La pomme espagnole

Those who know me will already know that I have left Spain to return to Canada. No, not to my hometown of Montreal but to Toronto… of all places! This was a very difficult decision. But there are just more opportunities for me in North America at the moment and career-wise this was a decision that had to be taken. After just over 2 months of being back, I still think about Spain every day. I still love the culture, the people, and of course the food. I also feel that this isn’t the end of my relationship with Spain. I just know that I will end up there again some day.

I’ve decided that even if I’m not IN Spain, that doesn’t mean that I can’t write about it. I will continue this blog, mainly because there are still so many foods I haven’t talked about yet. I haven’t even mentioned paella once! I still have a very large collection of photos to choose from and I will keep posting the recipes I learned while in Spain. And of course, I will keep cooking Spanish food.

Just today I made chorizo pasta. I know, its super simple, but it’s also a staple for many Spanish families. It’s like the spaniards’ version of kraft dinner; Every spanish kid eats it, and they all love it! But make no mistake, this is WAY better than kraft dinner… mainly because it doesn’t come from a box. You start with fresh chorizo. The chorizo used for pasta is not as dry as the one you would use to snack on with some bread. Yet it’s still a lot more like a saucisson than a sausage. Cut up the chorizo into little cubes and fry it up with some chopped onion. Once browned, add tomate frito. Unfortunately this is something that I have yet to find here in Canada. Tomate frito is basically cooked tomatoes, like a very plain tomato sauce. Since I haven’t found it here, I used the best prepared tomato sauce I could find, with the smallest ingredients list. You add your sauce to the chorizo, stir it up a little make sure all the chorizo oil gets mixed into the sauce, and add it to your favorite pasta. The kids I met in Spain always preferred it on “macarrones” (which is actually penne pasta) and I totally agree with them. Top it with lots of mozzarella or parmesan and ¡tada! a super quick weekday dinner. Although I suggest you serve this with a salad or something because it’s really not the healthiest dish.

In addition to writing about the things I ate and learned to cook while in Spain, I will be doing a little bit of investigating here in Toronto. When I left for Spain more than 2 years ago, Spanish food was barely on the North American radar. Finding Spanish products in your grocery store was just impossible. So imagine my surprise (and joy) when I came back and started seeing Spanish products here and there around the city. I’ve even found a place that sells real jamón Serrano. It’s not Iberico, but it still made me very happy!

I will start documenting my finds here, so that even if you don’t live in Spain, you can still get the necessary ingredients to make authentic chorizo pasta! I’m also on the lookout for a good Spanish restaurant. Please send your suggestions!

Mercado Maravillas, in Madrid

This morning, just like many other Saturday mornings, we went to the market. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I live next to the most amazing market in Madrid: El Mercado Maravillas. Wordreference translates maravilla as wonder or amazement, and that is exactly what I feel every time I walk in. You can find anything here, whether it be fresh fish, beautiful seafood, vegetables, rare cheese, bulgarian sausages, indian spices, weird chicken parts, cow tongues, amazing olives you’ve never heard of… I could go on forever.

Tongues

Seafood stand

But what is so amazing about this market is not just the food. Its the people. Once you’ve found a stand that sells products you like at a good price, you start going there often. And the people who serve you remember you. By now, I’m on a first name basis with my vegetable guy, my cheese guy, my bread lady, and i’m working on getting to know the fish and meat guys better. Why is this so important? Well the benefits are endless. For example, maybe the peaches aren’t great the day I happen to be there, but Ismael (the fruit and veggie guy) will save me some good ones for the next time I stop buy. Of if he thinks his cherries are exceptionally good, he will give some to everyone to try.  It’s also a really great feeling when your cheese vendor asks you about your family back in Canada and your fruit vendor says he wants to meet your mom and have a chat with her.

José the Fish Guy

However, there is one thing that I cannot stand at the market. This seems to happen mostly on Saturdays, and today was especially bad. When everyone in the market is in a great mood, sellers and buyers alike, all of this cheerfulness can be taken away by one kind of person: the old lady. The old lady is pushy, rude, and she always gets her way. What’s that? There’s a line and you were here first? The old lady doesn’t care. She uses her little old elbows to sneak past you and claim that she was there first. Her most common trick is to tell you she only wants one cucumber, that it will be really quick. So of course, being a decent person you let the little grandmother go ahead of you. But suddenly she remembers that she also needs some lettuce, and an apple, some bananas, some garlic, oh and some lemons too! Too late you realize that her “quick” order is actually taking 20 minutes. Too top it off, after having packed her cart with the last of the bananas that you really wanted, she walks away rolling her cart over your toes without even apologizing. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should NEVER trust an old lady at the market.

