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SPMFood, & Travel MagazinGOMETOUe R

Traditional DOCa : . Rose Wine. Sweets. Grape Varieties Pulp Memories are Under the Non-Fiction A Flush Made of This Spotlight of Pink

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May-AugusI 2011. 6 € In the Mediterranean we eat supper not when the hands on the cioch say its time, but when our bodLj tells us we are hungr

Borges Extra Virgin Olive Oil

There is no set time to eat because we have quite another concept Mediterrajiean taste. Borges taste. of time. It is a time rooted in the senses, but also in nature. Like knovi/ing that it is the right time to collect the best olives, vifhich, when blended together, will produce a lighter, purer and more balanced oil. A healthier oil. Borges Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Here to show you that mealtime is the start of a different kind of time: a time to live as they do in the Mediterranean. Just as in the fashion world, the fruii and vegetable year has its seasons. Fonvard-ihink- mg buyers will already he deciding whai to order and, vviih you in mind, this issue pre­ views an attractive winter product for when things start turning chilly: grapefruit. Not a fmit generally associated u-iih (not even by the Spanish!), but that we do rather well, as and Germany have been finding increasingly these last few years. Exporting traditional sweets, and is a trickier business—national prefer­ ences vary so much, and we ail have our childhood favorites, so often endowed with the power of Proustian recall. Few foreigners would think of turning to Spain as a source, yet some of our specialties are in great demand in New York and beyond. There's an enor­ mous variety to choose from! Give them a try! DOCa Rioja vAnc needs no introduction—its reputation precedes ii - but you may not have heard about clianges on the varietal from. We bring you the latest. Meanwhile, our range of roses continues to gel bigger and better. Read all about it. Spanish olive oil is settling nicely into the Chinese market, which (partly) explains why Pago de los Baldios de San Carlos did its har\'esiing by moonhght last winter. Our spe­ cial envoy liad fun. As does John Barlow, with his delightful picnic made up of the sort of unusual products, some on the brink of extinction, that qualify lor inclusion in the Slow Food movements Flagship. Here's wishing our readers in the northern hemisphere an enjoyable summer break, and happy reading to all.

Cathy Boirac Editor-in-chief [email protected]

Editor-in-chief Cover Awards The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles are Catliy Boirac Juan Manuel Ssnz/CtCEX Gold Ladle m the Best Food Magazine category, at ttTe 2010 not necessa'ily shared t)y Publication Coordinators Intormalion and Publisher Le Cordon Bleu Worid Food the Spanish institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX), which cannot Al.Tiudena Martin Hueda iCEX Media Awards. Al.iiudena be held responsible for any State Secretary for Trade and Communications Award omissions or errors In the text. Photographic Archive Tourism, Ministry of Industry. "Best Journalistic Work" Mabel Manso Tourism and Trade, from Alimentos de Esparia. Editorial Secretary vww.icex.es 2006. Ministry of the Environment Angela Castilla and l^ural and Manne Affairs. Subscription: Design and Art Direction Marques de Busianos Award Spain Gourmetour is a Manuel Estrada Design from the Ftoyal Spanish Academy putJlication of ttie Spanisti of Gastronorrvy. Maps Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) Design Award from the Spanish Javier Belioso ol the Stale Secretary for Trade and Tourism. Ministry of Association ol Design Coior Separations Professionals (AEDP). 1995. Industry. Tourism and Trade. Espacio y Punto The magazine is issued ttiree Special Gastronomy Avrard Printed in Spain times a year in English, from trie Fine Cuisine Association 2010 Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Av^ands. Best Food Magazine Aries Graficas Palermo French. Gemian and Spanish, and the Royal Spanish Acadertiy Advertising and is distnbuted free of charge of Gastronomy. 1988. C6DISA to trade professionals, "La Gula y Bachiiler en Fogooes if you want to subscribe to Spam 1998" Award from £/ Nuevo Lungs, [email protected] GourmetDur. please contact the a Spanish iveeWy economic publicatioo, D.L M.51647-2002 Pnnted on PEFC-certified Economic arxl Commercial Spanish Food Journalism Award, paper to promote the ISSN: 0214-2937 Offices at the Errtessles of Spain 1990, Ministry of tfie Environment responsibia managemeni ^pZ^. (see list on pages 108-109). and l^ral and Marine Affairs, ol our forests, ^SIJ^ NlPO: 705-11-023-2 SPAIN GOURMETOUR May-August 2011 No. 82

MAY-AUOUsI 2011 SPAIN OOl;RMi;iOL H Editorial 1 Food Basics ICEX Spanish Gastronomy Grapefruit. Pulp Portal Colors Non-Fiction 44 Click to Taste 96 Rose Wine. Recipes 56 A Flush of Pink 8 Colophon Traditional Sweets. Have a Spanish Break! Memories are Made Raquel Rosemberg of This 62 from Buenos Aires 98 DOCa Rioja: Grape Vaneiies. Recipes 80 Under the Spotlight 18 Regular Eealurcs Close-up Lasting Impressions 100 Culinary Fare Rodrigo de la Calle 84 Slow Food in Spam, Ad Index 106 the Story of a Spain Overseas 108 that Came Back to Life 34 Business Watch Exporters 110 Pago Baldios San Carlos. Credits 112 Moon Landing 92

KLWAUGUST 2011 SPAIN iWUKMtlOUR A) h li 1' VI ^ jfl

In Spain lliere ate mnie tlian lO.DDD wines. It is little wonder titat titere ate so many places to enjoy them. In a country that has 90 grape varieties making more than 10.000 magnificent wines in 65 world class Denominations of Origen, it is not surprising to find so many places to enjoy them.

www.winesfromspain.cam Jxa^dtay olivets ort -five/ L-oose/!

VS|'hH\ fv'AgA-l-^JV Srt^JVcK A Olive/tjow k/

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IN e e 1^ OHi v Oil Spain

C/ Ferrocarii. 18 - 2' - Madrid • SPAIN Tel. (+34) 91 566 78 75 - Fait (+34) 91 SOS 33 35 E-mail: exportgirafaelsalgaiio.com www.raf aelsa lgado.com Production of rose wines in Spain is entering a new era, Tine former conflicting opinions—contempt amongst connoisseurs and popularity amongst consumers of light, low-tannin wines—are being ironed out by the surge in quality. Creative oenologists, selection of varieties and careful vinification have now brought us a rich range of new roses to choose from.

MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOUR A Flush of

PMMAY-AUGUST JOl I SPAIN GOLIRMCTOUR ROSE WINE O o

TEXT FEDERICO OLDENBURG/©ICEX

PHOTOS JUAN MANUEL SANZ/©ICEX

TRANSLATION JENNY MCDONALD/©ICEX

when I first came to Spain, over sober acidity of whites, and back then, in the early years of two decades ago, I was truly rejection by serious wine-lovers the wine industry, this was only delighted to find such a varied wine who felt that roses negated the to be expected, as 90% of wines scene. At the time, things were pleasure of wine drinking. produced in the world before the waking up after a long period of IS'^" century were clarets. Not hibernation and the search was on Historic clarets because the winemakers wanted it for quality. But I have to confess that way, but because they were not I was disappointed by the roses. When I became so interested in yet able to fully control the With just a few exceptions, they that I started delving processes of fermentation and seemed to me a second-rate into its history, I discovered that maceration. And the resulting wine beverage that consumers turned to roses in this country descended came from a mixture of varieties, only as a substitute for red wine in from some illustrious predecessors: pressed using primitive methods hot weather. In my visits to clarets. These were wines with a (treading) and short maceration. wineries, I soon discovered why very light reddish color that were All the same, the claret tradition quality was so poor. Most roses popular way back in the 14'^ spread until relatively recently. were being made with the worst century when the first wine­ The DO Ribera del Duero, a region quality grapes but, to remedy their growing districts were becoming that today enjoys international defects, various corrective consolidated in Spain, and were fame for its succulent reds, mostly techniques were being applied produced in the top third of the produced claret wines until the 1980s, until the great Vega Sicilia (manipulation of acidity, "a la carte" Iberian peninsula, from the Duero reds started to set an example that selection of yeasts to obtain to Valdeorras. Probably the most others followed en masse. artificial aromas of banana, famous were the Cigales wines raspberry, etc., chaptalization, i.e, that are on record as having been the addition of sugar to the must served at the Spanish Court when The great ieap prior to alcoholic fermentation). it was based in Valladolid (13''"' These and other industrial practices to 15'h centuries). forward focused on achieving not quality But claret wines are not roses. If we focus on a strict definition but, above all, an attractive color. There is a subtle, but significant, of rose wines, then the history of The fact is that I had to taste many difference. In both cases, the must Spanish roses is much shorter. Spanish roses before I could find is macerated with the grape skins It was only in the middle of the last any that escaped from the common (usually red ones) for two or three century that Spanish wineries denominators: a loud pink color, days. In the case of roses, these started to search for methods to artificial aromas of fresh red skins are removed prior to emulate the French roses that were berries, a flavor that disappeared fermentation but, for clarets, they enjoying such popularity amongst fast, excessive sharpness, and an remain in the vats while the yeasts consumers who wanted alternatives aftertaste of strawberry candy. do their work, as with red wine. to red wine. Or, to be more exact, It was hardly surprising because So claret was just a red wine with it was the Navarran and Catalonian rose wine producers at the time a light color and expression, which producers who led the way. were torn between two opposing in fact was sometimes made even Since then, Navarre has been passions: that of near-teetotalers lighter by adding white wine. acknowledged as an ideal location who tended to choose a rose so So we know that the Castilian and for the production of this type of they didn't have to cope with the Navarran clarets were popular at wines, and the merit is largely due tannin grip of red wines or the the time of the Valladolid court, but to oenologists such as Luis

11 ROSE WINE

V

Estefania, who visited iTcnch to a profusion of average quality the sort of simple wines that are vineyards back in the IQ^Os to wines, such as those I found on my ideal lor cooling down on a hot learn all the techniques for making arrival in Spain, as I explained at beach in summer. quality rose wines. On his return, the start of this article. Al last Spain had left behind its ai Bodegas Las Campanas. he old prejudices and had started adopted the French sai^ncc Leaving behind old making roses of outstanding quality techniques, as well as fcrmcniaiion and, more importantly, a wide ai below 16''C (eCS-'F) to preserve prejudices variety of them. the full expression of the grapes. So, the model was successful but it Clearly, one of the main The story goes that fresh, iragranl was not always applied wisely— characteristics of the new Spanish rose wine from Las Campanas—the fresh fruity notes ohen gave way to rosiJs is their eclecticism. They offer oldest of the DO Navarra wineries, artificial llavors that came from a broad range of profiles, are made founded in 1864—was a favorite perfunctory mass production—so using different methods, and can be with writer Ernest Hemingway we had to wail for a new generation enjoyed in all sons of (1899-1961), who recommended it of oenologists to see the best roses circumstances, from a humble among his artistic and literary in the history of Spanish wines, picnic m the park to the smartest friends, helping it on its way to those being made today This surge of avant-garde taster menus. popularity in quality came not only from new One of the surprising new features Many others followed this example, vinification techniques, but also is the leading role being played in creating a huge demand for Spanish from a change in certain models roses by certain native varieties. roses in the 1970s and 80s. These that had previously seemed Garnacha certainly continues to be were wines that were not aged in inalterable. Spanish roses of the a goldmine, and the Navarrans are barrels, that had a bright, attractive 21*' century are not made only well aware of this. They embrace color, clear fruity aromas and a from Garnacha and — the lop international varieties— light, refreshing taste. like those early Navarran Cabernet Sauvignon, Merloi, Unfonunately, their success also led pioneers—nor are they necessarily Tempranillo, , etc.—

12 o O zyi

for red (Spurn Gourmemur No. 81) de Tobia 2009, presented by and white wines but are still the young winery founded by faithful to Garnacha when it comes Oscar Tobia in 1994 in which to designing a good rosC. Some Tempranillo is the dominant grape. wineries even combine it with other This is a rosi "with a soul". It is grapes to gel a more complex fermented in French Allier oak result. This is the case of Azul y barrels, then remains on its lees in Garanza. whose vineyards are the same barrels for five months, located on the edges of the ending up with a bright raspberry Bardenas Reales desert. They color like that of a claret wine, combine Tempranillo with appealing aromas uith notes of Garnacha to make their exuberant fresh raspbernes and strawberries Rosa de Azul y Garanza 2009. against a balsamic, mineral Julian Chivite, one of the cutiing- background and a full, fresh, edge wineries in the DO Navarra, round lingering taste, also chooses Me riot and Cabernet Tempranillo also gives rise to Sauvignon as companions for the Rose 2009, a fresh, cheerful excellent roses beyond the DOCa native Garnacha in their Gran monovarietal, has received lop Rioja. In the various Designations Feudo Edicion Rosado Sobre marks from wine writers in Spain of Origin in Castile, this grape Lias 2008. a wine thai has and around the world. is at the forefront of some of the revolutionized the production of Garnacha also grows, of course, mosi interesting new ros6s. top-quality roses. Aged in French in the DOCa Rioja, where some A good example is La Rosa de barrels for six months, it scales wineries are still faithful to the Arrocal 2009, a Tempranillo unimaginable heights: a pale color traditional-style roses that are more mono varietal from the DO Ribera reminiscent of onion skin, complex complex, less fresh. One example is del Duero. This is a simple wine, vinous aromas of fading flowers Muga, which produces its excellent with a clear fruitiness and a and incense, and an elegant, Muga Rosado 2009 by combining refreshing taste, made by the young delicate taste with excellent acidity two red varieties, Garnacha and Arrocal winer>', which had already and the almost oily texture that you Tempranillo. with a white, Viura, indicated its promise with some find in a classy while wine. to give a salmon-colored wine with tasty reds at affordable prices. aromas of peach, pineapple and This same grape is the one that gives Garnacha kiwi and a light, easy-io-drink taste vivacity to Quinia Clarisa 2009, the with just the right degree of acidity lirst non-white to be produced by everywhere This Muga rose, fermented and Didier Belondrade, author of the But on today's Spanish rose scene, aged for two months in wooden famous barrel-fermenied Verdejo Garnacha is found not only in casks, offers the charm of the son Belondrade y Lurton. The DO Navarre. In Catalonia, for example. of historic wine that is difficult lo Rueda, home to this French Portal del Montsani, owmed by find today wnnemaker since 1994, only allows well-knowTi architect Alfredo Selling aside Garnacha, at ihe the production of white wines, .Arribas, makes the most of the DOCa Rioja there are also ros^s so Belondrade had to apply for Gamacha stocks thai grow on this that are the complete opposite— certification under Vinos de la Tierra estate's white clay with granite in outright modern—while also being de Casiilla for this rose, which he the DO Monisani. Their Brunus great quality. One example is Alma named after one of his daughters, a

13 ROSE WINE

Three techniques for a wine

charming personal tribute. The wine A touch ot the A couple of years ago, in the is marked by raspberry notes and a summer of 2009, a controversy touch of sweetness. exotic brought European rose wines Further north, in Zamora, we find For those looking lor something unexpected media attention, placing a controversial grape, the Tinta de them on the front pages of the main dificreni, one of the most appealing European newspapers. This was Toro, Some experts insist it is just a features of the pink revolution when the European Union proposed Tempranillo clone (Caracterizaciim taking place in Spain is the authorizing the blending of red and del Bunco de Gcrmoplasma dc la Vid rediscovery of some native varieties white wines to make roses. de El Encin, IMIDRA, 2000) that The proposal failed, but it gave that are less well-known than European winemakers the opportunity has adapted to the stony soils and Tempranillo and Garnacha. to defend "traditional rose wines" and harsh climate (with extreme The Prieto Picudo, originally from to inform consumers about the temperatures and scarce rainfall) of the region of Valdevimbre-Los techniques involved in making them. Toro. Others claim, on the basis of Oteros (Leon, in Castile-Leon, The Manifesto in defense of European historical and even liierary northern Spain), has recently been rose wines, published at the time by references {Libro del Bucn Amor, the Spanish Conference of Wine rehabilitated as a grape for bright Regulatory Councils stated, "Rose .Xrcipreste de Hita, 1284-1351) reds with a marked, ripe fruitiness. wines are quality wines resulting from that it is a variety that has its own But this variety was traditionally a particular vinification process distinguishing characteristics and used in the area of Leon to make comprising the fermentation of grape originated in Zamora. Vv'hatever must, mostly from red grapes, which rose wines using an unusual are first macerated to establish the the iruih of the matter, the variety technique called madrco in which color and flavor of the wine by leaving can be used to make both the dark, whole, unpressed bunches of the grape skins in the must for exactly powerful wines full of ripe, red grapes were added to the the right amount of time." aromas that have brought fermenting must, making up But this statement did not clarify the fame to Toro and singular rose three methods usually adopted for about 5% of the total volume. maceration: wines. That at least is how it is The Doiuinio Dostares winery has • direct pressing, in v;hich red grapes seen by Bodegas Farina, a family- restored this custom using the are mechanically pressed until the run winery founded in 1942 which Prieto Picudo grape in its Tombu must gains the desired color. has been a pioneer in the 2009, a rose that wins over even • salgnee, in which the must is production of quality wines in this the most determined of red wine obtained by stacking up the grapes area. Its Colegiata Rosado 2008 lovers. This is a wine with so that the weight of the grapes brings out the full potential of the does the crushing. The skins are a generous alcohol content, an then removed. Tinta de Toro. It is a rose with intense, bright color, explosive • short maceration, in which the plenty of color, aromas of peach notes of raspberry, pomegranate skins remain in contact with the and plum and a round, well- and grapefruit, and a full, must until the desired color is structured flavor. lingering flavor. obtained.

14 1

1 /

Also from the province of Leon, A taste of the Tres Obispos Rosado paradox ihat this varieiy is the area known as El Bierzo {Spain 2009, made by the Pitiacum considered exotic even in ils Gourmetour No. 72), where the winery, Pitiacum, seduces with homeland, the Parraleta is now terrain is rugged and much very clean aromas of strawberry, making a comeback and being influenced by the Atlaniic, is the raspberry and flowers and a rich featured in a liiuited number of Tinia Mencia grape, one that offers smoothness in the mouih. wines. One is Alodia Parraleta 2009. quite the opposite. Over recent Though not in the fimelighi like a rose being made organically by the years, the reds from this area, with .Mencia, the Parraleia variet)' was Alodia winery from the lasi a lighter profile than most of the growing in the area of ihe DO surviving stocks of this grape that Castilian wines though still with a (Spam Courmctour No. are still growing in Adahuesca, at an refined elegance, have afforded 73) long before the local altitude of 650 m (2,132 ft) on the pleasant surprises on the Spanish winemakers embraced the better- lower slopes of the Guara and Sevil wine scene. But the rosfe from El known international varieties Mountains, Partial fermemaiion in Bierzo are another way of bringing (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, . the barrel on the lees gives this wine In support for the Mencia variety. etc.). In spite of the rather sad an unusual spiciness. This, together

15 ROSE WINE

I!

with the citnts and white fruit notes of the variety, make the Alodia a very original ros^. Restored varieties Other native varieties that are also I' being featured in roses can be lound in vineyards close to the Mediterranean. One of them is the Monasirell grape (Spain Gounnctoiir No. 75), which pronounced strawberry color, bunches of this variety that are first grows mostly in the Designations of aromas of herbs and fresh fniii and dried in a barn for 120 days. Afier Origin in Murcia (Yecla. Jumilla, a clean, refreshing Havor fermentation in the barrel and ageing Further north, in Catalonia, there are and Bullas). Thanks to the great on the lees, the Advent offers two native varieties that have prestige of the fortified wines from complex notes of honey, dried recently been acknowledged, by apricots and fading flowers with a Murviedro (today's Sagunto), this winemakers and consumers alike, as creamy, balanced flavor variety was even exported to producing excellent roses. The The other Catalonian grape that is southern France, where it was Sumoll, from the Penedts region, being retrieved from oblivion is called Mourvedre. Today, Monasirell was almost completely abandoned Trepat, which still survives in the is again in fashion for its rich, fruity and is still noi included in the DO's vineyards of Costers del Segre and reds. And it is also used in excellent list of authorized varieties, even Conca de Barbera. It is considered roses such as the Castaflo though in the early 20'^" century it an interesting alternative to the Monasirell Rosado 2009, in which was the predominant variety in this usual Merlot and Pinot Noir in the its very Mediterranean character, part of the countr)'. But it has been production of rose wines, both still reminiscent of very ripe red fruit, makmg a comeback, easily winning and sparkling. Generally speaking, is combined with the freshness and supporters when they taste the these are light, easy-to-drink wines, stniciure of the two leading lights Pardas Sumoll Rosat 2009, which who.sc main appeal lies in their on the international wine scene, the Celler Pardas winery presents as clear raspberry notes which last Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. the• "rehabilitation of our roots'". Thi s just a few months afier bottling. Another Mediterranean variety that is a wine with a bright color, touches .'\mongst the most fragrant roses is again recei\ing much attention is of balsam, inint, licorice, made from this varieiy is the Portell Bobal (Spain Gourmetoitr No. 77), blackberriesL , strawberries and Rosai Trepat 2009, made by the which grows both along the east skin, with a creamy, lingering Vinfcola de Sarral in the DO Conca coast of Spain and inland in the flavor Since this wine is made from de Barber^; it is a fresh, cheerful small DO Manchuela (Spain the unauthorized Sumoll grape, it wine, with pleasant hinis of peach Gourmefour No. 73). In Uliel- cannot be included as a DO Penedts and well-integrated acidity and it is Requena, where this is the Iwine , so it is sold as vi dc (aula (table well suited to spicy Asian food. predominant variety, the reds are wine). Other firm advocates of the This section on Spanish rose wines becoming increasingly good and Sumoll are found at the Hereiat produced from native varieties there are also some noteworthy Mont-Rubi wincr)', in the Alt must necessarily also include a roses, such as the Aula Bobal Penedi-s region, which has just most unusual wine, the Bnimas de Rosado de Lagrima 2008 (Bodegas launched Advent Sumoll 2008, an Ayosa Malvasia Rosado 2008, made Covifias), a wine with a unusual sweet rost' wine made from by the Bodega Comarca Valle de

