BURGERS ARE HAVING THEIR MOMENT

 

Beefed-up chicken burgers on sesame mollete buns.

In our weekly newspaper I noticed that a local burger joint had competed in the second annual Spanish hamburger championships. A burger competition? Since when are burgers a thing? 

Maybe since Chef Dani García got into the burger act. I first tried his Burger Bull, a burger of rabo de toro (bull's tail) meat on a bun way back in 2010, when Chef Dani had a trendy tapas joint in Málaga. He has since risen to three-star fame at Calima in Marbella, after which he walked away from the high-end restaurant business. He first collaborated with McDonald’s España back in 2015 to create a “gourmet burger”. He’s got a new “signature” burger for McDonald’s, the Bearnesa, with a chimichurri twist on classic Bearnaise sauce, topping a patty of Spanish beef. (One critic commented that it tasted just like a McDonald’s hamburger.) Chef García’s new restaurant in New York, Casa Dani, doesn’t list burgers on the menu. But, leading the tapas is “oxtail brioche,” essentially the same Burger Bull from his original Málaga establishments.

But, back to the championships. The winner was Junk Burger from Madrid, with a patty of vaca rubia gallega, aged cow meat of the Galician Rubia breed, with Cheddar and locally-smoked bacon. Scrolling through the other entries, I surmised that the quality of the meat plus a knock-out sauce were the main criteria. Rubia Gallega and Black Angus seemed the preferred beef. Bacon and Cheddar were frequent accompaniments, although one entry had strips of grilled steak wrapped around the ground beef patty and payoyo goat cheese instead of Cheddar. Some had house-made brioche buns, including one entry colored carmine with beets. 

“Ageing” is relatively new for beef in Spain. Beef used to be yearling beef, ternera or añojo, butchered and sold fresh. That is changing, with superb vacuno and buey available. “Old cow” meat, butchered at five to 10 years, is especially esteemed. Aged up to 40 days, it packs huge beef flavor. Well-marbled flesh makes for juicy meat. That’s what makes prize-winning hamburgers. 

I’m making chicken burgers with an Asian inflection and trying my hand with Dani García’s Burger Bull. A couple of knock-out sauces are based on prepared mayonnaise.

Miso paste punches up the umami when mixed with ground chicken thighs for this burger.

Melted cheese tops a burger of chopped, braised oxtail.

Beefed-Up Chicken Burgers

Burguer de Pollo

I actually prefer chicken burgers to beef. I’m beefing up the flavor with the addition of umami-packing miso paste (made from fermented soybeans) and adding juiciness with ibérico pork tocino (fat). The mayonnaise with soy sauce is a good accompaniment. If I were making fries, they would be sweet potato fries. 

Makes 2 burgers.

 

9 ounces boneless chicken thigh meat, ground

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup finely chopped tocino or bacon (1 ounce)

3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 teaspoon miso paste

¼ teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 sesame buns, split and toasted

Teriyaki Mayonnaise (recipe follows)

Sliced tomatoes

Thinly sliced red onion

Heat the oil in a small skillet with the chopped tocino until tocino releases its fat. Sauté the chopped onion on medium heat until softened, but not browned, 4 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the miso and pimentón. Allow to cool.

Soy-flavored mayonnaise on the burger.

Combine the mixture from the skillet with the ground chicken. Season with pepper. Mix well. Allow to stand 15 minutes, then shape into two burger patties.

Heat skillet on moderately high heat and brush with oil. Sear the burgers, about 2 minutes per side. Lower heat and cover the skillet and cook 2 minutes more.

Spread the buns with mayonnaise. Top with burgers, tomatoes and onion. 

Teriyaki Mayonnaise

Mayonesa de Teriyaki

For 2-3 sandwiches.

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon soy sauce

½ teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon PX vinegar (or balsamic)

¼ teaspoon sesame oil

Stir the mayonnaise until smooth. Whisk in the soy, honey, vinegar and oil. 

Sesame Buns

Bollos con Ajonjolí para Burguer

Make these buns with molletes from the panadería.

