Cucina Povera (or why Synthesis is more than the addition of the parts)

This is an original recipe that was conceived and executed in Munich during my last visit to Manolis and Marion in November 2009.

Marion (Manolis’ wife for the uninitiated) who is an accomplished cook, had prepared among other dishes salt cod in a tomato sauce, and cheek peas in the oven. She had also bought a wonderful delicious sausage from Spain, the one with whole chunks of fat in it. They are very delicious, but require a robust stomach.

As we were discussing about food and tastes, it became apparent to me that the next day we will have a lot of leftovers, a little bit of each dish and a few pieces of the sausage (chorizo). One of the themes of the conversation was the combination of pork products with seafood in Catalonia and the Basque country.

I therefore thought of combining the pieces of sausage left with the cod, and add some cheek peas to the lot. The container of all of these would be a mix of eggs and thinly sliced peppers. I even created a drawing of the dish.

Please disregard the rather dramatic “Teufels Dreieck” which means “Devil’s Traingle” in German. It was the tentative name for the dish, but it was dropped after Athina commented that it was rather unsuitable for such a nice tasting dish.

The dish remains without name to date, but as it is a classical example of “cucina povera”, or “cooking with leftovers”, I decided to name the article accordingly.

Take a deep round baking dish and put the slices of the sausage in a way that they form a triangle.Put in a very hot over (250 Celsius) and let the sausage fat to soften for 10 minutes.

Add thinly sliced peppers, the more colors the better, and then the cod flakes and the cheek peas.

Whisk 6 eggs and pour them over the triangle. Bake in 200 Celsius for 20 minutes and serve piping hot.

The result was more than rewarding. The mix of the sausage and the salted cod worked beautifully, the fish standing up to the ferocious attack of the strong animal. The cheek peas acted like the buffer zone between the two war camps, while the eggs and the peppers softened the impact of the competing tastes. What a dish!

Therefore, in food as in life, we can safely conclude that synthsesis is more than adding things together. This is a good example of the case.

Fish and Seafood in the Boqueria Market, Barcelona

Today I peesent some pictures of fishes and seafood from the Boqueria Market in Barcelona.  

Bacalao (Cod) 

Bacalao

Dorada (Dory)

Dorada

Escorpornas (Scorpion)

Escorpona

St Pierre

San Pietro

 Unknown

Rodaballo (Turbot). Note the dark colouring of the fish, especially compared to the ones of the Eastern Mediterranean, which feature pink colours.  

Turbot

Tuna 

Tuna

Navajas (razor clams). A perfect delicacy, as you can taste it in the food stalls inside the Boqueria, with parsley and garlic.  

Navajas

Navajas

Navajas

Navajas

A rich variety of crabs all over! It is like a dream.

Centollas (spider crabs)

Centollas

Necoras (Velvet crabs)

Necoras

Buey vivo (edible crab, cancer pagurus)

Bueys

Langostas (lobsters)

Langostas

Langostinos (king prawns)

Langostinos

Gambas

Gambas

Carabineros

Carabineros

Camaros

Camaros

Galeras

Galeras

Cigalas

 

Crayfish

Neichel Restaurant Barcelona

The Neichel restaurant in Barcelona has a tough job to do. The owner chef Jean Louis Neichel comes form Strasbourg, in Alsace and has to compete with the accomplished chefs of the Catalan cuisine. But he is no stranger to this competition. For 8 years, until 1980 he was the chef of “El Bulli”, and since 1981 he has maintained a very high gastronomic level at the “Neichel” restaurant in Barcelona.  Located in a nice quite neighborhood of Barcelona, the discrete restaurant promises a lot. Lets see what it delivers.

"Sea and Mountain" salad

The menu calls this a “small” salad! It is quite obvious that the chef has a good sense of humour! Look at the layout of the dish! The chef is an amateur painter, and it shows! The tastes of pickled duck carpaccio, foie gras, spider crab and lobster were married discretely and with confidence. Chef Neichel is one of the first who dared to separate the ingredients in a way that each stood alone yet they all complimented the others.

