Showing posts with label vendimia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vendimia. Show all posts

Saturday, October 26, 2019

A DESSERT FROM WINE COUNTRY

The vendimia finished, grape juice percolates in vats, magically turning into wine. Spain, third in wine production worldwide, has a deep tradition of foods associated with the vendimia. One is gachas de mosto, a traditional dessert made from mosto, grape “must,” the juice before it is fermented.


Gachas de mosto, a pudding made from grape juice.

Gachas is somewhere between a confection and a pudding. It is undoubtedly of Moorish origin and is somewhat similar to Turkish delight, which in turn is a variation on halvah, which, long ago, was also made with thickened grape juice.

The grape must is boiled down to a sweet syrup, then thickened with flour. Depending on the sweetness of the grapes, it needs no added sugar. (There is also a savory version of gachas that does not use grape juice.)

In Málaga province, region of famed muscat wines and raisins, the juice for this traditional dessert comes from Moscatel de Alejandria grapes. In Jerez, the Sherry varietal, Palomino, is used. In La Mancha, where the gachas are also called mostillo, the most common grape used to be the Airén, but now the sweet is made with Tempranillo (red). In Córdoba, where gachas de mosto is a typical sweet for the holidays of Todos los Santos (All Saints’ Day), November 1, and Fieles Difuntos (Day of the Dead), November 2, the Pedro Jiménez grape of Montilla-Moriles forms the base of the dessert.

Late-harvest muscatel grapes. As the skins begin to turn brown, the sweetness intensifies.

A friend gave us a basketful of Moscatel grapes, inspiring me to make juice. I picked off the stems and stalks, popping the grapes as I plopped them in a big bowl. I used my hands to knead them to release the juice (not a large enough quantity to bother getting my feet sticky). I strained out seeds and skins, pressing on the pulp to get as much juice as possible. Fruit flies began swarming almost immediately.

One pound of grapes made approximately one cup of juice. I had about three cups of juice. I bought bottled mosto, a pasteurized, unsweetened grape juice (nowadays made from concentrate) to combine with the fresh-pressed juice for making the dessert.

Typically, gachas is thickened to make a paste so stiff that, after cooling, it can be sliced or even cut into shapes. Some wine-country chefs have re-invented the whole concept, thickening the reduced grape juice very lightly and aerating it in a siphon to make “foam.”

I chose a version midway between—the following recipe makes a dessert like wobbly Jello. (But, with no gelatine, it is vegan.) Its sweet, winey flavor is delicious alongside baked apple or spiced pears. While not traditional, whipped cream or Greek yogurt goes nicely with it.

An autumnal dessert plate--grape juice pudding, baked apples, toasty almonds, cinnamon and a dollop of cream.

Pudding has the consistency of wobbly Jello.

Another way to serve--ladled into dessert cups.



Grape Juice Pudding
Gachas de Mosto

Skim off foam that rises.

Fresh-pressed mosto or grape juice will create a lot of froth as it comes to a boil. Skim off all the foam that rises to the top. 

If you don't have mosto, use any unsweetened grape juice.

The easiest way to calculate whether the juice has reduced by half, rather than measuring volume, is to measure the depth of juice in the pan before cooking (use a ruler). When it has reduced to half of that depth, it’s ready. 

I used as a mold a 8.5-inch X 6.5-inch Pyrex pan. Cut into 2-inch squares, the recipe makes 12 servings. The gachas mixture can also be ladled into individual dessert cups. 

I used blanched and skinned almonds, fried in olive oil, to garnish the pudding. Sesame seed or walnuts are also traditional. 

9 cups unsweetened grape must or juice
Strips of orange zest
Cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 cup cake flour
Olive oil or almond oil to grease the mold(s)
Toasted almonds, sesame seeds or walnuts
Ground cinnamon (optional)
Whipped cream or Greek yogurt, to serve (optional)

Reserve 1 cup of the grape juice. Place the remaining 8 cups of juice in a large pot with the strip of orange peel, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a boil, skimming off any froth that rises to the top. Lower the heat to medium-high and continue cooking the juice until it is reduced by half (4 cups). This can take from 50 to 60 minutes. Skim out and discard the orange peel, cinnamon stick and cloves. Let the juice cool slightly.

While the grape juice reduces, beat together the reserved 1 cup of juice and the flour until completely smooth (a blender works well for this). 

Reduced juice is thickened with flour.

Return the reduced juice to the heat. Whisk in the juice-flour mixture. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or paddle until the mixture is thick and completely smooth, about 10 minutes. 

Have ready a mold or 12 individual cups lightly greased with olive or almond oil. If using sesame seeds, scatter them on the bottom of the mold. If pudding is to be served directly from the mold or cups, decorate the top with almonds or walnuts.

Pour the thickened juice into the mold or cups. Let set until completely cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

If pudding is to be served directly from the mold, stud the top with almonds.
To serve, loosen around the edges of the pudding with a knife. Place a serving dish on top of the mold and invert the mold so that the pudding releases onto the platter. Sprinkle the top with toasted almonds or walnuts. Cut into portions to serve. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired. Accompany with whipped cream or Greek yogurt, as desired.

Cut the pudding into squares to serve.







More recipes using grape juice (mosto):

To accompany the gachas:

Saturday, September 5, 2015

SEPTEMBER IS VENDIMIA SEASON

A few years ago, while gathering recipes for a cookbook, I spent the month of September traveling around La Mancha (central Spain). September is the month of the vendimia, the picking of wine grapes. Driving on secondary roads, everywhere in La Mancha we passed tractors towing wagons heaped with grapes, heading for the many bodegas, wineries, of the region.