Molletes are a type of round or oblong soft bun popular in Andalusian bakeries. They’re perfect for grilled sandwiches (see campero grilled sandwich). Typically, molletes are big, about 6 inches in diameter, but many panaderías make smaller ones, a perfect size for burgers. 

6 (3 ½-inch) molletes 

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon water

Sesame seed

Heat broiler to 475ºF.

Place molletes on a sheet pan. Stir the yolk with water. Brush the tops and sides of the molletes with the egg. Sprinkle with sesame.

Grill the buns under the broiler just until the tops are browned, 2-3 minutes. 

Oxtail Burgers

Burguer Bull

Braised rabo de toro, or bull’s tail, is a specialty in Sevilla and Córdoba, where some butchers sell carne de lidia, meat from a toro bravo, after a bullfight. Of course, it doesn’t have to be the tail of a fighting bull. Butcher’s oxtail is just fine. 

In this recipe, the braised meat is removed from the bones, then finely chopped and mixed with some of the gelatin-rich cooking liquid so that, with chilling, it solidifies. I didn’t add enough of the liquid, so the result was more like “sloppy José’s” than burgers! I’ve got more of the chopped oxtail. I’ll serve it with the rich gravy on some mashed potatoes instead of buns.

Make the braised oxtail a day before preparing the burgers, so the chopped meat has time to chill.

1 oxtail (approx. 2 ¾ pounds), cut crosswise

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)

1 teaspoon oregano

Sunflower oil for searing the meat

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup diced carrot

3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed

1 cup grated tomato pulp

¼ cup brandy

2 cups red wine

4 cups water or beef stock

Strip of orange zest

1 bay leaf

Sprig of thyme

1 clove garlic, peeled

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup finely chopped shallots (about 6 shallots)

1 cup chopped mushrooms (2 ½ ounces)

Sliced cheese (such as Manchego or Havarti)

Mini burger buns

Burger Bull Sauce (recipe follows)

Rucula

Season the pieces of oxtail with salt, pepper, pimentón and oregano. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Heat a heavy skillet and brush it with sunflower oil. Sear the pieces of oxtail. Remove them when browned on all sides. Reduce heat to moderate and add the olive oil. Sauté the onion, carrot and garlic until onions begin to brown, 5 minutes. Add the tomato pulp and cook 5 minutes more. Return the pieces of oxtail to the pan. 

Braised oxtail.

Pour the brandy over the meat. Either flambé the brandy or cook on high heat until the alcohol is cooked off. Add the wine and reduce it slightly. Add the water or stock, zest, bay and thyme. Cover and cook the oxtail, turning the pieces occasionally, until the meat is fork tender, about 2 ½ hours. (The braised oxtails are ready to eat at this point, should you not wish to use the meat for burgers.)

Chop oxtail for burgers.

Lift the pieces of oxtail out of the pan. When they are cool enough to handle, strip the meat off the bones. Discard excess fat, gristle and the bones. Put the pieces of meat on a cutting board and chop them as finely as possible (or chop in a food processor).

Pour all the remaining liquid in the pan through a sieve. Save some of the diced carrots to add to the burger mix. Discard the remaining solids. Place the strained liquid (about 4 cups) in a saucepan with the clove of peeled garlic and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let it bubble, uncovered, until reduced by half. Skim out the cooked garlic and save it for the mayonnaise. Reserve the oxtail reduction. 

Heat the 3 tablespoons of oil in a small skillet and sauté the shallots on low heat until they are browned and caramelized, 5 minutes. Remove them and drain excess oil.

Add oil back to the skillet and sauté the mushrooms until lightly browned. 

Combine the mushrooms and shallots in a mixing bowl with the chopped oxtail meat and a few pieces of diced cooked carrot. Add ¼ cup of the reserved oxtail reduction liquid. Combine very well. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper. 

Press chopped meat into a roll and chill.

Shape the meat mixture into a roll 3 inches in diameter. Wrap it tightly in plastic film. Refrigerate at least 8 hours.

When ready to cook the burgers, use a serrated knife to cut 1 ½-inch-thick slices from the meat roll. Sear them on one side in a skillet or plancha. Turn the burgers, top with a slice of cheese, lower heat and cover the pan until cheese melts. 

Place the burgers on toasted buns that have been spread with Burger Bull Sauce. Top with arugula.