16 Guimar, on the Canary Island of background of violeis—and an But undoubtedly the mosl exotic Tenerife (Spain Gourmejour No. enticing full, balanced flavor of the Spanish roses made from 80). This is an exquisite sweet Another is Castillo de Monjardin French grapes is the Petit Verdot wine, which achieves a delicate Rosado 2009, from DO Navarra, 2009, a surprise from the winery conirast between its richness and which offers the freshness typical of and hotel Pago del Vicario, in its acidity, this being a typical the more northern Merloi vineyards Ciudad Real (Castile-La Mancha, characteristic of the best Malvasia in Spain. And in corabinalions with central Spain), A Petit Verdot rose wines from [he Canaries, with the other varieties, the Arrayan Rosado from the banks of the Guadiana added plus of an exotic him of 2009, from the DO Mentrida, River may seem strange, but this fresh guava in ils bouquet. This is offers a dialogue between Merlot is a wine with a verj' marked the only wine on the market to and Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon color—closer to a light red than feature the Malvasia Rosada, a and Petit Verdoi, giving a wine with a real rose—with fresh aromatic varieiy that is all but extinct. exuberant notes of cherry and hints of sharp strawberry and white blossom and a creamy, cherry candy against a backdrop With a French refreshing flavor. Syrah is another of violets, and a taste that is full of the French varieties that leads of body and richness. accent to interesting results in rose wines. A magnificent example of the Of course, it is not only native An example is Prtmeur Rosado diversity of Il^'-centur)' Spanish varieties that are behind the 2009, a monovarietal produced rose wines. Spanish rose boom, Vaiieties such by the Gramona family, which has as Merlot, Cabernet Sau\ignon, now been working in the Penedes Federico Oldenburg is a Swedish- Pinot Noir and Peiit Verdoi are region for 130 years. This wine Argcnlineiiti journalist who has been also playing their part. offers intense berrj' aromas and living in Spain since 1989. He has Of ail of ihem, the one that seems a fleshy, full flavor. written on food, wine, spirits and to be the center of attention for The same can be said about lifestyle for publications such as roses in Spain is Merlot. In fact, Cabernet Sauvignon, which is the Vogue, Gentleman, Sibaritas, Merlot TQsts are coming from a scar in Enate Rosado 2009, by El Mundo, Diario 16 and wide range of DOs. Amongst the Vinedos y Crianzas del Alto El Economista. His latest ijooJ: is single-variety ros^s, one of the best Arag6n, one of the leading wineries Saber de vino en 3 horas I have lasted is 01 vena Rosado in the Somontano district. This (2011, Ed. Planeta). 2009 (DO Somontano). which is is a rose with fine aromas very faithful to the typical of cranberries and raspberries, We would like to extend our Bordeaux aromas—intense notes and a full, succulent flavor with thanks to the wineries for sending of fresh red fruit, againsi a a vivacious acidity. bottles for the photo report.

17 J / /

Grape Varieties Under the Spotlight

After years of resistance, in 2007 DOGa Rioja introduced a selection of additional red and white grape varieties, including some from outside the region. Patricia Langton looks at what has changed so far, which new varieties are finding popularity, and the valuable role played by minority grapes such as , Garnacha, Viura and Malvasia.

DOCa mojAM.^V-.'iUt^l.ST 2011 SPAIN GOUKMt-l OUR 19 DOCa RIOJA

TEXT PATRICIA LANGTON/©ICEX

PHOTOS PATRICIA R. 50T0/©ICEX

When a new trend has emerged thanks to the newcomers, and from DOCa Rioja in recent years, how they fit in with their more it has generally been as a result of established siblings. w inemaking innovation or oak .Anyone expecting dramatic change usage rather than the arrival of a will be disappointed; new plantings new grape variety. Here, probably in Lurcpcan regions usually mean more than in any oiher Spanish thai something else has to be region, traditional local grapes uprooted first or new- planting have been defended with rights obtained. New vine material determination, while grapes from also has to be made available, outside the region have, until now, which is more complicated in the been kept in the shadow. case of ancient varieties. Finally, However, in 2007, and following but today Tempranillo is by far the adverse economic situation docs a lengthy research program, the most widely-planted grape, not favor experimentation and DOCa Rioja's Consejo Regulador while some of its more challenging innovation, and some bodegas may (Regulatoiy Council) gave siblings play a lesser role in have put plans on hold. But despite the green light to no fewer than the contemporary DOCa Rioja the adversities, there are wines to nine additional grape varieties. wine scene. taste and airalyze and they are The new arrivals comprised six Indeed a quick glance at some certainly enough to excite the palate. varieties with local origins (three of the Consejo's statistics reveals Of the recovered ancient red red: Maturana Tinta, Maiurana that plantings of TempraniUo varieties—Maiurana Tinta, Parda and Monasiel, and three almost doubled from 1990 to Maturana Parda and Monasiel— while: Tempranillo Blanco, 2005, and by 2010 the variety only the first of this trio, Maturana Maturana Blanca and Turrunies) accounted for 51,440 ha (127,111 Tinta (see Maiurana Tinta (from including a number of ancient acres) of the total 63,200 ha Navarrete), page 21), has been varieties which were on the verge (156,170 acres). Of course, this adopted by producers to date. of extinction. More controversially, trend has not been unique to DOCa On my recent visit 1 was keen three far more familiar white grape Rioja. Plantings of Tempranillo to see where the new Maturana varieties from outside the region have increased in many other Tinta vineyards are, how the grape (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc regions of Spain as well, perhaps performs in different areas of and Verdejo) were also given the making the authorities in DOCa the region, and what kind of role Consejo's seal of approval. Rioja mindful of the need to offer a ii might play in the future. This was the first change to the point of difference in the region's I was also curious to know why selection of grape varieties which wines in the 21 ceniury. it has attracted a group was established when DOCa Rioja of enthusiastic supporters. emerged as Spain's first DO in Maturana Tinta My starting point is the Finca 1925 (the superior DOCa status Fuenielacazuela estate at Baiios de was granted in 1991). The original gains followers Rio Tobia on the Rioja Aha. This is group—Tempranillo, Garnacha, Four years afier the additional home to Maiurana Tinta guru Juan Mazuelo, Graciano, Viura, grape varieties were permitted, it is Carlos Sancha who, together with Malvasia and Gamacha Blanca— timely to look at what has changed, fellow researcher Fernando what we might expect in the future Martinez de Toda. identified this

20 grape as one of the ancient minority Maturana Tinta grapes worthy of recuperating and being given a place in the modern {from Navarrete) DOCa Rioja winemaking scene. The vineyard was established in 1917 and originally belonged to Sanchas grandfather but, with the exception of some highly prized 90- The story so far; The variety is potential problem. Careful vigilance year-old Garnacha vines, mosl of is required at harvest time to avoid identified in 1989 in a vineyard in the vines are Maiurana Tinta planted Navarrete in the Rioja Alta sub-zone herbaceous, green flavors. Maturana to the southwest of Logroiio. Tinta likes a warm location and needs ten years ago, making them some Unlike other ancient Riojan varieties little water The variety adapts well to of the more established plantings discovered at a similar time, no many different soils, though of the varieiy in the region. chalky/clay soils are preferable. historical reference is found for "This is one of the coldest areas Maturana Tinta in the region. The finished wine; A good Maturana A selection of the vines from the Tinta wine offers great depths of color of DOCa Rioja and it's challenging Na'.'arrete source, which are thought with a hint of violet. The wine shows to get grapes to ripen here, but we to be around 115 years old, is made great depth of flavor and sweet dark gel higher acidity levels. WeVe in a nursery and a small number of fruit along with balsamic notes, hints planted Maiurana Tinia on south- plants become available to of spice and chocolate. Acidity researchers and eventually bodegas. levels are generally high, and higher than facing slopes and we practice Character profile; Maturana Tinta is Tempranillo, making the variety an ideal organic viticulture,"" says Sancha. characterized by its small berries partner for the latter and a welcome new He"s particularly pleased with the (around half the size of Tempranillo) addition for DOCa Rioja wines in general. 2009 vintage of his .Ad Libitum and therefore offers a greater skin-to- Where in DOCa Rioja? As yet Maturana Tinia, a year which pulp ratio than many other red plantings are relatively few, but varieties. It features small and Maturana Tinta vineyards are taking brought near perfect dry conditions compact clusters. Bud break comes root in a fairly diverse range of areas in this area. This wine certainly has late but the variety is vigorous and including Badaran, Barios de Rio plenty of character, with attractive ripens early in the season, at Tobia, Briones and Fuenmayor balsamic notes on the nose and an a similar time to Tempranillo. in the Rioja Alta, Oybn in the Rioja In the vineyard; The vine is relatively Alavesa, and in Villamedina elegant, perfumed fruit on the easy to cultivate but Botrytis can be a and Ausejo in the Rioia Baja. palate, bearing some similarities to

21 DOCa RIOJA

I, .il'ii'. \l.lMil ri.;.r'r. r I i:!. .1 \.li;!:, ii: 1 or Petit Verdot. Moving towards the heart of the region, other Maiurana Tinia vineyards have been established by Bodegas Pedro Martinez Alesanco in Badaran. In 2004, they made their first vintage from the new variety in collaboration with the University of La Rioja and, encouraged by initial results, ihe bodega now makes both a blend and a varietal wine from the varieiy. Indeed, as oenologisi Pilar Torrecilla explains, the variety iHi'i.r'^ a liLl!':l>L-r <'f .R:\':il li ag;;:. over oihcrs for this bodega: "Due to the particular microclimate of this part of the Rioja Alta, we can only make wines with Tempranillo and Garnacha, as Graciano and Mazuelo don't ripen sufficiently. So Maiurana Tinta is an interesting new proposition for us, providing both greater complexity in aged wines and vinified on its own." Indeed, the varieiy gets Torrecilla's nod of approval in both the vineyard and the winery. She finds il very easy to grow, but emphasizes the need for particular vigilance in the last stages of ripening to avoid the appearance of herbaceous fiavors in the wine. Alternative to Cabernet Sauvignon? Maturana was discovered in the heart of La Rioja at Navarrete, and one of the bodegas closest lo the original vineyard and with lledgling

22 5^ GO

Maturana Tima vineyards is Finca Valpiedra, near the town nf Fiienmayor. Here I met with oenoiogist Lauren Rosillo, who told me about why he is keen to support the grape. On joining the bodega in 2007 he was given the go-ahead to replace Cabernet Sauvignon and Mazuelo with other varieties that he Felt would offer better results, and under his guidance Maturana Tima and more plantings of Tempranillo are being undertaken. •'Maturana Tinta has similar characteristics to Cabemei Sauvignon, but it is easier to lose the pyracine flavors (green vegetal notes). The grape also reminds me of Carmenere when it ripens well." Rosillo shows mc the young Maturana Tima vines, which are located veiy close to the banks of the tree-lined Ebro River This is a remarkably scenic location, but what infiuence does the river have? "There is greaier potential lor Boiryiis here, but it hasn't been a problem yet... and on hotter days the river can have a positive cooling influence on the vines," Rosillo explains. He encourages good exposure to the sun by a vertical training system without wires. It's early days for Maiurana Tinta here, but its role already seems to be established. When the vintage is particularly favorable lor the variety—and Rosillo has high hopes for the 2010 vintage—il will be blended with Tempranillo and a little Graciano for the top level Finca Valpiedra wine, which is aged

23 DOCa RIOJA

Chema del Rio. Bodega Barfin de Ley in French oak, and when it doesn't excel it will be used for the second tier Canios de Valpiedra. Other producers who have adopted this variety include Vif\a Ijalba, a bodega located on the omskins of Logromi and one already respected for its work with minority grapes, including Graciano. The first Maturana Tinta vines were planted here in 1997; the)" produced the fruit for its first Maturana Tinta wine, Dionisio Ruiz Ijalba, in 2001. Occupying 1.5 ha (3.7 acres) alongside the bodega, these vines are under organic viticulture and yield 5.9-7.8 tons (6-8,000 kg) of grapes each year for this wine. Four more hectares (9.8 acres) at Villamediana de Iregua. slighdy further east and just within the borders of the Rioja Baja, will allow for greater selection from the fruit, and ultimately the aim is to include Maiurana Tinta in blends here. For now Maturana Tinia is a solo act and it's getting better with every vintage; I'm particularly impressed when we taste the 2009 from the barrel as we tour the cellar This wine is maturing gracefully, no doubi helped along by die choice oak—French Burgundian oak with a medium toast—and it already shows very elegant tannins and delicious mouth-watering dark fmit. Bodegas Valdemar in OyOn was also one of the first to offer a Maturana Tima wine as part of its range of monovarietals. The view here, as al Vina Ijalba, is that local grapes of characier should be defended even if it is not possible to make wine

24 GO

from some of them from every vintage. In 2001, Bodegas Valdemar made its first Graciano wine at a iitiif v^hcn plain i;;es ol [in- {iiwpc had fallen to perilously low levels in La Rioja. At around the same time, oenoiogist Gonzalo Ortiz started to experiment with other varieties, including MaLurana Tinta, by vinifying small amounts of wine and studying the wine's evolution in different types of oak. in the 2005 vintage, he was sufficiently convinced by the varieiy to offer it to the market under the Inspiracion Valdemar label. Indeed, this impressive wine was the first wine which attracted my attention to the variety. Here too the choice of oak is French with a light toast and the wine spent 20 months in the barrel, Oniz has to be completely convinced by a vintage to offer Maturana Tima under the Inspiracidn label. The next vintage will be the 2008, and this wine has spent a slightly shorter of 15 months in oak; il also contains a iittle Tempranillo to enhance the wine's aromatic profile. So far the bodegas working with Maturana Tinia that I've mentioned are located in the central areas of the DOCa Rioja region. However, I'm told ihai the varieiy can adapt to a wide range of soils, il has good resistance to drought, and it likes warmer though not excessively warm areas. So could the Rioja Baja, the driest and warmest sub- zone of the region, offer good potential for this grape?

25 DOCa RIOJA

Jcatis Mutlriizo. Ciiniino To find oui, I head lo one of the most innovaiive producers in the Rioja Baja; Bar^n de Ley, a bodega located at Mendavia, to the north of the Fbro River Over the last decade, this producer has broadened the range of grape v-aneties with which it works, Tempranilio vineyards of various ages account for by far the largest share of plantings, but Gamacha and Graciano have become more important. In the last few years Baron de Ley has also planted Maturana Tinia. By the lime of the 2010 harvest, around 2 ha (4.9 acres) were in production and nrore will come on stream in the next few years, including 20 ha (49.4 acres) planted at its vineyard in Ausejo in 2009. The bodega's oenoiogist, Chema del Rio, has made two vintages of Maturana Tinta, so I'm interested to hear his vnews about the variety and, of course, taste the wines; the 2009, which has already had lime in oak, as well as the 2010. It's early days for ihe 2010 Maturana Tinta, which was picked earlier than the previous vintage to avoid excessively high alcohol, but I'm intrigued by the particularly seductive 2009 wine, with its deep inky color, intensity of flavor and elegant tannins. fV'l Kill • ii.i;a:Luiai K cmnu-,ia-i u about the variety's potential in Rioja Baja. He says; "It delivers massive color and structure as well as remarkable smoothness. I think that it will make an e.xcellent contribution to blends." He is also finding that the variety responds well

26 when It is aged in both French and American oak and, in Baron de Ley's vineyards, he's seeing a fairly regular pattern in the grape's performance from one vintage to the next. I leave Bar6n de Ley increasingly convinced that this variety is a grape of interest for the future and it seems likely that we will see it emerge from a variety of areas, each offering their lake on the grape. Graciano revival while still in the Rioja Baja, it's encouraging to see a healthy number of wines featuring a very distinctive grape—-Graciano— a minority grape found in the vineyards of La Rioja and, to a lesser extent, Navarre. Although the variety offers good resistance lo disease, many areas of the Rioja Alia and Alavesa are not warm enough or suitable for this laie-ripening grape, and many producers w-ho do offer a Graciano wine in these two areas—including Comino, Bodegas Valdemar and Casa Primicia—aren't able lo do so every year By 1990, the number of hectares of Graciano had fallen under 200 (494.2 acres) as producers replaced it in favor of the increasingly popular, easier to grow and less risky Tempranillo- Thankfuily, its fortunes have been reversed, due largely to the dedication of a number of producers in the Rioja Baja, including the previously mentioned Bardn de Ley, the Vifiedos de Aldeanueva co-operative. Bodegas

27 DOCa RIOJA

Tclmo Rodriguez del Medievo (also located in the Aldeanueva area) and Bodegas y Vifiedos Ilurce in Alfaro. Vinedos de Aldeanueva has a relatively large resource of Graciano with 100 ha (247 acres) spread across its members. The producer offers a Graciano wine under its Azabache range of varietals, and in the best vintages a reserva wine is also offered; the 2005 Reserva that I taste at the bodega is incredibly intense and has great potential for ageing. U is also definitely a wine for the table. General manager Abel Torres sees a bright outlook for the variety. He says; "Graciano will grow in importance in the next ten years in DOCa Rioja, but il needs to be planted in the right place." Santiago Garde, ocnologist at Bodegas de Medicvo, firmly believes in the existing red local grapes. He says; "In DOCa Rioja, in the case of red varieties, we have showm ihal we are able to make the different Idnds of wines that the market needs. In the 1990s, when some were convinced that Bordeaux varieties should be allowed to provide wine with deeper color and complexity, others chose to recover Graciano for the same result." For Bodegas del Medievo, Graciano offers something completely different to other grapes, such as Garnacha, which is used by this producer to make young, everyday wines. Graciano has a much more sophisticated roie, either supporting olher varieties such as Tempraniilo in blends or, with the right care and attention in the vineyard to tame

28 GO

yields and achieve optimum ripeness, it makes an "extraordinar)' monovarietal wine" for the connoisseur and the wine expert. Flowever, the traditional grape of the Rioja Baja is Garnacha, and this variety has also lost out to Tempranillo in recent years, though in its case the tide could also be turning. Alvaro Palacios divides his time between his bodega in DOCa Priorat and Bodegas Palacios Remondo, established by his parents, in Alfaro in the Rioja Baja. He firmly believes that Garnacha is best suited to the dry, Mediterranean climate here and the chalky clay soils and, indeed, lo most of the Rioja Baja area. He says; "Now the Rioja Baja is mostly planted with Tempranillo; this is a big mistake. This area is one of the real sources of classic Garnacha." Half of the family's 100 ha (247 acre) estate was planted to Garnacha by his father, and Palacios is keen to replace most of the remaining Graciano and Tempranillo with Garnacha— around 20% of non-Gamacha \ines will be kept. He's also buying small parcels of old vineyards at higher altitudes and he's experimeniing with different clones and rootstocks in a bid to make far more complex wines from the variety, just as he has done so successfully tn Priorat, New winite grapes (divide opinions The six white grape varieties which were approved for planting in 2007

29 DOCa RIOJA

Mercedes LOpez de Herctiia Bodega Lope: de lleredia have reignited debate about ihe role of foreign varieties in DOCa Rioja, but first let's take a look at the response to ihetri The group includes three local vrarieties; Tempranillo Blanco, Maiurana Blanca and Turruntes. Tempranillo Blanco, which was developed from a Tetnpranillo vine which had lost its color through natural mutation, seems to be the mosl popular choice of the three to date. Plantings of this varieiy stood at 16 ha (39.5 acres) in 2010, while those of Maturana Blanca are less and those of Tummies smaller still. The other three grapes making up the group are Verdejo, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. These well- knowm grapes look set lo be planted more widely By 2010, plantings stood al 51 ha (126 acres) for Verdejo, 38 ha (93,9 acres) for Chardonnay and 22 ha (54.3 acres) for Sauvignon Blanc; however, they will only be permitted as part of a white wine blend with Viura. Some believe that there is a need and a place lor the foreign white varieties to enable DOQi Rioja to compete more effectively in the w"hite wine market. Ikcr Madrid at Casa Primicia is one of those in favor He says; "Viura and Malvasia leave us lagging behind in terms of quality compared lo the best white grape varieties both Spanish and international—varieties such as Albariito, Verdejo, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. In my view, Viura and Malvasia are too neutral on the nose and the palate, so I think that by introducing the foreign varieties we

30 K-Loper de HeretiLi-Virtii liindonia. can improve the quality of the white wines from DOCa Rioja ' Santiago Garde at Bodegas del Medievo agrees that DOCa Rioja needs grapes with "more fruit intensity" and explains why ihis bodega plans to plant Chardonnay un ilu- Aldcanucva area). "The extreme climate in our area makes it difficult to grow Verdejo or Sauvignon Blanc. Chardonnay is better suited to this part of DOCa Rioja; we can already see that it grows well in nearby areas in the south of Navarre. In any case, it will only be used in limited amounts to suppon Viura." But many others have an opposing view. Indeed it's hard not to believe that DOCa Rioja has something to be preserved and indeed nurtured when you taste wines with such dramatically different styles such as LOpez de Heredia's fabulous aged Vina Tondonia Viura/Malvasia wines and the same two grapes as a fresh, vibrant young wine made in a thoroughly contemporary style such as .Amaren Blanco from Bodegas Luis Canas. 1 was also pleased to try two new wines of my recent visit which will reach the market this year; Contino Blanco 2009 (Viura, Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca). which is aged in French oak, and Baron de Ley's Blanco Reserva 2008, also made from the same three grapes and aged in American oak. Oenologisi Mercedes Lopez de Heredia firmly supports local grapes and is against the move to plant foreign white varieties at the family's

