A cooks tour of Spain

[maggienetball]

Got to say that I love the new series a Cooks tour of Spain. Didn't think too much of the Wild Gourmets. Thought showing Guy in the nip was a viewer magnet though and well worth the filming cssts.
This time though it feels real. Love the recipes and that masterchef Tommi seems a lot more at ease. Nice to see new simple recipes doing the rounds.
Bored with Italian now, time to change to Spanish!!

[hamster]

I caught the end of it the other day and thought it looked quite good. I didn't like the Wild Gourmets much either, but I might make an effort to watch this. There was a really interesting article in the Observer about her as well. Apparently she's been criticised for not being 'authentic' in her Mexican restaurant because her chillis and Mexican-style cheese come from the UK instead of travelling halfway around the world, and she gets very annoyed by this. V sound attitude, imho.


http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/foo ... 93,00.html

[Donna]

I watched that show once and was actually quite impressed and put Spain on my list of countries I want to travel to. :)

[hedgewitch]

I watched that show once and was actually quite impressed and put Spain on my list of countries I want to travel to. :)

Avoid Torrevieja like the plague!!

[MKG]

And Lloret del Mar

[AXJ]

If you are thinking of coming to Spain, I highly recommend the Basque Country, the food here is fabulous and revolves around the seasons. There is a great loyalty to regional produce, and incredible pride in the quality of local fruit and veg, pimentos and tomatoes eagerly awaited each year. The fish and seafood is fantastically fresh, alive alive O. For the meat eaters, lamb and beef are a delight, most decent restaurants have a wood fire integrated into the kitchens for that extra special treatment of wonderful foods.

Bacalao al pil pil is the local salted cod piece de resistance. I put directions for the authentic recipe on line click here

[MKG]

Salted cod piece????

[AXJ]

Salted cod piece????

roll on the floor laughing MA0

[Clara]

a resistant salted cod piece no less...... .......sounds a bit opus dei.

[AXJ]

a resistant salted cod piece no less...... .......sounds a bit opus dei.

Blimey, don't bring those fascist franquistas into it, okay so I don't speak French, let alone write it.. so I shall express it in a different fashion... Bacalao Al Pil Pil is la Puta Madre, de la Ostia, estan de la cojones... have you tried making it? As you are in Spain you should be able to get the cod no problem, unless you don't eat fish of course.

It is funny that it should be seen as a resistance dish, given that it was invented in the Seige of Bilbao, when there was just garlic, salted cod, a few chilies and olive oil available.

I am an anarcho-syndicalist personally, and I take grave exception to being associated with opus dei LoL

Your water and ham festival on 24th June sounds ... erm interesting. I hope you are prepared to take to the street...

[Clara]

I´ll be keeping out of it....besides I´m a bit witchy-woo so I´ll be celebrating the solstice proper not some catholic version of it.....

I have cooked the salt cod before, but not to this recipe, perhaps I´ll give it a try. It seems quite expensive here, for something that looks a bit ropey before you do anything with it KWIM....I guess that is because we are further away from where the cod is caught.

[AXJ]

I´ll be keeping out of it....besides I´m a bit witchy-woo so I´ll be celebrating the solstice proper not some catholic version of it.....

LoL, I don't think that the solstice was invented by anyone, it just exists, and has been appropriated by just about every culture in one way or another. Personally I am a total agnostic, but in the Basque Country the spiritual home of Iberian Witches, they have an interesting ceremony which involves a bonfire, as many witches as you can gather together and a bit of paper with things written on it that you want to get out of your life.

You burn the paper, and then jump through the flames of the bonfire thinking about what you want to see the back of. Although my city is Bilbao, out in the mountains in a small town I celebrated one such solstice in the town square on the exact spot where over 100 witches were burned at the stake by the Inquisition in one go. Charming opus dei proto types that they were, their head quarters still stands 50 metres from the spot the burning took place. The square itself has a star design cobbled into it, to remind the locals of what happened.

Since the swinging sixties (that's last century) it has been fashionable to be "a Basque witch", just like elsewhere in Europe. For me most of these people appear to be inadequates of one sort or another, relying on some rehashed mystic mumbo jumbo to give life meaning, and a misplaced sense of power. Brujas, best avoided. Now herbalists, the real witches, they get my vote as efficacy of the potions is the important thing, not some faith in the godess or whatever.

So, while on the subject of food, drink and witches in Spain.

If you visit the Basque Country, be sure to sample Mandrágora, a spirt alcohol drink made with Mandrake, traditionally drunk by witches before they have intimacy with some henbaine and a broom stick. It is legally available, and I can vouch for it having hallucinogenic properties. It is the most requested 'thing' people ask me to bring to the UK when I visit.

(yes, salted cod is expensive... just as well for the cod fish me thinks)