Burger Bull Sauce

Salsa Burguer Bull

The trademarked sauce by Dani García is made with sunflower oil, pasteurized eggs and beef extract. My version starts with mayonnaise from a jar. The addition of the reduced oxtail cooking liquid adds gelatin that thickens the mayonnaise further. Use the clove of garlic that cooked in the reduction of the oxtail cooking liquid. 

1 cup prepared mayonnaise

1 clove cooked garlic

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons oxtail reduction

1 teaspoon Sherry vinegar

Few drops of Tabasco or other pepper sauce

In a blender combine the mayonnaise, garlic, mustard, oxtail reduction, vinegar and Tabasco. Blend to make a smooth sauce. Add additional vinegar or Tabasco to taste.

More variations on the burger theme:

Lamb Kefta Burgers with Harissa.

Best Ever Veggie Burgers with Piquillo Pepper Ketchup.

Tofu-Black Bean Burgers.

Nothing to do with burgers, except to explain why my photos have an unnatural yellow cast. This is the view from my kitchen on a day when we had heavy calima, a fog of fine particles of Sahara desert dust in suspension. During the night it rained, lluvia de barro, coating everything--cars, terrace, laundry in red mud.

 

TRICKS FROM TV CHEFS

I tuned in to a new cooking show on TV and watched a three-star chef peeling potatoes. Yep, on one of the first episodes of Hacer de Comer on TVE-1, Dani García, chef of the eponymous starred restaurant in Marbella, was peeling potatoes. No tricks to it and, after the first time, he got his pinche to do the menial peeling and chopping. But, he was making a point, that you, too—me, too—can cook like a three-star chef. 

Dani García, three-stars Michelin, cooks good food for a TV audience. I've already learned a few tricks.

While there was no trick to peeling potatoes, the chef did have some professional tips for making fries—patatas fritas. Chef García insisted that, after cutting into strips, potatoes for frying should be washed and dried. And he likes to par-boil them—exactly 2 minutes—drain, dry and freeze them before frying in olive oil.

I tried the method and I’m a convert. First, there’s the convenience of having ready-prepped potatoes in the freezer. Plus, they fry up beautifully in only 5 minutes.

Dani García’s show takes over the midday slot on channel 1 from Torres en la Cocina, with the cute Torres twins. Over on Antena 3, the granddaddy of cooking show chefs, Karlos Arguinaño, still holds forth with jokes and good cooking from his Basque kitchen. (On a recent show, he was making tuna tataki and advised home cooks to put the fresh tuna in the freezer for an hour if it’s to be served raw or rare—in order to kill any possible parasites in the fish.)

Enrique Sánchez cooks traditional Andalusian recipes with a lot of flair. Local produce is the feature on these programs.

But my favorite TV cooking show is, undoubtedly, Cómetelo on Canal Sur, the Andalusian regional TV network. On the daily program, Chef Enrique Sánchez works with traditional recipes and local products, often adding simple cheffy touches—a swirl of sauce—to give professional presentation to a dish your Andalusian abuela might have made. I especially enjoy the “on location" segments with visits to where a local cheese is made, a fishing port where the day’s catch is on the recipe ingredient list, an orchard where fruit is being picked.

Over the years (the show has been running nine years) I’ve picked up lots of tricks from Chef Enrique. For example, how a trusty vegetable peeler works for peeling tomatoes or stringing green beans. Now I use it to strip the strings off celery stalks. And, how to cleanly remove the seeds from a green frying pepper by pushing the stem inwards till the cap pops loose, then pulling it out with all the seeds attached.

A few days ago, Chef Enrique was making stuffed eggs with pickles and salicornia. Say what?
The salicornia, also known as “sea asparagus,” “marsh samphire,” or “sea beans,” was harvested in Isla Cristina (Huelva province). It’s a salty herb that he used as a green, crunchy garnish for the eggs. Something new to look for! (His tip for perfect hard-cooked eggs: put the eggs in boiling water for exactly 12 minutes, then plunge them in ice water to stop the cooking.) The egg yolks he mixed with home-made mayonnaise.

But, this mayonnaise contained no eggs. It was made with milk! I had to try it.

