FIESTA FINALE

 Pobre de mí! Poor me, the party has ended. That was the lament of thousands of Pamploneses (the inhabitants of Pamplona, Navarra) at midnight July 14 signaling the end of the Fiesta of San Fermín. Time to fold up the red bandanas until next year. 

You don’t have to run with the bulls or party until the wee hours to enjoy some of the gastronomic treats of the san fermines. This dish of ham (or pork) slices smothered in fresh tomato sauce is a summertime treat no matter where you are. Typically, the dish is eaten as a snack after the afternoon bullfights to fortify the body for a night’s partying. You could serve it for dinner anytime. 

Fried ham slices are smothered in tomato sauce.

Store-bought marinated pork loin instead of ham.

The magras (slices of ham or pork) are traditionally served with a fried egg and croutons. Fiesta fortification.

Ham with Tomato Sauce

Magras con Tomate

Magras means “lean meat”. As made in Navarra, this dish calls for ¼ -inch-thick slices of serrano ham. The ham, probably from nearby Teruel, should not be overly cured. If it is very cured, the slices are soaked in milk to remove excess salt and soften the meat. 

I adapted the recipe to use store-bought lomo adobado, pork loin that has been lightly cured with salt, garlic, and spices. I think Canadian bacon would be an excellent substitute for Navarra-style ham. Which ever you use, the meat needs only vuelta y vuelta, flip it once and out, less than a minute per side.  

The fresh tomato sauce can be made in advance, if desired. If tomatoes are plentiful, made double the recipe and keep for other uses. 

Fresh tomatoes for sauce.

Serves 4.

For the tomato sauce:

2 pounds ripe tomatoes

¼ cup olive oil

1 ½ cups chopped onion

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Lightly cured pork loin.

For the ham:

8 slices (¼ -inch thick)  Canadian bacon, ham, or lomo adobado (1 pound)

Olive oil

To finish the plate:

Olive oil for frying

6 cloves garlic, not peeled

4 eggs

Croutons of fried bread

Fried ham

Tomato sauce

Chopped parsley

Remove stems and cores from tomatoes and chop them roughly (makes 4 ½ -5 cups). Place in a blender or food processor and grind. Push the juice and pulp through a sieve. Discard the remaining solids, containing seeds and bits of skin. 

Make tomato sauce.

Heat the oil on medium in a large saucepan. Sauté the onion and garlic until softened, 10 minutes. If onion begins to brown, add a spoonful of water and continue frying. Add the tomato pulp and juice to the pan. Season with bay leaf, 1 tablespoon parsley, salt, and pepper. Cook on medium heat until the sauce is thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. If the sauce tends to splatter, partially cover the pan. 

Discard the bay leaf. Puree the sauce in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Store the sauce covered and refrigerated until ready to use. (Makes about 1 ¾ cups sieved sauce.) 

Lightly oil a heavy skillet and heat on medium-high. Fry the slices of bacon, ham, or lomo until lightly browned on both sides, 30-60 seconds per side. Remove. 

Add oil to the skillet to cover the bottom to a depth of ¼ inch. Heat on medium-high. Lightly crush the garlic cloves and add them to the skillet. Break the eggs into the skillet. Scatter croutons around the eggs. Fry until the whites are set but yolks still runny.

Place 2 slices of fried ham on each plate. Heat the tomato sauce. Spread sauce over the slices of ham and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Place a fried egg, fried garlic, and croutons alongside. Serve the plates.  

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Also this past week was the Fiesta de la Virgen de Carmen. This virgin is the patron saint of sailors and is celebrated in many coastal communities of Spain. It’s the occasion to dine on seafood stews. 

Upcoming festivities: Feria de Málaga, August 17-23. 

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An Andalusian version of Pork with Tomato Sauce (Magro con Tomate).

How to make croutons of fried bread.

Kalimotxo (the favored drink for San Fermín) and more fiesta drinks.

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FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain, will be published August 12, 2025! See Meatballs with Backstory for more about what’s in the book and to view several of the page spreads. See advance reviews at Advance Praise for Flavors of al-Andalus. 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)

$39.95 hardcover: Available in print and e-book in August 2025

 Pre-order on IndiePubs

***

Pre-order on amazon

CNN: 14 Spanish Dishes Everyone Should Try

 Have you been following the CNN series, Searching for Spain,” presented by actress Eva Longoria?  According to the network, the programs take you “across Spain’s sun-drenched plains, rugged mountains and dramatic seascapes to explore its incredible wealth of cultures, climates and cuisines.” The award-winning actress explores "firsthand how the country went from culinary obscurity to extraordinary new heights.” 

