spain gourmetour 82 (2011)

Food, Wine & Travel Magazine

82

May

-Aug

ust2

011

Rosé Wine.A Flushof Pink

Grapefruit.PulpNon-Fiction

TraditionalSweets.Memories areMade of This

DOCa Rioja:Grape VarietiesUnder theSpotlight

82May-August

2011. 6

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Editor-in-chiefCathy Boirac

Publication CoordinatorsAlmudena Martín RuedaAlmudena Muyo

Photographic ArchiveMabel Manso

Editorial SecretaryÁngela Castilla

Design and Art DirectionManuel Estrada Design

MapsJavier Belloso

Color SeparationsEspacio y Punto

Printed in SpainArtes Gráficas Palermo

[email protected]

D.L.: M.51647-2002

ISSN: 0214-2937

NIPO: 705-11-023-2

CoverJuan Manuel Sanz/©ICEX

Information and PublisherICEXState Secretary for Trade andTourism, Ministry of Industry,Tourism and Trade.

www.icex.es

Subscription:Spain Gourmetour is apublication of the SpanishInstitute for Foreign Trade (ICEX)of the State Secretary forTrade and Tourism, Ministry ofIndustry, Tourism and Trade.The magazine is issued threetimes a year in English,French, German and Spanish,and is distributed free of chargeto trade professionals.If you want to subscribe to SpainGourmetour, please contact theEconomic and CommercialOffices at the Embassies of Spain(see list on pages 108-109).

EDIT

The opinions expressed bythe authors of the articles arenot necessarily shared bythe Spanish Institute for ForeignTrade (ICEX), which cannotbe held responsible for anyomissions or errors in the text.

2010 Le Cordon Bleu World Food MediaAwards. Best Food Magazine

Just as in the fashion world, the fruit and vegetable year has its seasons. Forward-think-ing buyers will already be deciding what to order and, with you in mind, this issue pre-views an attractive winter product for when things start turning chilly: grapefruit. Not afruit generally associated with Spain (not even by the Spanish!), but one that we do ratherwell, as France and Germany have been finding increasingly these last few years.Exporting traditional sweets, cakes and biscuits is a trickier business—national prefer-ences vary so much, and we all have our childhood favorites, so often endowed with thepower of Proustian recall. Few foreigners would think of turning to Spain as a source, yetsome 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 wine needs no introduction—its reputation precedes it – but you may nothave heard about changes on the varietal front. We bring you the latest. Meanwhile, ourrange of rosés continues to get bigger and better. Read all about it.Spanish olive oil is settling nicely into the Chinese market, which (partly) explains whyPago de los Baldíos de San Carlos did its harvesting by moonlight last winter. Our spe-cial envoy had fun. As does John Barlow, with his delightful picnic made up of the sortof unusual products, some on the brink of extinction, that qualify for inclusion in theSlow Food movement’s Flagship.Here’s wishing our readers in the northern hemisphere an enjoyable summer break, andhappy reading to all.

Cathy [email protected]

AwardsGold Ladle in the Best FoodMagazine category, at the 2010Le Cordon Bleu World FoodMedia Awards.

Communications Award“Best Journalistic Work”from Alimentos de España,2006, Ministry of the Environmentand Rural and Marine Affairs.

Marqués de Busianos Awardfrom the Royal Spanish Academyof Gastronomy.

Design Award from the SpanishAssociation of DesignProfessionals (AEDP),1995.

Special Gastronomy Awardfrom the Fine Cuisine Associationand the Royal Spanish Academyof Gastronomy,1988.

“La Gula y Bachiller en Fogones1998” Award from El Nuevo Lunes,a Spanish weekly economic publication.

Spanish Food Journalism Award,1990, Ministry of the Environmentand Rural and Marine Affairs.

Printed on PEFC-certifiedpaper to promote theresponsible managementof our forests.

01 AF EDITORIAL.qxd 16/3/11 11:14 Página 1

2 MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOUR MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOUR 3

CONT

ENTS

Food BasicsGrapefruit. PulpNon-Fiction......................44Recipes .............................56

Traditional Sweets.Memories are Madeof This ..............................62Recipes .............................80

Close-upRodrigo de la Calle ...........84

Business WatchPago Baldíos San Carlos.Moon Landing ..................92

ICEX Spanish GastronomyPortalClick to Taste....................96

ColophonHave a Spanish Break!Raquel Rosembergfrom Buenos Aires ............98

Regular FeaturesLasting Impressions ........100Ad Index ........................106Spain Overseas ...............108Exporters........................110Credits............................112

Editorial ............................1

ColorsRosé Wine.A Flush of Pink...................8

WinesDOCa Rioja: Grape Varieties.Under the Spotlight ..........18

Culinary FareSlow Food in Spain,the Story of a Cheesethat Came Back to Life......34

SPAIN GOURMETOURMay-August 2011 No. 82

02 AF_SUMARIO.qxd 4/3/11 17:54 Página 2

Pvinos espana.indd 1 12/3/10 17:55:39

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Olives on the Loose !

No liquidResealable zipper

Seasoned with olive oil

[email protected] www.acamacho.com

With Fragata Snack' n Olive you will be able to enjoy exciting olive

flavours any time any place, thanks to the innovative, light weight

retail olive packaging that is perfectly in tune with today' s lifestyle.

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PRAFAELSALGADO ing.indd 1 22/7/10 08:15:36

MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOUR 98 MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOUR

Production of rosé wines in Spain is entering a new era. The former conflictingopinions—contempt amongst connoisseurs and popularity amongst consumersof light, low-tannin wines—are being ironed out by the surge in quality. Creativeoenologists, selection of varieties and careful vinification have now broughtus a rich range of new rosés to choose from. PINK

A Flush of

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11

COLORS

ROSÉ WINE

TEXTFEDERICO OLDENBURG/©ICEX

PHOTOSJUAN MANUEL SANZ/©ICEX

TRANSLATIONJENNY MCDONALD/©ICEX

When I first came to Spain, overtwo decades ago, I was trulydelighted to find such a varied winescene. At the time, things werewaking up after a long period ofhibernation and the search was onfor quality. But I have to confessI was disappointed by the rosés.With just a few exceptions, theyseemed to me a second-ratebeverage that consumers turned toonly as a substitute for red wine inhot weather. In my visits towineries, I soon discovered whyquality was so poor. Most roséswere being made with the worstquality grapes but, to remedy theirdefects, various correctivetechniques were being applied(manipulation of acidity, “a la carte”selection of yeasts to obtainartificial aromas of banana,raspberry, etc., chaptalization, i.e,the addition of sugar to the mustprior to alcoholic fermentation).These and other industrial practicesfocused on achieving not qualitybut, above all, an attractive color.The fact is that I had to taste manySpanish rosés before I could findany that escaped from the commondenominators: a loud pink color,artificial aromas of fresh redberries, a flavor that disappearedfast, excessive sharpness, and anaftertaste of strawberry candy.It was hardly surprising becauserosé wine producers at the timewere torn between two opposingpassions: that of near-teetotalerswho tended to choose a rosé sothey didn’t have to cope with thetannin grip of red wines or the

sober acidity of whites, andrejection by serious wine-loverswho felt that rosés negated thepleasure of wine drinking.

Historic claretsWhen I became so interested inSpanish wine that I started delvinginto its history, I discovered thatrosés in this country descendedfrom some illustrious predecessors:clarets. These were wines with avery light reddish color that werepopular way back in the 14th

century when the first wine-growing districts were becomingconsolidated in Spain, and wereproduced in the top third of theIberian peninsula, from the Dueroto Valdeorras. Probably the mostfamous were the Cigales winesthat are on record as having beenserved at the Spanish Court whenit was based in Valladolid (13th

to 15th centuries).But claret wines are not rosés.There is a subtle, but significant,difference. In both cases, the mustis macerated with the grape skins(usually red ones) for two or threedays. In the case of rosés, theseskins are removed prior tofermentation but, for clarets, theyremain in the vats while the yeastsdo their work, as with red wine.So claret was just a red wine witha light color and expression, whichin fact was sometimes made evenlighter by adding white wine.So we know that the Castilian andNavarran clarets were popular atthe time of the Valladolid court, but

back then, in the early years ofthe wine industry, this was onlyto be expected, as 90% of winesproduced in the world before the18th century were clarets. Notbecause the winemakers wanted itthat way, but because they were notyet able to fully control theprocesses of fermentation andmaceration. And the resulting winecame from a mixture of varieties,pressed using primitive methods(treading) and short maceration.All the same, the claret traditionspread until relatively recently.The DO Ribera del Duero, a regionthat today enjoys internationalfame for its succulent reds, mostlyproduced claret wines until the1980s, until the great Vega Siciliareds started to set an example thatothers followed en masse.

The great leapforwardIf we focus on a strict definitionof rosé wines, then the history ofSpanish rosés is much shorter.It was only in the middle of the lastcentury that Spanish wineriesstarted to search for methods toemulate the French rosés that wereenjoying such popularity amongstconsumers who wanted alternativesto red wine. Or, to be more exact,it was the Navarran and Catalonianproducers who led the way.Since then, Navarre has beenacknowledged as an ideal locationfor the production of this type ofwines, and the merit is largely dueto oenologists such as Luis


11

COLORSROSÉ WINE

TEXTFEDERICO OLDENBURG/©ICEX

PHOTOSJUAN MANUEL SANZ/©ICEX

TRANSLATIONJENNY MCDONALD/©ICEX

When I first came to Spain, overtwo decades ago, I was trulydelighted to find such a varied winescene. At the time, things werewaking up after a long period ofhibernation and the search was onfor quality. But I have to confessI was disappointed by the rosés.With just a few exceptions, theyseemed to me a second-ratebeverage that consumers turned toonly as a substitute for red wine inhot weather. In my visits towineries, I soon discovered whyquality was so poor. Most roséswere being made with the worstquality grapes but, to remedy theirdefects, various correctivetechniques were being applied(manipulation of acidity, “a la carte”selection of yeasts to obtainartificial aromas of banana,raspberry, etc., chaptalization, i.e,the addition of sugar to the mustprior to alcoholic fermentation).These and other industrial practicesfocused on achieving not qualitybut, above all, an attractive color.The fact is that I had to taste manySpanish rosés before I could findany that escaped from the commondenominators: a loud pink color,artificial aromas of fresh redberries, a flavor that disappearedfast, excessive sharpness, and anaftertaste of strawberry candy.It was hardly surprising becauserosé wine producers at the timewere torn between two opposingpassions: that of near-teetotalerswho tended to choose a rosé sothey didn’t have to cope with thetannin grip of red wines or the

sober acidity of whites, andrejection by serious wine-loverswho felt that rosés negated thepleasure of wine drinking.

Historic claretsWhen I became so interested inSpanish wine that I started delvinginto its history, I discovered thatrosés in this country descendedfrom some illustrious predecessors:clarets. These were wines with avery light reddish color that werepopular way back in the 14th

century when the first wine-growing districts were becomingconsolidated in Spain, and wereproduced in the top third of theIberian peninsula, from the Dueroto Valdeorras. Probably the mostfamous were the Cigales winesthat are on record as having beenserved at the Spanish Court whenit was based in Valladolid (13th

to 15th centuries).But claret wines are not rosés.There is a subtle, but significant,difference. In both cases, the mustis macerated with the grape skins(usually red ones) for two or threedays. In the case of rosés, theseskins are removed prior tofermentation but, for clarets, theyremain in the vats while the yeastsdo their work, as with red wine.So claret was just a red wine witha light color and expression, whichin fact was sometimes made evenlighter by adding white wine.So we know that the Castilian andNavarran clarets were popular atthe time of the Valladolid court, but

back then, in the early years ofthe wine industry, this was onlyto be expected, as 90% of winesproduced in the world before the18th century were clarets. Notbecause the winemakers wanted itthat way, but because they were notyet able to fully control theprocesses of fermentation andmaceration. And the resulting winecame from a mixture of varieties,pressed using primitive methods(treading) and short maceration.All the same, the claret traditionspread until relatively recently.The DO Ribera del Duero, a regionthat today enjoys internationalfame for its succulent reds, mostlyproduced claret wines until the1980s, until the great Vega Siciliareds started to set an example thatothers followed en masse.

The great leapforwardIf we focus on a strict definitionof rosé wines, then the history ofSpanish rosés is much shorter.It was only in the middle of the lastcentury that Spanish wineriesstarted to search for methods toemulate the French rosés that wereenjoying such popularity amongstconsumers who wanted alternativesto red wine. Or, to be more exact,it was the Navarran and Catalonianproducers who led the way.Since then, Navarre has beenacknowledged as an ideal locationfor the production of this type ofwines, and the merit is largely dueto oenologists such as Luis


13

for red (Spain Gourmetour No. 81)and white wines but are stillfaithful to Garnacha when it comesto designing a good rosé. Somewineries even combine it with othergrapes to get a more complexresult. This is the case of Azul yGaranza, whose vineyards arelocated on the edges of theBárdenas Reales desert. Theycombine Tempranillo withGarnacha to make their exuberantRosa de Azul y Garanza 2009.Julián Chivite, one of the cutting-edge wineries in the DO Navarra,also chooses Merlot and CabernetSauvignon as companions for thenative Garnacha in their GranFeudo Edición Rosado SobreLías 2008, a wine that hasrevolutionized the production oftop-quality rosés. Aged in Frenchbarrels for six months, it scalesunimaginable heights: a pale colorreminiscent of onion skin, complexvinous aromas of fading flowersand incense, and an elegant,delicate taste with excellent acidityand the almost oily texture that youfind in a classy white wine.