The trick for perfect fries--par-boil the cut potatoes 2 minutes and freeze them before frying in olive oil.

Do you like mayo with fries? This version from Cómetelo is made with milk instead of eggs.

Spanish Fries
Patatas Fritas

How much oil you need depends on what size skillet you use to fry the potatoes. The oil needs to be only about 1-inch deep. If you’re using a medium pan, fry the potatoes in two batches. Olive oil, obviously. These are "Spanish" fries, not French fries!

Serves 4.

Ready to par-boil.

1 ½ pounds mature potatoes
Olive oil for frying
Salt

Peel the potatoes and cut them in strips a little under ½ inch thick. Wash the strips and drain. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the cut potatoes and cook 2 minutes. Lift the potatoes out of the water with a slotted spoon and drop them into a bowl of ice water.

Frozen, ready to fry.

When potatoes are cool, drain them, pat them dry and spread on rimmed sheets that will fit in the freezer. Place in the freezer until potatoes are frozen. Remove the frozen potato strips from sheets and place in a plastic bag. Return to freezer until ready to fry them.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet to a depth of 1 inch. Remove potatoes from the freezer. Carefully add potato strips to the oil. The oil will splutter at first as the frost releases moisture. Lower heat slightly (medium-high) and fry the potatoes, turning them once or twice, until they are golden and cooked through. This takes 4-5 minutes.

Put frozen potatoes right into hot olive oil. They're done in about 5 minutes.

Remove the fries from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain them on a rack. Sprinkle them with salt. Serve immediately.

No-Egg Mayonnaise
Mayonesa sin Huevo

The TV chef did not add vinegar or lemon juice to his milk-mayonnaise, so I wasn’t sure if it would work or not. I made the mayo, photographed it, then returned it to the blender and beat in vinegar. No problem. The vinegar did not curdle the milk mayo.

This is quick and easy to make with an immersion blender. Use whole or 2-percent milk. Let milk come to room temperature before blending. If preferred, the mayonnaise can be made with a bland oil such as sunflower instead of olive oil. 

No-egg mayonnaise: You need only about 2-fingers of milk.

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon mustard powder (optional)
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Sherry vinegar

Place milk in the container of a blender with the salt and mustard powder, if using. With motor running, add oil in a slow steady stream. Keep adding oil without moving the blender up and down until the mayonnaise begins to thicken. 

Once emulsified, move the blender wand up and down to incorporate any remaining oil. Beat in the vinegar.

Use the mayonnaise immediately or refrigerate, covered, up to 5 days. It thickens somewhat when chilled.

Watch these cooking shows on-line.

Hacer de Comer with Dani García.

Cómetelo with Enrique Sánchez.

Karlos Arguiñano.

Torres en la Cocina.

FORUM: TRADITION AND INNOVATION IN ANDALUSIAN CUISINE

Cuttlefish dish created by Chef Enrique Sánchez at Andalucía Sabor.

I’m looking through the notes and photos I took at ANDALUCÍA SABOR,  food forum and trade fair in Sevilla dedicated to the foods of southern Spain. The theme of the conference this year was LA TAPA. TRADICIÓN E INNOVACIÓN EN LA COCINA ANDALUZA (The Tapa. Tradition and Innovation in Andalusian Cuisine). Right up my camino!

Fernando Huidobro, Dani García and Angel León.

What a line-up! Featured were some of Andalusia’s top chefs—Dani García (two Michelin stars for La Calima in Marbella), Angel León (one star, Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María), José Carlos García (one star for eponymous restaurant in Málaga), Julio Fernandez (one star, Abantal, Sevilla), Diego del Río (one star, El Lago, Marbella), José Alvarez (one star, La Costa, El Ejido) and more.

Clemente Gómez, master ham slicer.

I watched two days of cooking demos showing off taste-boggling combinations, high-tech techniques (gels, airs, foams, smoke), witty juxtapositions, artsy plating and, generally, lots of ¡wow! factor.

