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Friends gather in the kitchen to assemble dinner with the FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS. (Photo by Nadia Gil)This Costa cookbook club chose my book, Flavors of al-Andalus, for their fall get-together. Each person selected a recipe from the book to prepare for dinner. I got to go along to join the fun in Nadia Gil’s kitchen.Cooks love feedback! I was excited to know what recipes the cooks would choose. And, I was very interested in their comments. The assembled guests, cooks and partners, said they liked hearing me give a little background to recipes, an addendum to the book’s historical notes. FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Heritage of Spain (Hippocrene Books), includes 120 recipes of modern-day Spain which can trace their roots to Moorish Spain, an era before the discovery of the New World brought tomatoes, potatoes, and beans to European kitchens. |
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| White gazpacho. |
Here’s how the menu shaped up.
Starters: We had four selections from the Vegetable chapter, all from a section called “Gazpacho, Salmorejo, and Dunking Salads.” Yes, indeed, gazpacho with no tomatoes!
Nadia made White Gazpacho "shooters" as aperitif, served with grapes speared on picks. This gazpacho variation, called ajo blanco, or "white garlic," is made with ground almonds. Nadia's version was very almondy, but subtle with the garlic. (The recipe for white gazpacho, ajo blanco con uvas, is here.)
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| Maria's salad of eggplant, chickpeas, and cheese was a perfect contrast of textures with lemon juice providing a tangy note. |
Maria Steffensen made a terrific Roasted Eggplant dunking salad. "Dunking salads" are my name for moje, mojete, and remojón, salads served with bread for dunking in the juices. (Here's the recipe for Roasted Eggplant Salad with Chickpeas.)
Lemon Dunking Salad prepared by Ben Searl. (It was very colorful with lemons, radishes, and parsley, but my photo, unfortunately, needed better lighting.) The lemon salad can be served as a starter (with bread, of course), or as a relish (superb alongside roast lamb).
Mains: All three were picked from the chapter on Meat, Poultry, and Game.
Dubbed "show chef" by his wife, Ans, Nic Leeuwenburg declared he would perform live! Here he is in Nadia's kitchen, preparing Country-Style Rice in Cazuela with Rabbit. The dish also has mushrooms and fresh asparagus and a maja'o, or "mash", of garlic and almonds. The rice was cooked to perfection, very flavorful. The recipe could be made with chicken in place of rabbit.
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| Sonja introduces her contribution, Lamb with Prunes. (Photo by Maria Steffensen) |
Sonja Van Blarcum was the only cookbook club member to consult me before the dinner. She chose to make Lamb Shanks with Prunes. She said she chose it because she loves lamb, although she had never cooked it! She wanted a challenge! But she couldn't find shanks! She substituted leg of lamb, cut off the bone. Sonja said she liked trying new spices--besides saffron, which she had never used before, the recipe calls for cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Her lamb in sauce was delicious. (A tip about the lamb shanks--every time I buy a leg of lamb, I get the butcher to separate the shank-end. I freeze it. When I have four shanks in the freezer, I make the recipe.)
Had none of the cookbook club members decided to make albóndigas, Meatballs in Almond Sauce, I knew that I would bring that dish. After all, it's portrayed on the cover of FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS. These photos are taken in my kitchen--above, the ingredients for the almond sauce and frying the meatballs. These are made with beef, although the recipe calls for beef, lamb, or chicken. (No pork in this cookbook, although today's cooks would probably use pork.) The meatballs can be made in advance and reheated, but they definitely needed more stock to thin the sauce in reheating. (The recipe for Meatballs in Almond Sauce is here, plus a short video of tapas for a party.)
Have you noticed a trend? There are almonds in three of the recipes presented so far and one more to come! Almonds are a defining flavor of Moorish Spain and are still widely used in Spanish cooking.
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Three main dishes--meatballs, lamb, and rabbit with rice. Each cook said a few words about their dish and I added some background about recipes. What fun! (From the left: Ans, Sonja, Ben, and Cristian Gil. Throughout the meal Cris poured several natural wines from his cellar.  |
Flavors of al-Andalus makes a perfect holiday gift. This cookbook has recipes for both Christmas and Hanukkah cookies as well as suggestions for festive menus.
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. (Hippocrene Books)
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