GarnachaeverywhereBut on today’s Spanish rosé scene,Garnacha is found not only inNavarre. In Catalonia, for example,Portal del Montsant, owned bywell-known architect AlfredoArribas, makes the most of theGarnacha stocks that grow on thisestate’s white clay with granite inthe DO Montsant. Their Brunus

Rosé 2009, a fresh, cheerfulmonovarietal, has received topmarks from wine writers in Spainand around the world.Garnacha also grows, of course,in the DOCa Rioja, where somewineries are still faithful to thetraditional-style rosés that are morecomplex, less fresh. One example isMuga, which produces its excellentMuga Rosado 2009 by combiningtwo red varieties, Garnacha andTempranillo, with a white, Viura,to give a salmon-colored wine witharomas of peach, pineapple andkiwi and a light, easy-to-drink tastewith just the right degree of acidity.This Muga rosé, fermented andaged for two months in woodencasks, offers the charm of the sortof historic wine that is difficult tofind today.Setting aside Garnacha, at theDOCa Rioja there are also rosésthat are the complete opposite—outright modern—while also beinggreat quality. One example is Alma

de Tobía 2009, presented bythe young winery founded byOscar Tobía in 1994 in whichTempranillo is the dominant grape.This is a rosé “with a soul”. It isfermented in French Allier oakbarrels, then remains on its lees inthe same barrels for five months,ending up with a bright raspberrycolor like that of a claret wine,appealing aromas with notes offresh raspberries and strawberriesagainst a balsamic, mineralbackground and a full, fresh,round lingering taste.Tempranillo also gives rise toexcellent rosés beyond the DOCaRioja. In the various Designationsof Origin in Castile, this grapeis at the forefront of some of themost interesting new rosés.A good example is La Rosa deArrocal 2009, a Tempranillomonovarietal from the DO Riberadel Duero. This is a simple wine,with a clear fruitiness and arefreshing taste, made by the youngArrocal winery, which had alreadyindicated its promise with sometasty reds at affordable prices.This same grape is the one that givesvivacity to Quinta Clarisa 2009, thefirst non-white to be produced byDidier Belondrade, author of thefamous barrel-fermented VerdejoBelondrade y Lurton. The DORueda, home to this Frenchwinemaker since 1994, only allowsthe production of white wines,so Belondrade had to apply forcertification under Vinos de la Tierrade Castilla for this rosé, which henamed after one of his daughters, a

COLORS

12

Estefanía, who visited Frenchvineyards back in the 1950s tolearn all the techniques for makingquality rosé wines. On his return,at Bodegas Las Campanas, headopted the French saignéetechniques, as well as fermentationat below 16ºC (60.8ºF) to preservethe full expression of the grapes.The story goes that fresh, fragrantrosé wine from Las Campanas—theoldest of the DO Navarra wineries,founded in 1864—was a favoritewith writer Ernest Hemingway(1899-1961), who recommended itamong his artistic and literaryfriends, helping it on its way topopularity.Many others followed this example,creating a huge demand for Spanishrosés in the 1970s and 80s. Thesewere wines that were not aged inbarrels, that had a bright, attractivecolor, clear fruity aromas and alight, refreshing taste.Unfortunately, their success also led

to a profusion of average qualitywines, such as those I found on myarrival in Spain, as I explained atthe start of this article.

Leaving behind oldprejudicesSo, the model was successful but itwas not always applied wisely—fresh fruity notes often gave way toartificial flavors that came fromperfunctory mass production—sowe had to wait for a new generationof oenologists to see the best rosésin the history of Spanish wines,those being made today. This surgein quality came not only from newvinification techniques, but alsofrom a change in certain modelsthat had previously seemedinalterable. Spanish rosés of the21st century are not made onlyfrom Garnacha and Tempranillo—like those early Navarranpioneers—nor are they necessarily

the sort of simple wines that areideal for cooling down on a hotbeach in summer.At last Spain had left behind itsold prejudices and had startedmaking rosés of outstanding qualityand, more importantly, a widevariety of them.Clearly, one of the maincharacteristics of the new Spanishrosés is their eclecticism. They offera broad range of profiles, are madeusing different methods, and can beenjoyed in all sorts ofcircumstances, from a humblepicnic in the park to the smartestof avant-garde taster menus.One of the surprising new featuresis the leading role being played inrosés by certain native varieties.Garnacha certainly continues to bea goldmine, and the Navarrans arewell aware of this. They embracethe top international varieties—Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,Tempranillo, Chardonnay, etc.—

ROSÉ WINE


paradox that this variety isconsidered exotic even in itshomeland, the Parraleta is nowmaking a comeback and beingfeatured in a limited number ofwines. One is Alodia Parraleta 2009,a rosé being made organically by theAlodia winery from the lastsurviving stocks of this grape thatare still growing in Adahuesca, at analtitude of 650 m (2,132 ft) on thelower slopes of the Guara and SevilMountains. Partial fermentation inthe barrel on the lees gives this winean unusual spiciness. This, together

A taste of the Tres Obispos Rosado2009, made by the Pittacumwinery, Pittacum, seduces withvery clean aromas of strawberry,raspberry and flowers and a richsmoothness in the mouth.Though not in the limelight likeMencía, the Parraleta variety wasgrowing in the area of the DOSomontano (Spain Gourmetour No.73) long before the localwinemakers embraced the better-known international varieties(Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah,etc.). In spite of the rather sad

14 15

A touch of theexoticFor those looking for somethingdifferent, one of the most appealingfeatures of the pink revolutiontaking place in Spain is therediscovery of some native varietiesthat are less well-known thanTempranillo and Garnacha.The Prieto Picudo, originally fromthe region of Valdevimbre-LosOteros (Leon, in Castile-Leon,northern Spain), has recently beenrehabilitated as a grape for brightreds with a marked, ripe fruitiness.But this variety was traditionallyused in the area of Leon to makerosé wines using an unusualtechnique called madreo in whichwhole, unpressed bunches ofgrapes were added to thefermenting must, making upabout 5% of the total volume.The Dominio Dostares winery hasrestored this custom using thePrieto Picudo grape in its Tombú2009, a rosé that wins over eventhe most determined of red winelovers. This is a wine witha generous alcohol content, anintense, bright color, explosivenotes of raspberry, pomegranateand grapefruit, and a full,lingering flavor.

ROSÉ WINE

A couple of years ago, in thesummer of 2009, a controversybrought European rosé winesunexpected media attention, placingthem on the front pages of the mainEuropean newspapers. This waswhen the European Union proposedauthorizing the blending of red andwhite wines to make rosés.The proposal failed, but it gaveEuropean winemakers the opportunityto defend “traditional rosé wines” andto inform consumers about thetechniques involved in making them.

The Manifesto in defense of Europeanrosé wines, published at the time bythe Spanish Conference of WineRegulatory Councils stated, “Rosewines are quality wines resulting froma particular vinification processcomprising the fermentation of grapemust, mostly from red grapes, whichare first macerated to establish thecolor and flavor of the wine by leavingthe grape skins in the must for exactlythe right amount of time.”

But this statement did not clarify thethree methods usually adopted formaceration:

· direct pressing, in which red grapesare mechanically pressed until themust gains the desired color.

· saignée, in which the must isobtained by stacking up the grapesso that the weight of the grapesdoes the crushing. The skins arethen removed.

· short maceration, in which theskins remain in contact with themust until the desired color isobtained.

Three techniquesfor a wine

Also from the province of Leon,the area known as El Bierzo (SpainGourmetour No. 72), where theterrain is rugged and muchinfluenced by the Atlantic, is theTinta Mencía grape, one that offersquite the opposite. Over recentyears, the reds from this area, witha lighter profile than most of theCastilian wines though still with arefined elegance, have affordedpleasant surprises on the Spanishwine scene. But the rosés from ElBierzo are another way of bringingin support for the Mencía variety.

charming personal tribute. The wineis marked by raspberry notes and atouch of sweetness.Further north, in Zamora, we finda controversial grape, the Tinta deToro. Some experts insist it is just aTempranillo clone (Caracterizacióndel Banco de Germoplasma de la Vidde El Encín, IMIDRA, 2000) thathas adapted to the stony soils andharsh climate (with extremetemperatures and scarce rainfall) ofToro. Others claim, on the basis ofhistorical and even literaryreferences (Libro del Buen Amor,Arcipreste de Hita, 1284-1351)that it is a variety that has its owndistinguishing characteristics andoriginated in Zamora. Whateverthe truth of the matter, the varietycan be used to make both the dark,powerful wines full of ripe, redfruit aromas that have broughtfame to Toro and singular roséwines. That at least is how it isseen by Bodegas Fariña, a family-run winery founded in 1942 whichhas been a pioneer in theproduction of quality wines in thisarea. Its Colegiata Rosado 2008brings out the full potential of theTinta de Toro. It is a rosé withplenty of color, aromas of peachand plum and a round, well-structured flavor.



CONT

ENTS

Food BasicsGrapefruit. PulpNon-Fiction......................44Recipes .............................56

Traditional Sweets.Memories are Madeof This ..............................62Recipes .............................80

Close-upRodrigo de la Calle ...........84

Business WatchPago Baldíos San Carlos.Moon Landing ..................92

ICEX Spanish GastronomyPortalClick to Taste....................96

ColophonHave a Spanish Break!Raquel Rosembergfrom Buenos Aires ............98

Regular FeaturesLasting Impressions ........100Ad Index ........................106Spain Overseas ...............108Exporters........................110Credits............................112

Editorial ............................1

ColorsRosé Wine.A Flush of Pink...................8

WinesDOCa Rioja: Grape Varieties.Under the Spotlight ..........18

Culinary FareSlow Food in Spain,the Story of a Cheesethat Came Back to Life......34

SPAIN GOURMETOURMay-August 2011 No. 82

02 AF_SUMARIO.qxd 4/3/11 17:54 Página 2

paradox that this variety isconsidered exotic even in itshomeland, the Parraleta is nowmaking a comeback and beingfeatured in a limited number ofwines. One is Alodia Parraleta 2009,a rosé being made organically by theAlodia winery from the lastsurviving stocks of this grape thatare still growing in Adahuesca, at analtitude of 650 m (2,132 ft) on thelower slopes of the Guara and SevilMountains. Partial fermentation inthe barrel on the lees gives this winean unusual spiciness. This, together

A taste of the Tres Obispos Rosado2009, made by the Pittacumwinery, Pittacum, seduces withvery clean aromas of strawberry,raspberry and flowers and a richsmoothness in the mouth.Though not in the limelight likeMencía, the Parraleta variety wasgrowing in the area of the DOSomontano (Spain Gourmetour No.73) long before the localwinemakers embraced the better-known international varieties(Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah,etc.). In spite of the rather sad

14 15

A touch of theexoticFor those looking for somethingdifferent, one of the most appealingfeatures of the pink revolutiontaking place in Spain is therediscovery of some native varietiesthat are less well-known thanTempranillo and Garnacha.The Prieto Picudo, originally fromthe region of Valdevimbre-LosOteros (Leon, in Castile-Leon,northern Spain), has recently beenrehabilitated as a grape for brightreds with a marked, ripe fruitiness.But this variety was traditionallyused in the area of Leon to makerosé wines using an unusualtechnique called madreo in whichwhole, unpressed bunches ofgrapes were added to thefermenting must, making upabout 5% of the total volume.The Dominio Dostares winery hasrestored this custom using thePrieto Picudo grape in its Tombú2009, a rosé that wins over eventhe most determined of red winelovers. This is a wine witha generous alcohol content, anintense, bright color, explosivenotes of raspberry, pomegranateand grapefruit, and a full,lingering flavor.

ROSÉ WINE

A couple of years ago, in thesummer of 2009, a controversybrought European rosé winesunexpected media attention, placingthem on the front pages of the mainEuropean newspapers. This waswhen the European Union proposedauthorizing the blending of red andwhite wines to make rosés.The proposal failed, but it gaveEuropean winemakers the opportunityto defend “traditional rosé wines” andto inform consumers about thetechniques involved in making them.

The Manifesto in defense of Europeanrosé wines, published at the time bythe Spanish Conference of WineRegulatory Councils stated, “Rosewines are quality wines resulting froma particular vinification processcomprising the fermentation of grapemust, mostly from red grapes, whichare first macerated to establish thecolor and flavor of the wine by leavingthe grape skins in the must for exactlythe right amount of time.”

But this statement did not clarify thethree methods usually adopted formaceration:

· direct pressing, in which red grapesare mechanically pressed until themust gains the desired color.

· saignée, in which the must isobtained by stacking up the grapesso that the weight of the grapesdoes the crushing. The skins arethen removed.

· short maceration, in which theskins remain in contact with themust until the desired color isobtained.

Three techniquesfor a wine

Also from the province of Leon,the area known as El Bierzo (SpainGourmetour No. 72), where theterrain is rugged and muchinfluenced by the Atlantic, is theTinta Mencía grape, one that offersquite the opposite. Over recentyears, the reds from this area, witha lighter profile than most of theCastilian wines though still with arefined elegance, have affordedpleasant surprises on the Spanishwine scene. But the rosés from ElBierzo are another way of bringingin support for the Mencía variety.

charming personal tribute. The wineis marked by raspberry notes and atouch of sweetness.Further north, in Zamora, we finda controversial grape, the Tinta deToro. Some experts insist it is just aTempranillo clone (Caracterizacióndel Banco de Germoplasma de la Vidde El Encín, IMIDRA, 2000) thathas adapted to the stony soils andharsh climate (with extremetemperatures and scarce rainfall) ofToro. Others claim, on the basis ofhistorical and even literaryreferences (Libro del Buen Amor,Arcipreste de Hita, 1284-1351)that it is a variety that has its owndistinguishing characteristics andoriginated in Zamora. Whateverthe truth of the matter, the varietycan be used to make both the dark,powerful wines full of ripe, redfruit aromas that have broughtfame to Toro and singular roséwines. That at least is how it isseen by Bodegas Fariña, a family-run winery founded in 1942 whichhas been a pioneer in theproduction of quality wines in thisarea. Its Colegiata Rosado 2008brings out the full potential of theTinta de Toro. It is a rosé withplenty of color, aromas of peachand plum and a round, well-structured flavor.


Editor-in-chiefCathy Boirac

Publication CoordinatorsAlmudena Martín RuedaAlmudena Muyo

Photographic ArchiveMabel Manso

Editorial SecretaryÁngela Castilla

Design and Art DirectionManuel Estrada Design

MapsJavier Belloso

Color SeparationsEspacio y Punto

Printed in SpainArtes Gráficas Palermo

[email protected]

D.L.: M.51647-2002

ISSN: 0214-2937

NIPO: 705-11-023-2


Information and PublisherICEXState Secretary for Trade andTourism, Ministry of Industry,Tourism and Trade.

www.icex.es

Subscription:Spain Gourmetour is apublication of the SpanishInstitute for Foreign Trade (ICEX)of the State Secretary forTrade and Tourism, Ministry ofIndustry, Tourism and Trade.The magazine is issued threetimes a year in English,French, German and Spanish,and is distributed free of chargeto trade professionals.If you want to subscribe to SpainGourmetour, please contact theEconomic and CommercialOffices at the Embassies of Spain(see list on pages 108-109).