Yes, I sound like a horrible person. But I swear I’m not. I believe in treating your elders with respect, and helping them out whenever you can. I always give up my seat on the metro to anyone who needs it, and I help the lady in my building carry up her groceries. But how can I treat these old ladies with respect when they have absolutely none for me? When they walk around as if they own the market, and everyone who is in their way should bow down to them? Next time someone runs over my foot with a cart, or elbows me out of the way, I want an apology!

This has been a very busy weekend! My parents landed in Madrid on Thursday morning, and its been non-stop since then. We’ve been walking, eating, sightseeing, eating, and more eating. My parents are the reason behind my love of food, letting me run around their restaurant “helping” serve the food when I was just a little girl. So naturally, we will be (and already have been) enjoying a lot of Spanish food during this trip.

We’ve had lots of great food since Thursday, but there is one thing in particular I want to share with you: Cochinillo. Cochinillo translates to baby pig, or little pig. It’s the local delicacy of Segovia, a small town near Madrid which we just happened to be visiting on Saturday (this wasn’t a coincidence). Segovia is also known for its beautiful roman aqueduct and the castle Walt Disney used in his drawings for Sleeping Beauty.

But i’m not here to talk about the tourist attractions. The main reason anyone goes to Segovia, is to eat roasted suckling pig. I know, baby pigs are so cute how can you eat them!? Well, they are also delicious, and tender, and crispy. So I don’t feel too bad. We made a reservation at Duque, the oldest cochinillo rotisserie in Segovia. This place has been here since 1895, and they really know how to roast a pig.

This restaurant has been here since 1895!

To start off our lunch, we had an appetizer of morcilla (blood sausage with rice) along with a marinated cod and salmon salad. Then came the pig. Since we were six, we got an entire pig to ourselves. The cochinillo should be no more than 3 weeks old, and between 4.5 to 6.5 kg; the perfect size for a table of 6! Our waiter brought it to our table and we watched as he expertly cut it into pieces to put on our plates.

The master serving us our pig... YUM

It’s a rather simple recipe in theory, but A’s mother told me it’s virtually impossible to do at home. To roast the cochinillo, you put it in a clay dish with water, salt and lard, and let it roast in a wood stove for about 3 hours. Seems easy, but apparently cooking the meat to perfect juicy tenderness while getting the skin to be extra crispy is quite a challenge. Duque’s cochinillo was just perfect. The meat was incredibly tender and juicy, with so much flavour! And the crispy skin on top was irresistible. I might have looked strange eating a giant piece of roasted skin with my hands, but I didn’t care, it was just too good. Think of the turkey skin you eat at thanksgiving, multiply that taste by 1000, and you might have an idea of what it’s like. YUM! The portions may have been big, but no one had trouble finishing off their plates.

My mother eating her cochinillo with style!

For dessert (somehow we still had room in our tummies) I chose Ponche Segoviano. This is a delicious but heavy cake made with flour, sugar, milk, cinnamon and a ridiculous amount egg yolks, wrapped up in a coat of marzipan. As someone who doesn’t like marzipan, I must admit it was delicious with the cake, and a wonderful ending to an incredible meal.

If you are in Madrid, I would highly recommend going to Segovia and having some cochinillo. Its a great experience, and Segovia is the perfect town in which to take a long post-lunch walk. Beautiful views, amazing history, and exquisite food; it doesn’t get better than that!

This past Sunday Andrés and I went downtown to do a little shopping, and after about two hours of being pushed around like sheep in the crowds of christmas shoppers we decided that we deserved a little treat. The occasion called for a stop at Casa Labra, one of Madrid’s top spots for croquetas. Casa Labra, located in the Preciados area right by Plaza de Sol has been serving Madrileños for 150 years. It’s decor is still very simple and traditional, and other than a few renovations it looks like they haven’t changed much since they first opened their doors in 1860.

Casa Labra is celebrating their 150th birthday this year! Happy Birthday!