With Chef Dani García, Longoria learns how to make espetones, skewered sardines wood-fire roasted at a Marbella beach, and with Chef Ferran Adrià she samples suquet, a rustic Catalan seafood stew.  

As a follow-up, CNN posted a list of 14 Spanish dishes everyone should try. I’ve got the list covered! Here are my recipes for most of them.

1. Paella Valenciana. Two varieties are on the CNN list, paella with rabbit and chicken; and seafood paella. No sausage in either one! 

Here's my recipe for authentic paella (no snails, though). Real saffron gives the rice its color, and, yes, I have instructions for the socarrat, the crust on the bottom of the rice as well. I tell you about the different varieties of rice and the care of a paella pan. 

Rustic Valencia Paella

2. Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes with spicy sauce). A tapas bar specialty found all over Spain, but especially popular in Madrid. Actually, there are many variations of the spicy "brava" sauce. My version here has tomatoes and lots of pimentón, smoked paprika, both sweet and hot. The recipe is here. 

3. Gazpacho. Andalusia's signature dish, a cold "liquid salad," perfect for summer days. Here's a recipe for Andalusian Gazpacho , first in a series about gazpacho. Be sure to see the sequel for more about choosing the ingredients (the extra virgin olive oil is so important) and for variations on the classic. 

4. Pimientos de Padrón (Padrón green peppers). These peppers, grown in Galicia in northwest Spain, are picked while still green and very small. Although they somewhat resemble jalapeños, they are bittersweet in flavor--with the exception of an occasional one that is spicy-hot. Find out to prepare them on this post, Fried Padrón Peppers.

5. Fideuá. (fideo noodles with seafood). Fideuá is a pasta dish, usually with seafood, that is often made like paella, in a wide flat pan. The thin noodles cook right in the flavorful seafood broth. See the recipe here. Here's a vegetarian fideuá Noodles with Tofu and Vegetables.

6. Jamón. Ham, but not just any ham--the world's best, made from the ibérico breed of pig, sometimes called pata negra, black hoof, or Jabugo, for one of the places (Andalusia) where the pigs are raised and the hams cured. More about ibérico ham and pork here.

7. Tortillas (potato tortilla). In Spain a tortilla is not the familiar corn or wheat flat bread used for tacos but a thick, round flat omelet of eggs and potatoes. It is favorite fare for lunch, supper, picnics, and tapas. Here's the classic potato tortilla recipe, but there are many variations, with chorizo, with spinach, with fava beans or seaweed.

8. Churros. Churros are strips of fried dough usually sprinkled with sugar. They are served for breakfast or at the end of late-night partying. Especially delicious dipped in thick, hot chocolate. I leave churro-making to the pros. When I was testing the churros recipe for one of my cookbooks, I repeatedly had the batter explode in the frying oil! I quit trying and substituted a recipe for buñuelos, another type of fritter, also popular as a street food. More about how churros are made here.  

9.Croquetas (croquettes). Any tapas bar worth its salt will have a selection of croquettes, real crowd-pleasers. Get the recipes for three kinds of croquettes here.

10. Albóndigas (meatballs). The CNN list for 14 Spanish Dishes mentions meatballs in tomato sauce and meatballs in almond sauce as another version. I am partial to meatballs in almond sauce--in fact I pictured them on the cover of my forthcoming cookbook, FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain (see below for more about the book). Here's a recipe for meatballs in almond sauce. 

11.Migas (fried breadcrumbs). Migas is an old country dish, the sort of thing vineyard workers or shepherds in the field might cook up in a deep pan over a woodfire. But it makes a fun party dish too, where everyone eats out of the pan. Migas can be as simple as crumbled bread fried in olive oil, usually with bits of pork fat and chorizo added as well. Add toppings such as olives, grapes, raisins, pomegranate arils, fried green peppers, even chocolate sauce. See the recipe for garlic-fried bread crumbs. 

12. Bacalao (salt cod). You couldn't visit Pais Vasco, Basque Country, without sampling bacalao in one form or another. One of the most exquisite of cod dishes is bacalao al pil pil, sizzled in thickened garlic oil. The recipe is here. 

13. Fabada (bean and sausage casserole).  Asturias, on the chill northern Cantabrian coast, is noted for its cheeses (such as blue Cabrales), its fabulous seafood, and this singular bean dish. Fabada is so popular that it turns up all over Spain. Get the recipe for fabada.

14. Leche Frita ("fried" milk). Ooops. Apparently I've never blogged this recipe, nor is it in my photo file. 

Leche Frita (“Fried Milk”)

Makes 16 (2-inch) squares, serving 4-8

How do you fry milk? First turn it into a thick custard. Served warm, the custard squares are crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside. They may also be served cold, in which case the custard sets up fairly solid. It's usually served simply sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon but can also be presented with caramel sauce.