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The opinions expressed bythe authors of the articles arenot necessarily shared bythe Spanish Institute for ForeignTrade (ICEX), which cannotbe held responsible for anyomissions or errors in the text.

2010 Le Cordon Bleu World Food MediaAwards. Best Food Magazine

Just as in the fashion world, the fruit and vegetable year has its seasons. Forward-think-ing buyers will already be deciding what to order and, with you in mind, this issue pre-views an attractive winter product for when things start turning chilly: grapefruit. Not afruit generally associated with Spain (not even by the Spanish!), but one that we do ratherwell, as France and Germany have been finding increasingly these last few years.Exporting traditional sweets, cakes and biscuits is a trickier business—national prefer-ences vary so much, and we all have our childhood favorites, so often endowed with thepower of Proustian recall. Few foreigners would think of turning to Spain as a source, yetsome 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 wine needs no introduction—its reputation precedes it – but you may nothave heard about changes on the varietal front. We bring you the latest. Meanwhile, ourrange of rosés continues to get bigger and better. Read all about it.Spanish olive oil is settling nicely into the Chinese market, which (partly) explains whyPago de los Baldíos de San Carlos did its harvesting by moonlight last winter. Our spe-cial envoy had fun. As does John Barlow, with his delightful picnic made up of the sortof unusual products, some on the brink of extinction, that qualify for inclusion in theSlow Food movement’s Flagship.Here’s wishing our readers in the northern hemisphere an enjoyable summer break, andhappy reading to all.

Cathy [email protected]

AwardsGold Ladle in the Best FoodMagazine category, at the 2010Le Cordon Bleu World FoodMedia Awards.

Communications Award“Best Journalistic Work”from Alimentos de España,2006, Ministry of the Environmentand Rural and Marine Affairs.

Marqués de Busianos Awardfrom the Royal Spanish Academyof Gastronomy.

Design Award from the SpanishAssociation of DesignProfessionals (AEDP),1995.

Special Gastronomy Awardfrom the Fine Cuisine Associationand the Royal Spanish Academyof Gastronomy,1988.

“La Gula y Bachiller en Fogones1998” Award from El Nuevo Lunes,a Spanish weekly economic publication.

Spanish Food Journalism Award,1990, Ministry of the Environmentand Rural and Marine Affairs.

Printed on PEFC-certifiedpaper to promote theresponsible managementof our forests.

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with the citrus and white fruit notesof the variety, make the Alodia avery original rosé.

Restored varietiesOther native varieties that are alsobeing featured in rosés can befound in vineyards close to theMediterranean.One of them is the Monastrell grape(Spain Gourmetour No. 75), whichgrows mostly in the Designations ofOrigin in Murcia (Yecla, Jumilla,and Bullas). Thanks to the greatprestige of the fortified wines fromMurviedro (today’s Sagunto), thisvariety was even exported tosouthern France, where it wascalled Mourvèdre. Today, Monastrellis again in fashion for its rich, fruityreds. And it is also used in excellentrosés such as the CastañoMonastrell Rosado 2009, in whichits very Mediterranean character,reminiscent of very ripe red fruit,is combined with the freshness andstructure of the two leading lightson the international wine scene,Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.Another Mediterranean variety thatis again receiving much attention isBobal (Spain Gourmetour No. 77),which grows both along the eastcoast of Spain and inland in thesmall DO Manchuela (SpainGourmetour No. 73). In Utiel-Requena, where this is thepredominant variety, the reds arebecoming increasingly good andthere are also some noteworthyrosés, such as the Aula BobalRosado de Lágrima 2008 (BodegasCoviñas), a wine with a

pronounced strawberry color,aromas of herbs and fresh fruit anda clean, refreshing flavor.Further north, in Catalonia, there aretwo native varieties that haverecently been acknowledged, bywinemakers and consumers alike, asproducing excellent rosés. TheSumoll, from the Penedès region,was almost completely abandonedand is still not included in the DO’slist of authorized varieties, eventhough in the early 20th century itwas the predominant variety in thispart of the country. But it has beenmaking a comeback, easily winningsupporters when they taste thePardas Sumoll Rosat 2009, whichthe Celler Pardas winery presents asthe “rehabilitation of our roots”. Thisis a wine with a bright color, touchesof balsam, mint, licorice,blackberries, strawberries andorange skin, with a creamy, lingeringflavor. Since this wine is made fromthe unauthorized Sumoll grape, itcannot be included as a DO Penedèswine, so it is sold as vi de taula (tablewine). Other firm advocates of theSumoll are found at the HeretatMont-Rubí winery, in the AltPenedès region, which has justlaunched Advent Sumoll 2008, anunusual sweet rosé wine made from

bunches of this variety that are firstdried in a barn for 120 days. Afterfermentation in the barrel and ageingon the lees, the Advent Sumoll offerscomplex notes of honey, driedapricots and fading flowers with acreamy, balanced flavor.The other Catalonian grape that isbeing retrieved from oblivion isTrepat, which still survives in thevineyards of Costers del Segre andConca de Barberà. It is consideredan interesting alternative to theusual Merlot and Pinot Noir in theproduction of rosé wines, both stilland sparkling. Generally speaking,these are light, easy-to-drink wines,whose main appeal lies in theirclear raspberry notes which lastjust a few months after bottling.Amongst the most fragrant rosésmade from this variety is the PortellRosat Trepat 2009, made by theVinícola de Sarral in the DO Concade Barberà; it is a fresh, cheerfulwine, with pleasant hints of peachand well-integrated acidity and it iswell suited to spicy Asian food.This section on Spanish rosé winesproduced from native varietiesmust necessarily also include amost unusual wine, the Brumas deAyosa Malvasía Rosado 2008, madeby the Bodega Comarca Valle de

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Güimar, on the Canary Island ofTenerife (Spain Gourmetour No.80). This is an exquisite sweetwine, which achieves a delicatecontrast between its richness andits acidity, this being a typicalcharacteristic of the best Malvasíawines from the Canaries, with theadded plus of an exotic hint offresh guava in its bouquet. This isthe only wine on the market tofeature the Malvasía Rosada, avariety that is all but extinct.

With a FrenchaccentOf course, it is not only nativevarieties that are behind theSpanish rosé boom. Varieties suchas Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon,Pinot Noir and Petit Verdot arealso playing their part.Of all of them, the one that seemsto be the center of attention forrosés in Spain is Merlot. In fact,Merlot rosés are coming from awide range of DOs. Amongst thesingle-variety rosés, one of the bestI have tasted is Olvena Rosado2009 (DO Somontano), which isvery faithful to the typicalBordeaux aromas—intense notesof fresh red fruit, against a

background of violets—and anenticing full, balanced flavor.Another is Castillo de MonjardínRosado 2009, from DO Navarra,which offers the freshness typical ofthe more northern Merlot vineyardsin Spain. And in combinations withother varieties, the Arrayán Rosado2009, from the DO Méntrida,offers a dialogue between Merlotand Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignonand Petit Verdot, giving a wine withexuberant notes of cherry andwhite blossom and a creamy,refreshing flavor. Syrah is anotherof the French varieties that leadsto interesting results in rosé wines.An example is Primeur Rosado2009, a monovarietal producedby the Gramona family, which hasnow been working in the Penedèsregion for 130 years. This wineoffers intense berry aromas anda fleshy, full flavor.The same can be said aboutCabernet Sauvignon, which is thestar in Enate Rosado 2009, byViñedos y Crianzas del AltoAragón, one of the leading wineriesin the Somontano district. Thisis a rosé with fine aromasof cranberries and raspberries,and a full, succulent flavor witha vivacious acidity.

But undoubtedly the most exoticof the Spanish rosés made fromFrench grapes is the Petit Verdot2009, a surprise from the wineryand hotel Pago del Vicario, inCiudad Real (Castile-La Mancha,central Spain). A Petit Verdot roséfrom the banks of the GuadianaRiver may seem strange, but thisis a wine with a very markedcolor—closer to a light red thana real rosé—with fresh aromatichints of sharp strawberry andcherry candy against a backdropof violets, and a taste that is fullof body and richness.A magnificent example of thediversity of 21st-century Spanishrosé wines.

Federico Oldenburg is a Swedish-Argentinean journalist who has beenliving in Spain since 1989. He haswritten on food, wine, spirits andlifestyle for publications such asVogue, Gentleman, Sibaritas,El Mundo, Diario 16 andEl Economista. His latest book isSaber de vino en 3 horas(2011, Ed. Planeta).

We would like to extend ourthanks to the wineries for sendingbottles for the photo report.

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MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOUR 19

RIOJADOCa

After years of resistance, in 2007 DOCaRioja introduced a selection of additionalred and white grape varieties, includingsome from outside the region. PatriciaLangton looks at what has changed sofar, which new varieties are findingpopularity, and the valuable role playedby minority grapes such as Graciano,Garnacha, Viura and Malvasia.

Grape VarietiesUnder the Spotlight

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grape as one of the ancient minoritygrapes worthy of recuperating andbeing given a place in the modernDOCa Rioja winemaking scene.The vineyard was established in1917 and originally belonged toSancha’s grandfather but, with theexception of some highly prized 90-year-old Garnacha vines, most ofthe vines are Maturana Tinta plantedten years ago, making them someof the more established plantingsof the variety in the region.“This is one of the coldest areasof DOCa Rioja and it’s challengingto get grapes to ripen here, but weget higher acidity levels. We’veplanted Maturana Tinta on south-facing slopes and we practiceorganic viticulture,” says Sancha.He’s particularly pleased with the2009 vintage of his Ad LibitumMaturana Tinta, a year whichbrought near perfect dry conditionsin this area. This wine certainly hasplenty of character, with attractivebalsamic notes on the nose and anelegant, perfumed fruit on thepalate, bearing some similarities to

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When a new trend has emergedfrom DOCa Rioja in recent years,it has generally been as a result ofwinemaking innovation or oakusage rather than the arrival of anew grape variety. Here, probablymore than in any other Spanishregion, traditional local grapeshave been defended withdetermination, while grapes fromoutside the region have, until now,been kept in the shadow.However, in 2007, and followinga lengthy research program,DOCa Rioja’s Consejo Regulador(Regulatory Council) gavethe green light to no fewer thannine additional grape varieties.The new arrivals comprised sixvarieties with local origins (threered: Maturana Tinta, MaturanaParda and Monastel, and threewhite: Tempranillo Blanco,Maturana Blanca and Turruntés)including a number of ancientvarieties which were on the vergeof extinction. More controversially,three far more familiar white grapevarieties from outside the region(Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blancand Verdejo) were also given theConsejo’s seal of approval.This was the first change to theselection of grape varieties whichwas established when DOCa Riojaemerged as Spain’s first DO in1925 (the superior DOCa statuswas granted in 1991). The originalgroup—Tempranillo, Garnacha,Mazuelo, Graciano, Viura,Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca—still define DOCa Rioja wine styles,

but today Tempranillo is by farthe most widely-planted grape,while some of its more challengingsiblings play a lesser role inthe contemporary DOCa Riojawine scene.Indeed a quick glance at someof the Consejo’s statistics revealsthat plantings of Tempranilloalmost doubled from 1990 to2005, and by 2010 the varietyaccounted for 51,440 ha (127,111acres) of the total 63,200 ha(156,170 acres). Of course, thistrend has not been unique to DOCaRioja. Plantings of Tempranillohave increased in many otherregions of Spain as well, perhapsmaking the authorities in DOCaRioja mindful of the need to offer apoint of difference in the region’swines in the 21st century.

Maturana Tintagains followersFour years after the additionalgrape varieties were permitted, it istimely to look at what has changed,what we might expect in the future

thanks to the newcomers, andhow they fit in with their moreestablished siblings.Anyone expecting dramatic changewill be disappointed; new plantingsin European regions usually meanthat something else has to beuprooted first or new plantingrights obtained. New vine materialalso has to be made available,which is more complicated in thecase of ancient varieties. Finally,the adverse economic situation doesnot favor experimentation andinnovation, and some bodegas mayhave put plans on hold. But despitethe adversities, there are wines totaste and analyze and they arecertainly enough to excite the palate.Of the recovered ancient redvarieties—Maturana Tinta,Maturana Parda and Monastel—only the first of this trio, MaturanaTinta (see Maturana Tinta (fromNavarrete), page 21), has beenadopted by producers to date.On my recent visit I was keento see where the new MaturanaTinta vineyards are, how the grapeperforms in different areas ofthe region, and what kind of roleit might play in the future.I was also curious to know whyit has attracted a groupof enthusiastic supporters.My starting point is the FincaFuentelacazuela estate at Baños deRío Tobía on the Rioja Alta. This ishome to Maturana Tinta guru JuanCarlos Sancha who, together withfellow researcher FernandoMartínez de Toda, identified this

TEXTPATRICIA LANGTON/©ICEX

PHOTOSPATRICIA R. SOTO/©ICEX

The story so far: The variety isidentified in 1989 in a vineyard inNavarrete in the Rioja Alta sub-zoneto the southwest of Logroño.Unlike other ancient Riojan varietiesdiscovered at a similar time, nohistorical reference is found forMaturana Tinta in the region.A selection of the vines from theNavarrete source, which are thoughtto be around 115 years old, is madein a nursery and a small number ofplants become available toresearchers and eventually bodegas.

Character profile: Maturana Tinta ischaracterized by its small berries(around half the size of Tempranillo)and therefore offers a greater skin-to-pulp ratio than many other redvarieties. It features small andcompact clusters. Bud break comeslate but the variety is vigorous andripens early in the season, ata similar time to Tempranillo.

In the vineyard: The vine is relativelyeasy to cultivate but Botrytis can be a

potential problem. Careful vigilanceis required at harvest time to avoidherbaceous, green flavors. MaturanaTinta likes a warm location and needslittle water. The variety adapts well tomany different soils, thoughchalky/clay soils are preferable.

The finished wine: A good MaturanaTinta wine offers great depths of colorwith a hint of violet. The wine showsgreat depth of flavor and sweet darkfruit along with balsamic notes, hintsof spice and chocolate. Aciditylevels are generally high, and higher thanTempranillo, making the variety an idealpartner for the latter and a welcome newaddition for DOCa Rioja wines in general.

Where in DOCa Rioja? As yetplantings are relatively few, butMaturana Tinta vineyards are takingroot in a fairly diverse range of areasincluding Badarán, Baños de RíoTobía, Briones and Fuenmayorin the Rioja Alta, Oyón in the RiojaAlavesa, and in Villamedinaand Ausejo in the Rioja Baja.

