The food vine cannot congratulate
itself for many posts since April I'm afraid, the evidence being as
plain as day. And there I was thinking five months in France would
allow me the leisure time I was so looking forward to: to cook, read
and write. Oh how I wish.
But the flip side in lacking time to
express my culinary leanings meant spending many precious days with
old and new friends, returning to San Sebastian, twice, our favourite
city and getting to know a little bit about Corsica, a new love in
our lives.
Now back in Australia, France seems a
whole world away. It's back to busy days at our property in the
Hunter Valley, back with fresh thoughts on food blogging and back
with the early beginnings of
a new book in my head. No, not SECOND
or LAST, this one's about the Basque country.
I gave San Sebastian a reasonable
mention in my cookbook FIRST so while it's still in my mind I thought
I'd start the next phase on the food vine with tapas. I'd love to say
a tapa a day but that might be pushing it.
The world of miniature food is not just
synonymous with Spain. It's spread across all cultures – Greece,
the Middle East, north Africa, Asia, Japan and as far away as Scandinavia -
and so on. It seems they all have their own version
of small dishes in a different guise to that of the tapa but they
amount to the same thing. But, standing in bars may not be one of them. No
matter the culture miniature food can be anything from simple
appetisers to an elaborate range of preparations forming an entire
meal. The parallel is we all love eating this way.
But we give credit to the Spanish who
have put miniature food on the world map with their tapas, or pintxos/pinchos as they are called in the Basque county. Locals and tourists alike
make personal pilgrimages to their favourite bars and not to just
one. Bar crawling is part of the ritual.
The informality of a loud and buzzy bar
is very appealing. No standing on ceremony, no dress rules, eating as
much or as little as one likes. Personally selecting mouthfuls of
delicious food from a sea of tiny, savoury morsels punctuated only
with glasses of cool, delicious Spanish wine is as good as it gets.
Tapas need not be traditional. There's
a whole host of bars now competing for first prize in the modern tapa
movement. The reinvention of the traditional tapa with innovation and
style at affordable prices is where San Sebastian comes into its own.
Bars such as Borda Berri, Zeruko, A Fuego Negro and La Cuchara de San
Telmo are to name a few. Here are their addresses in the old city,
the Parte Vieja, just in case you get there before me:
Borda Berri: 12 Fermin Calbeton
Zeruko: 10 Calle Pescaderia
La Cuchara de San Telmo: 28 Corredor
San Telmo off Calle Agosto
A Fuego Negro: 31 Calle de Agosto
My love of Spain, its culture, food
and wine is a fine way to celebrate the food vine's fourth birthday
posting. I've gone for a modern bent, not a traditional one.
Ingredients:
one big, fat scallop without coral per
head
1 slice of prosciutto per head
Dash of grape-seed oil for the pan
1 x quarter cauliflower broken into
florets
salt and white pepper
2 tablespoons thick cream
A little garnish of your choice
Extra virgin olive oil to garnish
Sea salt to garnish
Sea salt to garnish
Method:
Steam the cauliflower for 10-15 minutes
until soft, remove from heat.
Place the cauliflower in a food blender
with the cream, salt and pepper and whizz to achieve a smooth purée.
Wrap a slice of prosciutto around the
middle of each scallop and secure with a toothpick. You may need to
cut the prosciutto to size so it completely covers the sides of the
scallop. Remove any straggly ends.
Heat a frying pan then add the oil.
Sear the scallops on each side until they are cooked, two the three
minutes. You might need to turn them on their sides using a circular
motion to ensure the prosciutto is cooked all the way round.
Smear a little cauliflower purée
onto a gleaming white plate, place the scallop on top.
Garnish
with a herb flower, salt salt and drizzle a tiny amount of extra virgin olive
oil over the top.
(photograph taken in our kitchen in south west France)
(photograph taken in our kitchen in south west France)
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