31 DOCa RIOJA

vineyards in Haro. She says; "To

accept a variety like Verdejo looks Labastida like we're acknowledging a lack of San Vicente de la Sonsierra quality in Viura." She believes that Laguardia - high yields are ihe root of the : 2 problem for Viura: "When you use : 2 Navarre high yields of Viura you don't get a -El Ciego young, aromatic wine. Viura is • Logrono aromatic with 3-4,000 kg (6,613- I Ebro River. 8,818 lb) per ha (2.47 acres) and Briones Santo Domingo Malvasia is a very aromatic variety de la Calzada Navarrete We must defend our local varieties." Najera However, plantings of Malvasia in Calahorra DOCa Rioja are now only half what Sierra de Cencero "-a Rioja they were ten years ago as, despite its valuable contribution to white Arnedo

1 Rioja Alta 2 Rioja Alavesa Cervera del_ 3 Rioja Baja Rio Alliama

DOCa Rioja wines at the table

DOCa Rioja's grapes each have Rioja white wine makes it incredibly challenge of a spicy Riojan sausage. something to offer when it connes to versatile for food pairing. Mercedes Lopez Bodegas Palacio Remondo matching the region's wines with food. de Heredia offers this suggestion but, as La Montesa 2008 (Garnacha, Here are some examples of the she also points out, this wine works well Tempranillo and Mazuelo) with Iberico region's more distinctive wines and with egg—not an easy food to match with ham. This wine shows three local dishes to go with them. wine—so try also tortilla or scrambled grapes working in perfect harmony Luis Caiias Amaren Blanco eggs with smoked salmon. to produce an elegant wine which can Fermentado 2009 (Viura and Malvasia) Bodegas Valdemar Inspiracion be enjoyed with lighter foods. with marinated salmon. This barrel- Valdemar Maturana Tinta 2005 with Bodegas Mitarte Mazuelo fermented wine spends some time on roast lamb, potatoes, carrots and peas. Mitarte 2006 with baked fish, stuffed the lees giving it structure, protecting This is Ana Martinez Bujanda's favorite meats or spicy casserole dishes. its aromas, allowing it to last in the match for this wine from her family's Mazuelo varietal wines are rare and bottle. The more complex style and bodega. Maturana Tinta, especially as a very few are made from exceptionally the wine's subtle citric flavors make it solo act. Is a powerful wine capable of old vines, 100-years-old vines in this an ideal partner for richer fish. standing up to a rich meat such as lamb. case. The grace and maturity of the Lopez de Heredia Viiia Tondonia Gran Contino Graciano 2007 with fried spicy vineyard is revealed in the wine, which Reserva 1987 (Viura and Malvasia) with chistorra sausage. Graciano has very is beautifully structured with intense red caldereta, Spanish rice stews and distinctive flavors with a much darker fruit flavors and perfectly integrated oak. stronger flavored fish dishes. The great fruity taste than Tempranillo, so its wines As winemaker Ignacio Gil suggests, complexity and honeyed savory can be matched with strong flavors. it is a versatile wine that can be character of this golden classic DOCa Contino's Graciano easily meets the matched with both fish and meat.

32 blends, fewer producers are prepared to accept the challenges of growing the variety in the vineyard. At Bodegas Muga, also located in Haro, oenoiogist Jorge Muga says; "Malvasia is undoubtedly a difficult variety for both the grower and the winemaker The grape is sensitive to disease, ripens with difficulty and oxidation can be a problem. There is also a lot of confusion between the different kinds and quality levels of the variety. In our bodega we work with three very different qualities of Malvasia." Muga believes that Viura should be given far more attention to extract its potential as a quality grape and that Garnacha Blanca also has a valuable role to play in partnership with Viura and Malvasia. When it comes to white grapes, DOCa Rioja is therefore at a crossroads, and now is a time for experimentation and debate. We are certainly likely to see more white wines emerging over the next few years, and hopefully they will attract new interest to the region for their individuality and quality.

Patricia Langton is an independent journalist specializing in Spanish wines. Her work has appeared in a number of publications and online media including Decantercom, winesfromspainuk.com, The Drinks Business, Harpers Wine &r Spirit, Square Meal and Off Licence News. She is also the co-author of 500 White Wines (Sellers Pub Inc.).

33 The Story of a Cheese that Came Back to Life

34 MAVAUtiUST A>l I SPAIN a.>LlRMtlOUH SLOW

Photos Pablo Neustadt/©ICEX

John Barlow travels to the Basque Country in search of one of Spain's most exciting and sought after slow foods. The story of its survival, like those of numerous other Spanish slow foods, is FOOone of an endless passion for food and the D enduring belief that our food heritage not only deserves celebrating but desperately needs our activJohn Barlow/©ICEe supportX . It's also about taste. Lots of It. in Soain

M.-\Y-AUtlU5Ti011 SPAIN t.OURMCTOlW 35 SPANISH FLAGSHIPS

I'm halfway up a mountainside salchichon (a type of sausage, similar much closer to the source, but the in the area of Las Encariaciones, to saucisson or salami), cheese, a bean source doesn't appear to enjoy being 18 mi (28.9 km) southwest of Bilbao salad, wine. Fifteen black-faced sheep so close to me. (northern Spain). My plan today is have joined me. They loiter close by, This is a siory about slow food. You to taste some of the most exclusive but turn away, their hells clanging may already know ihat story... In foods Spain has to offer, and by out across the valley as they nudge 1986, McDonald's started selling "exclusive" I mean "rare", foods that and bump each oiher and 1 get the burgers in Rome's Piazza di Spagna. have come perilously dose to feeling that they're showing me their Journalist Carlo Peirini, after choking extinction. Kneeling down, I begin rear ends deliberately The cheese 1 with indignation on his morning to prepare the picnic, carefully am about to eat was inade with milk brioche, decided to do something removing items from my cooler; from the very udders between their about the advancing ketchup-ization chorizo (a type of red sausage). scrawny black legs. I couldn't be of the world, and set about founding

36 the Slow Food movement to get a Big Mac and eat it on the Gounnetour No. 74), which uses champion traditional, regionally- Spanish steps in Rome, it was almost milk from the white-faced carranzana produced food as an alternative to impossible to find the carranzana cara sheep but not ils dark-visaged fast food. negra cheese traditionally made using cousin. The black-faced sheep milk from the black-faced breed of and the cheese, both native to the sheep here with me today Wolves Carranza Valley in the Basque Survival had made a comeback in the area, province of Vizcaya, were about to Slow foods don't just need and while llocks diminished in size, fall off the map forever champions, they need saviors. the sheep's milk also fell from favor Extinction is a natural process. As Traditional foods can easily disappear This was partly due to a huge growth you read this, some unknown strain from the face of the Earth, never to in sales of another Basque cheese in of .Amazonian water gnat is probably return. Indeed, by the time you could the 1980s and 90s, Idiazabal (Spain biting the evolutionar)' dust. Do we

37 SPANISH Ftjr\GSHIPS

care? Too late, it's gone. But when wash of cream in ess following that Sitges malmsey is produced from it comes lo breeds of animal that acidic punch (the milk of the black- a total of only 2.5 ha (6.1 acres) of have been integral to the human food faced sheep is high in fat). However, \'ines, mostly by the Hospital de Sant system for centuries, their extinction there are also some small pockets Joan Baptista in Siiges. Equally impacts on the biodiversity of our of moisture remaining, because exclusive is the grape, the Malvasia iood heritage, ihe living resource that these small circular are de Siiges, which has thrived in the forms the basb of everything we eat. pressed by hand, that is, by hands, town for centuries due to a Carlo Petrini never warned a no weights or pressing plates, just particulady accommodating worldwide ban of McDonald's, he Just finger power; indeed, the light-to- microclimate and a high acid conteni. wanted to ensure that thousands mid-brown skin is a little in-egular, A nice, exclusive marriage of cheese of local "endangered" foods remained showing the faint indentations of the and wine, then. But how is it that the available. And eaten. Thai's where cheesemaker's fingers. Each cheese is cheese is still here at all? Ten years I come in. Let's eat... unique, and when you hold one, it ago the carranzana black-faced sheep feels like an edible testament to the had disappeared from their sleep Picnic centuries-old rh)lhms of life in these hilftiide pa.stures. However, ai this hard, majestic hills, poini a curious vessel-cum-biblical- The cheese is one of the most 1 wash the cheese down with a glass meiaphorcame to the rescue. distinctive I've ever lasted. For a of Malvasia de Sitgcs, a malmsey from Captained by Dr. Mariano Gomez, sheep cheese, there's a surprisingly Sitges, just south of Barcelona. It the vessel was called the Ark of Taste. strong tang to it, more acidity than a typical Idiazabal. for example. It might not be the obvious choice, but comes in various stages of cure, but it is rich and fragrant, reminiscent of Ark of Taste an amontillado. Given the strength semi-cured is ideal. This one is firm, Seeking to "rediscover, catalog, and character of the cheese, it's a dense, and quite dry; imagine an describe and publicize forgotten pretty amazing match! And in this aged Wensleydale (PDO cheese flavors", the Ark is in fact a register case we can apply the word produced in Yorkshire, England) with of world heritage foods that need our "exclusive" with confidence; the a touch of nultiness and a complex support, published by the Slow Food

38 movement. Whatever the nature There are nine such foods in Spain have occupied for generations, and of the threat to a particular food, at the moment, including the to see the pigs themselves, who live the Ark is about celebrating ihem carranzana cheese and the Sitges free-range in the surrounding woods and getting us to consuinc them. malmsey, and I have most of the and paslures. Thanks in part to the From the grey Ukrainian cow and others up here on the mountainsi promotional boost that Slow Food the Madagascan Andasibe red rice to de for my fiagship picnic too. Carlo can give small producers like Pello, the Montreal melon, many countries Petrini implored us to save these through food exhibitions, tastings, are now involved. foods by eating them; that's what contact with chefs, and in this case Ark foods must be of excellent I iniend to do, a modesi the coveted "Oagship" status, quality and taste, traditional within contribution towards saving the producing the Euskal Tzerria is now a locality or region, and produced on vvodd's biodiversity, my mini-Kyoto a viable business, a gourmet pig a small, non-industrial scale. They of the stomach. to compete with the best that Spain must also conform to the overall food has to offer. values of Slow Food (high quality, Pig revival Pello's dry cured ham imnicJiaiclv ecologically "clean", derived from loday's meat comes in the form of reminded me of Iberico, with a fair system of production). Spain cured chorizos and fresh salchichon plenty of infiltrated fat and that silky has about 80 .Ark foods, from rare from the Euskal Tzerria pig, a native sheen on the ham's surface at room animal breeds, fniii and vegetables, Basque breed that was on the verge temperature. The fiavor of Euskal to cider I'hose foods in the mo.st dire of extinction when Pello Urdapilleta, Tzerria is delicate yet seriously need of help are given special status a farmer based in ihe northeastern porky, with sweet notes and lots of as "flagship foods"; in addition to province of Gipuzkoa (northern creamy fat, and it's a great advert for being of fabulous quality, flagship Spain), decided to resurrect it, how food conservation can widen foods nonnally require direct, initially for his family's own and diversify a market. Both fresh immediate intervention (organization, consumption. I went to visit Pcllo and cured, Euskal Tzerria has funding, infrastructure, marketing...) yesterday at the palatial aistvio become a firm favorite among Basque to avoid extinction. (farmhouse) that the Urdapilletas chefs, and is earning a fine reputation

39 SPANISH F1_AGSHIPS

further afield; a Japanese chef paid mosl pretentious lunch that's ever without damaging the beans. The the pigs a visit the week before me. been eaten in ihese hills... ganxet has long been noted for its Back at the picnic 1 slice a couple exceptional quality, but its labor- of pieces of chorizo and offer ihem Slow safad intensive cultivation and harv-esiing to my guests. Not the sheep; led to much crossing of the strain. there are also two humans with me, 1 arrange a white bean salad on a Several years ago a collective was set Jose Ignacio Isusi, the shepherd, and plate. The Mongeles de Ganxet are up to guarantee the production of Mariano Gomez, who these days is smaller and more delicate than authentic beans produced on President of Spain's Slow Food normal beans, hook-shaped, with a traditional, organic lines. Recognition organization. Mariano's iPhone never buttery texture and skin so fine that as a Slow Food flagship food stops as he constantly dishes out it almost disappears in the mouth. followed, helping to establish the advice and help to foodies and They are cultivated in four small ganxei as a product of supremely farmers and Slow Food activists. areas in eastern Catalonia, where the high quality. These beans will never Meanwhile, Jose keeps the black- soil is ideal for this fragile, low- replace high-yielding, non-organic laccd sheep in order, and watches v!e!ilin.>; piar:: wluc'- -vcds coti-iuni beans. Al 10 euros per kg (2.2 lb), as I prepare what must look hke the watering and is difficult to harvest they're about ten times the cosi of the

40 cheapest dried beans in my local and what little she sold fetched supermarket. Some things just ain't around 70 cents per kg (2.2 lb) cheap. Try them. They're worth il. at a local market. Then four more They are very special indeed. women became interested, and With a stone-faced shepherd looking at the same time Slow Food on, 1 dress the beans in the slowest representatives started showing the way possible. First ofL the olive oil is onions to local chefs. The Zalla onion from thou sand-year-old trees in the has a mild, sweet taste and crunchy, Valencian district of MaesLrai (Aceite juicy flesh. You can use it raw. bui de Olives Mileoarios del MaestraO. Olive it was also traditionally used in trees in other pans of the iberian the local saka vizcaina (an onion, Peninsula have been carbon-dated to tomato and pepper sauce) and in 2,000 years old, so calling the trees morcillas (blood sausages). "millenarian" is no advertising hype, In other words, an old. traditional Maestrat has one of the world's pro due I with excellent properties. largest remaining concemrarions of Chefs immediately agreed, and such superannuated trees, although demand sky-rocketed. The five to the untrained eye, their I'at gnarled growers can now charge 3.50 trunks, with chaotic branches euros per kg, and iheir purple shooting out of the top, look more onions are used in some of Europe's like Norwegian trolls in need of a best restaurants. haircut. Until quite recently people My onion dressing also contains an used to uproot the trees and re-p!ani indecent amount of fiagship saffron. them in private gardens, sometimes It's from the area of Jiloca, in the overseas. Local man Ramon Mampel province of Teruel, eastern Spain decided to take action. Eighteen years Slow Food's recognition of the oil (best known for its cured ham), of action. The regional government simply gilded what was already a which sits at an altitude of 700-900 finally granted the trees legal remarkable story of millenarian m (2,296-2,952 ft) and has the protection, and the association Clot conservation. You can also follow perfect climate for growing saffron; d'En Simo was founded to make oil. seven walking routes in the area, long, cold v«nters and short, hot The Farga olives of Maestrat produce taking you past these amazing trees. summers. Half a dozen small-scale an oil thai is fresh and lloral, with a Watch out for trolls, though. producers continue the cultivation of hint of spice at the finish. Only saffron here, a tradition dating back perfect examples of the hand- to the Arab seulemeni in Spain over a gathered olives are used, cold- Onions and saffron millennium ago. About four-fifths of pressed within SLX hours of In the oil 1 have softened some the world's saffron comes from either harvesting, and the juices are not purple onions from Zalla, in the Iran or Spain (see Gold Standard, subject to filtering processes, al! of Basque Country. These onions carry Rediscovering Fine Spanish Saffron, which leads to an oil with a hugely "fiagship" recognition, and again Spain Gpunncfour No. 81), and of the smooth, vigorous characier Five or came within a heartbeat of Spanish product, jiloca is one of the six thousand liters per year (1,320- extinction. Only one lady. Ana Man best, 100% organic, and, frankly, 1,585 gal) are now produced, and IJaguno, was still growing them. cooking with it is about as sexy as

4J. SPANISH hLAGSHIPS

Cantabrtan Sea 9 IT Web sites

AHantic Ocean ht1p://slowfood,es Official site ot Slow Food Spain (Spanish!) 1

The current list of Spain's nine flagship slow foods, plus contact information where available: • Basque Euskal Ixerna pig Spanish flagships Mediterrar^sn Sea (Cerdo Eijsl

42 t^

Food has a stall in Bilbao's Ribera Market, where the cheese will cost you 22 euros per kg. If the market is closed, they often have it on the menu at the restaurant of the Guggenheim Museum. In fact, the Guggenheim uses five of the current flagship foods, and many other restaurants are similarly enthusiastic. So there it is, a story with a happy ending. Resurrecting the carranzana black-faced sheep's cheese implied rebuilding the sheep stock; local pastures could then continue in their ancestral u,se, and the rural economy benefited. Like ihe Euskal Txerria pigs, the g^inxct beans and the other flagship products, it's a great example of how the demise of a heritage food can be turned around, not through government subsidies, but by reestablishing traditions that can support ihemselves in the markeiplace. Saving rare foods (and breeds) from extinction is about maintaining the biodiversity of our food chain and making non-industrial food production economically viable, and about making sure that these alternatives are the most delicious and authentic possible. Begonas cheese licks all the boxes. john Barlow's fiaum and non-fiction litis been published in eight languages. His latest hook, Evervthing but the Squeal, describes a year-long sojourn in his adopted homeland of Galicta, rtt>rlfiwt.'s( Spain. exploring tiic gas(rc7)iomic and cultural significance of pigs.

43 44 MAY-.AUGL'ST2011 SPAIN GOIIRMETOUR Spanish grapefruit is w/inning friends abroad. Its yellow or blushing peel, tangy red pulp, nutritive qualities and fragrant aromas are helping it conquer a growing share of the import markets in France, Germany and other European countries. In Spain however, grapefruit is virtually unknown on the domestic market and in traditional Spanish gastronomy. In the heart of grapefruit country, farmers from Murcia are doing what they can to help spread the word about this succulent made in Spain,

M.1Y .V r.i sr 11 sr..\i N i ^n ii;\i n OI 4K5 GR.APtFRUIT

TEXT ADRIENNE SMITH/©ICEX

PHOTOS AMADOR TORIL'eiCEX

It's not unusual for peojDle to return naturalist) who dubbed it the acres) of land. Although from a trip to Murcia with their "forbidden fruit", as he had been are also grown in southern Valencia cars packed fufl of and searching for the tree of good and Alicante, and parts of Huelva vegetables. Located in the southeast and evil in the Garden of Eden and Seville in Andalusia, Murcia is corner of Spain, Murcia is snugly at the time, lis name was later without a doubt the center for all nestled between Andalusia, changed to grapefruit, supposedly things grapefruit In Spain, Valencia and the sea. lis semi-arid because its fruit hangs in clusters accounting for approximately Mediterranean climate is ideal for much like oversized bunches of 30,000 of the 55,000 tons of growing lettuce, artichokes, grapes. The original grapefruit was grapefruit pioduced here annually lomaioes and Monastrell grapes an accidental hybrid of two Asian This is particularly true in the used for producing the area's transplants, the shaddock and southern areas of Campo de excellent, full-bodied red wines. sweet orange. Shaddock, an Cartagena, the Guadalentin Valley While atrd orange trees are ancient citrus thought lo have and Aguilas. a common sight, another of the originated in Asia as early as The agricultural wealth of Murcia is province's important products is 100 BC, is named for the English a meld ol climate and geography: grapefruit, which Is exported all Captain Philip Shaddock, who two rivers, the Segura and its over the world (albeit in small purportedly brought the first of tributary the Guadalentin; the quantities; the bulk head to ihese fruiis to Barbados in 1649. MO(.[iti:; iaiKan Sea. ant; a SCI SL-> i>i Europe). In winter, the first glimpse Nowadays, it's important to mountain ranges that cut through and surround the city of Murcia. of these orchards is striking. As distinguish between grapefruit the train winds south from Madrid, The landscape varies from piney to and shaddock, as ihe names are il snakes through barren apricot, deciduous forests; and the terrain, often used incorrectly. Grapefruit, plum and peach orchards, and past in some places rocky and sharp, called in Spanish, is of the brown, stark landscapes dotted later relaxes into fields and sloping species Citrus paradisi, while with gleaming solar panels. On the orchards. According to Jose Luis shaddock (sometimes called outskirts of Murcia, the vivid Albacete, whose company Earmur pummelo) is of Citrus maxima, greenery of citrus trees, laden with is located on the northern slope of and is often referred lo as Chinese fruit, suddenly transforms ihe the Sierra de Carrascoy Mountains or Asian grapefruit to European landscape into a colorful about 14 km (8.7 mi) southwest of markets. Shaddocks look more like Mediterranean garden. On my way the city of Murcia, there are many giant pears, and have firm or home from Murcta with a 20 kg reasons why grapefruit is an ideal crunchy pulp and a thick peel. (44 lb) bo.\ of grapefruit, 1 had a crop in this region. better grasp of its role in Spain's Like many New World botanicals, A pioneer of grapefruit cultivation export market and its bid for the grapefruit eventually migrated in Spain, Jose Luis sianed out as an recognition here at home. to Spain. However, it never becanre fanner, but tiicreasing a traditional Spanish crop or a difficulties in the market steered staple of ihe Spanish diet. him towards trying something new. Tropical treasure Commercial grapefruit cultivation For 50 years, his grandfather had Grapefruit was discovered in in Spain only began in the [.UL- dedicated a small corner of land to Barbados in 1750 by Griffith 1970s/early 1980s, and currently experimenting with the then litde- Hughes (1707-1758; Welsh involves about 2,300 ha (5,683 known crop of grapefruit. Jose Luis