Maturana Tinta(from Navarrete)


Maturana Tinta vineyards isFinca Valpiedra, near the townof Fuenmayor. Here I met withoenologist Lauren Rosillo, whotold me about why he is keento support the grape.On joining the bodega in 2007he was given the go-ahead toreplace Cabernet Sauvignon andMazuelo with other varieties thathe felt would offer better results,and under his guidance MaturanaTinta and more plantings ofTempranillo are being undertaken.“Maturana Tinta has similarcharacteristics to CabernetSauvignon, but it is easier to losethe pyracine flavors (green vegetalnotes). The grape also reminds meof Carmenère when it ripens well.”Rosillo shows me the youngMaturana Tinta vines, which arelocated very close to the banksof the tree-lined Ebro River. This isa remarkably scenic location, butwhat influence does the river have?“There is greater potential forBotrytis here, but it hasn’t been aproblem yet… and on hotter daysthe river can have a positive coolinginfluence on the vines,” Rosilloexplains. He encourages goodexposure to the sun by a verticaltraining system without wires.It’s early days for Maturana Tintahere, but its role already seems tobe established. When the vintageis particularly favorable for thevariety—and Rosillo has highhopes for the 2010 vintage—it willbe blended with Tempranillo anda little Graciano for the top levelFinca Valpiedra wine, which is aged

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Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot.Moving towards the heart of theregion, other Maturana Tintavineyards have been establishedby Bodegas Pedro MartínezAlesanco in Badarán. In 2004,they made their first vintage fromthe new variety in collaborationwith the University of La Riojaand, encouraged by initial results,the bodega now makes both ablend and a varietal wine from thevariety. Indeed, as oenologist PilarTorrecilla explains, the varietyoffers a number of advantagesover others for this bodega: “Dueto the particular microclimate ofthis part of the Rioja Alta, we canonly make wines with Tempranilloand Garnacha, as Graciano andMazuelo don’t ripen sufficiently.So Maturana Tinta is an interestingnew proposition for us, providingboth greater complexity in agedwines and vinified on its own.”Indeed, the variety gets Torrecilla’snod of approval in both thevineyard and the winery. She findsit very easy to grow, but emphasizesthe need for particular vigilance inthe last stages of ripening to avoidthe appearance of herbaceousflavors in the wine.

Alternativeto CabernetSauvignon?Maturana was discovered in theheart of La Rioja at Navarrete, andone of the bodegas closest to theoriginal vineyard and with fledgling

Carlos Martínez Bujanda. Finca Valpiedra


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from some of them from everyvintage. In 2001, Bodegas Valdemarmade its first Graciano wine at atime when plantings of this grapehad fallen to perilously low levelsin La Rioja. At around the sametime, oenologist Gonzalo Ortizstarted to experiment with othervarieties, including Maturana Tinta,by vinifying small amounts of wineand studying the wine’s evolutionin different types of oak.In the 2005 vintage, he wassufficiently convinced by thevariety to offer it to the marketunder the Inspiración Valdemarlabel. Indeed, this impressive winewas the first wine which attractedmy attention to the variety. Heretoo the choice of oak is Frenchwith a light toast and the winespent 20 months in the barrel.Ortiz has to be completelyconvinced by a vintage to offerMaturana Tinta under theInspiración label. The next vintagewill be the 2008, and this wine hasspent a slightly shorter time of 16months in oak; it also contains alittle Tempranillo to enhance thewine’s aromatic profile.So far the bodegas working withMaturana Tinta that I’ve mentionedare located in the central areas ofthe DOCa Rioja region. However,I’m told that the variety can adaptto a wide range of soils, it has goodresistance to drought, and it likeswarmer though not excessivelywarm areas. So could the RiojaBaja, the driest and warmest sub-zone of the region, offer goodpotential for this grape?

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in French oak, and when it doesn’texcel it will be used for the secondtier Cantos de Valpiedra.Other producers who have adoptedthis variety include Viña Ijalba, abodega located on the outskirts ofLogroño and one already respectedfor its work with minority grapes,including Graciano. The firstMaturana Tinta vines were plantedhere in 1997; they produced thefruit for its first Maturana Tintawine, Dionisio Ruiz Ijalba, in 2001.Occupying 1.5 ha (3.7 acres)alongside the bodega, these vinesare under organic viticulture andyield 5.9-7.8 tons (6-8,000 kg) ofgrapes each year for this wine.Four more hectares (9.8 acres) atVillamediana de Iregua, slightlyfurther east and just within theborders of the Rioja Baja, will allowfor greater selection from the fruit,and ultimately the aim is to includeMaturana Tinta in blends here.For now Maturana Tinta is a solo actand it’s getting better with everyvintage; I’m particularly impressedwhen we taste the 2009 from thebarrel as we tour the cellar. Thiswine is maturing gracefully, nodoubt helped along by the choiceoak—French Burgundian oak with amedium toast—and it already showsvery elegant tannins and deliciousmouth-watering dark fruit.Bodegas Valdemar in Oyón was alsoone of the first to offer a MaturanaTinta wine as part of its range ofmonovarietals. The view here, as atViña Ijalba, is that local grapes ofcharacter should be defended evenif it is not possible to make wine

Chema del Río. Bodega Barón de Ley


when it is aged in both French andAmerican oak and, in Barón de Ley’svineyards, he’s seeing a fairly regularpattern in the grape’s performancefrom one vintage to the next.I leave Barón de Ley increasinglyconvinced that this variety is agrape of interest for the future andit seems likely that we will see itemerge from a variety of areas, eachoffering their take on the grape.

Graciano revivalWhile still in the Rioja Baja, it’sencouraging to see a healthynumber of wines featuring a verydistinctive grape—Graciano—a minority grape found in thevineyards of La Rioja and,to a lesser extent, Navarre.Although the variety offers goodresistance to disease, many areasof the Rioja Alta and Alavesa arenot warm enough or suitable forthis late-ripening grape, and manyproducers who do offer a Gracianowine in these two areas—includingContino, Bodegas Valdemar andCasa Primicia—aren’t able to doso every year.By 1990, the number of hectaresof Graciano had fallen under 200(494.2 acres) as producers replacedit in favor of the increasinglypopular, easier to grow and lessrisky Tempranillo.Thankfully, its fortunes havebeen reversed, due largely to thededication of a number ofproducers in the Rioja Baja,including the previously mentionedBarón de Ley, the Viñedos deAldeanueva co-operative, Bodegas

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To find out, I head to one of themost innovative producers in theRioja Baja: Barón de Ley, a bodegalocated at Mendavia, to the north ofthe Ebro River. Over the last decade,this producer has broadened therange of grape varieties with whichit works. Tempranillo vineyards ofvarious ages account for by far thelargest share of plantings, butGarnacha and Graciano havebecome more important.In the last few years Barón de Leyhas also planted Maturana Tinta.By the time of the 2010 harvest,around 2 ha (4.9 acres) were inproduction and more will come onstream in the next few years,including 20 ha (49.4 acres) plantedat its vineyard in Ausejo in 2009.The bodega’s oenologist, Chemadel Río, has made two vintages ofMaturana Tinta, so I’m interestedto hear his views about the varietyand, of course, taste the wines: the2009, which has already had timein oak, as well as the 2010. It’searly days for the 2010 MaturanaTinta, which was picked earlierthan the previous vintage to avoidexcessively high alcohol, but I’mintrigued by the particularlyseductive 2009 wine, with its deepinky color, intensity of flavor andelegant tannins.Del Río is particularly enthusiasticabout the variety’s potential in RiojaBaja. He says: “It delivers massivecolor and structure as well asremarkable smoothness. I think thatit will make an excellentcontribution to blends.” He is alsofinding that the variety responds well

Jesús Madrazo. Contino


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del Medievo (also located in theAldeanueva area) and Bodegas yViñedos Ilurce in Alfaro.Viñedos de Aldeanueva has arelatively large resource of Gracianowith 100 ha (247 acres) spreadacross its members. The produceroffers a Graciano wine under itsAzabache range of varietals, and inthe best vintages a reserva wine isalso offered; the 2005 Reserva thatI taste at the bodega is incrediblyintense and has great potential forageing. It is also definitely a winefor the table. General manager AbelTorres sees a bright outlook for thevariety. He says: “Graciano willgrow in importance in the next tenyears in DOCa Rioja, but it needs tobe planted in the right place.”Santiago Garde, oenologist atBodegas de Medievo, firmly believesin the existing red local grapes. Hesays: “In DOCa Rioja, in the case ofred varieties, we have shown that weare able to make the different kindsof wines that the market needs.In the 1990s, when some wereconvinced that Bordeaux varietiesshould be allowed to provide winewith deeper color and complexity,others chose to recover Gracianofor the same result.”For Bodegas del Medievo, Gracianooffers something completelydifferent to other grapes, such asGarnacha, which is used by thisproducer to make young, everydaywines. Graciano has a much moresophisticated role, either supportingother varieties such as Tempranilloin blends or, with the right care andattention in the vineyard to tame

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yields and achieve optimumripeness, it makes an “extraordinarymonovarietal wine” for theconnoisseur and the wine expert.However, the traditional grapeof the Rioja Baja is Garnacha,and this variety has also lostout to Tempranillo in recent years,though in its case the tide couldalso be turning.Alvaro Palacios divides his timebetween his bodega in DOCa Prioratand Bodegas Palacios Remondo,established by his parents, in Alfaroin the Rioja Baja. He firmly believesthat Garnacha is best suited to thedry, Mediterranean climate here andthe chalky clay soils and, indeed, tomost of the Rioja Baja area. He says:“Now the Rioja Baja is mostlyplanted with Tempranillo; this is abig mistake. This area is one of thereal sources of classic Garnacha.”Half of the family’s 100 ha (247acre) estate was planted toGarnacha by his father, andPalacios is keen to replace most ofthe remaining Graciano andTempranillo with Garnacha—around 20% of non-Garnacha vineswill be kept. He’s also buying smallparcels of old vineyards at higheraltitudes and he’s experimentingwith different clones and rootstocksin a bid to make far more complexwines from the variety, just as hehas done so successfully in Priorat.

New white grapesdivide opinionsThe six white grape varieties whichwere approved for planting in 2007

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Telmo Rodríguez


can improve the quality of the whitewines from DOCa Rioja.”Santiago Garde at Bodegas delMedievo agrees that DOCa Riojaneeds grapes with “more fruitintensity” and explains why thisbodega plans to plant Chardonnay(in the Aldeanueva area). “Theextreme climate in our area makesit difficult to grow Verdejo orSauvignon Blanc. Chardonnay isbetter suited to this part of DOCaRioja; we can already see that itgrows well in nearby areas in thesouth of Navarre. In any case, itwill only be used in limitedamounts to support Viura.”But many others have an opposingview. Indeed it’s hard not to believethat DOCa Rioja has something tobe preserved and indeed nurturedwhen you taste wines with suchdramatically different styles such asLópez de Heredia’s fabulous agedViña Tondonia Viura/Malvasiawines and the same two grapes as afresh, vibrant young wine made ina thoroughly contemporary stylesuch as Amaren Blanco fromBodegas Luis Cañas.I was also pleased to try two newwines of my recent visit which willreach the market this year: ContinoBlanco 2009 (Viura, Malvasia andGarnacha Blanca), which is aged inFrench oak, and Barón de Ley’sBlanco Reserva 2008, also madefrom the same three grapes andaged in American oak.Oenologist Mercedes López deHeredia firmly supports local grapesand is against the move to plantforeign white varieties at the family’s

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have reignited debate about the roleof foreign varieties in DOCa Rioja,but first let’s take a look at theresponse to them.The group includes three localvarieties: Tempranillo Blanco,Maturana Blanca and Turruntés.Tempranillo Blanco, which wasdeveloped from a Tempranillo vinewhich had lost its color throughnatural mutation, seems to be themost popular choice of the three todate. Plantings of this variety stoodat 16 ha (39.5 acres) in 2010, whilethose of Maturana Blanca are lessand those of Turruntés smaller still.The other three grapes making upthe group are Verdejo, Chardonnayand Sauvignon Blanc. These well-known grapes look set to beplanted more widely. By 2010,plantings stood at 51 ha (126 acres)for Verdejo, 38 ha (93.9 acres) forChardonnay and 22 ha (54.3 acres)for Sauvignon Blanc; however, theywill only be permitted as part of awhite wine blend with Viura.Some believe that there is a need anda place for the foreign white varietiesto enable DOCa Rioja to competemore effectively in the white winemarket. Iker Madrid at Casa Primiciais one of those in favor. He says:“Viura and Malvasia leave us laggingbehind in terms of quality comparedto the best white grape varieties bothSpanish and international—varietiessuch as Albariño, Verdejo,Chardonnay, Riesling and SauvignonBlanc. In my view, Viura andMalvasia are too neutral on the noseand the palate, so I think that byintroducing the foreign varieties we

R.López de Heredia-Viña Tondonia.Mercedes López de Heredia. Bodega López de Heredia


MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOUR 19

RIOJADOCa

After years of resistance, in 2007 DOCaRioja introduced a selection of additionalred and white grape varieties, includingsome from outside the region. PatriciaLangton looks at what has changed sofar, which new varieties are findingpopularity, and the valuable role playedby minority grapes such as Graciano,Garnacha, Viura and Malvasia.