Some of the most interesting presentations were riffs on ingredients. For example, Paco Roncero (two stars, La Terraza del Casino, Madrid) used a single varietal olive oil, Picual,  in three styles, early harvest (October), mid harvest (November) and late (December) in creating three different dishes, each showcasing the flavors of the oils. Oh, there were some far-out techniques involved too—freezing the oil, turning it into butter, then dipping it in malitol to make a caramel, turning it into popcorn. Or something like that.

Admittedly, the Andalucía Sabor conference was intended for professionals. Nevertheless, the show cooking I liked best were those that actually could be accomplished by a home cook. One of these was presented by Enrique Sánchez, a TV chef (Cómetelo, Canal Sur TV), who deconstructed a very traditional recipe from Cádiz, Chocos al Pan Frito, cuttlefish with fried bread.

Interpreting a traditional dish.

The traditional recipe is made with a red pepper sauce thickened with fried bread with onions, garlic and parsley. Enrique made a light red pepper sauce with parsley oil to decorate the dish. Instead of chopped onions, a delicate hint of chives finished the dish. Beads of black alioli, made from cuttlefish ink, lent drama to the plate. Instead of fried bread, shards of regañás, a crisp cracker, garnished the dish. I’m honestly not sure where the rice was incorporated or why some toasted pine nuts finished it off, but it looked scrumptious. And, didn’t require any special equipment or ingredients to produce.

But, in the booklet published for congreso attendees, appeared, not the deconstructed recipe, but the traditional one. So, here’s my take on the traditional recipe.

Traditional: Tender cuttlefish in a sauce thickened with fried bread.

Chocos al Pan Frito con Guarnición de Arroz
Cuttlefish with Fried Bread Sauce and Rice
(Recipe adapted from one contributed by Enrique Sánchez to publication of Andalucía Sabor, September, 2013.)

Cuttlefish, cleaned and ready to cook.

Cuttlefish (sepia, jibia, choco) is a cephalopod (like squid and octopus), with the “shell,” or cartilage on the inside.  The cuttlefish body is much rounder and thicker than the squid (calamar). Not as tender as squid, cuttlefish is usually braised or stewed in a sauce. Squid can be substituted in this recipe, but will need less cooking time.

Ñoras are plum-sized dried red peppers with a bitter-sweet flavor. If not available, use an additional 1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika) in this recipe.

Serves 4

3 ñoras (dried sweet red peppers)
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 slices bread, crusts removed (about 2 ½ ounces)
½ cup manzanilla (dry Sherry)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley
2 pounds cleaned cuttlefish, cut in 1 ½ -inch pieces, tentacles reserved for garnish
1 teaspoon pimentón (paprika, not smoked)
Water, about 2 cups
½ teaspoon salt
Chopped parsley
Rice with tentacles as an accompaniment

Remove stems and seeds from the ñoras and put them in a bowl. Cover with hot water and allow to soak for 45 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a pan or cazuela. Fry the bread until browned on both sides. Remove it to a dish. Pour the manzanilla over.

Add 1 tablespoon more oil to the pan. Sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat until softened, but not browned, 5 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, puree the soaked ñoras, fried bread, onions and garlic from the pan and parsley with ½ cup of the ñora soaking water.

Add 1 tablespoon more oil to the pan and sauté the pieces of cuttlefish. Sprinkle with the pimentón. Add the bread paste to the pan with enough water to cover the cuttlefish, about 2 cups.

Simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook until cuttlefish is very tender, about 15 minutes longer.

Serve the cuttlefish accompanied by the rice and sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Rice with cuttlefish tentacles, a side dish.

 
Arroz de Guarnición
Rice as a Garnish

2 tablespoons olive oil
Tentacles from the cuttlefish
2 cloves garlic, sliced crosswise
½ cup medium-short-grain rice
1 cup water or fish stock
½ teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a small skillet. Sauté the tentacles of cuttlefish. Add the sliced garlic, then the rice. Add water or stock and salt. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook, uncovered, until rice is tender, about 16 minutes. Allow to set 5 minutes before serving as an accompaniment to the cuttlefish.

Regañás--a shatteringly crisp flatbread, used instead of fried bread in the interpretation of the traditional cuttlefish dish.

