Cumpleaños a la catalana

[muckefuck]

It was always bunj's intention to return to Mercat a la Planxa to see if their ordinary dishes could stand proudly alongside their whole suckling pig. We probably would've come along as well even if it hadn't been his birthday (but maybe not on a week night). The good news is that for the most part, they can. Nothing pleased everyone, but everything had its partisans. For instance, monshu (he of the quasi-pathological asparagus fixation) accused me and my brother of being "pork fetishists" for our reasonable and healthy enjoyment of the tocino con cidra that e. wouldn't touch. On the other hand, he loved the side of green-apple salad that I found decent but uninteresting.

Standouts included the fideuá negra (think paella made with noodles instead of rice--and, in this case, squid ink) and the langosta y vainilla, which e. described as "the richest lobster bisque you've ever eaten". (The only thing that bothered me about either of these dishes was the inexplicable inclusion of a few green peas; they didn't add anything to the fideuá and actively detracted from the garlic flan supporting the lobster.) In general the preparations weren't too fussy (e.g. only one dish had foam) and there were some appealing novel combinations, such as dulce de leche with garlic (to accompany the garrotxa cheese and apples) and butifarra made with apples. (Hmm--enough apples around to make one suspect we're dealing with a stealth Galician, à la gorkabear, in the kitchen.)

Perhaps the greatest unanticipated success was the bottle of Arbanta from Bodegas Biurko Gorri, which we picked more because it was the only Spanish varietal at that price point than for any other reason. Nothing on the web has been able to clarify why a winery in the Rioja Baja run by a family with the über-Catalan name Llorens should have a Basque moniker (yes, it's technically in Navarra, but not the traditionally Basque-speaker part) nor what this name means (we all recognised gorri as "red", but "biurko"?), but we don't care as long as we can track down their products. It was so exceptionally smooth that I threw caution to the winds and had a second glass--damn my reflux and my sensitivity to tannins!

Speaking of names, you couldn't imagine a post of any length from me without at least a few linguistic quibbles, could you? The most glaring was my desert, a pleasant twist on the traditional Catalan mel i mató with a sort of grape purée standing in for the honey. But uvas y mato, without an accent over the final o, is not "grapes and curd" but "grapes and I kill". And this wasn't simply a printing error since both English- and Spanish-speaking staff clearly pronounced it /'mato/. Babaus! I also found some of the macaronic mash-ups--such as "truita con patatas" for what should properly be either truita de patates (Catalan) or tortilla española (Spanish) and however it was they blended pà amb tomàquet with pan con tomate--rather painful, but I think I'll live.

(Particularly if I can go back sometime for more pork products.)

Comments

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

he of the quasi-pathological asparagus fixation

Please explain.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

It's his favourite vegetable bar none. It was bad enough when it was subject to seasonable availability; nowadays, if I didn't hue and cry, he'd serve it at every meal.

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

That's too bad. He might consider the carbon footprint of a bunch of asparagus that came from New Zealand or Chile.

It's become the gay vegetable for some reason. At work we only serve it when it's growing within a hundred or so miles, so we have about five weeks from the San Joaquin Valley to Oregon. Not surprisingly, the best comes from the Sacramento River delta.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I can't thank you enough for adding a new weapon to my arsenal of objections!

[lhn.livejournal.com]

Though I think becoming a locovore is a luxury better suited to the Bay Area than Chicago. Your selection of produce from within a hundred or so miles around, say, now, would be somewhat limited.

(As it happens, asparagus is one of the first things to come into season around here. Hope you don't need anything green till April, though. And fruit'll have to wait till May.)

[keyne.livejournal.com]

we all recognised gorri as "red", but "biurko"?)

meandering path.

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

Uff
I need some time to reply to this
:)

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Tens tot el temps que vulguis per fer-ho!

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

I've had a shitty week which ended up with a big family issue. Damm it
Proper reply is being typed now

Some comment…

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

They call themselves "Chicago's new Catalan destination", but they don't have Estrella Damm! (Hint, it is exported to the US.)

Curious that the website for Bodegas Biurko Gorri only has castellano and English, nor català or euskara. Often times they change the names of the wines that are exported to the US.

Ruben tells me that what one often finds in stores here may use a traditional name, but the recipe is not. Examples are turró and coca. Some of the most popular varieties are a recent concoction. So I am not surprised about your dessert. Ruben's mom makes homemade mató.

And about that pork. As you know they raise different kinds of pigs here, namely Sus ibericus, and they do not use feed lots as they do in the States. The pork has a different taste than what is proffered in the US. Now when I visit California, I avoid domestic pork. Yes, I know that Costco sells Campofrio brand jamón serrano, but the cure is different, thanks to the USDA.

Carles

Re: Some comment…

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

Once you get used to the good pork you can't go back to the old one, eh? :)

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

You actually put green peas in fideuà negra. Actually the good thing about paella and fideuà is that there is not a single recipe. I might agree it doesn't add up much, but bear in mind that "paella" means "pan", so the dish is basically "rice/noodles with whatever you have on the pan". Nevertheless, peas don't surprise me.

And let me tell you... At least so far as I know about Galician cuisine, they don't cook with apples. Actually my grandparents have like 8 or 10 apple trees which produce a very small variety which is great one it's ripe but they pick them up always green. But as with most traditional stuff, salty food is kept apart from sweet things. I even asked my grandmother about this and she said "well, most of the apples were attacked by birds thus fed to the pigs"

Mató is a very Catalan word. But I don't know why they simply didn't choose the Spanish decent translation "Requesón" (which is also our gay slang word for smegma).

Truita amb patates would be "fish trout" with a side of potatoes, LOL. I would have made some drama in that restaurant. But hey, I've seen worse mistakes here

And finally... As an imperfect bilingual person, I detest some kind of mashups. I'm from the world section who thinks that "Pan con tomate" is the correct translation of our national dish "Pà amb tomàquet", and it's actually how we call it. However, when you go to Madrid and see "pantumaca" I get pain in my eyes - and yes, I've gotten a sandwich with slices of tomato when asking for "un bocadillo de pan con tomate y jamón" - You need to specify "Un bocadillo de pantumaca y jamón" ARRRGGGGG.