Grape VarietiesUnder the Spotlight

R.L

ópez

deH

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ia-V

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can improve the quality of the whitewines from DOCa Rioja.”Santiago Garde at Bodegas delMedievo agrees that DOCa Riojaneeds grapes with “more fruitintensity” and explains why thisbodega plans to plant Chardonnay(in the Aldeanueva area). “Theextreme climate in our area makesit difficult to grow Verdejo orSauvignon Blanc. Chardonnay isbetter suited to this part of DOCaRioja; we can already see that itgrows well in nearby areas in thesouth of Navarre. In any case, itwill only be used in limitedamounts to support Viura.”But many others have an opposingview. Indeed it’s hard not to believethat DOCa Rioja has something tobe preserved and indeed nurturedwhen you taste wines with suchdramatically different styles such asLópez de Heredia’s fabulous agedViña Tondonia Viura/Malvasiawines and the same two grapes as afresh, vibrant young wine made ina thoroughly contemporary stylesuch as Amaren Blanco fromBodegas Luis Cañas.I was also pleased to try two newwines of my recent visit which willreach the market this year: ContinoBlanco 2009 (Viura, Malvasia andGarnacha Blanca), which is aged inFrench oak, and Barón de Ley’sBlanco Reserva 2008, also madefrom the same three grapes andaged in American oak.Oenologist Mercedes López deHeredia firmly supports local grapesand is against the move to plantforeign white varieties at the family’s

30 31

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DOCa RIOJA

have reignited debate about the roleof foreign varieties in DOCa Rioja,but first let’s take a look at theresponse to them.The group includes three localvarieties: Tempranillo Blanco,Maturana Blanca and Turruntés.Tempranillo Blanco, which wasdeveloped from a Tempranillo vinewhich had lost its color throughnatural mutation, seems to be themost popular choice of the three todate. Plantings of this variety stoodat 16 ha (39.5 acres) in 2010, whilethose of Maturana Blanca are lessand those of Turruntés smaller still.The other three grapes making upthe group are Verdejo, Chardonnayand Sauvignon Blanc. These well-known grapes look set to beplanted more widely. By 2010,plantings stood at 51 ha (126 acres)for Verdejo, 38 ha (93.9 acres) forChardonnay and 22 ha (54.3 acres)for Sauvignon Blanc; however, theywill only be permitted as part of awhite wine blend with Viura.Some believe that there is a need anda place for the foreign white varietiesto enable DOCa Rioja to competemore effectively in the white winemarket. Iker Madrid at Casa Primiciais one of those in favor. He says:“Viura and Malvasia leave us laggingbehind in terms of quality comparedto the best white grape varieties bothSpanish and international—varietiessuch as Albariño, Verdejo,Chardonnay, Riesling and SauvignonBlanc. In my view, Viura andMalvasia are too neutral on the noseand the palate, so I think that byintroducing the foreign varieties we

R.López de Heredia-Viña Tondonia.Mercedes López de Heredia. Bodega López de Heredia






17







16

ROSÉ WINE


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blends, fewer producers areprepared to accept the challenges ofgrowing the variety in the vineyard.At Bodegas Muga, also located inHaro, oenologist Jorge Muga says:“Malvasia is undoubtedly a difficultvariety for both the grower and thewinemaker. The grape is sensitiveto disease, ripens with difficultyand oxidation can be a problem.There is also a lot of confusionbetween the different kinds andquality levels of the variety. In ourbodega we work with three verydifferent qualities of Malvasia.”Muga believes that Viura should begiven far more attention to extractits potential as a quality grape andthat Garnacha Blanca also has avaluable role to play in partnershipwith Viura and Malvasia.When it comes to white grapes,DOCa Rioja is therefore at acrossroads, and now is a time forexperimentation and debate. Weare certainly likely to see morewhite wines emerging over the nextfew years, and hopefully they willattract new interest to the regionfor their individuality and quality.

Patricia Langton is an independentjournalist specializing in Spanishwines. Her work has appeared in anumber of publications and onlinemedia including Decanter.com,winesfromspainuk.com, The DrinksBusiness, Harpers Wine & Spirit,Square Meal and Off Licence News.She is also the co-author of 500White Wines (Sellers Pub Inc.).

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DOCa RIOJA

DOCa Rioja’s grapes each havesomething to offer when it comes tomatching the region’s wines with food.Here are some examples of theregion’s more distinctive wines anddishes to go with them.

Luis Cañas Amaren BlancoFermentado 2009 (Viura and Malvasia)with marinated salmon. This barrel-fermented wine spends some time onthe lees giving it structure, protectingits aromas, allowing it to last in thebottle. The more complex style andthe wine’s subtle citric flavors make itan ideal partner for richer fish.

López de Heredia Viña Tondonia GranReserva 1987 (Viura and Malvasia) withcaldereta, Spanish rice stews andstronger flavored fish dishes. The greatcomplexity and honeyed savorycharacter of this golden classic DOCa

Rioja white wine makes it incrediblyversatile for food pairing. Mercedes Lópezde Heredia offers this suggestion but, asshe also points out, this wine works wellwith egg—not an easy food to match withwine—so try also tortilla or scrambledeggs with smoked salmon.

Bodegas Valdemar InspiraciónValdemar Maturana Tinta 2005 withroast lamb, potatoes, carrots and peas.This is Ana Martínez Bujanda’s favoritematch for this wine from her family’sbodega. Maturana Tinta, especially as asolo act, is a powerful wine capable ofstanding up to a rich meat such as lamb.

Contino Graciano 2007 with fried spicychistorra sausage. Graciano has verydistinctive flavors with a much darkerfruity taste than Tempranillo, so its winescan be matched with strong flavors.Contino’s Graciano easily meets the

DOCa Riojawines at the table

challenge of a spicy Riojan sausage.

Bodegas Palacio RemondoLa Montesa 2008 (Garnacha,Tempranillo and Mazuelo) with Ibericoham. This wine shows three localgrapes working in perfect harmonyto produce an elegant wine which canbe enjoyed with lighter foods.

Bodegas Mitarte MazueloMitarte 2006 with baked fish, stuffedmeats or spicy casserole dishes.Mazuelo varietal wines are rare andvery few are made from exceptionallyold vines, 100-years-old vines in thiscase. The grace and maturity of thevineyard is revealed in the wine, whichis beautifully structured with intense redfruit flavors and perfectly integrated oak.As winemaker Ignacio Gil suggests,it is a versatile wine that can bematched with both fish and meat.

vineyards in Haro. She says: “Toaccept a variety like Verdejo lookslike we’re acknowledging a lack ofquality in Viura.” She believes thathigh yields are the root of theproblem for Viura: “When you usehigh yields of Viura you don’t get ayoung, aromatic wine. Viura isaromatic with 3-4,000 kg (6,613-8,818 lb) per ha (2.47 acres) andMalvasia is a very aromatic variety.We must defend our local varieties.”However, plantings of Malvasia inDOCa Rioja are now only half whatthey were ten years ago as, despiteits valuable contribution to white


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SLOWFOOD


The Story of a Cheese thatCame Back to Life

John Barlow travels to the Basque Country insearch of one of Spain’s most exciting and soughtafter slow foods. The story of its survival, likethose of numerous other Spanish slow foods, isone of an endless passion for food and theenduring belief that our food heritage not onlydeserves celebrating but desperately needs ouractive support. It’s also about taste. Lots of it.

in SpainTextJohn Barlow/©ICEX

PhotosPablo Neustadt/©ICEX

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the Slow Food movement tochampion traditional, regionally-produced food as an alternative tofast food.

SurvivalSlow foods don’t just needchampions, they need saviors.Traditional foods can easily disappearfrom the face of the Earth, never toreturn. Indeed, by the time you could

get a Big Mac and eat it on theSpanish steps in Rome, it was almostimpossible to find the carranzana caranegra cheese traditionally made usingmilk from the black-faced breed ofsheep here with me today. Wolveshad made a comeback in the area,and while flocks diminished in size,the sheep’s milk also fell from favor.This was partly due to a huge growthin sales of another Basque cheese inthe 1980s and 90s, Idiazabal (Spain

Gourmetour No. 74), which usesmilk from the white-faced carranzanasheep but not its dark-visagedcousin. The black-faced sheepand the cheese, both native to theCarranza Valley in the Basqueprovince of Vizcaya, were about tofall off the map forever.Extinction is a natural process. Asyou read this, some unknown strainof Amazonian water gnat is probablybiting the evolutionary dust. Do we

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I’m halfway up a mountainsidein the area of Las Encartaciones,18 mi (28.9 km) southwest of Bilbao(northern Spain). My plan today isto taste some of the most exclusivefoods Spain has to offer, and by“exclusive” I mean “rare”, foods thathave come perilously close toextinction. Kneeling down, I beginto prepare the picnic, carefullyremoving items from my cooler:chorizo (a type of red sausage),

salchichón (a type of sausage, similarto saucisson or salami), cheese, a beansalad, wine. Fifteen black-faced sheephave joined me. They loiter close by,but turn away, their bells clangingout across the valley as they nudgeand bump each other, and I get thefeeling that they’re showing me theirrear ends deliberately. The cheese Iam about to eat was made with milkfrom the very udders between theirscrawny black legs. I couldn’t be

much closer to the source, but thesource doesn’t appear to enjoy beingso close to me.This is a story about slow food. Youmay already know that story... In1986, McDonald’s started sellingburgers in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna.Journalist Carlo Petrini, after chokingwith indignation on his morningbrioche, decided to do somethingabout the advancing ketchup-izationof the world, and set about founding

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care? Too late, it’s gone. But whenit comes to breeds of animal thathave been integral to the human foodsystem for centuries, their extinctionimpacts on the biodiversity of ourfood heritage, the living resource thatforms the basis of everything we eat.Carlo Petrini never wanted aworldwide ban of McDonald’s, he justwanted to ensure that thousandsof local “endangered” foods remainedavailable. And eaten. That’s whereI come in. Let’s eat...

PicnicThe cheese is one of the mostdistinctive I’ve ever tasted. For asheep cheese, there’s a surprisinglystrong tang to it, more acidity than atypical Idiazabal, for example. Itcomes in various stages of cure, butsemi-cured is ideal. This one is firm,dense, and quite dry; imagine anaged Wensleydale (PDO cheeseproduced in Yorkshire, England) witha touch of nuttiness and a complex

wash of creaminess following thatacidic punch (the milk of the black-faced sheep is high in fat). However,there are also some small pocketsof moisture remaining, becausethese small circular cheeses arepressed by hand, that is, by hands,no weights or pressing plates, justfinger power; indeed, the light-to-mid-brown skin is a little irregular,showing the faint indentations of thecheesemaker’s fingers. Each cheese isunique, and when you hold one, itfeels like an edible testament to thecenturies-old rhythms of life in thesehard, majestic hills.I wash the cheese down with a glassof Malvasía de Sitges, a malmsey fromSitges, just south of Barcelona. Itmight not be the obvious choice, butit is rich and fragrant, reminiscent ofan amontillado. Given the strengthand character of the cheese, it’s apretty amazing match! And in thiscase we can apply the word“exclusive” with confidence: the

Sitges malmsey is produced froma total of only 2.5 ha (6.1 acres) ofvines, mostly by the Hospital de SantJoan Baptista in Sitges. Equallyexclusive is the grape, the Malvasíade Sitges, which has thrived in thetown for centuries due to aparticularly accommodatingmicroclimate and a high acid content.A nice, exclusive marriage of cheeseand wine, then. But how is it that thecheese is still here at all? Ten yearsago the carranzana black-faced sheephad disappeared from their steephillside pastures. However, at thispoint a curious vessel-cum-biblical-metaphor came to the rescue.Captained by Dr. Mariano Gómez,the vessel was called the Ark of Taste.

Ark of TasteSeeking to “rediscover, catalog,describe and publicize forgottenflavors”, the Ark is in fact a registerof world heritage foods that need oursupport, published by the Slow Food

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movement. Whatever the natureof the threat to a particular food,the Ark is about celebrating themand getting us to consume them.From the grey Ukrainian cow andthe Madagascan Andasibe red rice tothe Montreal melon, many countriesare now involved.Ark foods must be of excellentquality and taste, traditional withina locality or region, and produced ona small, non-industrial scale. Theymust also conform to the overall foodvalues of Slow Food (high quality,ecologically “clean”, derived froma fair system of production). Spainhas about 80 Ark foods, from rareanimal breeds, fruit and vegetables,to cider. Those foods in the most direneed of help are given special statusas “flagship foods”; in addition tobeing of fabulous quality, flagshipfoods normally require direct,immediate intervention (organization,funding, infrastructure, marketing...)to avoid extinction.

There are nine such foods in Spainat the moment, including thecarranzana cheese and the Sitgesmalmsey, and I have most of theothers up here on the mountainside for my flagship picnic too. CarloPetrini implored us to save thesefoods by eating them: that’s whatI intend to do, a modestcontribution towards saving theworld’s biodiversity, my mini-Kyotoof the stomach.

Pig revivalToday’s meat comes in the form ofcured chorizos and fresh salchichónfrom the Euskal Tzerria pig, a nativeBasque breed that was on the vergeof extinction when Pello Urdapilleta,a farmer based in the northeasternprovince of Gipuzkoa (northernSpain), decided to resurrect it,initially for his family’s ownconsumption. I went to visit Pelloyesterday at the palatial caserío(farmhouse) that the Urdapilletas

have occupied for generations, andto see the pigs themselves, who livefree-range in the surrounding woodsand pastures. Thanks in part to thepromotional boost that Slow Foodcan give small producers like Pello,through food exhibitions, tastings,contact with chefs, and in this casethe coveted “flagship” status,producing the Euskal Tzerria is nowa viable business, a gourmet pigto compete with the best that Spainhas to offer.Pello’s dry cured ham immediatelyreminded me of Iberico, withplenty of infiltrated fat and that silkysheen on the ham’s surface at roomtemperature. The flavor of EuskalTzerria is delicate yet seriouslyporky, with sweet notes and lots ofcreamy fat, and it’s a great advert forhow food conservation can widenand diversify a market. Both freshand cured, Euskal Tzerria hasbecome a firm favorite among Basquechefs, and is earning a fine reputation

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further afield; a Japanese chef paidthe pigs a visit the week before me.Back at the picnic I slice a coupleof pieces of chorizo and offer themto my guests. Not the sheep:there are also two humans with me,José Ignacio Isusi, the shepherd, andMariano Gomez, who these days isPresident of Spain’s Slow Foodorganization. Mariano’s iPhone neverstops as he constantly dishes outadvice and help to foodies andfarmers and Slow Food activists.Meanwhile, José keeps the black-faced sheep in order, and watchesas I prepare what must look like the

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cheapest dried beans in my localsupermarket. Some things just ain’tcheap. Try them. They’re worth it.They are very special indeed.With a stone-faced shepherd lookingon, I dress the beans in the slowestway possible. First off, the olive oil isfrom thousand-year-old trees in theValencian district of Maestrat (Aceitede Olivos Milenarios del Maestrat). Olivetrees in other parts of the IberianPeninsula have been carbon-dated to2,000 years old, so calling the trees“millenarian” is no advertising hype.Maestrat has one of the world’slargest remaining concentrations ofsuch superannuated trees, althoughto the untrained eye, their fat gnarledtrunks, with chaotic branchesshooting out of the top, look morelike Norwegian trolls in need of ahaircut. Until quite recently peopleused to uproot the trees and re-plantthem in private gardens, sometimesoverseas. Local man Ramón Mampeldecided to take action. Eighteen yearsof action. The regional governmentfinally granted the trees legalprotection, and the association Clotd’En Simó was founded to make oil.The farga olives of Maestrat producean oil that is fresh and floral, with ahint of spice at the finish. Onlyperfect examples of the hand-gathered olives are used, cold-pressed within six hours ofharvesting, and the juices are notsubject to filtering processes, all ofwhich leads to an oil with a hugelysmooth, vigorous character. Five orsix thousand liters per year (1,320-1,585 gal) are now produced, and

Slow Food’s recognition of the oilsimply gilded what was already aremarkable story of millenarianconservation. You can also followseven walking routes in the area,taking you past these amazing trees.Watch out for trolls, though.

