forn de pa

When in Barcelona one will find that ecologically produced bread and pastries are not common, nor is the art of artisanal baking from wholesome and unrefined ingredients. Thanks to three-year-old bakery BarcelonaReykjavik, whose original location in the city center has recently added a sister store in the heart of the commercial district of popular barrio Grácia, the city now has an alternative. http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/slow-bread-from-barcelona-reykjavik-let-it-ferment/

Walking down Asturies one day the bakery immediately caught my attention. With its characteristicly striking black and white checkered tile interior and contrasting choicely placed popping fire engine red hued objects, one can’t help but take a double glance. Beyond the smart interior design I immediately noted that their pastries and loaves of bread were unique and exceptional; trays of whole wheat cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip brioches, and loaves of bread with ingredients ranging from kamut, spelt and oat flours, seeds, nuts, seaweed, herbs and honey lined the display shelves. I won’t begin to describe the aromas gently perfuming the air–it will make you want to board the next plane or hop on the next bus–whichever pertains to you–and head there immediately, which, actually is what I suggest you do anyway.

The bakery was founded by then baker-apprentice, full-time carpenter, David Nelson, who had no prior baking experience, and partner Gudrún Margrét, who had an intolerance to wheat. From here on, I’ll let Leonora Oppenheim of TreeHugger fill in the remaining details, as they recap nicely what David explained to me last month in his shop: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/barcelona_reykjavik.php

notta bene**When I asked where the inspiration for making cinnamon rolls derived, I was shocked to learn the answer–Cinnabon!! Well, not entirely. Albert, the current pastry chef, had his first experience near an oven while working for Cinnabon in Hawaii before moving to Barcelona. If one would bring anything from that experience, I suppose it would be a passion for cinnamon, dough, and sugar!!

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BarcelonaReykjavik  (RAVAL) c/Doctor Dou, 12 – (GRÀCIA) c/Asturies 20  Barcelona  http://www.barcelonareykjavik.com/

La Seu

Hailing from Kirkcaldy, Scotland, Katherine McLaughlin is the finest Spanish farmhouse cheesemonger Spain has seen. In her tiny shop, Formatgeria La Seu, tucked away on a stone-lined street that I imagine could barely fit a horse-drawn carriage in past centuries, she carries cheese from local cheesemakers with whom she has direct contact and purchasing ability. Her selection is petite yet varied, selling only what she likes and ensures to have been crafted with care, quality, patience, and skill. Katherine has been highly influenced by a stint she had working for a Scottish cheese shop in her hometown several years before moving to Barcelona as well as the work and philosophy of London’s famed Neal’s Yard Dairy.

La Seu hosts tastings of 2 or 3 cheeses paired with wines and liqueurs by both reservation and walk-in. In warmer months Katherine stocks three varieties of locally-made cheese ice cream—always, respectively, one made each from the milk of goats, cows and sheep. Yum! And, just six weeks ago and right next door to La Seu, Katherine opened an intimate wine bar, Zim, deriving its name from “enzyme” and the properties it holds in wine. Zim has on hand a sampling of a dozen or so Spanish wines, and as one would deduce, all sourced from small vintners and available for pairing with a selection of Spanish farmhouse cheeses.

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Formatgeria La Seu : Carrer Daqueria 16 : Barcelona : www.formatgerialaseu.com : closed Sunday and Monday

organically original

Perhaps one of Barcelona’s most creative, authentic, and sustainably-minded chefs, Santi, delights citizens and tourists alike with his daily vegetarian and organic specials. Centered in the heart of Barcelona’s El Raval neighborhood and located a mere stone’s throw away from the famous Mercat de la Boquería, Organic, the restaurant—and more appropriately, the kitchen—over which chef Santi presides bustles with vibrant energy, mastered flow, and fragrant aromas spilling forth from the open kitchen.