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was able to observe firsthand the Aguilas for the past 30 years. Part of relative ease with which these their orchards are planted on one Healthful citrus fruiis could be cultivated in side of the mountains overlooking Greatfruit this area of plentiful sun, loose soil, the sea. and the rest on the other and a virtual lack of diseases and side, thereby assuring both early and late crops. G's Espafia was a pioneer frosts. He spent time in Texas and In some ways, the common elsewhere, intensively studying in bringing the variety Star Ruby to association of grapefruit with weight grapefruit cultivation. Back home, Spain at the end of the 1970s. loss is not far off the marl<. be began trying to convince his According to Ponciano Pons, the The 'grapelruil diet" first appeared company's Senior Key Account in the 1930s and has had several friends and neighbors to follow in resurgences of popularity ever since. his footsteps and start planting the Manager, the Star Ruby variety In 2004, Dr Ken Fujiol

49 GRAPEFRUIT

Siar Ruby variety, have a slightly on many Spaniards. In fact, one thicker skin, and contain two to of the more surprising (acts about three seeds per fruit. Both varieties Spain's grapefruit crop is the fact were developed by a Texas-based that very few natives seem to know- researcher, Richard Hensz. it exists. According lo a July 2010 According to Jose Luis .Albacete, survey carried out by the Spanish the difference between these two Ministry of the Environment and varieties can be subtle. To prove Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM) his point, he opened one of each at the behest of AILIMPO, a mere variety straight off the trees for 16.4% of interviewed Spaniards me to taste. Both had a refreshingly consume grapefruit with any amouni sharp acidity that was tempered by of frequency Al the same time, just the sweetness of the fruit and the 23.6% identified Spain as a producer characteristic grapefruit aroma. of this faiit. Only an estimated 20% Both were the same size and shape, of the 55.000 tons of grapefruit pale orange-yellow in color with produced annually in Spain are sold deep rosy highlights on the peel, domestically According to Jose Luis's and were the same dark pinkish- vigorous tree yields small to daughter, Nieves Albacete, who now red inside. While I found il terribly medium sized fruits with soft and runs Earmur, a large porrion of these romantic to be savoring freshly juicy, whilisli-yellow pulp. This sales go to hoiels or cmise ships, picked grapefruit in the middle of a was the original variety cultivated which cater to foreign palaies more picturesque citrus orchard in in Spain, but over the past ten accustomed to eating grapefruit as southeastern Spain, 1 was at a loss years cultivation has shifted almosi a regular part of their diets. to guess which varieiy was which entirely to the red varieties. Though there are currently only six As it turns out, the real difference This trend has been repealing itself or seven Spanish companies is economic, Jose Luis explained all over the world. Jose Antonio dedicated to this minority citrus, that the variety Star Ruby is more Garcia, Director of AILIMPO. production quantities in Spain over widely known, but time has the Spanish Lemon and Grapefruit the past several seasons have either revealed it to be somewhat Interprofessional Association, increased or remained stable. The delicate, with less resistance to sun feels that much of this trend is crop is also e.Ktretnely solid here in exposure after 15 years, and lower aesthetic, based on a misconception terms of price fluctuations. This yields. Other grapelruil varieties, thai red grapefruits will always stability is reflected in the fact that like the more robust Rio Red, be sweeter than the white varieties. Spanish grapefruit growers are typically produce fruit for 30 However, Jose Luis Albaceie making quite an impact on the to 40 years, and can live to be 100, believes that "anyone who truly European import market. Spain is A third grapefruit produced in appreciaies grapefruit likes the now the fourth largest grapefruit Spam is the white variety known red ones best." exporter to the European Union as Marsh Seedless or White Marsh. after the (Jniied States (Florida), First planted in around 1860 in Forgotten fruit, Israel and Turkey. During the 2009- Florida, Marsh is one of the 2010 season, the couniry exported oldest grapefruit varieties and the export success over 43,300 tons lo the EU and one mosl commonly planted Whether it's about red or white, the 2,300 ions to non-EU countries. throughout the world. This grapefruit debate is likely lo be lost This was an overall increase of more

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than 7,500 tons from rhe previous season. For years the international grapefruit market has been dominated by Florida, which, in ilie 1990s had an average annual production of around 1.6 million tons and accounted for 40-60% of world grapefruit exports. While Florida still leads the world market, ils share has declined this past decade due to debilitating freezes, hurricanes, citrus diseases, and other factors such as encroaching land development. In Europe, Florida grapefruits once were 45- 50% of imports, but by 2006, ihe amouni had dropped to only 20- 25%. For Spain's grapefruit growers, this changing world marketplace has meant opportunity, demonstrated by ihe lact that 70-80% of Spanish production is currently exported. The majority of these 45,000 tons is exported to France, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, among others. Increasing quantities are also being sold to Russia, a high- polentia! new market. The question now for Spanish producers is how to gain an even greater hold on ihe world market. The obvious solution is lo figure ouL how to differentiate Spanish

Web sites

• www.ailimpD.com Official site of AILIMPO, the Spanish Lemon and Grapefruit Interprofessional Association. (English, Spanish)

51 52 o o

first fruits of the season. Small improvements in the already exceptional fruit quality and production practices will probably not improve Spain's export market share that much. There is one factor, however, that Spanish producers are working hard to exploit, and it's one that could make all the difference. As the only grapefruil-producing country in the European Union, Spain's clear advantage comes down to shorter shipping limes. Companies like Eannur and G's Espaiia, as well as AILIMPO, are doitig what they can to gel the word QUI on the incomparable freshness of Spanish grapefruit.

grapefruit from its competitors. Florida fruil, and ihal ihe Although the same varieties are "difference between Florida and produced all over the world, Spain is marketing". He also climaie and other environmental believes that the perceived lesser factors can have some effect on sweetness of Spanish grapefruit is PrOducUon in Spain VaJGncIa varietal differences. Spanish something that local producers ^:;v.-|o grapefruit is knowm for ils perfect NKI'UIJ rcsnhir liyclhcr Spain's grapefruit season lasts from uniformity of color and tone, and \ —I Ai'H^' a its usually blemish-free appearance. October to May. However, as the In lerms of individual varieiy, one season progresses the fruit ripens diltereniiating lacior is that Spanish and sweetens, meaning that fall 1 GusKJaJentin VaJloy 2 C^umpo de Cartagena Star Ruby fruiis are generally larger grapefruits are much more acidic 3 Aguilas than their Turkish counterparts. than fruit harvested in January or P This is important since Turkey is February Early harvesting and the main exporter to a growing export of the more acidic fruits

Russian market, which at times creates a false perception of their Al^ian^ de Muftia overall quality. While countries MlJ^^:i.^ demands the larger fruil more * available from Spain, such as South Africa strictly control In terms of the market leader, their commercialization dates, Florida, JosS Luis Albacete asserts Spain's production is controlled by ihat Spanish grapefruit is no more the early market demand, which of Andalusia course means higher prices for the 1-Agulias ^ acidic than the famously sweet j|' Cartagena

53 GRAPEFRUIT

flavor and suscepiibfliiy to fungus. packaging and preparation process Tine freshest fruit Another selling point related to is also as natural as possible. At Eartnur, Nieves Albacele faster delivery is the concept of A good place to see this in action is explains that it's not unusual for integrated farming. A broad term at the G's Espana laciory m Torre grapefruits to be picked in the that refers to taking an integrated Pacheco, about 40 km (25 mi) from morning, prepared in the factory at or global approach to agriculture, the city of Murcia on the road to midday, and shipped to France in ils practices involve promoting Cartagena. Gs Espafia produces the afternoon, Spain's grapefruits sustainabilily through methods for 8,000 tons of grapefruit a year, and are all shipped via truck, which reducing wasie and residues, and the efficiency of their lemon and head directly to supermarkets implementing chemical alternatives grapefruit processing plant explains ihroughoui the EU. Grapefruits are such as biological pest control. This how these products are ]3repared often on the shelves by the very agricultural technique is especially and shipped so quickly Grapefruit next day, or al most, 72 hours after important in exporting lo countries arrive from the fields and are picking, in the case of the United like Gennany and France, which separated by color along a last- Kingdom. The same is true for put a premium on natural moving conveyor by a line of other Spanish producers, and this products. The fact that grapefmit efficient women, who Commercial provides a huge advantage in grows so easily in Murcia means Director Juan Alfonso comparison with other countries. that farmers use very few chemical asserts, have "a belter sense of Grapefruits produced in Turkey fertilizers or pesticides. While the quality and aesthetics". The fruit is and Israel are shipped to Europe by fruits are not considered strictly then washed with a neutral soap and boat, which can take at least 7 to organic due to the generalized use water and coated with a ihin layer of 10 days after picking. Fruits from of mineral supplements, Nieves wax, which falls on the fruil in Florida, South Africa, and .Mexico Albacele points out that grapelruil droplets thai are distributed by fans. can take a month to make the long here is virtually disease-free, so we This protects the peel and helps journey to supermarket shelves in dont need pre- or post-harvest prevent dehydration The Europe. This extended storage can treatments. Without much need lor grapefruits are checked for quality lead to reduced acidity, insipid preservative methods, the (size, color, damage) by an

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incredible battery of cameras that shellfish, as the Citrus subtle acidity I found it only in the modern almost instantly record a 360-degree that it lends to red prawns, for kitchen of chef Antonio Gras. view of each individual fruit, and instance, helps to temper their whose philosophy centers on the sort il according to the csiablished sweetness. In desserts, I love the use of seasonal products and his parameters. The final step is combination of grapefruit with nuts, belief in the special characteristics packaging, where the Iruils are put banana or cherimoya creams, which of products from Murcia, The into the boxes, bags or netting are lightened by the citric notes grapefruit is one such product, required by each client, and then of grapefruit." This idea is reflected which he believes lo be particularly given an exact time siamp luTore in dishes like his Citnis cup with interesting due to its unique shipping out. This factory can banana foam and roasted chestnuts aromas and special acidity These process up to 20,000 kg (44,092 lb) (Copa de citiicos con cspuma de characteristics combine well in of fruit an hour—fruit that can be pldtanoy casianas asadas) and sweet and , like eaten the next day al someone's Norway lobster with braised red Magdalena de pomelo and home in .Amsterdam or Lyon. As a endives (Cigalas con endivias rojas other dc.s.serts like Citrus soup with bonus for the workers, this modern braseadas), which calls lor an entire almond lurrOn (Sopa de citricos con factory smells wonderful! red grapefruit, as well as ils zesl hizcocho de turrdn; turron is an lype in the sauce. Rodrigo, who is a self- of nougat); as well as with savory described "addicl", dishes using shellfish or mollusks. The versatiie always prefers red grapefruit for .Additionally, the citric acidity of citrus its subtlety and aroma. grapefruit provides an excellent while grapefruit has had no Chef Joaquin de Felipe also plays balance to the natural fat in pork. discernable role in traditional with the versatility of red grapefruit, The recent culinar)- applications of Spanish gastronomy, it's now using it for both desserts and savory Spanish grapefniii seem to mirror |ite-.eni on ihe menus nl ni,iin ol main dishes, particularly in ccviches the facl that, in the words of Jose Spain's renowned, avant-garde like the one that he makes using Antonio Garcia, 'grapelruil is chefs, including Rodrigo de la Calle yellowtail (fish) and chilies, which Spain's" most modem, large of Restauranie De La Calle in are macerated with grapefruit and producing crop. It also seems lo Aranjuez (see Close-up, page 84), other citrus juices. For him. reflect the burgeoning success of Joaquin de Felipe, of the Europa •grapefruit balances the citrus Spanish grapelruil on the European Dec6 Restaurant in Madrid's Hotel llavors by adding a completely market, where ils high quality and Urban, and Antonio Gras, of different and appealing touch of freshness relative to competing Traperia 30 in Murcia, acidity This adds complexity to the products is now translating to a Rodrigo dc la Calle, the maestro of more common flavors of lemon and greater market share. In Murcia, all gasiroboianical cuisine, loves the orange." Another important use of these factors have the potential to versatility of grapefruit, both of grapefruit in his restaurant is as spur future growth of this crop—one and pulp, ils fragrant aromas and a palate cleansing, pre-dessen sorbet, that seems tailor-made for the varied flavors, and its freshness and where it is ofien combined with landscapes and climates of this balanced acidity. In his words. coconut foam. Not only does this autonomous community of Spain. "Grapefruit is vcr)' interesting for its refresh the palate, but it also helps with digestion. elegance on the palate, its meaty Adrienne Smith i.s a sommelier, chef texture, bold and addictive flavor, One would think that grapefruit and freelance writer She has spent and nutritional properties. It's a might have a larger culinary the last decade eating and drinking good accompaniment for sweet presence in Murcia, but her way through Spain.

55

o Translation The wines have been o Rodrigo Jenny McDonal(d/©ICEX chosen by Cristina de la Calie. maTtre de la Calle^ Photos, recipes Toya Legido/OICEX at the Rodrigo de la Calle restaurant. cn cn

Clams in seaweed steam with ESSENCE OF PM and curled GRAPEFRUITcardoo n

(Almejas al vapor de algas con esencia de pomelo rosado y cardo rizado)

Clams are perhaps my favorite Clams To serve mollusk Their briny flavor Place the clams in a steamer On a flat plate serve a few drops is enhanced by the seaweed and cook in the seaweed cooking of the grapefmit essence on one steam, and the pink grapefruit water When they have opened, side and. on the other the clams, gives exactly the right touch of carefully remove the flesh from the seaweed and cardoons. sourness to balance the vegetables shells and set aside, Sirain the with the clams. Finish w ith a few drops of extra water used for cooking the seaweed virgin olive oil, salt flakes, some SERVES 4 and clams and reduce to 300 ml / 1 sticks of green apple and pieces 450 g / I lb large clams: 50 g / 2 02 sea 1/4 cup. Set using the gelatin. of grapefruit segment. lertuce (Ulva ngida): 50 g / 2 oz gigarlina; Grapefruit essence 20 g / 1 oz sugar l

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>- cn cn Char-grilled sturgeon with baked potato broth and GRAPEFRUIT OIL

(Tacos de esturion a la brasa con caldo de patata asada y aceite de pomelo)

The delicate, elegant flavor Place the fillets skin side down To serve of the sturgeon, rich in collagen in a frying pan with a little olive Place the pieces of char-grilled and marbled with fat, is served oil and fry on one side only until sturgeon and leek on a soup plate with a light vegetable broth that the skin is crisp. Just before with a few drops of extra virgin accompanies but provides no added serving, grill over charcoal. olive oil. Add pieces of the chive flavor. The grapefruit oil just refreshes Baked potato broth stalk and curls, then add the the brolh, helping to lighten the Carefully wash the potatoes, then Riofrio caviar Pour a little potato broth over the dish, and finish sturgeon fai, and the charcoal smoke cut off peelings 1/2 cm / 0.2 m with a few drops of grapefruit oil. brings out all the aromas. thick. Bake the potato peelings in the oven al 180°C/356"F Preparation time SERVES 4 for 40 minutes. Simmer in 1/21/2 4 sturgeon fillets (about 200 g / 7 oz I 1/2 hours 1/6 cups of water for 30 minutes, eacfi): 2 small leeks; 1 grapefruit; 1 dl / Recommended wine then decani. Cut the leeks into 4.2 cups sunflower oil: chh/es; 3 large potatoes: pieces and cook for three minutes Gramona Argent Rose 2006, rosenriary; extra virgin olive oil: table salt: by Gramona. This 100% Pinot noir 1/21/2 1/6 cups of water: extra virgin in the potato broth. Then browm cava is elegant and delicate, with olive oil; RIofrfo caviar. on the charcoal grill, i.jralc \.\]:: vy.C -.v.c :\mairi::-i^ a light alcohol content and an Sturgeon half a grapefruit and sel aside. iruense aroma of berries vviifi licorice. It blends perfectly with Finely grate half a grapefruit onto Cut up the grapefmit flesh and the potato broth and lightens the table salt and mix with chopped infuse in the potato and leek broth faiiiness of the fish. rosemary. Place the sturgeon for 2 minutes. Strain and decant. in this salt mixture for 10 minutes, Grapefruit oil then remove, wash and dry with Heat the sunflower oil to 40''C / kitchen paper. 104°E and add the grated grapefmit rind. Cover, leave for 10 minuies, then sirain.

59 GRAPEFRUIT BEETROOT WITH GRAPEFRUIT \ T Tl toasted garlic cream and beaten S)l\ IJ I ^ goats' cheese whey

60 (Remolacha a la sal de pomelo, crema de ajos tostados y suero batido de queso de cabra)

Beetroot is one of the few vegetables SERVES 4 Occlroots that can be found all year round. 2 fresh beetroots; 1 pink grapefruit; 1 head Grate the skin of half the Its unique flavor of damp earth gives Chlnchon garlic; 250 g / 9 oz organic goats' grapefmit into the salt and mix. it an unusual pcrsonafity and, cheese from Cdmenar Viejo; 25 g / 1 oz Bury the beetroots in the salt with when cooked with .sail, the flavors powdered egg albumen; 21/81/2 cup the grated grapefruit rind and bake are concentrated and the texture vegetable stock; 500 g /1 lb 2 oz table salt; in the oven at 180°C / 356^ for is emphasized. The addition of beetroot leaves. half an hour Peel and set aside. grapefniit balances out the sweetness Grate the oiher half of the of the beetroot and ihe cheese brings grapefruit into 11/4 1/4 cup the various flavorstogether . of boiling vegetable stock and infuse. Add the powdered egg albumen and beat until stiff. Wrap the pieces of beetroot in this -like mixture and bake at IBCC / 356"F lor 20 minuies. Toasted garlic cream Bake the head of garlic at 190"C / 374°F for 1 hour Remove and peel the cloves and set aside. Beaten goats" cheese whey Place the goals' cheese in the remaining 1 1/4 1/4 cup of boiling vegetable slock, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and reserve, separately, both the stock and the cheese. Blend the cheese with the baked garlic until smooth and creamy. To serve Serve a little of the garlic and cheese cream, top with half a beetroot. Pour over the beaten goats* cheese whey and finish with a few beetroot leaves. Preparation time 1 1/2 hours Recommended wine San Amaro, made by the San Amaro brewer)'. This artisan, 100% malt beer is a dark toast color and cloudy with a thick lexture and great flavors, lis surprising mild sweetness and caramel touches make it the ideal foil for the sweetness of the beetroot, and ils toasted aromas connect weU with the earthy tones of the garlic and the cheese.

hi 62 M,\'i M M j.ii: 'i :<'.n IIH K SWEETS9 Memories are made of this

Sweetness is the taste we crave the most. The deities of IVIount Olympus—untroubled by nutritional issues—were reputed to eat ambrosia and drink nectar, sweet quintessences perceived as appropriate food for the gods. Spain has a whole repertoire of traditional sweetmeats that are not only delicious, but also charged with historical significance and fascinating associations.

