San Sebastian on Pintxos

Clark with his notebook and appetite

San Sebastian, home to not only some of the finest food in Spain, but all of the culinary world. Pintxos are small brilliant bites that range from traditional tortilla, vermouth gelee stuffed olives, to morcilla filled cannelloni. Although a very similar concept to the tapas of the Southern Andalusia region, the name is never used in the North.  As you can probably imagine, arriving to San Sebastian from Ribadesella via six hours of train and bus Clark and I were salivating. Dropping our bags at the hostel we took to the old town with a list of places to taste the very best pintxos the Basque Country had to offer.

Gin and tonic, beef cheeks, and foie plancha

Our first stop, Atari Gastroteka, quickly became one of our favorites. Before we even got to the bar overflowing with pintxos we put in our request for one of the best gin and tonics to pass these lips, complete with juniper berry and lemon rind garnish. The bartenders take true pride in their work, crafting the perfectly balanced drink, not too astringent or bitter and large enough for Clark and I to share. The same balance was reflected in the pintxos. Foie a la plancha, foie on toast, beef cheeks with mashed potatoes and boniato (tropical sweet potato) fries, pumpkin risotto with goat cheese were all prepared a la minute. Each dish setting us back just a few euros. Aside from the underwhelming risotto, which was cooked with orzo, the dishes were great. The beef cheeks were warm meaty goodness, easily cut with a fork. Foie, a melt in your mouth creaminess with just a touch of large flaked sea salt on top, heaven!

Tosta de Foie Micuit, partially cooked

Right around the corner we found another gem, A Fuego Negro. a bit less traditional, this place was dimly lit with red accents and the black walls were etched with a chalkboard menu. Pintxos did not fill up the entire bar here. The dishes here were varied with many ceviches, fish tempuras, even a Kobe slider; showing a fusion of various cuisines and techniques. Most dishes were ordered from the menu and presented in a more contemporary style. Our favorite savory dish was pickled pigs ear with a mole ice cream. The pigs ear was a tender terrine, and the mole ice cream was a bit on the sweet side.

pickled pig's ear with mole ice cream

Regalize It

 The dessert menu showcased an eye catching dish called Regalize It. Licorice ice cream covered by chocolate soil and roots garnished with a pot leaf tuile. The soil wasn't dry and provided a nice textured topping to the ice cream. And for the curious folks, the cookie didn't seem to actually have any of the green herb.

Alas, we found our best dish of the trip in an unassuming bar, with one tiny kitchen. La Cuchara de San Telmo has a cubicle kitchen that fits three cooks and the chef each in their assigned corners. The system works great and shows how much space is under-utilize in some kitchens. Our dishes, seared rock octopus with cabbage leaves; iberico pig's ear a la plancha with apricot puree, jus, and parsley oil; and crispy salt cod confit with tzatziki were all on point. The rock octopus had a meaty taste from the seasoned grill, but not chewy. The pig's ear was hands down our favorite dish. Hot off the flat top, a brittle porky crunch contrasted the gelatinous braised ear perfectly. The salt cod was another stellar creation. Not too salty and very tender thanks to the confit. The crispy skin took it to the next level... I think I need to invest in a plancha flat top ASAP! All this richness balanced with the freshness of the dill in the tzatziki. Unfortunately the food was so good I did not take any pictures here, but we'll be sure to stop here again!

Our food affair with San Sebastian was way too short. Not nearly enough food was consumed, and our minds need a bit more pintxo expansion. Despite our plans for leaving Spain to spend our last three weeks in France, we've managed to convince ourselves that a trip back to San Sebastian is needed for a strictly educational eating purpose. This place really knows how to put out quality DELICIOUS food and has been doing it for centuries. If only we could bring this food culture home with us, there would be many more happy satiated people. One of Clark's favorites is MAS in Charlottesville, VA. Amada is a Jose Garces Restaurant is Philly that really stands out for me. Has anyone come across any other good pintxos or tapas bars in the US? What were some of your favorite dishes?

JAMON IBERICO DE BELLOTA

I love ham.  Country, Honey Glazed, Prosciutto, Smoked,  Spanish Jamon, French Bayonne, Prosciutto Cotto, I will devour all of it.  I came to Spain knowing that I love Serrano Ham, and that there is an amazing, and amazingly expensive ham made from pigs that eat acorns.   Enter La Boqueria market in Barcelona, Spain.

Beautiful whole ham legs engulfed me as I walked in, putting me into a trance.  Any way you look there is ham hanging, being sliced on beautiful ¨Jamoneras¨ the convenient spanish ham leg holder found in most spanish households.  Throwing in a ridiculouly porky aroma and severe jetlag, the need to eat ham grew by the second.  Laura and I showed great restraint and headed deeper in the market anticipating a better deal.  We found a vendor carving from 4 different glistening ham legs ranging from $35 to $120 a pound.  Can we get a free sample?