Santi has served as chief culinary genius for the past six of the restaurant’s seven years, creating seasonal and colorful dishes to order. Sourcing most of his products directly from the Boquería market and the remainder from local natural food shops and distributors, nearly all of the products used at Organic come from within the Catalunian province, including even the wine served. Although Santi possesses no formal kitchen training, he pulls polenta and chard cakes from the oven, enriches a butternut squash soup with a swirl of a spoon of curry powder, and adds the finishing touch of hijiki (seaweed) to a tasting plate of a mixture of legumes and vegetables like a seasoned professional.

Interestingly, the majority of his clientele is not vegetarian, nor is he. “People are increasingly searching for healthier options for dining out in the city,” he explains. He caters to many mothers and women, though the numbers of males customers are increasing compared with past years.

“From where is much of your inspiration derived,” I asked. “When I was first learning to cook, a creative chef in the city took me under his wing, and from there I learned the basics—bases, sauces, soups, etc.—and I began to experiment, to investigate new flavors and work with different combinations of ingredients, and got really creative,” Santi responded. “What I enjoy most is the contact with the people, serving them their plate of food through the open kitchen window, and being able to see their reactions to the different flavors, textures, and aromas,” he added.

A usual day for Santi begins when his wife wakes him up, usually just 15 minutes before he leaves the house to head to Organic, and just enough time to take his first espresso of the day (he averages 4 or 5 per day at the moment). He finishes his espresso while sitting on his couch with his cat, then mounts his motorcycle and heads off to meet the morning produce purveyor at the restaurant. Come 8:30 AM Santi is in the kitchen, prep list in hand, eyeing the fridge to see which ingredients remain from the day before. During this time he whips eggs, prepares a dessert or two, ignites the fire on the large gas stove and gets the ovens cranked up to temp. Next it’s time for his second espresso of the day which he is served at a nearby café. Everyday he picks up a newspaper along the way and reads it at the bar. Santi is back at Organic by 9:45 AM where he finishes the prep for the evening and the next day until service begins at noon.

Although he doesn’t find the time in his schedule currently to pursue other interests, Santi would like to start offering cooking courses and to be able to incorporate internship and apprenticeships in the Organic kitchen. Until then, however, he passes the few spare moments he finds in the day trading on Wall Street and making an occasional trip to the gym.

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Organic : c. de la Junta de Comerç : Barcelona  http://www.antoniaorganickitchen.com/home.html

If you go…make sure to try the vegan orange sauce from the salad bar, any of the desserts from the cold case (mousse du chocolat and the crema catalana are especially good), and of course you can’t miss with any of the specials. All pizza dough is made in house and hand tossed to order.

Bon appétit!

when marketing…

Keeping it Fresh in the Family: Four generations within a family of market merchants keep access to fresh produce alive and thriving in Barcelona’s Mercat de la Boquería

In Barcelona’s bustling Boquería Market, just off the famed La Rambla flooded with tourist and local pedestrians alike, Eduard Soley, third-generation market stall operator and produce purveyor begins his day at the market at 7 AM, arriving just in time to make the morning deliveries from area producers and distributors. He greets each one as though an old friend and judicially hand selects each item he will stock for the day at his market stall. For the next hour he arranges the produce, ranging from crisp, sage-hued fall pears to bountiful varieties of wild and domesticated mushrooms, a coveted ingredient on many a Catalán menu. Artfully displaying the colors of fall, Eduard aligns rows of plump orange persimmons, deep-purple tinged figs, and terra cotta shaded sweet potatoes. He’s also preparing for Catalunya’s regional celebration of La Castañada, coinciding with All Saints’ Day on November 1^st. It’s typical to see moniatos—sweet potatoes—roasted streetside along with chestnuts and panellets, traditional petite pastries made with a marzipan-like dough that’s rolled into a ball and covered with toasted pine nuts, coconut, and other tasty sundries.