Seafood glory

The name is mine, but I could not resist. Baby squid, scallop, fish of the day, ccockle, ratatouille and spinach rigatoni, all in a divine squid sauce full of flavours.

Veal Cheek

Braised veal cheek, shallot compot with cassis, truffled mashed potatoes, sweet potato chips and caramelized quince.

Deserts

The deserts were smooth and silky, but it was a shame to have to destroy the harmony of colours on the plate!

The dining room

The dining room is a very warm place, and the view of the garden a delight!

Eaux de vie

The glorious eaux de vie of Alsace could not be absent!

Display of chefs and cooks

After the meal I visited the kitchen where I saw this huge display full of chefs and cooks from all places on earth!

I really enjoyed the meal and the service and the ambience of Neichel, it is a restaurant where you can forget everything and really enjoy the food and the drinks, served by true professionals. And the value for money ratio is outstanding. I highly recommend it to all visitors of Barcelona.

Ramon Freixa, Barcelona – Tradition, tradition, tradition!

This is a quick note on my visit to Ramon Freixa’s restaurant in Barcelona, El Raco d’en Freixa.

I wanted to taste the traditional Catalan cuisine, so I got the “Menu Tradicion” and hoped for the best. In what follows I will present the dishes, their photos and the impressions that have stayed with me after this visit.

Amuse bouche (literally)

It is absolutely wonderful to walk into a two-Michelin star restaurant (according to some Spanich critics Freixa should have three stars) and see normal people, enjoying themselves, having a wonderful time at very reasonable prices! But this is Barcelona, this is Cataluna! I would have expected nothing less!

Every little bite of the amuse bouche  was delicious, while the sweet potato chips were superb. The little drink is now erased from my memory.

Bread and butter

Bread and butter that by themselves can feed  you in the best way! The quality of the butter combined with the crispy delicious bread, put everything at risk, as the stomach can easily be filled.

Pan con tomate - Bread with tomato

The incredible Catalan delicacy that unites the rich and the poor: bread with tomato!

Llonganissa de Vic

Long, thin dry-cured Catalan sausage. Please note that this is the first dish of the menu!

Raviolis de patata

Potato Ravioli  stuffed with blood sausage  and white soft beans of the ganxet variety. Amazing combination of tastes, the soft succulent beans break into the intensity of the blood sausage while the crispy potato ravioli skin provides the variety in texture that entertains even the most demanding palate.

Fishermen's soup with garlic toast fingers

Fishermen’s soup, with hake and bacalao, served with delicious garlic toast fingers. It is a soft, smooth, low key dish, that prepares you for the upcoming storm of flavours.

Canelones

The caneloni that came next were made with three different roasted meats, and were divine! Full flavour, smooth texture, soft and juicy skin!

Bacalao +

This dish was the absolute masterpiece of the menu. A juicy and fleshy chunk of bacalo served with snails and pig’s trotters! Unbelievable subtlety and softness in a dish that combines the sea and the earth.

Fricando +

It if were not for the “bacalao con pies de cerdo y caracoles” (the previous dish) I would happily declare this beef stew as the champion! Wonderful flesh, superbly cooked slowly until it becomes soft and delicious, with the tasty mountain mushrooms “moixernons”. It was served with garlic cloves (like candy) and the green stuff that was absolutely amazing: bitter, crunchy, full of flavour!  This dish is like a volcano of flavours!

Thousand leaves pastry with double cream

I could easily eat ten of these, they were divine, light, puffy, while the smell of butter emerging from the leaves has not left me to date! At this stage the chef, Ramon Freixa started going around the tables. A low key polite man, made an excellent impression on me.

Coffee sweets

As expected, the restaurant offerred a superb “armonia de vinos” with the menu, so that the guest can enjoy a different wine with each dish, without having to order 5 bottles!  Just for the record, the price of this “degustacion” per person is lower than the price of an average bottle of wine! This is what I call civilization!