For the custard

2 ¾ cups milk

1 strip lemon or orange peel

1-inch cinnamon stick

2 eggs

1/3 cup flour

¼ cup cornstarch

1/3 cup sugar

To fry the custard

1 egg

1 cup fine dry bread crumbs

Olive oil for frying

1 ½ tablespoons sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

To make the custard

Oil an 8-inch square cake pan or plastic container.

Place 1 ¼ cups of the milk, lemon peel, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let infuse for 5 minutes. Strain the milk into a heatproof pitcher.

Combine the remaining ½ cup milk, eggs, flour, cornstarch, and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth. With the blender running pour in the hot milk.

Return the custard mixture to the saucepan and place over boiling water. Cook, stirring constantly, until the custard barely begins to thicken. Remove it from the heat and beat it hard to prevent lumps from forming. Place the pan over boiling water again and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat the custard until smooth.

Immediately spread the custard evenly in the cake pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 and up to 24 hours.

To fry

Cut the custard into 16 (2-inch) squares. Beat the egg with 2 teaspoons water in a shallow bowl. Spread half the bread crumbs in a shallow tray.

Dip each custard square into beaten egg, lift it out and place it in the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the remaining bread crumbs over the custard squares. Shake the tray gently to coat the edges of the custard squares. Place the breaded custard squares on a sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oil on medium in a large, heavy skillet until hot but not smoking. Fry the custard squares in batches until browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer them to a tray lined with paper towels to drain.

Sprinkle the squares with sugar and cinnamon while still warm. Serve the squares of fried milk warm or chilled.

*** *** ***

FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain, will be published August 12, 2025! See Meatballs with Backstory for more about what’s in the book and to view several of the page spreads. See advance reviews at Advance Praise for Flavors of al-Andalus. 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)

$39.95 hardcover: Available in print and e-book in August 2025

 Pre-order on IndiePubs

***

Pre-order on amazon

OLD-FASHIONED RUSSIAN SALAD IS NEW AGAIN

Luncheon plate: Russian salad, smoked sardines, egg, tomato, pickled red onions on a bed of shredded lettuce.

 Ensaladilla rusa, Russian salad, consisting of potatoes and other cooked vegetables folded into olive oil mayonnaise, is a tapas bar classic. Although it never really disappeared from old-style taverns, the dish has made a comeback even in fancy restaurants with myriad variations on the traditional.

Ensaladilla rusa as I learned it in a pueblo tapa bar 55 years ago: potatoes, carrots, canned peas and red pimiento, cooked egg, and mayonnaise. It was served mounded on a platter and topped with canned tuna and a few olives. The mayonnaise was made fresh, either by hand or in a blender, with no-label virgin olive oil pressed from the proprietor’s own olives. 

Fast forward to last year’s Gastronomika Campeonato de Ensaladilla Rusa in San Sebastian. One of the judges was Lisa Abend, journalist, travel and food writer (she is the author of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrià's elBulli) Lisa, who is not a food critic, confessed to not being a huge fan of ensaladilla rusa. “The others on the panel, all of whom were Spanish, had very strong opinions, whereas I was kind of 'meh' to all of them.

No shrimp head, please!

“It was clear to me that an ensaladilla shouldn't be anything but simple—this is no place to stick the head of a carabinero (large red shrimp). And that a good one needs some kind of acidity.” This criteria, she said, was something on which all the judges agreed. The winner, presented by a Alen Tarrío  of Pampín Bar (Santiago de Compostela), was the simplest of the entries and was made with Hellman’s mayonnaise! 

(Lisa Abend writes The Unplugged Traveller, a newsletter about traveling without the internet. "Each month, I go to a place in Europe I’ve never been before, travel around entirely offline, and bring back stories of my adventures.")

In spite of its name, Russian salad is not Russian, but an entremêts, a French banquet dish that was popularized by French chefs elsewhere on the continent and beyond (it was mentioned in England as early as 1846). It was all the rage in Czarist Moscow in the late nineteenth century. In Spain “ensalada rusa” appears in 1864 on a banquet menu celebrating a new rail line in Valladolid. (For more about the history of ensalada rusa see this story in El País.)  

More recently, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022, Chef José Andrés (founder of World Central Kitchen which provides food relief in Ukraine) and other chefs tried to rename the salad “Kiev Salad” or “ensaladilla ukraniana.” 