Eduard’s family has been in the market business for over 140 years. Starting the business in 1864, Eduard’s paternal grandmother and mother were both farmers and women of agriculture. They labored on area vegetable farms learning the land, the seasons, and variety. Raising Eduard with the knowledge of farming, they also taught him the business of operating the market stand. He’s managed the business for more than 45 years, which now also includes both his wife and son.

“What motivates you most to manage this business,” I asked him. “Hay un montón de vida en este mercado. La Rambla famosa lleva la energía hacia el mercado y se inspira su presencia,” Eduard replies. “This market is full of life. The famous Rambla exudes its magnificent energy towards the market and inspires it.” The multi-cultural nature of the market also invigorates Eduard. “Toda la cultura viene por la boca. Siempre cambiamos por ruta de la boca, por la gente que viene por todos lados buscando algo de su propia cultura y así viene el cambio, la integración. Se incorpora todo junto y llegas a una harmonía. Si el estómago no ha lleno, no va bien nada,” he concludes. “Culture arrives via route of the mouth. We’re always changing things [at our stand] incorporating new items that people request who have come from other countries, seeking familiar foods. This is how change arrives, and integration. When you incorporate everything together you arrive at a harmony. If the stomach isn’t full, nothing goes right.”

“What inspires your displays and the products you carry,” I asked. “Cada año viajamos a los mercados de Londres, dónde se puede encontrar cualquiera cosa que quiere.” “Each year we travel to London’s markets where you can find anything you want,” he explains. The majority of Eduard’s products come from within Spain and are either grown regionally or in the southern towns. He does carry products from overseas to meet consumer tastes and preferences. With Spain’s current “el crisis” economic environment he’s not able to carry any ecological products.

When asked what he likes most about this business, this lifestyle, there’s a twinkle in Eduard’s eye as he beams and responds,“A mí me encanta estar con la gente, a saber a nuevas culturas, cosas. Cada día es diferente.” “I enjoy being with people, learning new cultures, new things. Each day is different,” he continues. “¡Se puede escribir un libro de todo que ves…todos los carácteres!” “One could write a book with all he sees, all of the characters,” he adds enthusiastically.                

Eduard, his wife and son eagerly await new faces and new flavors at their produce stand in the Boquería Market. Go for a visit and a chat and maybe pick up a tip or two on people, food, and culture while you’re there. You’re guaranteed to be enthralled.

Mercat de la Boquería : La Rambla 91 Barcelona : España    http://www.boqueria.info/

guerrilla baking

Sure, you’ve seen and likely even participated in the streetside neighborhood bakesale. You’ve probably hosted people in December to bake and decorate holiday cookies. You may have even wanted to experiment in your kitchen with all sorts of ingredients and flavor combinations and had a bake-off. By now you’re also likely aware of some of the underground dinner scenes that have swept the nation as well as the world (http://www.saltshaker.net/underground-dining-scene).

So, what do you get when you put all three together? This cool concept: http://treatst.blogspot.com/

This trio of girls started experimenting in their kitchen and needed an outlet for sharing and dispensing of their goods, so, they flocked to the street. Now you can find them on occasion around town (L.A.) after they’ve spent a day in the kitchen baking….fabulous way of creatively combining baking, entrepreneurship, community, and shutting the door in the face of the health department. Salut!

 

caracoles = Spanish escargot

There have been periods in my life when I’ve been curious about certain frequently considered gourmet, or rare, or odd, or finer foods that the average North American family, or person for that matter, doesn’t consume often, or even at all. Be it caviar, frog legs, horse, escargot, various livers, dog, tripe, crickets, snake…Granted I still have never tried many of these each unique, protein-rich items–some illegal to consume in the States, others not considered palatable–during the course of the past two years or so I have discovered a fondness for tasting food stuffs that I’ve only read about or heard of that at once seemed appalling. 1) To satisfy curiosity, 2) to experience a new flavor|texture|aroma|visual, and 3) to [hopefully] dispel a cognitively (sometimes socially) constructed myth that all of these seemingly strange yet worldly consumed items aren’t palatable. To my delight I’ve been pleasantly surprised by each item from the aforementioned list I’ve tried. It’s only made me more eager to continue to expand my palate.

