I forget the wonderful mussels which I ate in Brussels, not just once but many times. 

Mussels in Brussels

Please Sir, could I have some Ceviche

Mussel Ceviche, The Market, Barcelona

Ceviche, you ask? What on earth is that? Sounds like a fungus! 
Well, dear Food Pornicator (aka my favourite type of masochist), you have probably been living on a remote island off Antarctica if you haven't come across Ceviche. It is Peru's answer to sushi, the health freak's dream dish and a must-eat for any food and fish lover. I simply love it and thank my lucky, lucky stars that a few years ago, Peruvian restaurants shot to fame in Barcelona and suddenly sprouted up everywhere just like the aforementioned fungus. And even nicer, ceviche has crossed the country barrier and entered into menus of many non Peruvian restaurants in Barcelona.

So, here is a nice little non-wiki page which talks about ceviche. Basically, if you are too lazy to read all that - it is a dish with fish marinated in citric juices and any of a variety of garnishes added afterwards, made all over Latin America though there is a strong historical link to Peru. Dee-lish-us! I have tasted many different combos in many places and frankly, find it hard to pinpoint to a favourite. Can you? 

Ceviche with avocado, Coure, Barcelona

To the right, a rather Spanish version with an olive oil instead of a citric juice dressing. You really must be used to the strong virgin olive oil used to taste the upper notes of chive, parsley and snipped cress. The avocado makes this dish heavier than some of its South American counterparts but definitely adds to the health benefits ( "WHAT", you huff, salivating like a hungry beast, "Who cares about health!?")

3 version ceviche, Tanta, Barcelona

I happen to live in the Amazing restaurant neighbourhood of Barcelona. Serendipity? Karma? Whatever, Thank You, Food God; Hallowed be thy name. There is an excellent though rather pricey Peruvian restaurant that opened a few years ago, which serves a variety of this yummy dish. At the top left you have the Hot, the Nikkei (with tamarind that gives it a deep orange colour) and the Classic - OMG, amazing!

You might be wondering what that thick juice, in which the fish comes swimming is. It is called, amusingly enough, 'Leche de tigre' or Tiger Milk! Yowzha! And no, no tiger was involved or milked - Ouch! Herewith, a recipe for Leche de Tigre which can be a drink on its own:

Ceviche, Ceviche 103, Barcelona

Serves 6
Ingredients:
60 gms of lemon juice, 
60 gms of lime juice, 
60 gms of hake, skinless and boneless,
20 gms of peeled shrimp, 
60 gms of fish stock, 
12-15 gms of celery, 
25 gms of onion,
7 gms of salt, 
25 gms of crushed ice, 
8 gms of hot chili peppers,
3 grams of fresh cilantro/coriander.
Method:
In a mixer/food processor, whizz the first 5 ingredients. Adjust the fish stock to balance the acidity. 
Peel the celery to remove the filaments and chop it. 
Peel the onion and cut it 
Add both the ingredients into the mixer. 
Finally add salt and ice. Whizz until it becomes a smooth cream.
The ice is added to balance the acidity, to prevent the citric acids from transforming the fish and, to maintain the cold temperature at which you are to serve the dish.
Finally, add the chilli and coriander leaves and whizz again, briefly. 
Pour into a covered container and reserve in the refrigerator until time to serve over the marinated fish.

Ceviche in a random and humble Peruvian

And here is a nice and easy ceviche recipe, just what you were waiting for. I personally wouldn't add the olives but hey ho- you decide. 

A few years ago, arriving in Florence on a Sunday at 3pm and hungry as hell, a boyfriend of mine and I ventured out to eat after having settled into our hotel. And lo and behold, a Peruvian restaurant was just there, where we wanted it and open for custom! Of the week we were in Florence, we ate there 3 times, the food was that good and copious. 

Ceviche at Totos

You remember how I told you that ceviche has crossed the country barrier and moved into menus of non Peruvian restaurants? Take 'Totos' - an Italian restaurant and, what do I see when I go there, late one evening, to dine? Yes, a ceviche! And a dee-LISH-us one at that...






And last but not the least, ceviche, Japanese style! With marinated red onions, chives, salmon and sea bass. Dee-light-ful!

Ceviche, Nanayo, Barcelona