 

We ask the Jamon carver about the different types, mention that we both cook for a living, and are greeted with samples of each.  Let´s go over some Spanish porkabulary.

Jamon = Ham

Paleta = Shoulder, cured using the same process as the ham but aged for less time since it is thinner and smaller.

Iberico = Black pig or Pata Negra, the ideal breed for making cured pork.

Serrano = White pig, your standard breed aged up to 24 months and similar to Italian prosciutto.

Bellota = Acorn fed, eating up to 15 pounds a day, in special living conditions called the dehesa

Dehesa =  An area abundant with holm oak trees, acorns, herbs and enough room for 1 acre of land PER PIG.

Jabugo = A special mountain region in Andalusia where some say the best jamon iberico de bellota is made.

You now know more than we did when we walked into La Boqueria.  We tasted Jamon Serrano, Jamon Iberico, Jamon Iberico de Bellota, and Paleta Iberico de Bellota.  The list is arranged from cheapest to most expensive.  The serrano has a good flavor we found similar to prosciutto.  The next step to jamon iberico (black pig ham) was striking.  The texture is more tender, the flavor stronger.  Finally we tried the pinnacle, the bellotas, acorn fed pork living a life with more space and care than most humans experience.  The difference again was clear, this meat literally melts on your tongue.  There is an indescribably power to the flavor, heightened by a nutty sweetness from the acorns.  Important to note is that the Paleta (shoulder) is almost half the price of the Jamon (ham) and a relatively great value.  There was a difference in the depth of flavor, but both products are a revelation.  We settled on the Jamon Iberico de Bellota and bought 100 grams (just under 4 ounces) for around $20.

Jamon Iberico de Bellota is cured anywhere from three to five years depending on the climate where it is aged.  The ideal environment is a temperate, cool climate with dry days and humid nights.  Jabugo, in the southwest of Spain fits this perfectly.  The longer the process takes, the better.  The process consists of salting  and stacking the hams (one day per kg of weight)in a cool place, rinsing the salt off and hanging dry for two months.  The meat is then left at room temperature for 4 to 6 months starting in the beginning of spring.  As the weather gets hotter, the fat in the meat begins to sweat and melt off.  The meat is then aged for 3 to 5 years total at around 65 degrees F and 70% relative humidity.  As the meat ages a shocking event occurs.

The fat in Jamon Iberico de Bellota converts to oleic acid, which is the same type of fat found in olive oil.  You read correctly, the delicous acorn laden fat in the pork not only melts in your mouth but is nutritionally equivalent to olive oil.       Alright fine but what about calories?  100 grams or 4 ounces of the most delicious meat I have ever eaten has 190 calories.  Hmmm, should I eat 22 Wheat Thins or Jamon Iberico for my afternoon snack?

Ok, I´ll admit their is some price disparity.  Maybe you can´t have jamon iberico de bellota everday.  To have a 8 pound Paleta shipped to your house in the US you will pay around $700, where you would only pay $200 in Europe.  Huh?  Thanks to the US government there is a 100% import tax placed Spanish Ham, and the hooves traditionally left on to verify authenticity must be removed.  Your 4 oz. Taste just went from $20 to $40 before shipping.  The average person who can buy this product in the US might not notice the difference but to those of us who measure wealth not by money but by the quality and variety of pork products consumed this is tragic.  To bite the bullet and order directly from Spain try http://www.tienda.com/jamon/jamon_iberico.html. 

There are some producers in the US taking curing ham to the next level.   In Virginia, there is a ham called ¨Surryano¨ where the pigs are finished on peanuts, hickory smoked, and aged for approximately 2 years.  A 16 # leg will run you $163 before shipping or about $10 per pound.  http://www.edwardsvaham.com/berkshire.cfm.   Another option is Olli Salumeria, also in Virginia.  They make an impressive array of cured meats, including one made from the Mangalitsa pig, which is a descendant of the black footed Spanish breed.  http://www.ollisalumeria.com/product/mangalitsa-prosciutto/.  Otherwise if you come across it at a special restaurant do not let the price fool you,  it´s worth it.

Dinner For Dad & Off to Barcelona

As a chef, cooking for your family is always special.  Cooking a dinner in honor of your father's career is simply as good as it gets.  I got to do just that on February 27th at the NC State Club in Raleigh.  The guidelines were simple; cook whatever you want for a 20 person dinner to celebrate my Dad's career.  I settled in on a four course menu.  Given my Dad's bread baking past and the incredible Challah loaf he makes I made some bread (Caraway-Pecan Rye & Rosemary Pizza Bianca).  For starters guests also got some white truffle & gruyere cheese popcorn washed down with some champagne.  Here are some pics!