After learning more about proper escargot–or snail–preparation thanks to French Laundry’s Corey Lee (he’s since left to open his own space coming Spring 2010 in the City) at last summer’s Slow Food Nation, I’ve eagerly ordered them at restaurants any time they’ve appeared on the menu. Lucky for me (and those who enjoy eating snails!) they are very common in Spain!

I’ve been working in a small farm plot near the house and after several days of rain discovered a group of snails. We brought some home to prepare. Apparently, in order to clean them properly, one must consolidate them and place some flour over them. They then eat the flour and when their poo has turned completely white, their insides have been cleaned and they are ready to be washed and then stewed.

We placed them into a pot with a lid. After returning to the kitchen periodically, we realized that somehow, one by one, they were escaping from the pot only to be found on the ceiling, in the sink or on the wall. Marc resolved this problem by constructing a cage-like bag from an orange fruit sack. Quite resourceful. This was the first time he’d ever prepared snails from earth to plate, and up until this point all was going well. After consulting with his sister, however, things changed. As instructed by her, he placed salt on the little ones and left for a few hours. When he returned, rather than cook the snails as he had intended, he found them nearly dead. He was supposed to have washed them while spreading salt over them. Yep, that’s the trick. So, after days of anticipation, we alas did not have snails for dinner. Ahh, the interesting tidbits of culinary knowledge one learns in creative ways….

As I mentioned, Spaniards enjoy their caracoles. Over the weekend while attending a Slow Food event in Lleida, approx. two hours west of Barcelona via coche, I encountered a collective host of small groups of people enjoying what I have always seen pictured in Slow Food literature. Teams of eight or perhaps twelve were milling about, each in distinctly colored uniform, chatting, having a cerveza or smoking, eyeing homemade grill apparati filled with pans of seasoned caracoles–some stewed, others sauced, and even more lightly seasoned and left alone to absorb the smokiness of the grill. Some teams also prepared large pans of paella, a traditional Spanish dish most often made with rice (sometimes black, often with fideos (short noodles) in place of rice in this region of Spain) seafood, and peppers among other savory ingredients. Other teams displayed legs of the prized jamon Iberico and sausages.
While touring the round of people we were fortunate to receive a plate of caracoles to sample.  Oh. My. Were they delicious! Stewed in some sort of dark brown, black peppery tasting gravy they were delicate yet extremely flavorful, and apparently well cleaned during the preparation stage. If not cleaned properly, when removing the snail from its shell one will likely encounter sand a/o grit.

En fin, after an adventure or two in the process, my tastebuds are happy to report that the custom of consuming snails in Spain is alive and well!

you know you’re in Spain when…

…you start seeing one of these hanging in at least one, if not most, restaurant windows along your average street, and if there isn’t one in the front, there’s about a 99% chance there’s one hanging in the kitchen.

Ahh, Spain. Then of course, there’s the unexpected civic holiday in which the entire city shuts down, residents and tourists alike flock to the streets, performers prepare for the big event, a street procession in this case…floats, costumes, face paint, bells, giant prince and princesses, dancing:

This was just the beginning…

And the day isn’t complete without a  trip for tapas and vino to a little bar, opening into a stone plaza tucked away along a whimsically winding alley through the heart of the old town: Sagardi Gotic http://www.sagardi.com/#origenes

tuna with shallots, garlic and chive:

Meet Marc, my gracious host, colleague, friend and Catalan native:

so, perhaps it wasn’t helado de Argentina as much as it was helado del mundo that speaks a romance-originating language.