M.AY-.^Lt:l."il 21)1 I .SPAIN" (lOllRMETiH'R 63 TRADITIONAL SWEETS

TEXT LUIS CEPEDA/©iCEX

PHOTOS FERNANDO MADARIAGA/©ICEX

TRANSLATION HAWYS PRiTCHARD/©iCEX

All traditional sweets, indeed all In the field of tastes as a whole, certainly obtained their first long-familiar sweet tastes, seem sweetness probably occupies the pleasant taste sensations from to bear an emotive capsule within broadest, and most agreeable, the natural sweetness of fruits. them. They have the power to tranche. We find il difficult now The Juice of ripe fruit and honey conjure up an "atmosphere" to imagine life without ready access raided from hardworking insects within us and to stir up memories to sweetness, yet cane sugar was would have helped palliate the associated, more often than not, unknown in the Western world insistent yearning for sweetness with tastes and smells first until implanted in the Iberian that would eventually be experienced in early childhood Peninsula by the Arabs during their catered for specifically by sugar from the security of a familiar adult long period of occupation (711- obtained from sugar cane, sugar lap. A la recherche du temps perdu 1492). By the 9>h century sugar beet and chemically engineered (Remembrance of Things Past), cane was being grown as a crop in artificial sweeteners. surely the mosl languorous and Spain, and came into popular use multipartite 20'^" century novel, around the time of the Crusades The begins with just such an evocation (military campaigns conducted which is triggered by the act of between 1095 and 1291) or slightly effect dipping a little into earlier, along with most spices. It would be a fascinating exercise a cup of tea. For the literary Sugar was initially used only as —and a tribute to Proust—to try imagination of Marcel Proust (187- a medicine or preserving agent, to identify which item from our 1922), this small domestic incident a mysterious substance handled vast array of sweetmeats best provides the point of departure for by apothecaries, who made a lot of replicates the madeleine's memory- revisiting the events, emotions and money out of it by making it into triggering effect for the average social settings of the past. Proust's the first curative "confections" Spaniard. 1 wonder what most of us madeleine (for that is what the (the word derives from the Latin would vote for if asked. Certainly sponge cake was) has become conficere, meaning "to prepare") not the magdalena, despite the fact synonymous with nostalgia, and selling them as a remedy that this version of the French representing the cultural potency for ailments. In consequence, the original has long been a familiar with which tastes are imbued, and new substance acquired a mystique feature of our domestic diet. The serving as the prototype for scent- that persisted long afier it had magdalena is a traditional type of triggered memories. Interestingly, become more familiar. cake known to have originated in science corroborates the evocative In La physiologic du gout (The France (where it can be dated back power of scents; according to Physiology of Taste), the seminal to 1755), more specifically in the experts, smell is the most efficient work of world gastronomy district of the and evocative of all our senses. We published in 1825, Brillat-Savarin region. Madeleines/magdalenas are, remember just 2% of everything we includes a meditation, or apologia, essentially, simple homemade see and no more than 5% of what on the subject of sugar He individual sponge cakes made with we hear, but we assimilate and describes il as the quintessence eggs, sugar, , wheal hour, retain as much as 35% of what we of positive taste and a sine qua non yeast and lemon zest. The secret smell. In other words, the aromas of sweetness. It seems likely that of their characteristically springy of sweet foods can justifiably be sweetness was the earliest craving texture is stifny-beaten egg white, said to constitute the subtlest—and experienced by the human palate; whose addition lightens the strongest—element of their appeal. tree-dwelling hominids almost mixture. Commercy madeleines are

64 laii.i de Santiago

65 TRADITIONAL SWEETS

baked in tins with scallop-shell shaped indeniaitons. Historically, this reference to the symbol (still relevant in France) worn by pilgrims traveling ihe road to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia made them a popular snack offered for sale at various stages of the route. In Spain, however, the pilgrimage link faded in significance and the shell molds were superseded by individual waxed corrugated paper cases, though the recipe remained unchanged. Magdalenas are still wrapped in much the same way today, and are a familiar sight in Spanish homes, ty].iically eaten for and mcrienda (late afiemoon snack, much like British tea-time). (1897-1981), who summed up the sweets in the sense of desserts; difference thus; "(sweelmeaLs) made arroz con leche (rice pudding made In search with oil are bright and sunny, while with rice, milk and sugar); /Icm ihose made wiih butler are lunar (caramel made with eggs, of an icon and cheerless." milk and sugar); and (eclie/ritti It turns out to be no easy matter to Spain's traditional sweets are ("fried milk" made with Hour, milk single out from Spain's traditional virtually innumerable and always and sugar). Regional specialties in array one iconic confection that can remarkable. Some, for example, this category' include Galicia's/ii/ons boast the evocative power of Proust's are decidedly holy; lorrijas, made ( made with Hour, beaten madeleine. It ought lo be something during Holy Week, are slices of egg yolks, milk and sugar), Canary of an everyday nature and eaten by soaked in mill< or wine, then Island frangollo (milk,go/iti [fiour most of us; but our repertoire is an dipped in beaten egg and fried in obtained from toasted grains), eclectic one, ranging as it does from olive oil; huesos de santo (saint's lemon, eggs, sugar, and fiiglits of fancy lo markers of ke)' bones) are little cyfinders of rolled raisins), and Asturian frisuelos dates on the ecclesiastical calendar, marzipan. Others are out and out (pancakes made with Hour eggs, some redolent of local idiosyncrasy festive, such as lun-£)ii. which is an milk, water, sugar and salt). Then and others of the timeless seclusion almond and honey nougai. Still there are the classics with a long of convent life. Another others are part of almosi sacred pedigree, ofien associated with differentiating factor is whether they rituals; roscon de Reyes—the ring- outdoor celebrations; use butler or olive oil as the fatly shaped loaf of sweet spongy bread (rolled w-afers niULle w iih plain medium that communicates their embedded with caramelized fmit, Hour and sugar or honey), pestifios fiavor—an important difference, eaten on January 6''^ to mark (folded fritters made with fiour and according to Catalan gourmet, Epiphany, the Feast of the Three beaten eggs, fried in olive oil and author and journalist Josep Pia Kings. Then there are homemade coaled in honey); merengues

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I nifi :IIL;LIC>. iii,;rir \\ ;l:; hv.-.luii u^:,;^, oil); obviously Moorish ones, such of Europe that did not experience whiles and sugar, baked in the as alajii (a sweet, sticky paste made the prolonged presence of oven); mojiconcs (individual sponge by cooking honey, breadcmmbs unin\ited guests. cakes in;i[]f with marzipan and and crushed almonds or walnuts Despite the wide variety of Spain's sugar; and lenguas de ("cat's tngeiher, served sandwiched tradilionni pastries ajul ihccuLkidil tongue" biscuits made with , between pieces of rice paper) found of infiuences ihal each of them butter, sugar, egg while and in Cuenca (Spain) as readily as in represents, a pattern of preference vanilla). Local specialties constitute Oran. The latter is a prime example does emerge; Spaniards are another sub-division, and include; of the sw-eetmeals that constitute particularly fond of the fried sweei empiiionados (sweets made of just one aspect of Spain's Muslim delicacies knowm generically as almonds, sugar, water and egg heritage. Contrary to popular frulos dc sarten (fmits of the frying white, coaled in pine nuts), made belief, the Muslims did not come pan). In El Aceitc de oliva virgen en la in Valladolid; and Vergara bearing cane sugar when they first repostena de aver v hoy (Extra Virgin isponge cakes filled with egg yolk invaded Spain. They did, however, Olive Oil in Past and and dusted with icing sugar). There introduce the use of orange Present, Spain Gourmetour No. 80), arc posh ones such as canu(i!/t« blossom, both as sweet, strongly a long overdue defense of the role ol (hom-shaped pastries made with scented flowers and in the form olive oil in dessert cookery author fiour, oil, milk and lemon) and of orange ilower water (possibly Jose Oneto points out that fruios crema catalana (confectioner's an accidental discoveryO which de sarten are the sole example custard enriched with egg yolks bestows a certain elegance on the of desserts in which the use of olive and topped with caramelized many sweets in which it features. oil has always been accepted. sugar); monastic ones such as Seven centuries of Hispano-Arab almcndras garrapifiadas (candied coexistence in the Iberian Peninsula Let them almonds); ephemeral ones such left their mark, and not just on our as bunucio.'; de viento (little puffy repertoire of sweets. They explain eat made with fiour and why Spain's gastronomy as a whole Churros arc the most classic example beaten egg while and fried in olive is so differeni Irom that of the rest of frutos de sarten, and are an

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adopted them as a tribute to local custom, sening miniature ones as a Traditional dessert, accompanied by a little cup Confectionery of chocolate (more on ihai later). Surprisingly, chunos have become more popular as a breakfast item than as a merienda; this late afternoon snack is more likely to involve picatostes (sugar-sprinkled French toast fingers). The biggest and most aeraled fnito de sarten is the porra, ihe batter lor which incorporates beaten egg whites. . Guadalajara The batter is piped into the hot oil La Flor y Nata to form huge continuous spirals Tel.: 949 22 60 05 which are cut up into portions with • Madrid confectioner's scissors when cooked. El Homo de San Onofre The existence and nature www.iisonofre.com (Spanisii) enduring favorite in Spain. These of churrerias are part ;ind parcel San Gines crisp, aromatic loops of fried dough Tel.; 913 656 546 transport one back to childhood. of Madrid's reputation for sta)ing Nunos Indeed, watching the -maker awake unril the eady hours haxing Tel.: 914 092 456 at work, cylinder of dough on his a good time; some legendaiy founts Pasteleria Salinas back, defily pipingju.st the right of churros either siay open all night (Alcala de Henares) quantity for each churro loop into or start serving very early in the Tel.: 918 881 522 the vai of boiling oil, is still a thrill. morning. Chocolateria San Gines is ' IVlarbella a famous example, though there are Churreria Casa Ramon In the old days, the churros were v,/ww.churreriaramon.com (Spanish) threaded onto pliable raffia strips equivalents—both up-market and • San Sebastian and tied in batches of twelve ready dowm—all over Spain. In Andalusia Geltoki for taking away; meanwhile, women they make a frulo de sarten that is www.geltoki.net holding Hat baskets piled high with a cross between a churro and a (English, French, Spanish) porras (a thicker version of churros) porra, known as a tejenngo, tallo. San Gin§s or ccilenfito, made from a rather Tel.: 913 656 546 and buhuelos againsi one hip lighter dough and sen'ed well- ' Seville advertised their wares with cries that Confiteria La Campana were pan of the pleasure of Sunday sugared. There are delicious ones to www.confiterialacampana.com mornings. Churros are still very- be found in the churren'as of Se\ille (Spanish) much with us, but are now to be and Cadiz, and I also have fond • Toledo found in churrenas or chocolatcrias. memories of ones eaten in Baez and Confiteria Santo Tome Ubeda Qaen), and at Casa Ramon in www.mazapan.com (Spanish) shops where you can eat them on ihe spot or buy to take home, freshly the Plaza de los Naranjos in Marbella • Valladolid Cubero fried. Some cafes serve them only (Malaga), where they are brought to Tel.: 983 356 077 first thing in the morning (they lose the table as complete spirals, freshly • Majorca iheir charm once they have gone fried in extra \irgin olive oil (which Ca'n Miquel. Forn de Sa Pelleteria cold), and some exotic restaurants, is regularl)- renewed during the long Tel.: 971 715 711 such as Kabuki in Madrid, have working day).

69 TRADITiON'AL SWEETS

"There was a great x'arieiy in and Muslims, this version was Just desserts Classical society, made at first wiih "heavenly" in the sense ihal The Sunday churros we remember as honey and later with sugar Fruii it defied religious boundaries children lie in wiih the idea of food did not count as a sweet except In by being acceptable to all, as a reward. They were—and still dehydrated form, such as dried figs, li emerges strongly that svveci- are—deployed as a token ol adult sun-dried peaches or apricots, raisins associated memories gladden the appro%'al of a child's beha\ior. Sweet and prunes, and cr>'sialli2ed fruit. heart more than savory ones. There things are the ultimate rew-ard, as A taste for sweetness was something is a school of thought that maintains Spanish .sociologist Amando de that united Moors, Jews and (pace the physiologists) thai there are Miguel obsen-es in his Sobre gustos y Christians," One very sweet dessert really only two tastes (bitter and sabores: los espaiwksy la comida (On confection made of egg yolk and sweet), acidic and salty being simply Tastes and Flavors; Spaniards and sugar, whose dense texture and sensations or aggressions of differing Food; Alianza Editorial, 2004). He yellowish color apparendy degrees of intensity, namely (like recalls that the usual punishment for resembled the fatly part of salt "hot" in the sense of piquant) slight naughty children was lo make ihem pork, was given the name de burns raiher than tastes. This theory go without pudding and, while on cielo (heavenly pork fat). Given that is noi my ovm, though I do find it the subject of sweets, informs us: pork was a taboo food for both Jews reasonably convincing. U is put

Churros

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forward in broad terms by Spanish various specialties extended this Much later, 20'^ century Mexican journalist, cosmopolitan chronicler appeal still further writer Jose Vasconcelos, promoter and expert in the physiologj' of taste, of the notion of a "cosmic race", Julio Camba (1882-1962) in his Chocolate percejjtively summed up how book Lfi coscj de Liiculo (The House significant these new discoveries of LucuUus) published in 1929. a la espanola were: "A civilization unfamiliar with those llavors could not be Which brings us neaily to the The Aztecs' equivalent to ambrosia considered complete." aforementioned chocolaie, in which and nectar was chocolate, which both those basic tastes are present. It Spanish colonizers of the Americas they looked upon as the food of the is at once bluer by nature and sweet iniToduced chocolate into Europe gods. This aromatic fermenied seed because of the sugar amalgamated as two separate substances—cocoa of the cacao tree was one of the into it to enhance its appeal to the solids, or cocoa paste, and cocoa hitherto unknowm and baffiing sweei-iooihed, both in its liquid butter—which were combined in forai as drinking chocolate and in foodstuffs with which the Spanish varying proportions. From the Age sohd form as bars, bonbons, and conquistadores were confronted at of Enlightenment (l&^ cemmy) on, confectioner)' in general. The the laden table of Mociezuma the addition of sugar to ihe mixture inclusion of milk and nuts to create (15th,16'^^ ceniury Aztec emperor). greatly enhanced the appeal of

Sohaos piisiegos TRADITIONAL SWEETS

chocolate to a public conditioned to contemporary patisserie and known to have been made for respond negatively to strong bitter confectionery). In Spain, hot over a century in the Pas Valley tastes at a time when these were chocolate generally comes with (, northern Spain) associated with poisons. Jesuit churros or porras which seem from a recipe created by Eusebia missionaries to the Americas were lo have been invented as the ideal Fernandez Martin, cook to a certain known for promoting acceptance complement; however, there are Dr Madrazo (1850-1942) of the of indigenous agricultural products plenty of equally compatible Vega de Pas sanatorium. Nowadays, and livestock, particularly the turkey candidates among our traditional these little sponge cakes enjoy (at one time nicknamed jesuila) sweet repertoire: .sobaos pasiegos and Protected Geographic Indication and cocoa. Despite a few false slarls Majorcan cnsainiadas are just a (PGl) status which guarantees their and initial pubfic mistrust, chocolate couple of examples... provenance. In days gone by, they soon caught on and was were dislribuied by early-morning manufactured as a preparation for delivery men who replaced any drinking hot a la espahola, namely Sobaos left over from the day before with thick, dark and fragrant, as it is still and ensaimadas fresh ones. They are made of a enjoyed today (while also being a The origins of sobaos pasiegos are batter of wheal fiour, butter, sugar, major component of traditional and little documented, though they are eggs, lemon peel, star anise, salt

.Mfajor de Medina Sidonia

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and honey which is poured into specialty, has always been considered the inside with an idiosyncratic molds, baked, then left lo cool something of a quality item in puff effect that it takes before packing. They are presented patisseries and cafes. It takes its a skilled baker to produce. in characteristic rectangular paper name, and sticky texture, from the Ensaimadas are a deeply-rooted cases, cleverly folded for easy pork lard (saim, in the Majorcan traditional product of the island extraction. Bright yellow in color language) that is a characteristic of Majorca (one of the Balearic with a dense, spongy texture, they ingredient of its sweet dough (the Islands off Spain's east coast). The make a delicious breakfast or other ingredients are strong fiour, earliest written references date from mid-morning snack in combination water, sugar, eggs and sourdough the 17'h century and mention them with hot chocolate or cafe con leche. starter) which is left to ferment in as being made specifically for rural Note, however, that—unlike special cupboards for 12 hours or festivals and parties. Most of the frutos de sarten—sobaos are so more before baking. Ensaimadas are ovens in which they are baked absorbent that they should not be shaped into coils of two or three today are over 150 years old and dunked; the best approach is to clockwise turns and, once baked, are belong to family-run . take a bile, then follow it with pale gold and wavy-surfaced, slightly In the 18'h and 19'h centuries, a sip of chocolate or coffee. crisp on the outside and soft, close- ensaimadas were taken up by high The ensaimada, a Majorcan textured and relatively inelastic on society and eaten (with hot

Mazapan de Toledo

73 • •• ^ -i ..

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chocolate) at breakfast or merienda; de Poriocarrero, Commissioner Christian victory al the battle of a pattern of presenting an General of the Holy Crusade, to the Las Navas de Tolosa by crushing ensaimada as a social gift emerged University of Santiago lo conduct almonds and sugar with a mallet with the result thai they became an enquiry into banquets given in ("maza" in Spanish, hence increasingly popular, no longer honor of the academic staff during "mazapan" Imarzipanj), This is a mere curiosity mentioned in the awarding of degrees. The first unconvincing on various counts, cookery and travel books, in the recipe for tarla de Santiago appears not least its anachronistic mention 20''^ cenlur)' the ensaimada in a manuscript daied 1835 in of sugar which by that date was acquired its current iconic status Monoriedo (Lugo, northwestern not yet in widespread use as as a classic tourist purchase: Spain), part of the confecrionery a sweetening agent. The use hcimeward bound visitors to the notebook of Luis Bartolom^ de of almond and sugar mixtures island carrying the trademark— Leybar, a soldier billeted there. for making specific sweetmeats, and sometimes enormous—fiat Headed yxzcochada (sponge cake), such as marzipan, is rooted octagonal or circular boxes in which the recipe matches almost exacdy in the history of the Eastern they are sold are a frequent sight ai the current specificaiions laid down Mediterranean, having probably Palma airport. Ensaimadas also have by the PGl for tana de Santiago originated in Persia, where sugar PGl status, which covers two types; de Composlela, By the late 19''' cane (originally from India) had classic Majorcan type, and Majorcan ceniury, ihe cake had acquired its tyqie filled with golden shreds of characteristic icing sugar topping, candied squash known as ctiiwilo dc as described in El canfitcro y el angel (angels hair). pastelero (The Confectioner and Web Sites Pastry Cook) by Eduardo Merin. In 1924, the St. James' Cross The most Spanish silhouette (created by sprinkling • PGl de Medina Sidonia of cakes icing sugar over a template which http://calidadagroalimeritaria, is then removed) became a besana.es/web/denominaciones_ .Another distinctive and deeply calidad/denominaciones. standard feature, pastry cook Jose traditional swcel from ihe Spanish especificas.'alfajor (Spanish) Mora being credited with its repertoire is taria de Santiago, a • PGl Sobao Pasiego introduction. Spain's mosl readily www. alimentosdecantabria.com ground almond tart in a pastr)' case recognizable cake makes liberal use (Spanish) made of a niceh' balanced of almonds, which are typically of ' PGl Mantecados de Estepa combination of one third almonds, ihe best Mediterranean varieties; www.afames.com [Spanish) one third sugar and one quarter Comuna, Majorca, Marcona, Molla, • PGl Tarta de Santiago www.ingacal.com (Galician) eggs. Permilled flavorings (in Largueia and Plane ta. homeopathic quantities) include PGl Mazapan de Toledo lemon zest, sweet wine, brandy or www.turismocastillalaman cha. com /restaurantes/denominaciones- marc. Icing sugar also features, but Sacred de-origen/igp-mazapan-de- again only in sufficient quantity to loledo/ (Chinese, English, French, sprinkle on top in such a \vay as to and secular Spanish) leave the sign of the cross of St There are various versions of how PGt Ensaimada de Mallorca James (emblem of the Order of Toledo marzipan came into being. www,illesbalearsqualitat.com (Catalan, English, French. German, Santiago) silhouetted across it center One dates its invention back to Italian, Spanish) The first written reference to tana 1212 and attributes it to the nuns PGl de Astorga de Santiago dates from 1577, and of San Cletnente who created a new www.mantecadasdeastorga.es concerns an official visit bv Pedro delicacy In celebration of the (Spanish)

75 TRADITIONAL SWEETS V

been grown for centuries. The recipe and technique for making this simple, dense sweet was later transjiorted from east to west by land and sea during the invasion by Arabs from Africa or at the lime of the Crusades. We do know that mazapan (possibly derived from the Spanish for "March [by implication "Lenten"! bread" or "paste [perhaps meaning "sticky") bread") was readily adopted, first of all by Arab and Jewish confectioners and later turning up in convents, where the paste was molded into shapes associated with Christian imagery- One typical eye-catching shape representing an eel—a forbidden fish for Jews and Muslims—must have been a successful selling ploy, reinforcing the Catholic share of the tnarkei and keeping quality high so that marzipan (which has also been produced for centuries Manlceado de tiitepa in Italy, Central Europe and the Americas) in Toledo attained meringue cakes, and paste for Royal Household, vrilh the invention a standard of quality knowm as making almond soup. Confiieria of a lype of ariisan-inade sponge "calidad suprcma" (top quality). Santo Toni6, the Convento de las cake knowm as mantecada dc Astorga, In marzipan of this type, a fine- Dominicas, Confiieria Telesforo on made by baking a mixture of plain lextured dense paste is achieved Plaza de Zocodover (which dales flour, eggs, butler, pork lard and by mixing ground raw, peeled back to 1806), and Pastelen'a sugar. As a general mle maniecadas almonds with different kinds of Adolfo are all excellent sources, are presented in individual, open- sugar It comes in various selling marzipan shapes throughout topped, .square paper cases {known presentations, the paste being the year Don't wait for a special as cajiJIas) skillfully folded at ihe molded mechanically or by hand, occasion^—these examples of top corners for easy extraction of the and then baked or cooked, quality artisan confectiooeiy are to cake. Each maniecada weighs sometimes with oiher confectionery be enjoyed just as they come. around 30 g (1 oz), is firm-iexiured ingredients added. The range of with a domed, golden-baked, sugar- traditional Toledo marzipan spnnkled top. The crunch of the products includes filled or coated Drunk and sober sugar topping in combination with marzipan, marzipan figures, eels, Wiiling £l arte de repostcria (The Art the spongy texture of the cake is part crescents, magdalena-like marzipan of Confectionery), published in of ils appeal. Mantecadas de Astorga cakes, pine nut-coated marzipan 1747. author Antonio Martin credits are a traditional local product of ihe balls, egg yolk cakes, marzipan and Juan de la Mata, to the Astorga district of northwest Spain.

