The beginning of 2008 shows no hopeful sign that the new year will see the end the violence, venality and stupidity that plagued the world in 2007...but we must hope. Personally, I await the year's surprises with the wish that I will handle whatever comes my way with gratitude, good grace, and spirit. I wish the same for all of you.
Now let's talk about food. A few days ago, the topic was off-limits for me as I recovered from a bout of - well, I'll just call it the flu. Thank goodness I can tuck in again.
The splendid repast above was courtesy of my Spanish friend Antonio the other night. Antonio is serious about food - Spanish food - but in a seamless kind of way that emanates from his general Spanishness. He comes by this honestly: his father is a restaurant cook, and Antonio has worked in bars and restaurants for 20 years, starting when he was all of 14. I should hasten to add that his family is Andaluz, not Catalan, thank you very much. I will not digress here into the differences.
During a rather protracted search mission in which we cross-crossed that paragon of supermarkets, El Corte Ingles, and in which Antonio was deep in thought, he homed in on exactly the quantity of his selected ingredients. Once in my kitchen, he set about his preparations with an admirable organization and economy of movement. His perfectly executed final product demonstrated that simplicity plus top-quality ingredients equals memorable cuisine marked by brilliant flavor, gorgeous color, and contrasts in texture and temperature. The menu:
1. Entrecote with a sauce of roquefort and cream (to die for!)
2. Mussels (cooked, cold) with minced red and green peppers, onions, olive oil and lemon
3. Calamari rings and pequillo peppers sauteed in olive oil
4. Whole fish grilled in olive oil with garlic, parsley and lemon
And here is Antonio, showing us how to enjoy these simple masterpieces:
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