To put it straight, the Argentine’s make a mean helado. If one is to study the country’s history, however, she will learn that the Argentino’s have been influenced greatly by the Italians, among other nationalities, of course. Italians make some of the best ice cream–if not the best–in the world: gelato. Gelato, in contrast to U.S. ice cream, and perhaps ice cream by its definition, is generally not made with eggs and is produced with substantially less air. Back to the point, the French also create lovely ice cream and with interesting and somewhat less-conventional flavors such as rosemary, thyme, and tomato basil. Yes, tomato basil ice cream. That one actually wasn’t so tasty after all. Perhaps it would have served its purpose better as a sorbet. Although I’ve never sampled Romanian ice cream (nor do I know if it’s even a custom for them to make it) I imagine it couldn’t be all that bad. Finally, the Spanish and Catalan ice cream is superb as well. In fact, it was actually in Spain that I first tasted pure yogurt ice cream (and this was, of course, before it was a fad in the U.S.). Gastronomically speaking, the food fads often appear to traverse across the Atlantic from Europe…curious, though no surprise.

I express all of this to bring the point home to one small, but absolutely sensational point. Well, perhaps two. Okay, three: 1. the gelato from Il Laboratorio del Gelato in the Lower East Side Tenement of NYC is unforgettable. Flavors such as black sesame, dinosaur plum, and tarragon with pink pepper. Wow. 2. Can you think of a better way to start a weekday morning than with an affogato prepared with a scoop of San Francisco’s Humphry Slocombe’s “Secret Breakfast”? Bourbon and cornflakes. Need I say more? 3.  The U.S. is catching on quickly to globally-inspired palate innovation; let the inspiration flow.

http://laboratoriodelgelato.com/flavors.php

http://www.humphryslocombe.com/|_Flavors_|.html

mobile food carts influencing local dining scene across country

Food carts are popping up across the U.S. dining landscape like lightning bugs illuminate a sultry summer evening in the South.

Simply peruse this Portland-focused NYTimes article: http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/travel/10Portland.html?scp=2&sq=portland%20food%20carts&st=cse

And, while you’re at it, visit http://foodcartsportland.com/ for a taste of every delectable morsel PDX has to offer the hungry palate. Offerings come in all cuisines, locales, meal times (including one dedicated solely to brunch!), to go containers, package-less style, cold, hot, spicy, savory, sweet, crunchy, smooth.

Interesting point worth mentioning–Latin America, as well as Europe for that matter, and likely Asia too, and while I’m at it, I’ll include Africa– have been dishing street food for centuries–glad it’s finally caught on on a greater scale in  the US. Perhaps we can pick up a few tricks from a visit ’round the world–a glass of fresh coconut juice with a side of tamales anyone? Or better yet, a fresh, warm, crisp, doughy Belgian waffle served in parchment or a savory spinach and Béchamel crêpe? How about a serving of spicy kimchi?

Next time visiting San Francisco, be sure to add a sampling of fine French cuisine to your diet. Chez Spencer has recently added Spencer On the Go: http://spenceronthego.com/home.html

Of course I cannot exclude local gem and entrepreneur Teresa of Mas Tacos Por Favor, located here in Nashville, and most often found in East Nashville’s Five Points on the corner of N. 11th Street @ Woodland St. (http://www.myspace.com/mastacos)

I’m sure all sorts of tasty developments have introduced themselves into the Seattle, Austin, Chicago, Minneapolis, L.A., NYC markets as well…among others, which is all to say it’s a prime time for exploring America’s culinary landscape, one city–one cart–and one bite at a time.

I am in awe.

I spoke with the creative, progressive visionary behind Chicago’s latest development in the thriving small food business incubator scene. Zina Murray, dreamer and creator of Logan Square Kitchen (http://www.logansquarekitchen.com/) proposes three pillars for this project: economic development, environmental sustainability, and public health. She believes each of these can be solved via food as a medium. She’s passionate about healing Chicago’s food system, fostering food security, and having healthy, clean, and flavorful food available to all. The smartly designed, 3-galley structure will serve as an hourly-rented kitchen and event space, and has goals to become zero-waste, zero-energy within 10 years. The best part is it opens this month!

Of interest: http://www.lacocinasf.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_incubator and http://www.culinaryincubator.com/maps.php