Posts Tagged ‘Spanish Dish’

Spain on the road!

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Happy New Year, unconditional readers. I am really happy to start this year sharing with you my latest discovery!
Recently, in an attempt to find some worldwide TV show which had dealt with Spain and its gastronomy, I found an American program featuring the Oscar-winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow, and the famous chef, Mario Batali, which only featured Spain!! The name is Spain… on the road again, and it is not only a cooking show but also a really entertaining road trip, where we learn about Spanish cuisine, Spanish cities and towns, history, art, and how to cook dishes from different regions using Spanish ingredients: vegetables, seafood, the best olive oil, etc.

 

I was really surprised and pleased to find that Gwyneth has turned out to be a real Spanish lover! She even considers Spain as her “second home”. Paltrow is a vegetarian and traditionally macrobiotic diet follower, but she embraced and enjoyed Spanish food in every single  episode. She leaves apart delicious treats like the jamon and the chorizo, among other mouth-watering Spanish dishes, but she enjoys vegetables, olives, and traditional dishes cooked with plenty of olive oil, such as churros and the Spanish tortilla! 

 The TV Show has become such a success that they have also published a book called, Spain…A Culinary Road Trip. You can get it and keep for good the 70 recipes, loads of awesome photos and all their trip anecdotes.

 And, if you are like me who has missed the show on TV, you still can watch it on YouTube, and see what the show is all about to decide whether to keep your TV guide on mark for the next show. I’ll pass you also the office link where you can check the episodes: http://www.spainontheroadagain.com/episode_guide.shtml

 Hope you find this program as interesting as I did.  I’ve really enjoyed the mixture of culture, landscapes, and over all  knowing more about the Spanish regions and their eclectic gastronomy !!

SPANISH GASTRONOMIC TOUR IN SYDNEY

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Last week I told you all about the new MoVida restaurant in Melbourne, so I thought, maybe it’s time to explore Sydney’s Spanish restaurants too! I’m going to share some of the places I’ve enjoyed around here as I’m sure you’d love them too.

One of the most popular restaurants in Sydney is The Bentley (www.thebentley.com.au), in Surry Hills. It’s known for its great wine list and innovating cuisine. They modernise traditional Spanish dishes, so you can find “the tres gazpachos” with the traditional ingredients such as tomato, onion, cucumber, Spanish olive oil… but also some improvising with new tastes such as basil or red pepper.

spanishtour
Then there’s also the Ash Street Cellar, Merivale Group’s ‘spanish project’. They are one of the largest hospitality companies in Sydney and with the Ash Street Cellar, they’ve recreated a Spanish atmosphere, with outdoor eating and great wine selection that always comes accompanies by small portions of jamón or Spanish olives.




Sydney CBD’s Postales Restaurant, offers much elaborated Spanish dishes, such as rabo de toro (oxtail), hare meatballs and Jamón de Bellota with pepper. For some style and chic decoration as well as its elegant cuisine we can also choose Cru 54 in Surry Hills (www.cru54.com.au).

If you are after some typical Spanish tapas we have a few options to choose from; there’s Kika Tapas Bar (www.kika.com.au) in Darlinghurst’s Victoria Street. This place gives you the opportunity to try a good glass of Spanish wine with Spanish olives or croquetas, for more than a fair price. In the north of Sydney’s bay, in Kirribilli, we can find another gorgeous place, Catalonia (www.catalonia.com.au), which bases its offer in the tapas culture and Mediterranean flavours. And for more sophisticated tapas we can find the Bodegas Tapas Bar, also located in Surry Hills, its beautifully modernized decoration of Spanish icons will surprise and delight.

There are many more places to try, but I’ll save those for another post. For now, start trying these, I’m sure you’ll love them. Whether you need to impress someone on a date or just enjoy a good meal next time you’re out make sure you give some of these Spanish places a go!

