"Going out in Spain again, how wonderful!" many friends say to me.
Well, no actually it is not. Yes I admit the weather makes a pleasant change from the dreary precipitation of North West England and I have some good friends, where I work in Spain but at the end of the day it is no holiday, it is work.
Dressed in suit and tie on the road in a plane full of holidaymakers to Alicante is depressing enough, but it is by taxi to the plant, a full day's work in an air-conditioned to follow through the office taxi to the hotel. Back to the plants in the morning, another full day, etc. etc. .... Get the picture? What is the weather has to do with it?
The only salvation for me is the food. Spanish food ranks right up there with Italian for me is that it relies on fresh ingredients and simple cooking. The only difference is the selection of snacks in the bars - Tapas.
Because of the simplicity of cooking and the diversity, manyTapas are ideal for the barbecue smoker and have found their way into my free BBQ Recipes Web pages. Every day I try one new bar, new tapas, ask the bartender how it is cooked and then punch it on the laptop during the flight home. Perhaps there is an upside, business travel, after all.
The word tapas (plural) comes from the word tapa meaning a cover. In the bars and bodegas of Andalucia in the days before air-con, would the bartender a tapa to cover its customersSherry glass to stop the flies in. It was not always long before the bartender would be a little bread on the tapas place and that is where the tapas started evolution.
Technically designed tapas appetizers to the bar with an aperitif before eating the main home for lunch and a siesta, of course, be eaten. The tapas revolution now means that they can use all the hours and many are eaten at the same time to make a meal itself, and it is this concept that makes it ideal for tapasthe grill.
Some need a little adjustment and take for example the Esgarrat is bacalao (salted cod fish) and roasted red peppers in olive oil. The sweetness of the peppers produced combines beautifully with the salt cod a wonderful combination of flavors. Make a plate and dip your bread with friends in the oil - fantastic on a hot summer day!
Preparation of Esgarrat take time (one week) and uses two basic techniques of barbecue smoke, first curingand then fire roasting so here's how it goes.
Take 6 ounces or 150g cod, veal steak (skinned) and place it in a plastic bag with two tablespoons of salt. Seal the bag and slam it in the fridge for a week. On the day of consumption, remove the cod loin from the bag, wash under running water and cut into thin slices, as you would smoked salmon. Technically bacalao should be dried in the air, but I find the process more than adequate and certainly the best that I can reach, in a wetUK maritime climate.
If the charcoal good and hot, grill place two red peppers on the smoker and cook until the skin is black and blisters and the flesh is soft. When finished, place the peppers can be in a plastic bag to cool and seal. When cool, remove the peppers from the bag and peel away the black skin and you are left to cut with a beautifully soft sweet that Pepper's ready. Cut into strips in a shallow bowl with the salt and codGorge in olive oil - work done, give it only an hour so the flavors mix and you are ready to serve.
Enjoy Esgarrat, enjoy what left of the summer and I'll be back for some other Spanish culinary adventures in the fall.
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