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where ihey arc baked and packed. Micaela Ruiz Tellez, nicknamed is home to a curious kind of cake They used to be well-known all over La Colchona (perhaps best with a very long histor)-; known as the couniry, not least because they translated as "Chubby"), known bizccicho barracho (drunken sponge were sold at hub railway stations by for the excellence of her cake). For many years, bizcochos vendors advertising their wares with maniecados, began sending some boixachos featured importantly on loud cries. Other products sold in for sale in COrdoba. using her the product list of all nearly every the same way were candied almonds peddler husband as transport. confectionery and cake shop in in Briviesca (Burgos) and circular So that they survived the journey Spain, They are harder to come cakes known as torias dc Alcdzar de better. La Colchona adapted the by these days, but a Journey to San jam. which were sold in the recipe to create drier maniecados, Guadalajara (capital of the Alcarria station where travelers changed cleverly managing to produce region) is rewarded by the trains for La Mancha. A high cakes that were firm and close- opportunity to sample one on the proportion of the mantecadas textured on the outside and meli- spot: they can either be bought to produced are still sold as a local in-lhe-mouih within. Local lake home from a cake shop such as specialty to tourists passing through confecrioners were not stow to Catajidn, or selected from the Asiorga. They are siill tniide to the imitaie the refined product, which dessert menu at the town's cafes and traditional recipe and are still met wiih such success that small resiauranis, borracho is presented in their characierisiic factories were sel up to meet arguably the spongiest and most demand; by 1934 there were hand-folded cajillas (made by local flavorful of the entire sponge cake 15 registered maniecado producers ladies known as cajilleras). category, its attributes no doubt in the town. Today, at least one Another sweet with broad popular enhanced by the customary addirion member of every household appeal comes from Andalusia of mm, brandy or fortified wine. in the area is directly involved (souihern Spain). As summer fades, The recipe is quite conventional in mantecado manufacture, Estepa (Seville), a small town of except that it is beaten extra Guadalajara, the nearest to Madrid some 12,000 inhabitants, launches I1II>I\HIL:1IK -OtiKuiv ;fi^i; ;fic c.ikc i- of La Mane ha's sizable towns, into a period of frenetic activity spongy- and absorbent; after baking, producing mantecados in readiness a s\Tup containing rum (distilled for Christmas, Christmassy smells from sugar cane) or a brandy (sesame, cinnamon, roasted syrup is poured over it, leaving ii almonds...) waft through the appctizingly aromatic and sweei in streets of Estepa throughout the an unusual way. Some confectioners fall, emanaung from its 20 prefer to use a sweet wine syrup. , all busily engaged in producing a total of over 25,000 tons of mantecados, Mantecados Arabian aromas are not to be confused with Alfajores are liitle tubular pastries mantecadas (as described above); knowm to have originated in maniecados date back to the IQ''' Medina Sidionia, right in the heart cenlur); the wheat Hour, sugar and of Cadiz province (southern Spain). fresh pork fat recipe being used by If their very name provides a clue the local inhabitants and Clarissa that alfa'prcs are of Arab origin, the nuns to make fairly basic list of what they contain leaves no shortcakes for their own room for doubt: honey, almonds, consumption, A woman called hazelnuts, flour, breadcrumbs.

77 TRADITION.AL SWEETS

herbs and spices (coriander, salient and best-known and honey flavored with aniseed) cloves, aniseed, sesame and characteristics. However, this is pain.stakingly stamped out cinnamon). All these combine to resolve crumbles in the face of into flower shapes before frying. produce a light browm interior with gems of information such as the gi\ing an end product known as a delicately spicy aroma and fact that Yemas de San Leandro (rich jhrcs dd Campo dc Calatravo. honeyed flavor with hints of nut. egg yolk sweets from Seville) owe To pop a de Santa Fe (rolled- The population of Medina Sidonia their survival lo the generosity of up syrup-soaked pastry topped w ith was originally Phoenician, though local winery owners who habitually toasted cream) into one's mouth is to it was during the Muslim donated the superfluous yolks left be reminded that this little town occupation that this region enjoyed alter using egg whites to clarify just outside is its heyday. The ancestral method their wines to the Augustine nuns where the army of the Catholic for making alfajores is as follows; of San Leandro convent. Monarchs (1474-1516) camped the honey is healed before adding This gesture ensured the survival during the campaign that culminated to it the hazelnuts and walnuts of a sweet famous since the 15^^ in their reconquest of Granada, the (toasted and split), the century despite the poverty that last Moorish stronghold in the breadcrumbs, flour, toasted sesame, preceded and succeeded the Iberian Peninsula. And why, you find coriander, cloves and aniseed and Spanish Civil War. The pattern was yourself wondering, is turron—the mixed together thoroughly. The replicated in Avila, where similar creme de la crane of Spain's sweet resulting dough is cui up while sweets, known as Yemas dc Santa repertoire and enduring still hot and allowed to cool to Teresa, are produced in honor representative of Al-Andalus room temperature, then shaped of peripatetic mystic Teresa de in present-day Alicante—limited into the characteristic elongated Cepeda, belter known as Santa lo cameo appearances at cylindrical shapes. The individual Teresa de Jesiis, or Saint Teresa Christmastime rather than being alfajores are then dipped in syrup of Avila (1515-1582), patron saint enjoyed all year round, as ils and dusted wiih sugar and of Spanish gastronomy. Equally deliciousness and appeal would cinnamon before packing. Medina fascinating is the discovery that the seem to merit? All in all, Spain's Sidonia's confectionery-making candied almonds sold by Clarissa traditional sweeis inhabit tradition is of considerable nuns through a revolving hatchway a mysterious, shifling realm to which hislorical importance and there ii I I heir convent door are by no history, legend, tradition are many literary and other means the only local sweet in and memories contribute in wTiiien references to il. It is .•\lcala de Henares (not far from equal mea.sure, currently the most important Madrid). Alcala is also the fount center of confectionery production of costradas (puff pastries filled in Cadiz province. with confectioner's cusiard, Luis Ccpeda is a journalist and To describe Spain's repertoire of meringue and almonds) and author of many books, including Los traditional sweets as boundless is ius((uillii.s de lustre (little sugar- Cien Plaios Univcrsales de la little short of the truth. As one glazed doughnuts), invented by el Cocina Vasca, Gusto de Reyes, starts to explore it, one discovers maestro Lino, master confectioner Lhardy, La Cocina de Paradores and more and more at every turn and at El Postre, Meanwhile, one is Maridaje de Vinos y Platos, He is simply has to accept that any astonished to learn thai La Mancha currently gastronomic correspotident attempt at an exhaustive account (central Spain, a region known for for OnMadrid, the fcisiire would be a fool's errand. The best its restraint) produces one of ihe supplement of national daily El Pat's, one can hope for is to sketch in the most elaborate examples of fruio de and technical director of the Spanish basics and describe their most sarten; the dough (Hour, milk, eggs Chef's Association (Feclfracidn cii' Cocinero.s de Espana).

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•>4g • o o Translation The wines have been Jenny McDonalci/©ICEX chosen by Cristina Rodrigo de la Calle. maitre Pfiotos, recipes at the Rodrigo de la Calle' Toya Legido/OIGEX de la Calle restaurant. >- cn cn False rice pudding with date milk, MARZIPM AM) CIMAMO^^

(False arroz con leche de datil, mazapan y canela)

At Christmas, in true Toledo False rice pudding To serve tradition, my lather always brought Place the fresh dates in a vacuum Plate the false rice pudding. oui a selection of almond sweeis, pack with the milk and cream and Sprinkle with icini; sugar and and almonds have always been one cook in the Roner at 65°C / 149°F caramelize. Grate marzipan over of my favorite nuis for desserts. lor 1 hour, then sirain, retaining the top, covering almost all the They are the inspiration for this surface of the rice. Finish with dish, but they also take us to Elche, the liquid. Cook the pasta in the an important production area for resulting cooking liquid over a low the cinnamon snap and a few both Marcona almonds and dates. heal until al dente. dried flower petals. This dessert has been on our menu Marzipan Preparation time since 2005. Soak the Marcona almonds 2 hours SERVES 4 for 3 hours, then drv' and grind. Recommended wine Add the sugar and knead for aboul For the false rice pudding: 50 g / 2 oz Pedro Ximenez, Vors 30 afios (DO 15 minutes until the mixture pasta; 250 ml / 1 1/8 cups fresh cream; Jerez-Xeres-Sherry), by Bodegas 250 ml / 1 1/8 cups milk: 300 g /10 1/2 oz comes together and does not stick Harveys. This golden wine with fresh dates from VIveros Huerto de Bche: to your hands. Form into a roll a greenish sparkle is dry and offers icing sugar aboul 2 cm / O S in in diameter, aromas of crystallized fruit and place on an oven pan and bake at For the marzipan; 240 g / 8 1/2 oz Marcona nuts. Il brings together the differeni 280"C / 536"F for 10 minutes. almonds; 250 g / 9 oz sugar. textures and aromas as if by magic, Leave lo cool. For the cinnamon snap: 50 g / 2 oz butter; and ends with a lingering afieriaste. 50 g / 2 02 flour; 50 g / 2 oz sugar. Cinnamon snap

Others: Dried flower petals. Sofien the butler, then mix with the sugar and flour to foim a dough. Roll out until very thin and bake ai 190"C / 374'T for 4-5 minutes. "For a more in-depth look at the chef, see Close-up

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cn ADAPTATION OF T\Rm DE SAfflAGO with calamondin orange

(Adaptacion de la Tarta de Santiago, con calamondin)

One of the great Spanish desserts Cake To ser\T is Santiago tart. It is surprising Mix the grated almonds with the Break the cake into pieces and serve how well the almond flavors blend icing sugar, inverted sugar and some on a plaie. Pour over some of with calamondin orange, one graied calamondin orange rind. the syrup used for crystallizing the of the citrus fruits grown by Place the egg whiles in a separate calamondin oranges and add a little Santiago Oris at Viveros Huerto de Elche. An excellent winter bowl and mix without beating. pow'dered lea. Finish with the sorbet, dessert, full of taste and aromas. Lightly mix in the baking powder and Lop with crystallized oranges and and flour then add the sugar and Heartsease flower petals. SERVES 4 almond mixture and, finally, the For the cake: 85 g / 3 oz ground almonds; hazelnut butler. Preparation time 215 g / 7 1/2 oz icing sugar; 20 g /1 oz Bake ai 180"C / 356°F for 25 1 1/2 hours inverted sugar; grated rind of 3 calamondin minuies. oranges: 200 g / 7 oz egg v/hite; 3 g / 0.10 oz Recommended wine tjaking powder; 100 g / 3 1/2 oz hazelnut Crystallized calamondin orange Enrique Mendoza Moscatel de la butter; 85 g / 3 oz flour Make a syrup with the water Marina, by the Enrique Mendoza

For the crystallized calamondin orange: and sugar Bring to a boil and add (DO Alicante) winer)-. 250 g / 9 oz calamondin oranges; 250 g / the oranges. Cover and simmer for This wine has a clear, transparent 9 oz sugar; 1/21/2 1/6 cups water three hours. yellow color with greenish tinges. Its honey notes blend well with For the calamondin orange sorbet: 250 g .' Calainondin orange sorbet the calamondin oranges, balancing 9 oz calamondin oranges; 1/41/1 1/8 cups Grate, then juice, the calamondin out any bitterness. It is both light synjp; 1 sheet gelatin; 5 g /1,'6 oz glucose. oranges. Mix the syrup w iih the and creamy, helping bring together gl tin ISO and gel.iiin. then aik: ilv Others: powdered tea; Heartsease the acidity and the sweetness juice and graied rind. Pour into a flower petals. present in the dish. sorbet maker and freeze.

83 PASSION and principles f'

yy

Rodrigo "Gastrobotanics" is the joint brainchild of restaurateur de la Calle Rodrigo de la Calle and biologist Santiago Orts, It's a concept that has turned De la Calle into a champion of Text undervalued and overlooked vegetable species v^hich, Almudena Muyo/©iCEX in his hands, become the stuff of haute cuisine. The Photos TomSs Zarza ancJ dishes he creates to showcase the attributes of his raw Toya Legido/©ICEX Translation matehals are object lessons in harmony and fine-tuning Hawys Pritchard/©ICEX backed up by considerable technical expertise. RODRIGO DE LA CALLE

I'm off to Aranjuez (46 km / 28.5 mi Huerto dc Elche plant nursery) of significant gastronomic interest south of Madrid), and feeling t|uitc of "gastrobotanics", a culinary vviih the sort of status that makes excited at the prospect of eating food concept that ushers unaccustomed il a financially viable proposition cooked by Rodrigo de la Calle (he vegetable species into the realm to grow them as a crop. Obvious was named chef of the year for 2011 of haute cuisine (some of them examples are fresh dales; finger ai Madrid Fusion, the prestigious rescued from oblivion, oihcrs limes (Cifnis australasica, little international gastronomic conference simply unfamiliar, but all of them lemon-like fruit with tiny vesicles held in the Spanish capital every founts of hitherto untapped that look deceptively like Fcrran year). I'm also looking forward to gastronomic potential). AdriA-iype microspheres, that burst traveling through one of my favorite In the setting of the welcoming in one's mouth releasing a richly parts of the country—the fertile fruit restaurant that bears his name, acidic laslc); and ice plant and vegetable-growing area beside located right in the center of (Mescmbiyanthcmum ciysiallinum) the Tagus River Given that it's winter /\ranjuez, Rodrigo de la Callc and ice lettuce (early leaves of the it won't be looking its best, but 1 wastes no time in determinedly ice plant). The latter two are always love it anyway. As it turns out, getting the message across; 'The leading representatives of ' desert however ihe weather prevents my idea is to reinstate vegetable species vegetables", so-called because seeing it at all by veiling it in a dense and varieties that possess notable il rains so rarely in Elche (eastern mist that reduces visibility to just a qualities yet have been disparaged, Spain) where they are grown. few feel. I muse on the lefi unexplored, or simply never Rodrign s habit of speaking unpredictability of Nature and on the th-., ii\ I'lwl—pii'iliKi- lii,i! in the plural is a reminder that advisability of reveling in its vagaries contribute added value lo gastrobotanics is the product rather than railing againsi them. gastronomy Some may already be of nine years' w orth of work and It occurs to me in retrospect that close at hand, possibly having been research carried out in close this brush with Nature put me in cultivated by our forebears, while collaboration with his alter ego, just the right frame of mind for others will be discoveries made in Santiago Oris. When Orts joins grasping the essential point of the course of our research; Nature us later, around lunchtime, he Rodrigo de la Calle's cuisine, which still has plenty of secrets to keep launches immediately into an takes ils inspiration from the the spirit of enquiry occupied." exposition of his theory that... vegetable kingdom. He is, afier all, But there is more to it than that: "the reason for Spain's abundance the inventor (along with biologist the ultimate aim is to endow of vegetable species is that its very Santiago Orts, who runs the Viveros products that he considers to be specific geographical characieristics

86 cn

have been conducive to the 1 still look forward to the start of other chefs showed much interest emergence of interesting species the date season in October, and Pm in these new products, as Santiago and varieties of this type, niany always a bit downcast when it ends Orts observes: "It was a period of of ihem originally implanted by in January." unprecedenied creative activity in the various cultures ihat, cn passtifir, Realizing thai exploring the the gastronomic world, and Spain's have lefi their mark on Spain." gastronomic potential of fresh dates top chefs were swept up in such A book entitled Gastroboldnica, called for more specifically relevant a whirlwind during those years that IQQ platos al natural para cada estation experience, Rodngo secured a job there was far too much going on (Gastrobotanics, 100 Natural at the 2-Michelin-star Mugaritz lo lake it all in." On top of which, Dishes for Every Season) is just with Andoni Luis /^duriz—not only as Rodrigo points out, "they were one tangible product of Rodrigo a big name, but one with a special bombarded with new products every and Santiago's collaborarion. inierest in vegetable cuisine. The day, required to make appearances experience of haute cuisine he at all kinds of events, both in Spain acquired there was further rounded and abroad. Ai that pace it was Origins out by subsequent periods working inevitable that many things got little Santiago Oris runs Viveros Huerto at 3-Micheltn-siar Martin more than a passing glance." de Elche, a family-owned plant Berasaiegui; ai Pasteleria Totel with Meanwhile, Rodrigo and Santiago nursery thai was originally part of master pattssier Paco Torreblanca; were having fun staging their own the historic Palmeral de Elche, a and at Quique Dacosta's 2- gastronomic conferences in vast palm grove declared a Heritage Michefin-star El Poblei. emulation of the lop chefs. It was at one of these, in 200.5, thai they of Mankind site by UNESCO, The In the course of seven action- decided over a glass of wine thai nursery has now expanded beyond packed years, he acquired and the time had come lo put a name the confines of the Painieral, having mastered cutring-edge techniques to their area of research, and came acquired a new role about a decade and the skills and secrets specific to up with "gasirobotanics". They ago when it was given over to desserts, patisserie, rice... declare unanimously that their growing dales as a crop instead of Meanwhile, his research work w iifi commilment to gastrobotanics has ornamental palms, Al around the Santiago Oris continued in parallel. been life-changing, has brought same time, Rodrigo de la Calle took Furthermore, he was able to offer them happiness and enabled them over at La Taula del Milenio consistent supplies of dates and to live according to their principles, restaurant (also owned by the Orts Olher protege products lo the chefs his aLso clear that Rodrigo's family) armed with experience with whom he worked. In 2005, gastronomic work derives its very gained at Madrid's top flight Lhardy Martin Berasategui presented the being from Santiago's botanical and Goizeko Kabi. The day when following dessert at the 7^ Lo research and vice versa. Santiago offered Rodrigo fresh dates Mejor de la Gasironomia for use in the restaurant proved to Conference (the iniernaiional food be a pivotal one: in faci, fresh dates conference held at various Restaurante have since become a signature destinations in Spain): DciliJ en crudo ingredient. "I still remember that y en agixa con helado dc almendra de la Calle day!" Rodrigo declares passionately. amarga, homboncitos de naranja y flares Shortly afier his 30'^ birthday, "I'd never lasted fresh dates before. dc almendra (Fresh dale with bitter towards the end of 2006, Rodrigo They made such an impression on almond ice cream, orange bonbons de la Calle decided to open his me that - quite unexpectedly - my and almond flowers served with own restaurant, a showcase for his professional and personal life took fresh date liquor). While it may own auLeur cuisine and the quite a differeni lurn from then on. seem surprising that none of the gasirobotanics concept. "I'd

87 accumulaied enough experience the momeni (romantic altachmeni is being ranked with chefs thai to be able to cook in my own. way. to a woman was what took him were his role models just a short Our menu includes a gastrobotanic there in the first place, bul she is time ago, and he becomes quite option consisting of 5 dishes: no longer in his life). Critical emotional (as he did when talking Osira con caviar citrico (Oyster vviih opinion has been favorable and has about his cherished products) citrus caviar), Hucvo con trufa y helped build up his by now as he recalls leaner limes in the germinados (Egg with truffle and considerable reputation. He was restaurant's early days, and how the sprouted seeds); two rice dishes named Madrid Fusion's Revelation lapas bar upstairs enabled him to featuring different desert Chef in 200^). Chef of the Year carry on producing aiiteur cuisine. vegetables; and a fruit macddoine at ihe same event in 2011, and that celebrates the diversity meanwhile has been nominated Passionate about t)f citrus fruiis now available.' for his first A-lichelin star. De la Calie is passionate about The hoo-hah that inevitably produce food. "I cook the way I do because accompanies this sort of success So what, you may be wondering 1 follow the dictates of niy heart is much in evidence during my is Rodrigo de la Calle's cooking and my instinct," he declared at winter visit. Manuel de la Osa actually like? His style of cooking intervals throughout the day we (oi I-Michclin-star Las Rejas is out-and-out contemporary, spent logether Perfectionist and restaurant) has popped in jusL to at once flavor-packed and subtle. sensitive by nature, he has always say hello; Ignacio Medina, one of His dishes are cleverly thought known exactly what he wanted Spain's leading restaurant critics out and their cooking is judged to do, remaining unwaveringly true (he won the Spanish Royal to the second so that their to his conceptual approach to food Academy of Gastronomy's national juxiapositioning of flavors and even when, in the process of prize for food journalism in 2009) textures can be experienced to balancing the books, he discovered is tucking in to specialties of the the full. Ingredients can sometimes ihal only 15 customers had actually house at a lable adjoining the one be unexpected yet they take their ordered his gastrobotanic menu in I'm sharing with Santiago Orts; place comfortably among the rest. the first tw'o years; "There was meanwhile Rodrigo de ta Calle's The influence of Martin Eerasategui never any question of abandoning mobile never slops ringing with is discernible here, albeit slightly the concept; if 1 couldn't do arrangements for interviews toned down. "He was the maestro gastroboianics in my own and photographic sessions. as far as I'm concerned; my resiauranl, I'd lake il wherever Rodrigo can't quite believe whai's approach to food is just like his. necessary." Whether Aranjuez is the going on. find ;ook< niilier witk-- We got on very well logether, both idc.:; L.''j,itii'r: toi .i :'c?i .":•.:;an: y\ eyed as he does what he has to do. professionally and personally In this kind is not up for discussion at He can't quite credit the fact that he fact, we used to go for a walk in the

