Straight off the train we were taken to the market by The Unfaithful Cook to buy fresh, local supplies for the days ahead. We would start with "pinchos" as the appetiser for lunch: red pepper pâté and black olive tapenade and aubergine caviar with tomato. The main course would be a typical Fideua. For supper we tried, for the first time, shrimps cooked in salt followed by fish cake with a low-fat citrus cheesecake for dessert.
This glorious weekend started at Saturday lunchtime in a wonderfully Catalonian manner: Cava to wash down the simple yet delicious "Pinchos". Just cut the sausage into chunks, put on to fry until browned, and then put on the thinly sliced baguette bread with a toothpick to hold. And then the most important part: a drizzle of the oil left over in the pan does wonders for the flavour.
We continued with a freshly made black olive tapenade and red pepper pâté on bread, and the two flavours are perfect together - the freshness of the pate with the salty tang of the tapenade. We also prepared an aubergine caviar, served with a tomato. Delicious snacks, made in Catalonia with inspiration from Provence! Here´s how we made them:
For my sins I had never heard of - let alone eaten - a Fideuà. A first time for everything! Rather than the shrimps and scallops used in "Fideuà made in the USA" we managed to get cuttle fish from the market, but aside from that the process was the same. Ask the fishmonger to keep the pancreas (the brown part) in the cuttle fish as this adds loads of flavour in the cooking. The fideuà is quite straightforward to prepare for a small group, and served with a spoonful of alioli on the side it makes for a delicious lunch on the terrace! Of course, remember to serve it with a well chilled white wine.
The weekend so far was going very well. I am soon to move to the United States to study for a PhD in Iberian and Latin American Cultures, where I will also be learning Catalan. To be able to sample Catalan cuisine in Catalonia was a real pleasure for me, and in such a beautiful location that I did not know before. And so after a siesta it was time to get my head slightly in the books and learn a little Catalan before beginning the evening with a sunset stroll around the town.
Food was - of course - the focal point of the weekend. And, as ever, with food it is a time for experimentation and seeing what you can do with the locally-sourced ingredients available to you. For the starter at supper we would try a dish that, the Unfaithful Cook informed me, she had only seen in the USA and never with shrimps at home. Put a layer of oven salt in a dish, lay the whole shrimp on top, and then completely cover the fish with more salt. Put in the oven for 15 minutes and serve. A new way of cooking shrimp that I will certainly try again!
(The Unfaithful Cook says the shrimp were overcooked. So next time a 7 minute oven bake will be just enough... Remember!!)
The main course today would be a three-layer fish cake. Again, fresh and local ingredients are the key to giving this dish great flavour. One layer of carrot, one layer of fish, and one layer of spinach. It is normally cooked and then eaten cold - however it was already getting quite late and our stomachs were ready for food, so it had a few minutes standing out of the oven and as you can see it turned out just fine! Wonderful for a summer evening, with - you guessed it - some chilled white wine.
Here´s how we did it:
For dessert, Felicity took on a challenge fully in the spirit of this blog: to recreate a dish that she can make without problem in other places, but for which - locally - the ideal ingredients are hard to come by at a reasonable price. And it came out just fine: a low-fat citrus cheescake.
Felicity had already been unfaithful to the original recipe to this in England, by changing the cheesecake from lemon to lime, to make the flavour stronger and the dish more refreshing, but here she was forced into being more faithful.
Firstly, the base was made with digestive biscuits and melted butter with ginger
(Ginger nut biscuits are used in England). While this base is cooling in the fridge, the cheese mixture is prepared. This is made with 2 packs of lemon jelly (formerly lime) with 60ml water, heated together. When heated, we add a mixture of 300ml milk and two egg yolks and heat some more. Then we add the juice and finely-grated rind of 3 limes.
Then we add 500g "queso fresco" (formerly cottage cheese) to the jelly mixture and blend. Then we add 150ml whipped cream and finally we beat the two egg yolks until stiff, add 15ml sugar and beat again. Fold in the egg whites and pour the mixture onto the base.
Leave in the fridge to set and then enjoy the zesty, light, "low-calorie" cheesecake without the usual associated guilt!
My foodie delight did not stop there. Sunday would see us enjoy a marinated flank steak accompanied with "escalivada" - a typical Catalan dish of whole roasted onions, peppers, and aubergine which are sliced and then served with garlic, olive oil and parsley.
The steak is marinated for 24 hours (and turned every once in a while) in soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic. Cook in the oven, 7 minutes on each side. Tender and delicious, it is best enjoyed with a full-bodied Catalan red wine.
At the end of the experience we were really happy and satisfied with the results... Don't we look like so...?
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