TRADITIONAL FOODS INSPIRE MODERNIST CHEFS

The chef called it cazuela de fideos, a seafood and noodle casserole that belongs to Malaga’s traditional kitchen. But, hoo boy, this was nothing like any cazuela I’d seen before.

"Noodles" with sea bass.

The chef concocted a saffron-tinged shrimp fumet, thickened it with agar-agar, inserted it with a plunger into a plastic macaroni tube (sort of like the drip tubes used in hospitals). Once it had set, he extruded the “noodle” onto a plate, snipped it into short lengths that looked a lot like handmade pasta. Topped with olive oil-poached sea bass and a green pea puree, the dish was a riff on the traditional.

Another pair of chefs spun off variations on Málaga’s traditional boquerones fritos, fried fresh anchovies. In one version, the fresh fish were marinated with orange, lime, bay leaf and Sherry vinegar, then dipped in tempura batter before frying.

Anchovy tempura.

In another, the anchovies were combined with finely chopped onion and peppers, added to batter and dropped by spoonfuls into oil to make buñuelos, fritters. The one traditional ingredient that tied them all together was extra virgin olive oil as the frying medium.

These were several of the demos I attended at a three-day gastronomy forum, Foro Gastroarte, that took place in Málaga last week. The Gastroarte collective is made up of a group of 23 top chefs and culinary professionals from Andalusia (southern Spain). Among them is Málaga’s own Dani Garcia, whose Restaurante Calima in Marbella has two Michelin stars. Dani recently opened Manzanilla Spanish Brasserie in New York City http://www.manzanillanyc.com .

I enjoyed the “show cooking” and marveled at the modernist appliances and clever use of ingredients. I especially liked the wit and humor of these chefs, who are using the basic products from the sea, farms and pastures of Andalusia to create wondrous new dishes. But, I am not likely to whip up any “air” of plankton, nor cook my sea bass sous vide nor freeze beef marrow in a PacoJet.

Luckily, I found that Chef Dani Garcia's modernist genius is grounded in the traditional kitchen--that of his mother. His recently published (in Spanish) EN LA COCINA DE MI MADRE, In My Mother’s Kitchen—Recipes and tips recalling timeless flavors, has recipes that are easily made in the home kitchen.

“I seek ideas and new concepts framed by my memory,” writes Dani. "Lentils with cheese, cuttlefish roe, rice with a rabbit that my father hunted. A family legacy, a mixture of tradition and improvisation, fusion and necessity.”

Thick-skinned mature lemons are almost sweet.

The book is divided into chapters by season. I turned to springtime and found an unusual recipe for Ensalada de limones cascarúos, Salad of Thick-skinned Lemons. Dani writes that he remembers as a child,  when his parents took him into the center of Málaga for Holy Week processions, that street vendors sold fat, thick-skinned lemons, peeled and sprinkled with salt. “With low acidity and a marvelous touch of sweetness.” From the memory, he invented the salad. “I close my eyes and I see myself walking through Málaga streets with my lemon, peeled, with just the right amount of salt, in my hand.

“Ah ha,” says I. “So that’s what to do with those huge, thick-skinned lemons still on the tree.” I went out to the garden and picked a few of the “old” lemons, cut into one and tasted. Absolutely, the sharpness has receded, so the fruit tastes almost sweet. Brilliant. (The tree has huge mature fruit, thin-skinned green lemons and fragrant blossoms, all at the same time.)

Salad of lemons, salt, olive oil and mint.

Dani’s recipe is simplicity itself—peel the lemons, cut them in sections, sprinkle with salt and plenty of extra virgin olive oil. His mom suggests sprigs of mint to garnish. And, if the lemons should be very tart, a pinch of sugar.

Ajetes are baby garlic shoots.

I added some chopped ajetes, green garlic shoots from the garden to the lemon salad. How about adding some sliced avocado and cooked shrimp? No special equipment needed.

NOTES FROM MADRID FUSIÓN

MADRID FUSIÓN:  A gastronomical summit meeting, a three-day coming together of chefs, food producers, consumers and press to show, show-off, explain, taste, promote, provoke and schmooze. It’s billed as the world’s largest food fest. This is all about alta cocina—haute cuisine in its avant-garde manifestation. It’s a get-together of celebrity chefs—mostly Spanish, but with a few from around the world.