88 countryside cverv' morning before rosemary enhancing the bitter- bul pleasantly so because there's going to the restaurant." It comes saltiness ol the seaweed water- something special and desirable as no surprise lo learn ihat he has soaked lettuce heart and the on the way; I can hardly watt to gel adopted Martin Berasaiegui's mono; plangent fragrance of the dragonfly my hands on the first asparagus in Technique is there to serve the Top-quality prime ingredients are April and feature it on the menu, purposes of my cooking rather obviously a sine qua non as lar as this and 1 slill gel a bit sad when it than my cooking to demonstrate chef is concerned, and seasonal finishes in June." His love of fresh technique." His symbiotic products are given star billing on produce dates back to early mushroom-and-seaweed dish a menu that changes with the childhood; he was brought up in exemplifies this point beautifully seasons. When a customer is shown the country and has vivid memories Rodrigo de la Calle describes his to his lable, he finds a little roll of of his father, a farmer, coming cooking as simple. By this he means parchment lied with a red ribbon. home at the end of the day with that it respects the flavor of the It contains this message; whatever was then in season, which ingredients involved, even when "Vegetables and their characteristics was what the family ate. there are three or four elements. are the mainstay of our cuisine. We This notion was brought home to respect fresh produce. We accept its Harmony me perfectly when we sampled his seasonal nature and ihc fact that it Co^oUo dc Icchuga cmhcbido cn agua de comes and goes. By observing the Rodrigo carries perfectionism algas, con flares de romero y ralladura life cycles governed by the seasons, to the extreme. His dishes are de dragonfly (Lettuce hearts steeped we are able to present their perfectly balanced, each a little in seaweed-infused water, with products at their best and most concerto of flavors in which every rosemar)' flowers and zest of expressive." That's quite some element retains its own identity dragonfly (Poncirus trifoliate, a lype policy statement, and they really while playing its part in the overall of miniature orange with velvety do practice what they preach. harmony. Flavors start off specific skin which gives off a potent, fresh "We've lost our links with the and develop into the general. pine-and-vvoodlands fragrance). In agricultural world. We complain I experienced this effect with his every mouthful of this dish, I can that fruit and vegetables arc Espeto de irucha can caviar cascro y identify ihe taste of the lettuce heart tasteless, yet we don't respect their caldo de yuku (Brocheile of trout with the seavveedy sally tang, the biological cycle. We expect to eat with house caviar and yuku brolh) Mediterranean grace-note supplied tomatoes all year round, bul if you (yuku is Citrusjunos, a mandarin by the rosemar)'. and the want them to have flavor it simply hybrid, yellow in color and wiih smoothness of the dragonfly, and can't be done." Rodrigo still looks a complex sulfuric flavor with yet at the same time 1 can forward avidly to the start of their hints of clove and oregano). appreciate an overall harmony, the products' seasons. "I get quite edgy. A de la Calle dish allocates top

89 RODRIGO DE lA CALLE

billing to vegetables and cuiisigiis animal protein to a supporting role; "•Vegetables are the main.stay of the restaurant, and on the gasiroboianical menu, animal protein features as a garnish: meal or fish, il can appear in many guises—little chunks, or even in a broth, but always in a minor role." His Filamentos de lombaida ion caldo de chipiron (Filaments of red cabbage with baby squid broth) is a classic example The citrus fruits grown by Santiago Orts provide a leitmotiv, seasoning every dish, from oysters with citrus caviar through to the complete range of desserts. Indeed, acidity is a consistently recurring theme in many of his dishes and even some entire menus: he makes imaginative use of the ' tangy scent, but lor flavor uses the sweeter limcquat (Fortunella X citrus limetia), the perfumed delicacy of sweet (C. Mcdica X Reticulata) or the velvety rich orange-blossom fragrance of (Fortunella Margarita I.). Rice is another thematic axis in Rotlrigo de la Callc's repertoire. Again in his rice dishes there is that stamp of perfection—grains just the right size, cooked for just long enough—and again one's palate is introduced to completely new experiences; in his risotto liquen (lichen risotto), the symbiotic conjunction of seaweed and mushrooms creates a whole greater than the sum of ils parts. Watching things grow in Santiago Oris" plantations in Elche are Rodrigo de la Calle's greatest source of inspiration: "When I go there and

90 c2 o cn

see all the produce growing and species of vregelable and once "although the dish isn't launched developing as the months go by, as it has been confirmed as edible, he in the laboratory, bul at the lable 1 pick and taste them 1 start to see shares it with Rodrigo to find out in the restaurant when the culinary uses for them in my mind's whether or not it is of gastronomic customer lucks into il," declares eye—sometimes even the final interest. If so, he plants it and Rodrigo with total conviction. dish." The creative process may observes it for a year to ascertain We've been chatting at the lable well be triggered in his mind by the when il reaches ils peak; "We judge Icmg after finishing our meal. sight of something growing in the vs'hethcr it's better to use il in It's been quite a day in gastronomic garden, but a lot of experimeniing winter, when it's more saline, lerms. Before 1 leave, Rodrigo goes on in the kitchen before the or when it's in flower, since that's makes a point of declaring that dish is declared complete, when its flavor is at its richest, he doesn't like to be labeled and "When Santiago comes up with a or perhaps to wait for it to bear doesn't belong to any trend. new product for me, I find that its fruit. When we've decided at what His guiding pnnciple is organoleptic properties are useful stage to use it. it is taken to the gastrobotanics. Pure and simple. indicators of its culinary potential, restaurant and we then decide on and very ofien 1 know intuitively the mosl appropriate preparation Almudena Muyo worked \or over which parts to use: the peel, the method; straightforward boiling, Vlyears as a journalist specializing pith, the flesh, and so on. I've pressure cooking, frying,..We in inicrntiiionai trade hejore uiking up her cunent post as editotial learned to trust my intuition consider liquidizing it, infusing it, coordinator of Spain Gourmelour because, on the whole, those first grating its rind, using il raw... inklings tend to be confirmed when and then decide whether it is star Restaurante de la Calle I actually start using the product in ingredient material or more of a Antigua carreiera de Andalucia, 85 the kitchen, and pursuing other garnish." Once all these questions 28300 Aranjuez (Madrid) possibilities too," Rodrigo de la are settled, Rodrigo's creativity Tel.: 918 910 807 Calle explains. comes into play, and he designs w w w. re s t a u r a n d e 1 a c a I le. c o m both the content of the dish and It's a long process that can go on for (English. Spanish) the aesthetics of its presentation. years; Santiago Oris reinstates a vvvvw.gastrobotanica.com (Spanish)

91 New Horizons for Pago de los Baldios de San Carlos MOON Landing

An olive oil maker in Extremadura (southwest Spain) has given a unique new dimension to its star product. Some have called them lunatics, but Vicente Sanchez and family, and their Full Moon oil, are successfully taking on the biggest foreign market of them all.

92 MAV.AUGUST 2011 SPAIN COURMETOLIR TEXT

PAUL R1CHARDS0N/©ICEX

PHOTOS PAGO DE LOS BALDIOS DE SAN CARLOS

An olive oil made with olives picked Competition (all in 2009). In 2008, under the full moon. It sounded its all-Arbequina brand merited a extraordinar)', and my curiosity was special mention in China's most piqued. A party was to be held in important olive oil fair. Oil China. celebration of this product. I had Pago de los Baldios de San Carlos is been invited and I was on my way to present in the kitchens of premier what turned out to be as exotic and league Spanish chefs like Arzak, original an event as ihe product itself Berasategui, Adria. Subijana, Arola. On a dark fall night. I drove through /Vrbclaitz and Dacosta. the countryside outside the village The Pago de los Baldtos de San of Majadas del Ti^tar (Caceres, Carlos is an unusual sel-up, no doubt Approaching Exlremadura), finally coming upon about it. Its unusualness siaris with a collection of industrial warehouses; ils geographical position in the valley markets the headquarters of Pago de los of the Tietar River, below the Credos In lerms of exports, the success of the Baldios de San Carlos, one of Mountains, a part of Extremadura brand has been astounding. In the nxtremadura's most successful olive much better known for the three years since it started selling oil companies. Outside in the production of tobacco, sofi fruits, abroad, Pago de los Baldfos de San courtyard, under the powerful oranges and cherries than for olives. Carlos has elbowed ils way into no floodlights, was a figure in white silk When Don Vicente Sanchez, a less than 2'> countries on all five pajamas practicing what looked ver)' landowner whose 600 ha (1,630 continents, making it perhaps the much like kung fu. acre) Finca Ija Laguna was largely single extremeno food product with The ghost of Bruce Lee appears given over to the cultivation ot the highest profile on a global scale. in the wilds of western Spain? It was a Virginia tobacco, made known his According to Maite Parra, the surrealistic sight, bul in fact there was plan to make a fine olive oil on the company's export manager, the an entirely logical explanation. The estate, locals thought nothing would markets mosl important to the party held by Pago dc los Baldios de come of il. This was not, and would company are still those of the San Carlos was not only to mark I he never be, olive-growing land. Vicente European Union, logically enough, beginning of the harvest for ihis year's forged ahead, however, planting a but Russia, Japan. Singapore, China. Full Moon olive oil, bul also to bring total of 120 ha {296 acres) of Canada, the United States, and to our attention ihe promising debut .•\rbequina and Cornicabra olive Mexico (in that order) are coming up of this cxtremeno (from Extrcmadura) trees, varieties seldom found in on the inside track. The company has brand in the increasingly important Extremadura. designated exports as a maximum Chinese market. Which explains the Eight years afier the first plantings priority, and plans to make 2011 its kung fu fighter not to mention the and three after the first production of best year ever in this respect, with as Chinese dancers, the famous Chinese olive oil, the skeptics have been much as 80% of total singer who gave a priceless trounced and the vision of this coming from overseas markets. The performance of La Paloma (a classic farsighled farmer, entirely vindicated. idea is to get the oils into the context zarzuela. a t>pe of Spanish Operetta) The Sanchez family's olive oil has of connoisseurship and quality in highly-accented Castilian, and the won prizes in the world's major olive which is 10 say gourmet food shops, throng of Chinese guests devouring oil contests, including gold medals at high-end supermarket chains, and the pinchos (small bites) of ham and Extrema Scleccion (Spain), LOrciolo the kind of classy delicatessen where cheese and the extremefio red wine, d'Oro in Pesaro (Italy) and a silver price is no object for the customer all in a tobacco drying shed kitted out medal al the Los Angeles looking for the best of everything. for the occasion. Iniernaiional Extra Virgin Olive Oil Few extremeno food producers, il

MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOLR.MF.TOUR 93 PAGO BALDIOS SAN CARLOS

\( ! I 1 I ilr OI.IV V . 'iki,i:s 1 Aim seems to me, are quite so sure-footed in zenith. The result, claims Ana Maria, their approach to markeiing. At the top is an extra virgin oil whose fruity of their range of various coupages, each intensity is even more pronounced appealing to different world markets than that of the company's standard, (the Arbequina-Comicahra blend Oro non-lunar line. Ana Maria is quick to de San Carlos, for example, is big in suggest that the moon's influence on Germany and France, while the 100% the cycles of the natural world is Comicabra is a hit in Brazil), is the both widely documented and broadly product they call Full Moon. Presented accepted in traditional societies, from in a cuboid, matte black bottle thai Even so, the market has not been the Mediterranean LO the Far East. looks like a chic designer perfume, easy lo penetrate. "It's been very Even today. Spanish rural processes the design is curious and attention- difficult," admits Maite Parra. "We've like winemaking and pig slaughter grabbing. According to Ana Maria been trying hard for three years, and (id mtita)i:;a) are commonly guided SSnchez (Don Vicente's daughter), we have realized that China is a very by the lunar phases of waxing and the presctuation is Just right for the gift tricky market for high-end olive oils, waning. If the full moon makes the market and loolvs the part in aiiport i2^\^:v• ih:U :rii^-; Li^;ii;i;-.n;v^. ;i!V sap move fasier around the olive tree, shops and upmarket souvenir emporia. looking for high volume and low*' might that noi have an effect on the She describes a scenario, plausible price and ours is obviously not a flavor of the finished oil? Quite apart enough, of a vvised-up goumiet who product like that. Finally, however, from the appeal of the notion as a might take the square black botile to a we have found the perfect distributor marketing tool, the Sanchez family dinner pany instead of a bottle of wine, to get us in there, and we hope to genuinely believes that it might. delighting the party with this enigmatic build on this promising start and and original present. make 2011 the year of our definitive As for the Chinese market. Pago de success in the Chinese market " Quality: total control los BaldlDs de San Carlos is hardly Luckily, their star product, the Full When all's said and done, however, the only Spanish olive oil m,ikt:r Moon oil, has an inbuilt advantage as what really matters is the quality of chasing the upper echelons of the far as the Chinese are concerned the product. Here, too, the company world's mosl numerous and second- (though it pre-dates the company's has done its homework. Across its richest collection of consumers. interest in that market). As Ana Maria range of oils, the overriding Though China is not traditionally an Sanchez points out, in China the fufl impression is of extraordinary olive oil producing country, the moon is an important national fiesta freshness, a certain smoothness Chinese are learning fast not only when family gatherings are common (there is no pepperiness or biiLcrness about olives as a crop, planting and wishes made with conviction are in these oils) and a predominance of thousands of acres per year, bul also believed to come true. fruit, including subtle na\-ors of about Spanish extra virgin olive oil as All of this may sound like pure almond, apple, tomato and green part of a healthy lifestyle. My Chinese marketing blarney, but there is more banana. Acidity is astonishingly low friends tell me that olive oil, though to Full Moon than a name, a pretty at around 0.08% i,a figure which, expensive in China, is increasingly bottle and a shameless attempt to says Ana Maria, even the experts popular among a certain sector of the cozy up with the Chinese. In fact, the cannot quite explain), and the well-io-do middle class as a olives for this oil are gathered in the peroxide level, indicating the oil's luxurious and healthful unguent, to week of the full moon in October, degree of oxidation, comes in al a be drizzled sparingly on bread as a not necessarily at night, but at a time very low 3 or 4 (an index of 20 is breakfast food or evening aperitif. of the month when the moon is at its regarded as acceptable).

94 ad cn >—j ^^^^^ cn en 1

Which happens to be just the way moon of October, I made a wish that the Sanchez family likes it. A central was more like a fantasy: within five plank of their philosophy as oil years Extremadura becomes a makers is total control of the process. household name in China, its superb U wouldn't do to be reliant on extra virgin olive oils, like those of the someone else's oil mill, like the vast Pago de los Baldios de San Carlos, in majority of Estremadura's olive ihe kitchens of discerning homes farmers; the company has its own from Shanghai lo Beijing. And who state-of-the-art almazara (oil mill), knows? The way things are going, it's a wish ihat might jusi come true. avoiding lines and delays. Boih the has been farming since the year 1760. condition and the speed with which Then camt: the mayor of Majadas de Paul Rfclmrc/son lives on a [arm in this delicate fruil arrives at die Tieiar (where the company is northern Extremadura. A (redana: travel almazara are of crucial importance. located), pennanently amazed at the and food writer, he is the author of A Late The olives are picked early, which presetrce of his tiny extrenieiio village Dinner; Discovering the Food of Spain makes for lower yields but plays up in the upper ranks of world (Bloomsbuiy, UK, and Scribncr, USA). the fruit aromas aird avoids the spicy gastronomy, and the Commercial and bitter notes that come later in the Councillor of the Chinese Embassy in season. (Cornicabra grown in the Spain, who revealed a series of Monies de Toledo, in the center of heartening statistics: that Spanish Spain, for example, is often picked in exports to China are growing by 50% January, three monihs after those at year-on-year, and that Spain leads the Pago the Finca La Laguna). Only olives way in the fast-growing Chinese de los Baldfos picked from the tree are used, never market for olive oil. those that have fallen or otherwise The official business over, the guests de San Carlos, S, L. come into contact with the ground. irooped out into the olive groves, • Workforce Arbequina as a variety is notoriously where the full moon shone with an 10 unstable, the oil often going into a eerie bluish light. Now was the Gross turnover 2009 steep decline even after six months moment chosen for the official 500,000 euros If Pago de los Baldios de San Carlos inauguration of this year's harvest, • Export quota 50% remains as fresh as a daisy more than and a symbolic picking of the first • Foreign markets a year afier it was made, 1 can't help olives destined for the Full Moon ofl. , Belgium, Canada, China, wondering whether the Siinchez's The guest workers busied ourselves Czech Republic. France, Germany, obsession with hygiene might have as best we could, stripping the Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway, something to do with it. branches of the hard, shiny, jade Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Meanwhile, in the tobacco drving Switzerland, United Kingdom, and green fruit, which rattled into the United States shed, the exlremeno wine flowed buckets around our waists. • Products freely and the speeches began: first Beside me a Chinese woman was Extra virgin olive oil: Pago Baldios Don Vicente Sanchez, the working hard, her face. wTeaihed in a San Carlos, Oro San Carlos, Full pttU'rfamiiius, who spoke of the moon smile of satisfaction, seeming to glow Moon Pago Baldios San Carlos, San Carlos Gourmet and how it dominates the natural under the moonlight. If ever there world, the meaning of the moon in • Web site were an image of the extent and www. pagobaidiosancarlos, com China, and Full Moon and its power of globalization in our time, (Chinese, English, German, Italian, importance to a family (his own) that this was surely it. Under the full Japanese, and Spanish)

95 mvw FOODSFROMSPAIN.COM

ICEX Spanish Gastronomy Portal An a la carte menu, superb ingredients, delectable treats and other delicacies in the form ot news and feature articles, gastronomic routes, upcoming events, bloys, videos, and more. ICEX (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade) has launched in March its new Spanish Gastronomy Portal (www,foodsfromspain.com), providing users with full, up-to-date information on Spanish foods, a sort of virtual sampler menu.

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Its been seven years now since the Creativity and graphics are trademarks homes as well as direct links to the digital version of Spain (.iourmetour of the new ICFX Gastronomy Portal. latest news, blogs, digital lora and made its first appearance—seven The design is fresh and crisp, with a a year-long food calendar marking all years since the publicaiion, which selection of photos, videos and the ga.stronomic events in Spain and aims to promote .Spanish food illustrations rcllecting the wide-ranging the rest of the world. products abroad, decided to showcase Ravors and aromas of Spanish food Bul the backbone of the Gastronom)- itself on the internet. And with time, products and gastronomy And users Portal is the Products & Recipes section. the possibilities of the world wide are able to find out all they need from This area provides detailed fact sheets web have multiplied even further the articles, fact sheets on products on the main Spanish food products, with a revolution in online grow n and made in Spain, iniervicvvs including all those having a quality seal communication resulting in concepts vviih well-known chefs, traditional and guaranteed by the EuroiX'an Union, such as the Web 2.0, based on user signature recipes, gastronomic spccilically Protected Designation of participation and fast, effective iiincraries covering many of the regions Origin (PDO). Protected Geographic information sharing. of Spain, and suggestions on where Indication (PGI) and Traditional Considering how powerful the products can be bought and tasted in Speciality Guaranteed (TSG). internet has become as a tool for Spain and abroad, Alongside this basket of products communication and promotion, full of quality and fiavor are 2011. marks the start of a new A well-fed website recipes—traditional ones from all the website: www.foodsfromspain.com. regions of Spain, and new ones— .Ml hough the new portal mainly Afier almosi three years of careful with tapas and signature dishes addresses professionals—food devised by some of Spain's top chefs, preparation, this new platform has importers, chefs, retailers, hospitality illustrating the giant strides of avant- been unveiled, sharing with this schools, the media, etc.—the garde cuisine in recent years. magazine both goals and openness of the iniernei allows us requirements: to provide all the latest lo reach all sorts of users. on Spanish foods in a reliable, Each section covers a different type Ideas, advice.., thorough v^'ay with contemporary, of content, with many cross-references. Where is Spain? How many regions eye-catching visuals. The homepage includes several sub- are there? These and many other

96 MAV AUGUST 2011 SPAIN UOUIIMEIOUR Text Rodrigo Garcia to taste Fernandez/©ICEX Translation Jenny McDonald/OICEX

quest inns arc answered in liu- -.ection and venues of the most important who of the most important people on Spciin & Regions, a user-friendly source gastronomy congresses. the Spanish gastronomy scene, videos, of information about the count l y, interaciives, a shelf hill with data on economic, social and ...and plenty of of books, a gastronomic glossar)', etc. cultural aspects and full information And coming soon the archives of Spain on regional gastronomy surprises Gourmetour magazine. Behind all this The Doing Business section is a juicy Are you planning a gastronomic tour content is a team committed to the task cncsource of data for commercial users. of Spain? Do you need Kal hand and to the goals of ihe A calendar features all the main food recommendations for places to eat in Gastronomy Portal. trade fairs where you can coniaci San Sebastian or Seville? Or maybe In addition to the coordination and Spanish producers, with a full list of you live in New York or Melbouine ediional team in Madrid, we have all legislation on the production and but want to eat out Spanish-style or a network of colleagues and sale of Spanish products, directories buy ingredients for a tapas meal at correspondents in different Spanish of Spanish companies in the food home. Shop, Travel <5^ Dine will help cities and in the main Spanish food sector contact details of all of Spain's you plan to perfection, with its export markets, helping us keep trade offices throughout the world niiin.iry routes and information on users informed aboui the Spanish food and statistics on Spain's foreign trade restaurants, food stores, museums and and gastronomy scene. in food products. gastronomic festivals in ever>' comer of This is a pioneering, ambitious project Users interested in keeping track of Spain. It also includes routes with a with plenty of surprises in store. Spain's best-known chefs will like the Spanish Havor in the main cities of the Follow the trail of our breadcrumbs Chefs & Training section. In it ihey world and suggestions for places throughout the culinary portal with will find profiles of more than 100 where you can try Spanish dishes and just the click of your mouse. of Spain's star chefs, as well as videos products in more than 20 countries. jBuen provecho! ccplaining some of ihe traditional A cornucopia of data on Spain and its and cutiing-edge culinary techniques gastronomy is available in Foodpedia, a Rodrigo Garcia Fenuindcz is a journalist used in their restaurants. Users will small but comprehensive encyclopedia and member of the editorial team at also be able to take note of the dates with collections of articles, a who's www. foodsfromspain .com.