While I have sampled ensaladilla made with perfectly diced potatoes and carrots, the trend seems to be to make it by smashing the potatoes making a mixture both creamy-mash and chunky. The potatoes matter: neither a waxy potato nor a floury one. New potatoes are best. The Kennebec variety (Galician potato) is especially good. Cook the potatoes whole and unpeeled until tender when tested with a knife. 

Bottled mayo has the benefit of being safe from salmonella. But it is homemade mayonnaise with extra virgin olive oil that sets Spanish Russian salad apart from any old potato salad that might turn up at your Fourth of July potluck. 

Choice of toppings and garnishes: smoked sardines are classier than canned tuna; pickled onions or cucumbers add tang, grated hard-cooked egg is smooth, and chopped crisp-tender green beans add texture.  

“Russian” Potato Salad

Ensaladilla Rusa

Sometimes the add-ins such as tuna are incorporated in the salad with the potatoes, other times they are used on top as garnish. I’ve used smoked sardines, a gourmet alternative to tinned tuna, and garden green beans. A list of other ingredient options is included in the recipe. A recipe for homemade mayonnaise follows. 

Serve ensaladilla rusa as a starter, a lunch salad, or a side dish with your favorite barbecued ribs and burgers.

Serves 6-8.

4 medium potatoes (about 1 ½ pounds)

Salt

1 large carrot

1 large egg

3 ounces fresh green beans, topped and tailed

Freshly ground black pepper

Pitted olives (black or green, stuffed or not)

1 cup olive oil mayonnaise (recipe follows)

Crunchy chopped beans.

Garnishes and toppings, to choose:

Smoked sardines 

Canned or fresh tuna

Cooked shrimp

Cooked peas 

Shredded lettuce

Pickled onions or cucumbers

Sliced radishes

Cherry tomatoes

Strips of red pimiento

Capers

Cooked asparagus or artichoke hearts

Chopped parsley or chives

Place the unpeeled potatoes in a pan with salted water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook on moderate heat 10 minutes. Add the carrot and cook 10 minutes longer. Add the egg and cook 10 minutes more or until the potatoes are tender when tested with a knife blade. Drain well. Plunge the egg in cold water. 

Crush potatoes.

Cook the beans in boiling water until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain them and refresh in ice water. Place the cooked beans in a mini-processor and chop coarsely. (Alternatively, cut the beans in thin julienne strips.) Set aside.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle peel them and place in a bowl. Use a fork or potato masher to crush them slightly, leaving lumps of varying sizes. Peel the carrot and either likewise mash it or cut it in small dice. Season the potatoes and carrots with 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper.  Add the olives, whole or sliced.

Reserve about ¼ cup of the mayonnaise for garnish. Stir the remaining ¾ cup into the salad, combining well. Taste the mixture and add additional salt if necessary. If not to be served immediately, cover and refrigerate the salad until ready to serve.

Spread the salad on a platter or individual plates. Top each serving with a spoonful of the reserved mayonnaise. Grate the cooked egg into a bowl and spoon it over the salads. Scatter the chopped green beans over the salad. Garnish as desired with sardines or tuna, lettuce, radishes, and tomatoes.

Olive Oil Mayonnaise

Mayonesa Casera con Aceite de Oliva

Use your best fruity extra virgin olive oil for this mayonnaise. If raw egg could be a health problem, substitute jarred commercial mayonnaise in the recipe. Used for the ensaladilla rusa, the mayonnaise is enhanced with a little “hot” pimentón (paprika). Add garlic if you like, a spoonful of Dijon mustard, or any fresh herbs.

Mayonnaise is quick to make in blender.

Makes about 1 cup.

1 large egg

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pimentón picante de la Vera (smoked hot paprika)

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar

Place the egg in a blender container. Add the parsley, salt and pimentón. Add all of the oil. Run the blender without moving the blade until the egg and oil emulsify and thicken. Once the mayonnaise has thickened move the blade up and down a few times to incorporate any oil that didn’t mix. Add the lemon juice and vinegar and blend again. 

Keep the mayonnaise, covered and refrigerated, up to one week. 

Málaga Salad with Potatoes and Oranges.  

Potato Salad with Lemony Dressing and another ensaladilla rusa recipe.

Flamenco Potato Salad.  

Moroccan Potato Salad.  

Potato Salad with Seaweed Mayonnaise.  

Purple Potato Salad.

***   ***   ***

FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain, will be published August 12, 2025! See Meatballs with Backstory for more about what’s in the book and to view several of the page spreads. See advance reviews at Advance Praise for Flavors of al-Andalus. 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)

$39.95 hardcover: Available in print and e-book in August 2025

 Pre-order on IndiePubs

***

Pre-order on amazon