   1st Course:  Roasted Red Pepper & Smoked Paprika Bisque with a Clam & Chorizo Sausage Crispy Paella Arancini.

This dish was inspired by our trip to Spain (we leave tomorrow!).  The bisque is made with roasted and raw red bell peppers, garlic, onions, a fistful of smoked paprika, and roasted tomatoes.  The Arancini is done by making a paella with shrimp broth, rice, spanish chorizo, soffrito (tomatoes, onions, green peppers cooked very slowly), and clams at the end.  This heavenly mixture is breaded and deep fried until crispy and sprinkled with smoked paprika.  First stop might just by Paella when we get to Spain.

 2nd Course:  Spring Vegetable Salad

I get tired very quickly of your typical mixed green salad with candied walnuts, goat cheese, and apples.  I wanted to do something to celebrate vegetables and the incredible farmer's market down the street.  Nearly everything you see on the plate comes from the market 1 mile from the State Club.  I made a pesto with spicy mustard greens, soaked spring onions in buttermilk and deep fried them, confit'd red and yellow beets in thyme & citrus, sliced some sweet, crisp radishes, and pickled some rhubarb in oj.  The white rectangle is Halloumi cheese (a sheep's milk grilling cheese from Cypress) that I coated in Dukkah spice (a mixture of cumin, sesame seeds, coriander, hazelnuts and black pepper  I made a vinaigrette with grapefruit and tangerine juice, plenty of zest, and olive oil for a little bitter-sweet note.

 Third Course:  Korean Chile Rubbed Short Ribs w/Black Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Tangerine Glazed Carrots, and Pickled Shiitakes, and Shichimi Spiced Breadcrumbs.

The shortribs came out perfect, tender & juicy with a little heat from the Korean chile paste.  I was really excited about the black garlic in the mashed potatoes.  A friend of mine had made some black garlic (fermenting garlic in a rice cooker for about 10 days until it turns black and gets a savory and caramel aroma).  I rehydrated this in some cream with some fresh garlic and blended it all for a deep rich almost coffee flavor.  The shiitakes got cooked down in soy sauce, sherry vinegar, and plenty of ginger until tender.  I braised the carrots in tangerine juice & olive oil. 

 4th Course;  Layered Crepe & Homemade Nutella Cake with a Rhubarb Coulis, Salted Caramel and Bruleed Banana.

Crepes and Nutella have always been a favorite in our house and I recently started making it from scratch which not only tastes better but allows you to heat it.  I made a ridiculous amount of vanilla crepes and layered them with the nutella, until it was about the thickness of a cake and pressed it overnight.  The cake was served warm with the pink rhubarb sauce and a deep, salty caramel.  The banana is tossed in sugar and then bruleed for a little crunch. 

After an incredible visit in Cape Cod, where we may have endangered the local shellfish population, this time tomorrow night Laura and I will be on our way to Barcelona where we begin our 6 month adventure (3 months in Spain, 3 in South Africa).  Looking forward to sharing all of the DELICIOUS experiences with you.

Benton's BACON

Madisonville, Tennessee

Driving towards Nashville, Tennessee Laura and I were wondering out loud if there might be any fun stops on the way to Raleigh.  We both have a love of Bacon and other cured meats and quickly came to realize that Benton's might be on the way.  Living in the Napa Valley many area chefs utilize Benton's incredibly smoky bacon.  We've seen it featured at pig related events served in a Mason jar,  in fine restaurants resting atop freshly made biscuits with peach jam, and EVEN in a cocktail.  Laura ordered a Benton's Bacon Old Fashioned at the Patterson House in Nashville.  Bacon infused 4 Roses Bourbon is mixed with housemade coffee-pecan bitters, maple syrup and orange rind garnish.  DeeeeeeLICIOUS.

Our genuine interest in visiting Benton's turned into an obsession after that cocktail.  We arrived at the old-fashioned store and stood in line trying to figure out how much pork product we could possibly eat over the next few months.  We settled on the incredibly smoky and tasty fresh pork sausage (sold only in a cloth sack, only on site), five pounds of bacon trimmings ($10), two pounds of sliced country bacon ($12), four ounces of Prosciutto ($6), and two Pounds of thick cut smoked country ham.  In about five minutes our car would smell like a bbq pit.   
Before we left we were fortunate enough to get a tour of the place and learn more about how they make their products.  Their bacon is cured in salt and brown sugar for 10 days, then hung for seven days, before being smoked for a whopping THREE days!   99% of their bacon is smoked.  The country hams are a more time consuming process.  They are rubbed with the same cure for a couple weeks, before being hung in mesh netting for a MINIMUM of 9 months.  This is not your salty as all sin country ham that you can barely eat.  The hams have a nice mild salt taste similar to prosciutto and a great texture.  The country hams are available smoked or unsmoked, and are interestingly smoked for three days just like the bacon.  This leaves the country hams with a nice gentle smoke, whereas the bacon is a very intense smoke flavor.  Both are excellent in their own way.  We've made a delicious smoked sausage gravy for some homemade buttermilk biscuits to sop up with a poached egg on top, used the country ham to flavor kale braised in duck stock, and served Brussels sprouts roasted with the bacon, onion, rosemary, and a light red wine cream sauce.   If you are driving through Tennessee you have to stop by the store.  They are proud and welcoming to visitors and gave us a great tour.   The employee who gave us the tour said "Every high school kid in the town should come by here to see how it's done.  It's not rocket science, and every person should know how to cure their own meat just in case."  We couldn't agree more.  You can order some online here: http://bentonscountryhams2.com/