SUY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN COURMETOUR 97 Text Photos Translation Raquel Rosemberg/©ICEX Sagardi S.A. Jenny McDonald/OICEX

Raquel Rosemberg from BUMOS ATE^

When I feel nostalgia for Spain and the bar Here things are more always differeni, a test of the chef's all things Spanish, I set out for a sophisticated, with the business being creativity. The first one 1 try offers a ct'riier o\ <[r,mi here in fkietu'- located in a tastefully-renovated, trendy Japanese touch—a salmon Aires, Sagardi, a Spanish catering 19'''-century building, opposite the roll with a cheese and fish roe group with ten establishments back church of San Pedro Telmo. mousse. It's good, bul not what in the home country, also has one I find myself a place at the large bar, I came here for 1 prefer what here, offering genuine Basque though most of my compatriots follows; tliistonu (a ihin pork cuksine. It is located in an attractive choose to share the huge communal sausage flavored with pimenion, part of the old San Tclmo district, lable beyond it. I am immediately a type of paprika from Spain), hake and was the first to introduce the served some still cider from in green sauce, potato omelet and locals to the tradition of pintxos, Asdgarraga (Basque Country, north a combination of olives with the Basque version of lapas. Bul first Spain), poured from a height of anchovies and intense olive oil. 1 should explain that this way of about 0.9m (3 fi) so that it splashes I love ihe varieiy, but my favorite is eating, with no table—^just a glass into ihe glass. "That's part of the a simple, noble offering—a chunk in your hand and something tradition," says manager Miguel of potato en confit with tender to eai from the bar—is unusual Enriquez, an Argentinian who has octopus and pimenton de la Vera. here. Sagardi faced a real challenge. been working with the chain for Just a mouthful, but it takes me I remember at this company's years. Jusl one sip and I'm almosi directly to Spain. establishments back in Barcelona back in Spain, Then come the By now the cider has given way to il was hard to even make it as far as pint.xos. both hot and cold, but a Mai bee produced by Sagardi in

OS MAV AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURiMETOUR Have a Soanish Break! o

Mendoza (.Argeniina), and next something, then move on to the Sagardi Euskal is a Tempranillo from the DOCa restaurant at the back, where meals Riqja, lo accompany the piquillo are served only a la carte. For Taberna peppers with brandade and the Sunday lunch the place is full, but Humberto Primo 319 charcoal-grilled portion of steak, you are more likely to hear Buenos Aires, Argeniina I enjoy several more pinixos while Portuguese than Spanish. That's www.sagardi.com 1 listen to Miguel lelling of his the day when the Brazilian lourisis Tel.; (0054 -11) 4361-2538 adventures on his constant search come in flocks so, if you are for quality ingredients. His stories looking for peace and C|uiel, Raqud Rosemberg was born and lives would fill another article. 1 recommend a weekday visit. in Buenos Aires. She is a graduate Though the octopus is still It's time to go bul, first, a peek at in social conuTinniaiiion and works as lingering on my taste buds, my the top floor True to the tradition a food writer. She is food editor for the hosts insist I try what they call their of the c^ld-style taverns, this magazine El Conocedor, writes for "orgasmic" dessert— a cheese base establishment includes a small the OUas & El Sartenes cu!in£»;y with walnuts, a pimiento pepper hotel upstairs. The flat roof above supplement of the Clann newspaper; crisp and cranberry jam. it affords a magnificent view over wrote the b(H)k Sabores que maiLin The bar is filling up, but the lable the city. Take a glass of your favorite (Editorial Paidos) and in 2010 was continues to be more popular with lerroir and dnnk it up here. appointed Latin American representative the groups coming in after a week The magic will transport you lo for the guide enfitled The Wodd's of work. Many of them trv a little wherever you would most like to be. Best 50 Resiauranis.

MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN OOURMirroUR 99 Text Samara Kamenecka^©lCEX Ferran Adria relNVENTING Valentin Fuster Josep Corbclla Food Ferran ^ IPi ^ \ COCINA Adriai k DELA i THE man who LSALUDJ changed the iOtnital way we eat. I'V COLM.AN ANDREWS PHAIDON Everything but La cocina Reinventing Food. the Squeal. Eating de la salud Ferran Adria: the Man the Whole Hog Who Changed in Northern Spain (Healthy cooking) the Way We Eat by Ferran .Adria. Josep by John Barlow. English. Corbella and Valentin by Colman Andrews. Barlow lives in Galicia, in Fuster Spanish.This English. No oiher chef in the northwest comer of collaborative work history has been obsessed Spain, known for revering between a chef, doctor and over like AdriS. His the pig and consuming joumalisL really covers ail professional life has been every single part of il, with the bases, and is a self- chronicled, his philosophy the animal ending up as proclaimed manual for a shared with the world, cured hams, chorizo, served healthy hfe and healthy repor t ers/fo od i es/ in coddo (a typical stew), eating. All too often we chefs hanging on his every and in many forms in think that for someihing to word. In fact, so much between. In thi.'s taste good, it must be bad material exists that the informative and clever for us. Not true. This book authors goal here was to narrative, Bannvv sets shows how to eal healthy provide the portrait of himself a challenge; to eat and eat well at the same Ferran Adri^ that other texts everv- bit of a pig over the time, how to enjoy eating. haven't been able to show, course of a year He The text recreates a day in adding unknovw facts, dedicates 365 days to this ihe life of a family—any telling untold anecdotes. culinary- exploration, a family—-to illustrate how After two years of research "porco-graphical lour" of we can improve breakfast, and much collaboration sorts, during which time shopping, food with the chef and his he eats "everything but the preservation, and cooking. people, Andrews dares to squeal" and shares It also takes on issues such lefl the story "of how one observations aboul animal as exercise, weight control, young chef changed the consumption. Along the blood pressure and gastronornic world forever" way Barlow offers the cholesterol, and how to This is the first auihorised histories and traditions of educate children on the biography, full of fresh Galicia, and the text is importance of taking care insight and information. So pepi^ered with entertaining of their bodies, k is truly if you want the real story, if anecdotes. An adventure comprehensive in its you want the nitty-gritty in eating, indeed. approach and is chock-a- details, this is the text that (Farrar Straus and Gimirv, block with ideas, tips and really traces Adria's rise www.fsgbaoks.com) suggestions, all of which "from dishwasher to creative are very easy to digest. genius." (PJiaidon Pn'ss (Editorial Plancta. S.A. Limited, www.phaidon.es). www.planeia.es).

100 :MAY-AUGUS T 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOLIR THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICES

Miguel's Tapas 43 palabras Diccionario The Sorcerer's de la vid y el vino especifico del vino Apprentices. by Miguel Maestre. de Rioja A Season in the English. Miguel Maestre is (43 Words on the Vine Kitchen at Ferran a well-known T\' chef and and Viine) by Miguel (The Specialized La Rioja Adria's elBulii owner of El Toro Loco in Ibafiez Rodriguez. Wine Dictionary) by Jose Sydney .Australia, and he Spanish. This book comes Maria Paslor Blanco. by Lisa Abend. English. has worked in the worid's with its counterpart, Spanish. This book is There are many books on top restaurants. Now The Specialized La Rioja presented in tandem with elBulli, which has, Maestre has teamed up Wine Dictionary, in a black 4.1 Vi, 'i.u: :)(; thi V.>\c iif:,i undeniably, "attained a near- With rieiH-1: a-lcbruv 'Jie' ca.se, chock-a-block with Wine, providing a mythic reputation for Manu Eeildel to run infoimaiion on La Rioja's comprehensive overview culinarv' wizardr)'." There another Sydney restaurant; wine sector Together they of Lii Rioja's wine culture, are texts on Ferran Adriii, Aperitif, in Poits Point ofler an exhaustive look and includes more than his philo.sophy, his recipes, This is Maestre's first at the specific, popular, 3.000 entries. The author, the story of the restaurant... cookbook. Organized by and specialized language a philologist, endeavored but what about the other time of day, he oflers surrounding wine. to present a linguistic wine people that make it function suggesUons including The author addresses rcperioire, including like clockwork? Caramelized melon and issues such as metaphors ever)'thing trom common This book provides the first­ crispy Iberico ham used in oenolog)', the lerms lo lerms in danger of hand stories of the stagiers, (breakfast). Vanilla infused relationship between extinction. He researched or interns, that work for free with wild boar cheeks Spanish and for four years to compile I for Adria in the hopes of (lunch), and Chicken terminology, and La Rioja this dictionary, which learning from ihe master cabbage parcels (dinner). wine words, among included countless The text reflects how the With more than 75 others. Each "chapter" interviews in La Riojan apprentices push suggestions, mixing is dedicated to a term, villages with longstanding ihemselves lo the limits of traditional recipes with such as ampelography, wine traditions. This is the their culinary skills, how signature tapas dishes, the field of botany in broadest ranging they adjust to the demands along with a glossar)' of which grapevines are dictionary of ils kind for creativity, and how they terms and lips for identified and classified; published to date, and deal with the pressure of preparing the basics, this and cata, or wine lasting. it reflects a unique performing nightly book is ideal for any This is one of two musi- language and seeks to cranking out up to 1,500 occasion and pays a have books for anyone preserve it. It is. without dishes per day They are deserving homage to the who not only appreciaies a doubt, the new leading aspiring chefs from all over world of lapas. good wine, but also the reference on the topic, the world, submitted to a (Nerv HolianJ Publis/iers Pty language behind il, (La Rioja Govenmiem, grueling challenge and Ltd., ww.newholland.com.au) (La Rioja Government, Mimstiy of Agneuliure, pursuing a dream. Some Ministry of Agriadtu re, Livestock and Rural excel, some crack. And here Livesfocfe and Rural Development, are iheir stories. (Free Press, Developtnent, ivvv.laricya.or;^ www.laiioja.org) www.simonandschuster.com)

MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN CKUIRMETOUR 101 MADRID 4th to 6th November 2011 IFEMA - MADRID www.gourmets.net [email protected]

Organised by:

EVENT

intematicxTal Madrid rueituttrifx) Foo(j Paradise.

IN Spanish Olives a popular choice for consumers around the g obe 1 1^ tmm

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iBiiiii 1 L ' I 4 L i hI 1, 1 1 [ ^ i J Spain. As manv wineries es lendscapes. In Spain ttiere are almnst as many wineries es there are landscapes. The diversity of wticuiture in the coLntry is reflected in more than 90 grapes varieties from 65 denominatians of origin. Qjr wines mirror our country's infinite beauty. Soil and climatic conditions ensure variety, personality and richness of style to please all discerning palates. Aceiies Borges Ponl, S.A. Araex - Rioja Alavesa. Foods From Spain Tel.: (+34) 973 501 212 S.L, - Spanish Fine Page; 6, 103 Wine, S.L. abp. export ©borges, es G'S Espafia Holdings, S.L. www. borges, es Tel.: (+34) 945 150 589 Tel.: (+34) 968 188 600 Page: Inside front cover [email protected] Laura,[email protected] www. aracx.com .Angel Camacho wvyvv: gsg ru po. c 0 m Page; Back cover Alimeiitacion, S.A. Page; 106 (Fragata) FJ, Sanchez Sucesorcs, Tel.; (+34)955 854 700 S.A. [email protected] Tel.; (+34) 950 364 038 www, acamacho.com [email protected] Page; 5 www. fjsanche2.com Page: hiside back cover

naturally fresh PREMIUM QUALITY SPANISH CHEESE -THE GRANDEE OF SPAIN- Grupo Gourmets Vinos U.O, Navarra Tel.: (+34)915 489 651 Tel.; (+34) 948 741 812 [email protected] info @na va rra wi ne. c om www. gourmets.net vvwvi'. navarrawine .com Page: 102 Page: 109 Industrial Quesera Wines Trom Spain Cuqucrella www. vvi nesfrom s pain. es Tel.; (+34) 926 266 410 Page: 4 [email protected] Xnnta de Cialiria - www. rocinanie.es Consejeria de Cullura •GRAND SELECTION 2010 CONTEST": MAESE MIGUEL D O. 3 MONTHS: GOLD MEDAL AWARDED Page: 107 y Tuns mo Award winning 12 month matured Manchego D.O. from La Mancha Octotier 2008 Lorelo Speciality Tel.: (+34) 981 546 350 Awarded first prize Uanchego cheese at the annual Manchego Foods, S.L. prensa@ cheesemakers guild contest. TeL: (+34) 954 113 825 sxtuiismogalicia.org infoScenlo.com www. xunta.es www.cenlo.com Page: 111 Page: 104 Pago de los Baldios de San Carlos Tel,: (+34) 913 192 933 ana@ pagobaldiossancarlos.com www pagobaldiossancarlos. I, QUESERA CUQUERELU, S.L. • QUESOS ROCIKANTE com Malagdn (C, Real) - Spain - Tel,; +34 926 2S6 410 - Fax: +34 926 266 413 Page: 112 rocinante@rocinante,es - www,rocinante,es Rafael Salgado, 5,A. TARTESANA, S.L Tel,: (+34) 916 667 875 "Tarquessia de La Mancha" expon@rafaelsalgado .com Ctra. de Toledo, s/n wv^-w. rafaelsa Iga d 0 - c om 13420 Malagon (C.Real) Spain Tel: +(34) 926 266 410 Page; 7 Fax: +(34) 926 266 413 [email protected] AUSTRALIA ITALY SWEDEN Tels.; (2) 93 62 42 12 Tel.: (02) 78 14 00 Tel.; (8)24 66 10 s i dney@comerci o. mi tyc. es mi 1 an@c ome rc i o. m iiy c - es •:.'.-,; i>.,ii:i!;!@comercio mityces CANADA JAPAN Tel.: (416) 967 04 88 Tel.; (3) 55 75 04 31 UNITED KINGDOM inl.i('!V i^n:i,-r; io mil;, r c-- to kio@c ome rcio.mityc.es Tel.: (20) 7467 23 30 [email protected] CHINA MALAYSIA Tel.: (10) 38 799 733 Tel.; (3) 2148 73 00 UNITED STATES [email protected] kualalumpui"® Tels.: (212) 661 49 59 comercio.mityc.es nu e va y o r k@co ULL- i L i i. >. Tel.: (21) 62 17 26 20 mityc.es [email protected]. es NETHERLANDS Tels.; (70) 364 31 66 For lourist information, DENMARK [email protected] contact your nearest Tel.: (33) 31 22 10 SPANISH TOURIST copen hagu e ©comerci o. NORWAY OFFICE: miiyc.es Tel.; (23) 31 06 80 os][email protected],es CANADA HONG KONG Tels.: (416)961 31 31/40 79 Tels.; 25 21 74 33 RUSSIA [email protected] h on gkong®co in e rc io. Tels.; (495) 783 92 81/82/84/85 mityc.es CHINA For more information, m oscu @c ome rc 10. mi ty c. es Tels.: (10) 65 32 93 06/07 contact the ECONOMIC IRELAND [email protected] AND COMMERCIAL Tel.: (1) 661 63 13 SINGAPORE OFFICES AT SPAIN'S [email protected] Tel.: 67 32 97 8rt EMBASSIES in the si ngapu r@come rc io. m i t y c. es countries followins:

108 M.«-AUCU5T 301 1 SPAIN GOCRMETOCR don't know why I like it, but I like it.

DENMARK SWEDEN Tel.: 33 18 66 30 Tel.: (8) 611 19 92 copenhaguc@tourspain,es [email protected]

ITALY UNITED KINGDOM Tel.: (02) 72 00 46 17 Tel.: (20) 7317 20 10 [email protected] [email protected]

Tel.: (06) 678 31 06 UNITED STATES [email protected] Tel.; (312) 642 19 92 [email protected] JAPAN Tek.:(3) 34 32 61 41/42 Tel.: (323) 658 71 95 [email protected] [email protected]

NETHERLANDS Tel.; (305) 358 19 92 Tel.: (70) 346 59 00 miami @ioursp a in. es [email protected] Tel.: (212) 265 88 22 NORWAY [email protected] Tel.; (47) 22 83 76 76 [email protected] CENTRAL BOOKING OFFICE RUSSIA Tel.: (+34) 902 547 979 ti ) Tel.: (495) 935 83 99 reservas@paradores vwv^v.paradores [email protected] WINES OF NAVARRA SINGAPORE Tel.: 67 37 30 08 VOUR STYLE Or WINE singapore@lourspain. es •Jwww.navarrawine.co m Grapefruit Source: Ailimpo Consejo Regulador de la (Lemon and Grapefmit PGl Mamecadas de Interprofessional .'Vsiorga ANECOOP Association) TeL: (+34) 987 616 336 Food Tel.: (+34) 968 200 280 Tel.: (+34) 968 216 619 i n f o@m an I ecadasdeastorga. [email protected] Products gest ion@ai limp o. com es www, anecoop.com www. ailimpo .com wwvv.mantecadasdenstorga. This is a si;lection (if es exponers supplied by the El Chapitel, S.Coop. individual sources. Tel.; (+34) 968 894 250 Traditional Consejo Regulador de la [email protected] Sweets PGl Mantecados de Estepa Tel.: (+34) 954 820 500 Explotaciones Agricolas de [email protected] la Region de Mureia, S.L, Asociaeion de Fataricantes www.a fames.es Tel.: (+34) 968 869 142 de Turrones y Mazapanes j lav@eaTmur com de la Provincia de Toledo Instiluio Galego da www. eamiur com dc la PGl Masapan de Caltdade Alimentaria Toledo (INAGAL). PGI Tana Frutas Naturales, S.A. Tel.: (+34) 925 228 710 de Santiago Tel.: (+34) 968 822 911 [email protected] Tel.. (+34) 881 997 276 [email protected] wrww.fedeto.es ingacal@xunta,es www, fruiasna t u rales . es vvwv\-.ingacal.com Consejo Regulador de la Fruias y Citricos de Mula, PGI Alfajor de Medina Oficina de Calidad S.CL. Sidonia Alimemaria de la PGI Tel.; (+34) 968 660 850 Tel.: (+34)956 410 .337 Sobao Pasiego f rue i m u s@caj a mar e s igpalfajordemedina® Tel.: (+34) 942 269 855 wwwfruciinu,com gmail.com [email protected] www. alimeniosdecantabria. G's Espana Holdings, S,L. Consejo Regulador de la Tel.: (+34) 968 IBS 600 PGI Eiisaimada de Ponciano. Pons® Mallorca pascua 1 ma rke t i iig. com Tel.: (+34) 971 272 686 www gsgrupo .com gerente® ensaimadademallorca.com wwvs'. ensa ima dademallorca. com

i 10 MAY-Ar:CUST 2011 SPAIN COURMETOUR o i SQ u V Cover DOGa Rioja Grapefruit Pago de ios Juan Manuel Sanz/©1CEX pp, 18-31 Patricia R, Soto/ pp, 44-53 Amador Baldios ©!CEX Toril/©lCEX p. 32 Map: Javier Belloso p, 53 Map; Javier Belloso de San Carlos Contents p. 33 Palricia R, Soto/ p. 54 Amador Tonl/©]CEX pp, 92-95 Pago de los p. 2 Juan Manuel ©ICEX pp. 56-61 Toya Legido/ Baldios de San Carlos Sanz/mCEX ©ICEX p. 3 From left to right: Patricia R. Soto/® ICEX; Siow Food ICEX Spanish Amador ToriI/©ICEX; in Spain Traditional Sweets Gastronomy Pablo Neustadt/®ICEX pp. 62-79 Fernando p, 34-41 Pablo Neusiadt/ Madariaga/©ICEX Portal ©ICEX pp. 80-83 Toya Legido/ p. 96 p, 42 Map; Javier Belloso Rose Wine ®1CEX v^-ww. fo ods fro m spai n .com p, 43 Pablo Neustadt/ p, 8 Fernando ©ICEX Madariaga/®1CEX pp. 9-16 Juan Manuel Sanz/ Close-up: Raquel ©ICEX Rodrigo Rosemberg from p, 17 Pablo Neustadt/©tCEX de la Calle Buenos Aires p. 84 Tom^s Zarza/®ICEX p. 98 From lefi to righi; p, 85 Toya Legido/®ICEX Raquel Rosemberg; Sagardi p, 86 From left to right: S.A. an Carlos Toya Legido/®ICEX; Tomas p. 99 Sagardi S.A. Zarza/®ICEX; Toya Extra Virgin Olive Oil Legido/©ICEX p]i, 88-89 To mas Zarza/ ©ICEX pp, 90-91 Toya Legido/ ®ICEX

THE OIL OF BEST CHEFS IN THE WORLD

112 MAY-AI;GCST 10\l SP.yN GOL ilMLI'JL K CONTENUMI

HcrCOWTEMT nam! .PEDRIZA

LA PEDRIZA

The products of La Pedriza are fruits of a unique nature, that of the south of Spain. Selected one by one and enriched in the purest tradition of the Mediterranean. Specially made for those who wish to enjoy the best of a thousand years of a cuisine which is conquering consumers all over the world.

F. J. SANCHEZ SUCESORES, S.A. C/ Canipanai'Ki - Ap;irt.i(lo Postal n" 4 - 04270 Sorbas (.'Miiu-n'.i) Sp.iiii. 'lel: 34.'J.'">0.,1(.4().3« - .34.').60.364(}60 - l-a.x: 34.%()..364422 - Telex: 7.'").3.37 llsl e IVmall: lj.sanche/.sa(«laruial.cs Pure inspiration Technique and art. Knowledge and daring. For more than 15 years our wines have embodied these characteristics. Pioneers i the implementation of quality control systems. Dedicated to the winemaking process. Winners of the most prestigious intemations tasting competitions. The best of each Denomination of Origin. We are the Spanish Group of Independent Winerie

www.araex.com www.sfw.es

2IX)9 'Tlie Best Spanish Expon company" liy Mercados del Vino y la Distribucibn 2001 'Prize for ttie Best Spanish Foods tximpany - Export Division" by the lylinistry of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food

IrlU N' 0170'^ VAI.TRA BODlXiASY