Onions and saffronIn the oil I have softened somepurple onions from Zalla, in theBasque Country. These onions carry“flagship” recognition, and againcame within a heartbeat ofextinction. Only one lady, Ana MariLlaguno, was still growing them,

and what little she sold fetchedaround 70 cents per kg (2.2 lb)at a local market. Then four morewomen became interested, andat the same time Slow Foodrepresentatives started showing theonions to local chefs. The Zalla onionhas a mild, sweet taste and crunchy,juicy flesh. You can use it raw, butit was also traditionally used inthe local salsa vizcaína (an onion,tomato and pepper sauce) and inmorcillas (blood sausages).In other words, an old, traditionalproduct with excellent properties.Chefs immediately agreed, anddemand sky-rocketed. The fivegrowers can now charge 3.50euros per kg, and their purpleonions are used in some of Europe’sbest restaurants.My onion dressing also contains anindecent amount of flagship saffron.It’s from the area of Jiloca, in theprovince of Teruel, eastern Spain(best known for its cured ham),which sits at an altitude of 700-900m (2,296-2,952 ft) and has theperfect climate for growing saffron:long, cold winters and short, hotsummers. Half a dozen small-scaleproducers continue the cultivation ofsaffron here, a tradition dating backto the Arab settlement in Spain over amillennium ago. About four-fifths ofthe world’s saffron comes from eitherIran or Spain (see Gold Standard,Rediscovering Fine Spanish Saffron,Spain Gourmetour No. 81), and of theSpanish product, Jiloca is one of thebest, 100% organic, and, frankly,cooking with it is about as sexy as

most pretentious lunch that’s ever

been eaten in these hills...

Slow saladI arrange a white bean salad on a

plate. The Mongetes de Ganxet are

smaller and more delicate than

normal beans, hook-shaped, with a

buttery texture and skin so fine that

it almost disappears in the mouth.

They are cultivated in four small

areas in eastern Catalonia, where the

soil is ideal for this fragile, low-

yielding plant, which needs constant

watering and is difficult to harvest

without damaging the beans. Theganxet has long been noted for itsexceptional quality, but its labor-intensive cultivation and harvestingled to much crossing of the strain.Several years ago a collective was setup to guarantee the production ofauthentic beans produced ontraditional, organic lines. Recognitionas a Slow Food flagship foodfollowed, helping to establish theganxet as a product of supremelyhigh quality. These beans will neverreplace high-yielding, non-organicbeans. At 10 euros per kg (2.2 lb),they’re about ten times the cost of the


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you can get with flower stigmas.José occasionally whistles aninstruction to his dog, which dartsaround the sheep as I finalizepreparations for the picnic. It wasabout ten years ago that Mariano andJosé tracked down and bought someof the very last black-facedcarranzana sheep, to try and halt thebreed’s seemingly terminal decline.These days they have around 50 headof sheep, with plans to grow to 80within five years; a few other flockshave also been established, and thereare around 200 black-faced sheepnow in existence.

The cheesemakerWith the sheep saved, next camesaving the cheese. Cue the girl with

the cheesemaker’s fingers. Begoña

Isusi, José’s daughter, went in search

of people still making the cheese, and

found one old lady, who was 85 at

the time. Begoña learned how to do

it. Just in time. Since then production

has risen steadily, to a current output

of around 4,000 small cheeses

(c. 350 g / 12.3 oz). Unpasteurized

carranzana milk, organic rennet and

organic salt are the only ingredients.

PVC replicas of the original circular

molds are used, and Begoña’s

fingerprints can now be seen in

restaurants and on connoisseurs’

cheeseboards everywhere. It’s not

available year-round, because

although it does keep well enough to

guarantee an annual supply, it always

sells out. If you can’t get any, Slow

Food has a stall in Bilbao’s RiberaMarket, where the cheese will costyou 22 euros per kg. If the marketis closed, they often have it on themenu at the restaurant of theGuggenheim Museum. In fact,the Guggenheim uses five of thecurrent flagship foods, and manyother restaurants are similarlyenthusiastic.So there it is, a story with a happyending. Resurrecting the carranzanablack-faced sheep’s cheese impliedrebuilding the sheep stock; localpastures could then continue in theirancestral use, and the rural economybenefited. Like the Euskal Txerriapigs, the ganxet beans and the otherflagship products, it’s a greatexample of how the demise of aheritage food can be turned around,not through government subsidies,but by reestablishing traditions thatcan support themselves in themarketplace. Saving rare foods(and breeds) from extinction isabout maintaining the biodiversityof our food chain and makingnon-industrial food productioneconomically viable, and aboutmaking sure that these alternativesare the most delicious and authenticpossible. Begoña’s cheese ticksall the boxes.

John Barlow's fiction and non-fictionhas been published in eight languages.His latest book, Everything butthe Squeal, describes a year-longsojourn in his adopted homelandof Galicia, northwest Spain,exploring the gastronomicand cultural significance of pigs.

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Web sites

http://slowfood.es

Official site of Slow Food Spain(Spanish)

The current list of Spain’s nineflagship slow foods, plus contactinformation where available:

· Basque Euskal Txerria pig(Cerdo Euskal Txerria)[email protected]

· Basque maiz flatbreads(Talo de Mungia) Local marketsin the Vizcaya province

· Capers from Ballobar(Alcaparras de Ballobar)http://alcaparras.wordpress.com

· Carranzana black-faced sheep’scheese (Queso de ovejacarranzana cara negra)[email protected]

· Ganxet white beans(Mongetes de ganxet)www.mongetadelganxet.cat

· Malmsey wine from Sitges(Malvasía de Sitges)Specialist wine sellers

· Olive oil from Maestrat(Aceite de olivos milenarios delMaestrat) http://www.intercoop.es

· Purple onion from Zalla(Cebolla morada de Zalla)Local markets in the Vizcayaprovince

· Saffron from Jiloca(Azafrán de Jiloca)http://www.azafranjiloca.com/

Many of these products, togetherwith others from the Ark of Taste,are available from the Slow Foodshop, Mercado de La Ribera, 2ªplanta, Bilbao.



Spanish grapefruit is winning friends abroad. Its yellow or blushing peel, tangy redpulp, nutritive qualities and fragrant aromas are helping it conquer a growing shareof the import markets in France, Germany and other European countries. In Spainhowever, grapefruit is virtually unknown on the domestic market and in traditionalSpanish gastronomy. In the heart of grapefruit country, farmers from Murcia are doingwhat they can to help spread the word about this succulent citrus made in Spain.

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It’s not unusual for people to returnfrom a trip to Murcia with theircars packed full of fruits andvegetables. Located in the southeastcorner of Spain, Murcia is snuglynestled between Andalusia,Valencia and the sea. Its semi-aridMediterranean climate is ideal forgrowing lettuce, artichokes,tomatoes and Monastrell grapesused for producing the area’sexcellent, full-bodied red wines.While lemon and orange trees area common sight, another of theprovince’s important products isgrapefruit, which is exported allover the world (albeit in smallquantities; the bulk head toEurope). In winter, the first glimpseof these orchards is striking. Asthe train winds south from Madrid,it snakes through barren apricot,plum and peach orchards, and pastbrown, stark landscapes dottedwith gleaming solar panels. On theoutskirts of Murcia, the vividgreenery of citrus trees, laden withfruit, suddenly transforms thelandscape into a colorfulMediterranean garden. On my wayhome from Murcia with a 20 kg(44 lb) box of grapefruit, I had abetter grasp of its role in Spain’sexport market and its bid forrecognition here at home.

Tropical treasureGrapefruit was discovered inBarbados in 1750 by GriffithHughes (1707-1758; Welsh

naturalist) who dubbed it the“forbidden fruit”, as he had beensearching for the tree of goodand evil in the Garden of Edenat the time. Its name was laterchanged to grapefruit, supposedlybecause its fruit hangs in clustersmuch like oversized bunches ofgrapes. The original grapefruit wasan accidental hybrid of two Asiantransplants, the shaddock andsweet orange. Shaddock, anancient citrus thought to haveoriginated in Asia as early as100 BC, is named for the EnglishCaptain Philip Shaddock, whopurportedly brought the first ofthese fruits to Barbados in 1649.Nowadays, it’s important todistinguish between grapefruitand shaddock, as the names areoften used incorrectly. Grapefruit,called pomelo in Spanish, is of thespecies Citrus paradisi, whileshaddock (sometimes calledpummelo) is of Citrus maxima,and is often referred to as Chineseor Asian grapefruit in Europeanmarkets. Shaddocks look more likegiant pears, and have firm orcrunchy pulp and a thick peel.Like many New World botanicals,the grapefruit eventually migratedto Spain. However, it never becamea traditional Spanish crop or astaple of the Spanish diet.Commercial grapefruit cultivationin Spain only began in the late1970s/early 1980s, and currentlyinvolves about 2,300 ha (5,683

acres) of land. Although grapefruitsare also grown in southern Valenciaand Alicante, and parts of Huelvaand Seville in Andalusia, Murcia iswithout a doubt the center for allthings grapefruit in Spain,accounting for approximately30,000 of the 55,000 tons ofgrapefruit produced here annually.This is particularly true in thesouthern areas of Campo deCartagena, the Guadalentín Valleyand Águilas.The agricultural wealth of Murcia isa meld of climate and geography:two rivers, the Segura and itstributary the Guadalentín; theMediterranean Sea; and a series ofmountain ranges that cut throughand surround the city of Murcia.The landscape varies from piney todeciduous forests; and the terrain,in some places rocky and sharp,later relaxes into fields and slopingorchards. According to José LuisAlbacete, whose company Earmuris located on the northern slope ofthe Sierra de Carrascoy Mountainsabout 14 km (8.7 mi) southwest ofthe city of Murcia, there are manyreasons why grapefruit is an idealcrop in this region.A pioneer of grapefruit cultivationin Spain, José Luis started out as analmond farmer, but increasingdifficulties in the market steeredhim towards trying something new.For 50 years, his grandfather haddedicated a small corner of land toexperimenting with the then little-known crop of grapefruit. José Luis

GRAPEFRUIT

TEXTADRIENNE SMITH/©ICEX

PHOTOSAMADOR TORIL/©ICEX

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SLOWFOOD


The Story of a Cheese thatCame Back to Life

John Barlow travels to the Basque Country insearch of one of Spain’s most exciting and soughtafter slow foods. The story of its survival, likethose of numerous other Spanish slow foods, isone of an endless passion for food and theenduring belief that our food heritage not onlydeserves celebrating but desperately needs ouractive support. It’s also about taste. Lots of it.

in SpainTextJohn Barlow/©ICEX

PhotosPablo Neustadt/©ICEX


46

It’s not unusual for people to returnfrom a trip to Murcia with theircars packed full of fruits andvegetables. Located in the southeastcorner of Spain, Murcia is snuglynestled between Andalusia,Valencia and the sea. Its semi-aridMediterranean climate is ideal forgrowing lettuce, artichokes,tomatoes and Monastrell grapesused for producing the area’sexcellent, full-bodied red wines.While lemon and orange trees area common sight, another of theprovince’s important products isgrapefruit, which is exported allover the world (albeit in smallquantities; the bulk head toEurope). In winter, the first glimpseof these orchards is striking. Asthe train winds south from Madrid,it snakes through barren apricot,plum and peach orchards, and pastbrown, stark landscapes dottedwith gleaming solar panels. On theoutskirts of Murcia, the vividgreenery of citrus trees, laden withfruit, suddenly transforms thelandscape into a colorfulMediterranean garden. On my wayhome from Murcia with a 20 kg(44 lb) box of grapefruit, I had abetter grasp of its role in Spain’sexport market and its bid forrecognition here at home.