Picking grapes in La Mancha
Marqués de Griñon
I picked grapes in the organic vineyards of Bodegas Dionisos  in Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real) and watched the first pressing. In Malpica de Tajo (Toledo) I walked through the vineyards on the first day of the vendimia with Carlos Falcó, the Marqués of Griñón, who makes the extraordinary wines of  Dominio de Valdepusa/, which have Vino de Pago denomination. At Los Hinojos (Cuenca), where the modernistic Finca Antigua bodega is located, I watched huge mechanical harvesters make their way through vineyards.

La Mancha is big wine country. In fact, it is the biggest area of vineyards on earth—about eight percent of all lands worldwide planted in vines and almost half of all the vineyards in Spain are within La Mancha. Miles and miles of vineyards keep the landscape verdant through hot and arid summers.

To celebrate vendimia month, of course I’m drinking wine. And I’ve also pulled a couple recipes from COOKING FROM THE HEART OF SPAIN—FOOD OF LA MANCHA (WilliamMorrow, 2006) that seem appropriate for the season.


Green Bean Salad with Grapes and Anise
Ensalada de Judías Verdes con Uvas

Green beans, grapes and anise--a grape-harvest salad.
Wine is fermented grape juice. If the grape juice (or wine) is distilled, it turns into aguardiente, a clear, strong alcoholic beverage that is usually flavored with aniseed. In La Mancha it is customary to preserve fruits such as grapes and cherries in aguardiente, which becomes subtly infused with the fruit. In bars and restaurants you will see beautiful decanters and flasks of the liqueur with fruit. It is served into tiny glasses as a digestive. The fruit can be drained and served separately.

This salad, incorporating grapes macerated briefly in aguardiente, was inspired by a recipe in a little book, La Cocina Tradicional en la Provincia de Toledo, prepared by a chef at the national parador of Oropesa (Toledo). Paradors are a national network of hotels, often situated in monumental castles, monasteries, and ancestral palaces. In the original recipe, the salad is served alongside sautéed scallops of venison. It’s equally good with chicken breast (see following recipe) or lamb.

Use wine grapes, if available. Otherwise, use red grapes. Add the dressing to the beans immediately before serving, so the vinegar doesn’t leach the bright green from the beans.

Where I live, wild fennel is flowering now. So I decided to finish the salad with a sprinkling of fennel pollen to complement the anise flavor. (More about fennel pollen here.)

½ cup seedless red grapes, halved
2 tablespoons aguardiente de anise or anisette
1 pound green beans, preferably flat romano beans
½ cup thinly sliced celery or fennel
¼ cup thinly sliced scallions
1 hard-cooked egg
1 clove crushed garlic
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
Red lettuce to serve
Fennel pollen (optional)


Place the halved grapes in a small bowl and add the aguardiente or anisette. Allow to macerate for 2 hours. Drain the grapes and discard (or drink) the aguardiente.

Slice off edges of beans.
Cut off tops and tails of beans and either sliver them lengthwise or cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces. Cook the beans in boiling, salted water until crisp-tender (3 minutes from the time the water returns to a boil). Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain.

Place the beans in a bowl and add the celery or fennel, scallions, and grapes.

Cut the egg in half. Remove yolk to a small bowl. Dice the white into the bowl with the beans.

Mash the yolk with the garlic, mustard, vinegar, oil, and salt. Stir the dressing well. Immediately before serving, toss the dressing with the beans. Garnish serving bowl with red lettuce or, alternatively, divide salad between 4 individual serving dishes, garnishing each with a few lettuce leaves. If desired, sprinkle the salad with fennel pollen.

Serve bean and grape salad as a side with chicken breasts.

Manchego Chicken Breast with Anisette
Pechuga de Pollo Manchego con Aguardiente

Chicken breast simmers with wine, spices and anise brandy.
Aguardiente de anís is a clear, anise-flavored grape brandy, sweet or dry, much appreciated throughout Spain. It makes a pleasant digestive after a meal, served neat in a snifter or over ice. Hardy peasants might sip it for breakfast, when it’s said to matar el gusanillo, kill the little “worm” of hunger. For this recipe use dry aguardiente.

I liked the subtle flavor aguardiente gives to this sauce so much, that I’ve since experimented with it in other recipes. It’s really good added to mussels marinera, with tomato, garlic and white wine.

Serves 4.

2 pounds boneless, skin-on chicken breasts
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Pinch of dried thyme
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
Grating of nutmeg
½ teaspoon whole coriander seeds
2 tablespoons dry aguardiente (anisette)
½ cup white wine
¼ cup water


Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and set aside 15 minutes. Heat the oil in a large skillet or sauté pan. Add the chicken breasts and brown them on medium heat, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken and add the garlic. Sauté until chicken is lightly browned.

Sprinkle the thyme, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and coriander over the chicken. Add the anisette, wine, and water. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces. Cook until chicken is tender, 10 to 15 minutes longer, depending on thickness of pieces.

Slice the chicken breasts.

Remove the chicken breasts to a cutting board and allow to rest 5 minutes. Slice the chicken. Discard the whole spices and serve the sauce remaining in the pan with the sliced chicken.


Bean and grape salad complements the anise-flavored chicken breast.
Tempranillo grapes.