Cured Bacon Ready for the Smoker

Smoked Country Hams Aged for a Minimum of 9 months

At the checkout, this man has been running Benton's for over 30 years.

American Barbecue Tour 2011 - Texas, Memphis, Raleigh

Laura, pit master at Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas

  Let's talk about Deckel.  Our first Barbecue stop finds us just south of Austin in Driftwood, Texas.  Neither of us have ever had Texas BBQ before.  We head to Driftwood with a cooler packed full of beer since the Salt Lick is BYOB.   Why isn't all BBQ BYOB?  

Our group of 4, one toddler included is quickly seated in the massive 700 seat restaurant.  As we walk in our eyes fixate on the open firepit teeming with meat.  The Salt Lick is unique in both its open firepit which allows it to add more wood flavor, but also for its saucing method.  Most Texas BBQ sauces are tomato based, but the Salt Lick's sauce has a twist.  Original owner Thurman Roberts married his Japanese wife Hisako after some time in the military.  Her heritage led to a sauce without tomato and some pineapple juice.  This addition lets the meat get an incredible crust, without burning.  

We order "Family Style" which gets us a few forgettable sides and a never ending meat plate of smoked sausage, brisket, and ribs (beef and pork).  Our massive first plate arrives and the sausage steals the show.  The smoke is both sweet and powerful at the same time and the crisp snap of the casing yields to an incredibly juicy interior.  The ribs are tender but nothing special and the brisket has nice smoke but is like most backyard bbq a little chewy.  Our plate is only 3/4 gone before its whisked away with a steaming hot replacement.  We notice a big change in the second brisket.  This brisket has a nice bit of crust and the meat is not dry, but rich and fatty.  Our server comes back around a few minutes later and we ask for some more brisket; the fatty delicious stuff from the second batch.  He replies "Alright, alright so you want some burnt ends with the DECKEL attached."  Before we can even question he runs off and comes back with the beauty you see in that first picture.  Magic.  Crispy caramelized meat, juicy, warm beef fat melting in your mouth, smoke, it's the total package.  This is the holy grail of brisket.

Beef Brisket - Burnt Ends with DECKEL attached.

Salt Lick Firepit

Hickory with Pecan Wood Shavings thrown on

Texas BBQ - Smoked Sausage, Pork Ribs, Brisket

Salt Lick Kitchen at Work

First Taste of Memphis BBQ

I came into Memphis thinking it was all about the pig and that opinion has not changed.  The sides were better here noticeably the collards.  In the meat department the dry ribs were the clear winner and no other ribs on the trip really came close.  They were perfectly cooked with a nice amount of heat that complemented the pork.  The disappointment came with the pulled pork which was dry and overcooked. 

Coleslaw, Collards, Pulled Pork, Brisket, Pork Ribs 1/2 Dry, 1/2 Saucy

Carolina Cue

Welcome Home.  The Pit is one of my local favorites and it's still got it going on.  We braved the cold and sat outside avoiding the hour and a half wait.  If you ever eat cheese fries again in your life, this is your nirvana.  Gooey pimento cheese melted over crispy fried with juicy pulled pork these are a force to be reckoned with.  Great buttemilk biscuits too, but the ribs were a little undercooked.  The Pit is more upscale with the rest of their food and we enjoyed some good local brew and the best sides of the trip.  The "chopped' not pulled pork was easily the best of our trip.  The distinction is important as chopped "Cue" is cooked to a slightly lower temp and chopped with a cleaver rather than shredded.  The meat is just juicier.  Some tangy vinegar based sauce and hushpuppies sitting next to it is really all I need in my life, other than Laura. 

Delicious Apps - Pumpkin Cornbread with Maple Butter, Pimento Cheese & BBQ Fries, BLT Biscuits, Deviled Eggs

Creamy Slaw, Black Eyed P's, Biscuit & Hushpuppies, CHOPPED Pork Barbecue

Collards & Pork Ribs