Tropical treasureGrapefruit was discovered inBarbados in 1750 by GriffithHughes (1707-1758; Welsh

naturalist) who dubbed it the“forbidden fruit”, as he had beensearching for the tree of goodand evil in the Garden of Edenat the time. Its name was laterchanged to grapefruit, supposedlybecause its fruit hangs in clustersmuch like oversized bunches ofgrapes. The original grapefruit wasan accidental hybrid of two Asiantransplants, the shaddock andsweet orange. Shaddock, anancient citrus thought to haveoriginated in Asia as early as100 BC, is named for the EnglishCaptain Philip Shaddock, whopurportedly brought the first ofthese fruits to Barbados in 1649.Nowadays, it’s important todistinguish between grapefruitand shaddock, as the names areoften used incorrectly. Grapefruit,called pomelo in Spanish, is of thespecies Citrus paradisi, whileshaddock (sometimes calledpummelo) is of Citrus maxima,and is often referred to as Chineseor Asian grapefruit in Europeanmarkets. Shaddocks look more likegiant pears, and have firm orcrunchy pulp and a thick peel.Like many New World botanicals,the grapefruit eventually migratedto Spain. However, it never becamea traditional Spanish crop or astaple of the Spanish diet.Commercial grapefruit cultivationin Spain only began in the late1970s/early 1980s, and currentlyinvolves about 2,300 ha (5,683

acres) of land. Although grapefruitsare also grown in southern Valenciaand Alicante, and parts of Huelvaand Seville in Andalusia, Murcia iswithout a doubt the center for allthings grapefruit in Spain,accounting for approximately30,000 of the 55,000 tons ofgrapefruit produced here annually.This is particularly true in thesouthern areas of Campo deCartagena, the Guadalentín Valleyand Águilas.The agricultural wealth of Murcia isa meld of climate and geography:two rivers, the Segura and itstributary the Guadalentín; theMediterranean Sea; and a series ofmountain ranges that cut throughand surround the city of Murcia.The landscape varies from piney todeciduous forests; and the terrain,in some places rocky and sharp,later relaxes into fields and slopingorchards. According to José LuisAlbacete, whose company Earmuris located on the northern slope ofthe Sierra de Carrascoy Mountainsabout 14 km (8.7 mi) southwest ofthe city of Murcia, there are manyreasons why grapefruit is an idealcrop in this region.A pioneer of grapefruit cultivationin Spain, José Luis started out as analmond farmer, but increasingdifficulties in the market steeredhim towards trying something new.For 50 years, his grandfather haddedicated a small corner of land toexperimenting with the then little-known crop of grapefruit. José Luis

GRAPEFRUIT

TEXTADRIENNE SMITH/©ICEX

PHOTOSAMADOR TORIL/©ICEX


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WINES

DOCa RIOJA













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was able to observe firsthand therelative ease with which thesecitrus fruits could be cultivated inthis area of plentiful sun, loose soil,and a virtual lack of diseases andfrosts. He spent time in Texas andelsewhere, intensively studyinggrapefruit cultivation. Back home,he began trying to convince hisfriends and neighbors to follow inhis footsteps and start planting thecitrus. Earmur currently producesabout 3,000 tons of grapefruit, butJosé Luis predicts that productionwill increase to 10,000 tons overthe next two to three years, whenthe youngest plantations reachmaturity. The company’s successwith this crop is immediatelyapparent. On my visit to theplantation in early December,dozens of partridges scurried likemad across a road lined withheavily laden grapefruit trees. Thegolden fruits grow in bunches thatare often concentrated towards theundersides of the tree, reachingdown to touch the land likefingertips. It was almost shockingto see so many large fruits on onetree, realizing that they must beharvested by hand, one by one.The area known as Águilas, which islocated on the coast, has an evenmore distinct microclimate, nestledas it is between the sea and themountains. The weather is very mildwith few extremes. This results inlower acidity in the fruit, sinceacidity is increased by largetemperature differences between dayand night, and by early winter cold.The company, Grupo G’s España, hasbeen cultivating grapefruit around

Águilas for the past 30 years. Part oftheir orchards are planted on oneside of the mountains overlookingthe sea, and the rest on the otherside, thereby assuring both early andlate crops. G’s España was a pioneerin bringing the variety Star Ruby toSpain at the end of the 1970s.According to Ponciano Pons, thecompany’s Senior Key AccountManager, the Star Ruby varietygrapefruits grown here are noticeablyless acidic than their Turkish orIsraeli counterparts. Although thecompany initially planted morevarieties, today it exclusively growsthe popular Star Ruby grapefruits,with an annual production of around8,000 tons a year.

Star Ruby vs.Rio RedGrapefruits are categorized bycolor into either colored (red orpink) or white varieties. The twomost important types currentlygrown in Spain are both redvarieties: Star Ruby and Rio Red.As grapefruit itself is a hybrid,the different varieties are eithernatural mutations, crosses, or,more often, developed via budor seed irradiation. Star Rubywas created in 1970 throughirradiation. This seedless varietyis characterized by its fine, smoothskin, juiciness and deep, pinkish-red flesh, which is thought to bethe most intensely colored of anyvariety. Rio Red, also a productof irradiation, was developed in1976. These very juicy fruits tendto be less deeply colored than the

FOODBASICS

In some ways, the commonassociation of grapefruit with weightloss is not far off the mark.The “grapefruit diet” first appearedin the 1930s and has had severalresurgences of popularity ever since.In 2004, Dr. Ken Fujioka of theprestigious Scripps Clinic (SanDiego, US), confirmed the weightloss benefits of grapefruit in a 12-week study. One hundred men andwomen consumed the fruit withevery meal and gradually lost 3 to10 lb (1.3 to 4.5 kg). The researchersdetected a link between grapefruitand insulin, an important hormonewith regards to regulating fatmetabolism.

These benefits are only some of themany nutritional advantages of thiscitrus fruit. Grapefruit is oftenrecommended by doctors andnutritionists as an excellent source ofmany vitamins and other nutrients.According to Nutrition ActionHealthletter, published by theAmerican Center for Science in thePublic Interest, it has more fiber thanoranges, apples or bananas. Thisfiber helps prevent constipation andmay reduce the risk of colon cancer,while helping to lower cholesterol.Pink and red grapefruit also containan elevated amount of lycopene, anantioxidant thought to help preventprostate cancer, as noted in anarticle published by the University ofToronto Faculty of Medicine.

Grapefruit is an excellent source ofvitamins A and C, potassium andfolic acid, as well as being very lowin saturated fat, cholesterol andsodium. On a side note, grapefruithas been proven to increase theabsorption of certain medications.While this can have a positive effectwith some drugs, it can lead toundesirable results with others.

HealthfulGreatfruit


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HealthfulGreatfruit


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than 7,500 tons from the previousseason. For years the internationalgrapefruit market has beendominated by Florida, which, in the1990s had an average annualproduction of around 1.6 milliontons and accounted for 40-60% ofworld grapefruit exports. WhileFlorida still leads the world market,its share has declined this pastdecade due to debilitating freezes,hurricanes, citrus diseases, andother factors such as encroachingland development. In Europe,Florida grapefruits once were 45-50% of imports, but by 2006, theamount had dropped to only 20-25%. For Spain’s grapefruit growers,this changing world marketplace hasmeant opportunity, demonstrated bythe fact that 70-80% of Spanishproduction is currently exported.The majority of these 45,000 tons isexported to France, Germany,Poland and the Czech Republic,among others. Increasing quantitiesare also being sold to Russia, a high-potential new market.The question now for Spanishproducers is how to gain an evengreater hold on the world market.The obvious solution is to figureout how to differentiate Spanish

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50

Star Ruby variety, have a slightlythicker skin, and contain two tothree seeds per fruit. Both varietieswere developed by a Texas-basedresearcher, Richard Hensz.According to José Luis Albacete,the difference between these twovarieties can be subtle. To provehis point, he opened one of eachvariety straight off the trees forme to taste. Both had a refreshinglysharp acidity that was tempered bythe sweetness of the fruit and thecharacteristic grapefruit aroma.Both were the same size and shape,pale orange-yellow in color withdeep rosy highlights on the peel,and were the same dark pinkish-red inside. While I found it terriblyromantic to be savoring freshlypicked grapefruit in the middle of apicturesque citrus orchard insoutheastern Spain, I was at a lossto guess which variety was which.As it turns out, the real differenceis economic. José Luis explainedthat the variety Star Ruby is morewidely known, but time hasrevealed it to be somewhatdelicate, with less resistance to sunexposure after 15 years, and loweryields. Other grapefruit varieties,like the more robust Rio Red,typically produce fruit for 30to 40 years, and can live to be 100.A third grapefruit produced inSpain is the white variety knownas Marsh Seedless or White Marsh.First planted in around 1860 inFlorida, Marsh is one of theoldest grapefruit varieties and theone most commonly plantedthroughout the world. This

vigorous tree yields small tomedium sized fruits with soft andjuicy, whitish-yellow pulp. Thiswas the original variety cultivatedin Spain, but over the past tenyears cultivation has shifted almostentirely to the red varieties.This trend has been repeating itselfall over the world. José AntonioGarcía, Director of AILIMPO,the Spanish Lemon and GrapefruitInterprofessional Association,feels that much of this trend isaesthetic, based on a misconceptionthat red grapefruits will alwaysbe sweeter than the white varieties.However, José Luis Albacetebelieves that “anyone who trulyappreciates grapefruit likes thered ones best.”

Forgotten fruit,export successWhether it’s about red or white, thegrapefruit debate is likely to be lost

on many Spaniards. In fact, oneof the more surprising facts aboutSpain’s grapefruit crop is the factthat very few natives seem to knowit exists. According to a July 2010survey carried out by the SpanishMinistry of the Environment andRural and Marine Affairs (MARM)at the behest of AILIMPO, a mere16.4% of interviewed Spaniardsconsume grapefruit with any amountof frequency. At the same time, just23.6% identified Spain as a producerof this fruit. Only an estimated 20%of the 55,000 tons of grapefruitproduced annually in Spain are solddomestically. According to José Luis’sdaughter, Nieves Albacete, who nowruns Earmur, a large portion of thesesales go to hotels or cruise ships,which cater to foreign palates moreaccustomed to eating grapefruit asa regular part of their diets.Though there are currently only sixor seven Spanish companiesdedicated to this minority citrus,production quantities in Spain overthe past several seasons have eitherincreased or remained stable. Thecrop is also extremely solid here interms of price fluctuations. Thisstability is reflected in the fact thatSpanish grapefruit growers aremaking quite an impact on theEuropean import market. Spain isnow the fourth largest grapefruitexporter to the European Unionafter the United States (Florida),Israel and Turkey. During the 2009-2010 season, the country exportedover 43,300 tons to the EU and2,300 tons to non-EU countries.This was an overall increase of more

GRAPEFRUIT

Web sites

· www.ailimpo.comOfficial site of AILIMPO, theSpanish Lemon and GrapefruitInterprofessional Association.(English, Spanish)


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grapefruit from its competitors.Although the same varieties areproduced all over the world,climate and other environmentalfactors can have some effect onvarietal differences. Spanishgrapefruit is known for its perfectuniformity of color and tone, andits usually blemish-free appearance.In terms of individual variety, onedifferentiating factor is that SpanishStar Ruby fruits are generally largerthan their Turkish counterparts.This is important since Turkey isthe main exporter to a growingRussian market, which at timesdemands the larger fruit moreavailable from Spain.In terms of the market leader,Florida, José Luis Albacete assertsthat Spanish grapefruit is no moreacidic than the famously sweet

Florida fruit, and that the“difference between Florida andSpain is marketing”. He alsobelieves that the perceived lessersweetness of Spanish grapefruit issomething that local producersshould resolve together. Spain’sgrapefruit season lasts fromOctober to May. However, as theseason progresses the fruit ripensand sweetens, meaning that fallgrapefruits are much more acidicthan fruit harvested in January orFebruary. Early harvesting andexport of the more acidic fruitscreates a false perception of theiroverall quality. While countriessuch as South Africa strictly controltheir commercialization dates,Spain’s production is controlled bythe early market demand, which ofcourse means higher prices for the

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first fruits of the season.Small improvements in the alreadyexceptional fruit quality andproduction practices will probablynot improve Spain’s export marketshare that much. There is onefactor, however, that Spanishproducers are working hard toexploit, and it’s one that couldmake all the difference. As the onlygrapefruit-producing country in theEuropean Union, Spain’s clearadvantage comes down to shortershipping times. Companies likeEarmur and G’s España, as wellas AILIMPO, are doing what theycan to get the word out on theincomparable freshness of Spanishgrapefruit.


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The freshest fruitAt Earmur, Nieves Albaceteexplains that it’s not unusual forgrapefruits to be picked in themorning, prepared in the factory atmidday, and shipped to France inthe afternoon. Spain’s grapefruitsare all shipped via truck, whichhead directly to supermarketsthroughout the EU. Grapefruits areoften on the shelves by the verynext day, or at most, 72 hours afterpicking, in the case of the UnitedKingdom. The same is true forother Spanish producers, and thisprovides a huge advantage incomparison with other countries.Grapefruits produced in Turkeyand Israel are shipped to Europe byboat, which can take at least 7 to10 days after picking. Fruits fromFlorida, South Africa, and Mexicocan take a month to make the longjourney to supermarket shelves inEurope. This extended storage canlead to reduced acidity, insipid

flavor and susceptibility to fungus.Another selling point related tofaster delivery is the concept ofintegrated farming. A broad termthat refers to taking an integratedor global approach to agriculture,its practices involve promotingsustainability through methods forreducing waste and residues, andimplementing chemical alternativessuch as biological pest control. Thisagricultural technique is especiallyimportant in exporting to countrieslike Germany and France, whichput a premium on naturalproducts. The fact that grapefruitgrows so easily in Murcia meansthat farmers use very few chemicalfertilizers or pesticides. While thefruits are not considered strictlyorganic due to the generalized useof mineral supplements, NievesAlbacete points out that grapefruithere is virtually disease-free, so wedont need pre- or post-harvesttreatments. Without much need forpreservative methods, the

packaging and preparation processis also as natural as possible.A good place to see this in action isat the G’s España factory in TorrePacheco, about 40 km (25 mi) fromthe city of Murcia on the road toCartagena. G’s España produces8,000 tons of grapefruit a year, andthe efficiency of their lemon andgrapefruit processing plant explainshow these products are preparedand shipped so quickly. Grapefruitarrive from the fields and areseparated by color along a fast-moving conveyor by a line ofefficient women, who CommercialDirector Juan Alfonso Sánchezasserts, have “a better sense ofquality and aesthetics”. The fruit isthen washed with a neutral soap andwater and coated with a thin layer ofwax, which falls on the fruit indroplets that are distributed by fans.This protects the peel and helpsprevent dehydration. Thegrapefruits are checked for quality(size, color, damage) by an

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incredible battery of cameras thatalmost instantly record a 360-degreeview of each individual fruit, andsort it according to the establishedparameters. The final step ispackaging, where the fruits are putinto the boxes, bags or nettingrequired by each client, and thengiven an exact time stamp beforeshipping out. This factory canprocess up to 20,000 kg (44,092 lb)of fruit an hour—fruit that can beeaten the next day at someone’shome in Amsterdam or Lyon. As abonus for the workers, this modernfactory smells wonderful!