NEWS BITES

At a packed-out press conference, broadcast live on prime-time news, Ferran Adrià (acclaimed as the best chef in the world) announced that at the end of the 2011 season, he will close El Bulli for two years, for regeneration. After years of intense creativity, he declared that he needs—not a rest—but to reinvent the restaurant. “What is the future of El Bulli?” he asked. He’s not sure, but he’s not quitting. “We’re cooks—we’re going to continue.”

Get ready, New York city! Dani García is coming to town. García, an up and coming young chef who has two Michelin stars (the first was for Tragabuches, in Ronda; the second, for Calima, in Marbella;), will open La Moraga, a “gastrobar,” in Manhattan before the end of the year. It’s part of a franchise operation, in collaboration with the Andalusian regional government, to export tapas to the world,” said García.


(Photo of Dani García and me by Ed Owen.)

SHORT TAKES

Hare-brained, by Ferran Adria. Hare’s brains are on the autumn menu at El Bulli. Adrià here presented a short, ravishing video illustrating his techno-emotional approach: A wild hare bounds across a field. Shots ring out. The carcass is skinned. The bloody skull is split open and the brains removed. The miniscule loin is seared, plated with gellified spheres of red fruit— Drama, music and visuals are heart-stopping, if not appetite-whetting.

Deep impressions. Without even tasting it, the food of Alicante has left a deep impression on me. The women manning the Alicante stand pressed on me a cookbook, Bon Profit--Viaje por la Cocina Alicantina, the largest, heaviest tome I have ever owned. I didn’t even promise to visit their province. Maybe they just didn’t want to carry the book home again. Some nice pumpkin recipes—

Next generation. I chatted with Jeffrey Weiss of the Bay area (Calif) and Paras Shah of New York city, two young chefs who are part of a group of twelve from all over the world (Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, India, China) spending a year in Spain getting familiar with Spanish products and working in the kitchens of top restaurants. The program is sponsored by ICEX (government commercial and export division). 

Ruth Reichl (editor of the late, lamented Gourmet magazine). Hers was a strong voice on an otherwise dull panel discussing “where is haute cusine headed?” Speaking of restaurant critics, she said, “Now there is a huge group of people on the Internet, who are passionate and knowledgeable about food, who force critics to be more compelling to stay ahead of their audience.”

Alan Ducasse. Too lazy to go fetch the translator earphones, I couldn’t follow what Ducasse had to say. Even the moderators, those two gastro-gnomes, José Carlos Capel and Rafael Ansón, spoke in French.

Grant Achatz (of Alinea in Chicago). I could kick myself! Too busy eating ibérico ham, I missed Achatz’s “dialogue” with Dana Cowin, editor of Food&Wine mag. 

José Andrés (restaurants in Washington D.C. and L.A.), inspired by the glass-art of sculptor, Dale Chihuly of Seattle, demoed a salad of vegetables and a spun-sugar caramel. José, a great communicator as well as innovator, said technology is the way to avoid chaos in the kitchen. 

Marco Sabatini, purveyor of truffles, dropped a black truffle weighing 440 grams and it shattered into crumbs. He swept up the bits and took them home to make risotto. On a happier note, truffles were auctioned for charity—a white one from Asti (Italy) brought €5000 and black ones from Soria (Spain) netted €3000. I liked the way everybody passed them hand-to-hand. You could sniff your hands for the rest of the day.



TRENDS

Tapas. OK, OK, tapas aren’t new. Why they’re trendy all over again is that, with the economic downturn, less is more. Tapas now are a marketing tool and branding concept. Chefs like Dani García (see above), whose new La Moraga restaurants are designed to make alta cocina (haute cuisine) affordable. 

Mixology. Hours of seminars and tastings were devoted to cocktails (“the history of the gin-tonic”). I attended not a single one nor sipped the herbal martini, aged rum, tequila or gin. I did take a turn through the Bar Show and had a Schweppes tonic, with Asian grapefruit slice and a few juniper berries. Nice.