The greatest thing about this place is that not only have they been here for a very long time (and therefore must know what they’re doing), but that they literally offer 3 different tapas. That’s it. They also offer sit down meals, but really they are known for their three snacks: Cod croquetas, deep-fried cod, and pinchos of marinated tuna. For €4,10 you can get two croquettas and two big chunks of fried cod. And it’s worth EVERY cent. In addition to being rather large, the croquetas are unbelievably creamy and delicious. The fried cod is similar to fish and chips, but without the chips. I don’t know what they put in the batter enveloping the yummy fish, but its incredible and probably really unhealthy. Speaking of which, do not go to this place if you’re on a diet. Both the croquettas and the cod are deep-fried, and leave a remarkable amount of grease on your fingers after eating.

Two croquetas and 2 pieces of fried cod = €4,10. The perfect post-shopping snack!

If you’re ever in Madrid, this is one of the first places you should hit. Besides, it’s conveniently located in the very touristy shopping area of Madrid, so you can’t miss it!

Croquetas are quite possibly my favorite Spanish food. I know, churros con chocolate were pretty hard to beat, but just wait until you’ve heard about croquetas! Croquetas are actually quite a simple food. They consist of a thick, creamy béchamel sauce which is then breaded and deep fried. Inside the croqueta you can find just about anything: jamón, codfish, egg, chicken, cheese, shrimp, and the list goes on. They are often served in bars as tapas to accompany a drink, but I find the homemade kind much better.

Since my arrival in Spain, I have had a lot of croquetas. Actually, I’ve had more than a lot, I’ve had tons. I just LOVE them! I have searched far and wide (well, staying within Spain’s borders of course!) for my favorite croquetas, but I keep going back to the ones made by Andrés’ grandmother. Even though she obsesses and complains that her croquetas never come out “quite right,” they are always, always amazing. Never pasty and never too salty, they have just the right consistency that makes the béchamel sauce melt in your mouth when you bite into the crunchy exterior. Whatever their flavour, the abuela Marisa’s croquetas are heavenly.

La abuela Marisa

What’s her secret? I was dying to know! Andrés once attempted to make some for me, though somehow they ended up tasting more like hamburgers than croquetas. You should have seen his face when I dared to dip them in ketchup! Anyways, while the effort was nice, the result wasn’t great. So I decided to go straight to the source and spend a wonderful Saturday afternoon getting a private lesson in croquetas from abuela Marisa. It turns out they are super easy to make! We decided to make them with both Jamón and boletus edulis (aka porcini). The secret is in the thickness of the sauce before you let it cool off. It has to get to the point where it almost looks like a dough, completely coming off the sides of your pan. However if you let it thicken too much, your croquetas will turn out pasty, so be careful!

The secret is in the thickness of the sauce; It should end up looking something like this...

Below I have included the recipe as told to me by Marisa. However, like any good grandmother she never used any measuring tools and did it all by eye. Apparently the amount of flour or milk necessary depends on various factors such as the weather, your pan, your stove, as well as your own personal taste. I’ve included approximate measurements in the recipe to get you started, but don’t be discouraged if it doesnt turn out great the first time. Just keep trying with different amounts of milk and flour and eventually you will get a great tasting croqueta! Also, feel free to substitute the jamón and mushrooms for anything else your heart desires.

Attempting to shape the croquetas. My first few were way too lumpy.

If you don’t feel like experimenting in the kitchen, Madrid has quite a few places were you can find delicious croquetas. My suggestion? You absolutely have to try the codfish croquetas at downtown Casa Labra (they only serve one kind), but if you want more variety (such as chorizo, chicken, or even calamari), try the croquetas stand in Mercado San Miguel.

Croquetas de jamón Iberico y boletus edulis

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 litre of milk, lightly heated
4 big tablespoons of flour
100 g jamon iberico
1 tablespoon boletus edulis powder (porcini powder)
nutmeg
eggs, beaten
bread crumbs

In a large pan, heat the oil and fry the onion until golden. Remove pan from heat and add flour. Let it cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes. Add the jamón and mix. Add the warm milk and stir. Return the pan to the medium heat and keep stirring. Add boletus edulis powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens to the point where it separates itself from the sides of the pan. Pour the sauce into a dish and let cool completely in the refrigerator. Once the sauce is completely cool and quite hard, you can begin shaping it into croquetas. As you are making the little cylinders, roll them into a plate filled with flour. Let them rest for approximately 15 minutes. Dip each croqueta into the beaten eggs, followed by the bread crumbs.**  Fry the croquetas 4-5 at a time in a large pan with very hot oil, until a deep golden brown. ¡Que aproveche!

** At this point, you can freeze the croquetas and fry them another day.