More MoVida for Melbournians

Friday, November 27th, 2009

This week, I’m really glad to write about the recent and exciting new opening in Melbourne …the MoVida Aqui !!
For those of you who haven’t heard yet about MoVida, it’s been the most popular Spanish restaurant in Melbourne so far. In fact, and quoting the Australian Gourmet Traveller review, it is the best Spanish restaurant in the country! That’s why this new opening is such good news!

MOvida

This bar de tapas is owned by the acclaimed chef Frank Camorra. After an inspiring trip to his homeland, Spain, Frank decided to open a restaurant back in Australia. MoVida’s name comes from the art and film movement that grew in Spain during the 80s, and his aim was to capture all that innovation and invigorating energy and bring it to his dishes.

I couldn’t wait to check the menu so I looked it online, and definitely it looks quite fun and creative.
Some of the samples included Marinated Green Olives with Citrus, Garlic and Thyme and Chorizo baked in a Fino and Olive Oil to Oysters served with Manzanilla and Watermelon dressing.

Movida2

MoVida Aqui is even larger than the two original restaurants, MoVida and MoVida Next Door. And now we can also enjoy The MoVida Terrace, which I’m sure, will become one of the best and trendiest places this summer for a get-together with friends.
Don’t miss out!

Matt Preston tests the Top five

Friday, November 13th, 2009

I’m sure you’ve heard about Matt Preston, one of our most international gastro critics. He is , and now he has become even more popular and controversial now that he is one of the main judges on TV’s Master Chef Australia.

A few weeks ago Preston decided to find out for himself whether the top five restaurants in the world were really worth the money. When I read about it, I was really amazed to find out that three of the top five restaurants in the world were Spanish!

El Bulli has been voted the best restaurant in the world four years in a row and despite Preston’s skepticism when it comes to elite chefs, he said that Ferran Adria, el Bulli’s chef could be “a sort of Mozart of the kitchen”. I think maybe he was really impressed with the food.

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He also had wonderful things to say about the other two Spanish restaurants El Celler de Can Roca and Mugaritz. It’s wonderful to see them right alongside the famous Noma and the Fat Duck.

I was really curious about the food he tried. As a teaser and just to awaken your appetite, amongst the 39 snack-sized dishes he tried at el Bulli he had one that has “tall sheets of gossamer-thin pineapple wafer studded with black olive” and at Celler’s he had “five gel-like splotches of green olive, fennel, orange, bergamot and pine-nut purée” I’m sure they were as exciting and delicious as they sound.

We can all dream about having such creative dishes that use innovative ingredients and methods of preparation, but I am wondering, out of all the Spanish restaurants here in Australia, which one is your favorite?

el_bulli

International Food Festival

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Have you noticed the food invasion in Sydney’s streets this month? October food month brings a lot of activities to us food lovers, and I have been thoroughly enjoying every second of it. Last week I was in Hyde Park and I saw a delicious version of the Spanish flag’s red and yellow stripes. It was really awesome that they used two Spanish emblems for it, the chorizo for the red stripes and the Spanish tortilla for the middle yellow stripe. For this famous Spanish dish you only need eggs, potato and Spanish olive oil, and it’s a star of every party.
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Also making a splash during food month was Spanish chef Sergi Arola. A disciple of Ferran Adria, this chef now has a two Michelin star restaurant in Madrid. He started his professional life in a very different environment – he was a rock star. I guess he must always have wanted to visit Australia because his band was called the Kangaroos. During his stay in Sydney, Arola took part in various activities, such as his two talks he imparted during the World segment of the World Chef Showcase MCed by Matt Preston and his master class at the Bently with chef Brent Savage. This very cool chef is the new face of Spanish gastronomy and it was great to see him participate in the October Good Food month.

sergi arola

All the different tastes and dishes that were on display this month, made me wonder if I could choose one Spanish dish as my favourite. If I had to do it, I would choose Gambas al Ajillo (Garlic Prawns) or a delicious tapa of marinated Spanish olives with a glass nice Spanish wine.

What about you?