Market cuisine. The market is Mercado de San Miguel, adjacent to Madrid’s  Plaza Mayor. The original market, with its structure of forged iron struts, dates  from 1916. It has been refurbished and now has real-time vendors of fish, meat, bread, fresh produce and eating stalls. During Madrid Fusión it opened for a night-time event, where some top Madrid chefs took over the market stalls. I loved the whimsy of one-star chef, Fernando P. Arellano of Restaurante Zaranda, whose cups of black tapioca with griddled cuttlefish were a visual knockout (red piquillo peppers beneath the tapioca), texturally thrilling (creamy scallion foam and kernels of fried red rice and Espelette pepper) and absolutely delicious.

Serving plates that light up. Presented by Elena Arzak (daughter of famed Basque chef, Juan Mari Arzak) and created by Philips Design (division of the electronics firm), the plates subtly backlight foods with glowing color, switched on as foods are placed on the plate. “Color is one more flavor-sensation,” said Elena. She said the restaurant is very interested in pursuing research of this sort.

TASTES

Red cardoons. I’m always on the look-out for something new, and cardo rojo de Ágreda is this year’s find. A cultivated thistle (Cynara cardunculus), related to the artichoke, cardoons look rather like celery—a bunch of thick stalks topped with leaves. Like celery, the stalks need to be stripped of stringy bits. Cardoons are usually boiled until tender and served with a sauce of ground almonds (typical for Christmas Eve dinner). These red cardoons come from the municipality of Ágreda, on the border between Aragon and Castile, where the mature plants are buried under a mound of soil to protect them from early frosts. This gives them flavor, color and crispness, so they can be eaten raw. Here they were chopped and tossed with a vinaigrette. Crunchy and tastier than celery. 

Estate-bottled olive oil. I met Xandra Falcó, commercial director for Pagos de Familia Marqués de Griñón (her father, the marques, makes superb wines). The family’s extra virgin olive oil, produced and bottled on the Capilla del Fraile estate in Toledo province, is intensely fruity and subtly bitter.   

Cured ibérico pork loin. By now you know that acorn-fed ibérico pigs produce the world’s best ham. But pigs are more than hams and shoulders. Boneless loins also are dry-cured with salt and a hint of pimentón (paprika). At the stand of Sierra Mayor de Jabugo, Julio Revilla Saavedra poured manzanilla Sherry and served a platter of his company’s exquisite lomo, loin, as well as sausages.

Tasting of Garnacha wines from Aragón. I am a dilettante when it comes to wine. I love drinking it and I choose the best wines I can afford—but I really know very little about it. How can one bottle cost $150 and another, priced at $15, please me just as much? Given my lack of expertise, I probably should have stayed away from the wine-tasting event at 10:30 in the morning. But, there I was, sniffing, slurping, spitting  (spit buckets were at hand, but it’s still hard to imbibe nothing), jotting down tasting notes with the cognoscenti. So, I assumed it was a defect in my perceptions when I swirled and sniffed one entry and wrote in my notebook: “sewage.” But, some of the experts expressed the same opinion out loud! So, my confidence has increased—at least I can recognize a bad wine! One wine I loved: Terrazas del Moncayo 2007, Crianzas y Viñedos Santo Cristo, DO Campo de Borja. I’ll look for this wine and enjoy actually swallowing it—perhaps with roast lamb.  (Above, Ed Owen, journalist and bon vivant, gets ready for wine tasting.)

Sopa Castellana. Castilian soup—also known as garlic soup (my recipe can be found here) was served at lunch to the multitudes of conference-goers, courtesy of the city of Valladolid. Thickened with peasant bread, redolent of garlic and pimentón, it was the perfect sop for all the great wines being poured. And a nice counterpoint to the overly-elaborated chef’s food.

Cheese. I kept grabbing samples of torta del Casar, an extraordinary sheep’s milk cheese from Extremadura. The cheese has a subtle, appetizing bitterness, due to a vegetable thistle coagulant, and a natural, creamy dipping consistency.

Nespresso. The coffee hit the spot—but I missed George Clooney.


THANKS
To Esmeralda Capel, one of the organizers of Madrid Fusion, who opened doors for me; to Jone Urrutia, press gal; to Gerry Dawes, who knows absolutely everyone in Spain’s world of gastronomy, and to Ed Owen for his hospitality.