The versatilecitrusWhile grapefruit has had nodiscernable role in traditionalSpanish gastronomy, it’s nowpresent on the menus of many ofSpain’s renowned, avant-gardechefs, including Rodrigo de la Calleof Restaurante De La Calle inAranjuez (see Close-up, page 84),Joaquín de Felipe, of the EuropaDecó Restaurant in Madrid’s HotelUrban, and Antonio Gras, ofTraperia 30 in Murcia.Rodrigo de la Calle, the maestro ofgastrobotanical cuisine, loves theversatility of grapefruit, both zestand pulp, its fragrant aromas andflavors, and its freshness andbalanced acidity. In his words,“Grapefruit is very interesting for itselegance on the palate, its meatytexture, bold and addictive flavor,and nutritional properties. It’s agood accompaniment for sweet

shellfish, as the Citrus subtle aciditythat it lends to red prawns, forinstance, helps to temper theirsweetness. In desserts, I love thecombination of grapefruit with nuts,banana or cherimoya creams, whichare lightened by the citric notesof grapefruit.” This idea is reflectedin dishes like his Citrus cup withbanana foam and roasted chestnuts(Copa de cítricos con espuma deplátano y castañas asadas) andNorway lobster with braised redendives (Cigalas con endivias rojasbraseadas), which calls for an entirered grapefruit, as well as its zestin the sauce. Rodrigo, who is a self-described grapefruit juice “addict”,always prefers red grapefruit forits subtlety and aroma.Chef Joaquín de Felipe also playswith the versatility of red grapefruit,using it for both desserts and savorymain dishes, particularly in cevicheslike the one that he makes usingyellowtail (fish) and chilies, whichare macerated with grapefruit andother citrus juices. For him,“grapefruit balances the citrusflavors by adding a completelydifferent and appealing touch ofacidity. This adds complexity to themore common flavors of lemon andorange.” Another important useof grapefruit in his restaurant is asa palate cleansing, pre-dessert sorbet,where it is often combined withcoconut foam. Not only does thisrefresh the palate, but it also helpswith digestion.One would think that grapefruitmight have a larger culinarypresence in Murcia, but

I found it only in the modernkitchen of chef Antonio Gras,whose philosophy centers on theuse of seasonal products and hisbelief in the special characteristicsof products from Murcia. Thegrapefruit is one such product,which he believes to be particularlyinteresting due to its uniquearomas and special acidity. Thesecharacteristics combine well insweet breads and pastries, likeMagdalena de pomelo cake andother desserts like Citrus soup withalmond turrón (Sopa de cítricos conbizcocho de turrón; turrón is an typeof nougat); as well as with savorydishes using shellfish or mollusks.Additionally, the citric acidity ofgrapefruit provides an excellentbalance to the natural fat in pork.The recent culinary applications ofSpanish grapefruit seem to mirrorthe fact that, in the words of JoséAntonio García, “grapefruit isSpain’s” most modern, largeproducing crop. It also seems toreflect the burgeoning success ofSpanish grapefruit on the Europeanmarket, where its high quality andfreshness relative to competingproducts is now translating to agreater market share. In Murcia, allof these factors have the potential tospur future growth of this crop—onethat seems tailor-made for the variedlandscapes and climates of thisautonomous community of Spain.

Adrienne Smith is a sommelier, chefand freelance writer. She has spentthe last decade eating and drinkingher way through Spain.

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The wines have beenchosen by Cristinade la Calle, maîtreat the Rodrigode la Calle restaurant.

TranslationJenny McDonald/©ICEX

Photos, recipesToya Legido/©ICEX

Rodrigode la Calle*

Clams are perhaps my favoritemollusk. Their briny flavoris enhanced by the seaweedsteam, and the pink grapefruitgives exactly the right touch ofsourness to balance the vegetableswith the clams.

SERVES 4450 g / 1 lb large clams; 50 g / 2 oz sea

lettuce (Ulva rigida); 50 g / 2 oz gigartina;

20 g / 1 oz sugar kelp (Laminaria saccharina);

4 large pink grapefruits; 1 stick red cardoon;

1 1/2 sheets gelatin; 1/2 green apple; extra

virgin olive oil; salt flakes; glucose.

SeaweedCook the sea lettuce, gigartinaand sugar kelp in 1/2 l / 2 1/6cups of water for 10 minutes,then drain and chill.

ClamsPlace the clams in a steamerand cook in the seaweed cookingwater. When they have opened,carefully remove the flesh from theshells and set aside. Strain thewater used for cooking the seaweedand clams and reduce to 300 ml / 11/4 cup. Set using the gelatin.

Grapefruit essenceSet aside one grapefruit for gratingand another for removing thesegments. Carefully peel theremaining two, removing any pithfrom the skin, then squeeze andstrain the juice. Mix with theglucose and reduce to one quarter.Add the grapefruit skins and gratedrind, cover and chill. Strain.

CardoonWash the cardoon and place in icedwater to curl. Cut into small pieces.

To serveOn a flat plate serve a few dropsof the grapefruit essence on oneside and, on the other, the clams,seaweed and cardoons.Finish with a few drops of extravirgin olive oil, salt flakes, somesticks of green apple and piecesof grapefruit segment.

Preparation time40 minutes

Recommended wineLouro do Bolo Godello LíasFinas (2008, DO Valdeorras),by the Rafael Palacios winery.The aniseed and mineral touchesalongside the fresh fruitinessof this pale yellow wine makeit an ideal partner for the sourgrapefruit and the briny flavorsof the clams and seaweed.

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

*For a more in-depth lookat the chef, see Close-up

Clams in seaweed steam with

ESSENCE OF PINKGRAPEFRUIT and curled

cardoon


59

FOODBASICS

The delicate, elegant flavorof the sturgeon, rich in collagenand marbled with fat, is servedwith a light vegetable broth thataccompanies but provides no addedflavor. The grapefruit oil just refreshesthe broth, helping to lighten thesturgeon fat, and the charcoal smokebrings out all the aromas.

SERVES 44 sturgeon fillets (about 200 g / 7 oz

each); 2 small leeks; 1 grapefruit; 1 dl /

4.2 cups sunflower oil; chives; 3 large potatoes;

rosemary; extra virgin olive oil; table salt;

1/2 l / 2 1/6 cups of water; extra virgin

olive oil; Riofrío caviar.

SturgeonFinely grate half a grapefruit ontotable salt and mix with choppedrosemary. Place the sturgeonin this salt mixture for 10 minutes,then remove, wash and dry withkitchen paper.

Place the fillets skin side downin a frying pan with a little oliveoil and fry on one side only untilthe skin is crisp. Just beforeserving, grill over charcoal.

Baked potato brothCarefully wash the potatoes, thencut off peelings 1/2 cm / 0.2 inthick. Bake the potato peelingsin the oven at 180ºC / 356ºFfor 40 minutes. Simmer in 1/2 l / 21/6 cups of water for 30 minutes,then decant. Cut the leeks intopieces and cook for three minutesin the potato broth. Then brownon the charcoal grill.Grate the rind of the remaininghalf a grapefruit and set aside.Cut up the grapefruit flesh andinfuse in the potato and leek brothfor 2 minutes. Strain and decant.

Grapefruit oilHeat the sunflower oil to 40ºC /104ºF and add the gratedgrapefruit rind. Cover, leave for 10minutes, then strain.

Char-grilled sturgeon with bakedpotato broth and

To servePlace the pieces of char-grilledsturgeon and leek on a soup platewith a few drops of extra virginolive oil. Add pieces of the chivestalk and curls, then add theRiofrío caviar. Pour a little potatobroth over the dish, and finishwith a few drops of grapefruit oil.

Preparation time1 1/2 hours

Recommended wineGramona Argent Rosé 2006,by Gramona. This 100% Pinot noircava is elegant and delicate, witha light alcohol content and anintense aroma of berries withlicorice. It blends perfectly withthe potato broth and lightens thefattiness of the fish.

(Tacos de esturión a la brasa con caldo de patata asaday aceite de pomelo)

GRAPEFRUIT OIL


BEETROOTWITH GRAPEFRUITSALT,

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Beetroot is one of the few vegetablesthat can be found all year round.Its unique flavor of damp earth givesit an unusual personality and,when cooked with salt, the flavorsare concentrated and the textureis emphasized. The addition ofgrapefruit balances out the sweetnessof the beetroot and the cheese bringsthe various flavors together.

SERVES 4

2 fresh beetroots; 1 pink grapefruit; 1 head

Chinchón garlic; 250 g / 9 oz organic goats’

cheese from Colmenar Viejo; 25 g / 1 oz

powdered egg albumen; 2 l / 8 1/2 cup

vegetable stock; 500 g / 1 lb 2 oz table salt;

beetroot leaves.toasted garlic cream and beatengoats’ cheese whey

BeetrootsGrate the skin of half thegrapefruit into the salt and mix.Bury the beetroots in the salt withthe grated grapefruit rind and bakein the oven at 180ºC / 356ºF forhalf an hour. Peel and set aside.Grate the other half of thegrapefruit into 1 l / 4 1/4 cupof boiling vegetable stock andinfuse. Add the powdered eggalbumen and beat until stiff. Wrapthe pieces of beetroot in thismeringue-like mixture and bakeat 180ºC / 356ºF for 20 minutes.

Toasted garlic creamBake the head of garlic at 190ºC /374ºF for 1 hour. Removeand peel the cloves and set aside.

Beaten goats’ cheese wheyPlace the goats’ cheese in theremaining 1 l / 4 1/4 cupof boiling vegetable stock,cover and simmer for 20 minutes.Strain and reserve, separately,both the stock and the cheese.Blend the cheese with the bakedgarlic until smooth and creamy.

To serveServe a little of the garlic andcheese cream, top with half abeetroot. Pour over the beatengoats’ cheese whey and finishwith a few beetroot leaves.


Recommended wineSan Amaro, made by the San Amarobrewery. This artisan, 100% maltbeer is a dark toast color and cloudy,with a thick texture and great flavors.Its surprising mild sweetness andcaramel touches make it the idealfoil for the sweetness of the beetroot,and its toasted aromas connect wellwith the earthy tones of the garlicand the cheese.

(Remolacha a la sal de pomelo, crema de ajostostados y suero batido de queso de cabra)



SWEETS,Memories are made of this

Sweetness is the taste we crave the most.The deities of Mount Olympus—untroubledby nutritional issues—were reputed toeat ambrosia and drink nectar, sweetquintessences perceived as appropriate foodfor the gods. Spain has a whole repertoire oftraditional sweetmeats that are not onlydelicious, but also charged with historicalsignificance and fascinating associations.

07_AF_FOOD_BASIC_DULCES_TRAD.qxd 25/2/11 07:23 Página 62

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than 7,500 tons from the previousseason. For years the internationalgrapefruit market has beendominated by Florida, which, in the1990s had an average annualproduction of around 1.6 milliontons and accounted for 40-60% ofworld grapefruit exports. WhileFlorida still leads the world market,its share has declined this pastdecade due to debilitating freezes,hurricanes, citrus diseases, andother factors such as encroachingland development. In Europe,Florida grapefruits once were 45-50% of imports, but by 2006, theamount had dropped to only 20-25%. For Spain’s grapefruit growers,this changing world marketplace hasmeant opportunity, demonstrated bythe fact that 70-80% of Spanishproduction is currently exported.The majority of these 45,000 tons isexported to France, Germany,Poland and the Czech Republic,among others. Increasing quantitiesare also being sold to Russia, a high-potential new market.The question now for Spanishproducers is how to gain an evengreater hold on the world market.The obvious solution is to figureout how to differentiate Spanish

FOODBASICS

50

Star Ruby variety, have a slightlythicker skin, and contain two tothree seeds per fruit. Both varietieswere developed by a Texas-basedresearcher, Richard Hensz.According to José Luis Albacete,the difference between these twovarieties can be subtle. To provehis point, he opened one of eachvariety straight off the trees forme to taste. Both had a refreshinglysharp acidity that was tempered bythe sweetness of the fruit and thecharacteristic grapefruit aroma.Both were the same size and shape,pale orange-yellow in color withdeep rosy highlights on the peel,and were the same dark pinkish-red inside. While I found it terriblyromantic to be savoring freshlypicked grapefruit in the middle of apicturesque citrus orchard insoutheastern Spain, I was at a lossto guess which variety was which.As it turns out, the real differenceis economic. José Luis explainedthat the variety Star Ruby is morewidely known, but time hasrevealed it to be somewhatdelicate, with less resistance to sunexposure after 15 years, and loweryields. Other grapefruit varieties,like the more robust Rio Red,typically produce fruit for 30to 40 years, and can live to be 100.A third grapefruit produced inSpain is the white variety knownas Marsh Seedless or White Marsh.First planted in around 1860 inFlorida, Marsh is one of theoldest grapefruit varieties and theone most commonly plantedthroughout the world. This

vigorous tree yields small tomedium sized fruits with soft andjuicy, whitish-yellow pulp. Thiswas the original variety cultivatedin Spain, but over the past tenyears cultivation has shifted almostentirely to the red varieties.This trend has been repeating itselfall over the world. José AntonioGarcía, Director of AILIMPO,the Spanish Lemon and GrapefruitInterprofessional Association,feels that much of this trend isaesthetic, based on a misconceptionthat red grapefruits will alwaysbe sweeter than the white varieties.However, José Luis Albacetebelieves that “anyone who trulyappreciates grapefruit likes thered ones best.”

Forgotten fruit,export successWhether it’s about red or white, thegrapefruit debate is likely to be lost

on many Spaniards. In fact, oneof the more surprising facts aboutSpain’s grapefruit crop is the factthat very few natives seem to knowit exists. According to a July 2010survey carried out by the SpanishMinistry of the Environment andRural and Marine Affairs (MARM)at the behest of AILIMPO, a mere16.4% of interviewed Spaniardsconsume grapefruit with any amountof frequency. At the same time, just23.6% identified Spain as a producerof this fruit. Only an estimated 20%of the 55,000 tons of grapefruitproduced annually in Spain are solddomestically. According to José Luis’sdaughter, Nieves Albacete, who nowruns Earmur, a large portion of thesesales go to hotels or cruise ships,which cater to foreign palates moreaccustomed to eating grapefruit asa regular part of their diets.Though there are currently only sixor seven Spanish companiesdedicated to this minority citrus,production quantities in Spain overthe past several seasons have eitherincreased or remained stable. Thecrop is also extremely solid here interms of price fluctuations. Thisstability is reflected in the fact thatSpanish grapefruit growers aremaking quite an impact on theEuropean import market. Spain isnow the fourth largest grapefruitexporter to the European Unionafter the United States (Florida),Israel and Turkey. During the 2009-2010 season, the country exportedover 43,300 tons to the EU and2,300 tons to non-EU countries.This was an overall increase of more

GRAPEFRUIT

Web sites

· www.ailimpo.comOfficial site of AILIMPO, theSpanish Lemon and GrapefruitInterprofessional Association.(English, Spanish)



SWEETS,Memories are made of this

Sweetness is the taste we crave the most.The deities of Mount Olympus—untroubledby nutritional issues—were reputed toeat ambrosia and drink nectar, sweetquintessences perceived as appropriate foodfor the gods. Spain has a whole repertoire oftraditional sweetmeats that are not onlydelicious, but also charged with historicalsignificance and fascinating associations.


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HealthfulGreatfruit


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All traditional sweets, indeed alllong-familiar sweet tastes, seemto bear an emotive capsule withinthem. They have the power toconjure up an “atmosphere”within us and to stir up memoriesassociated, more often than not,with tastes and smells firstexperienced in early childhoodfrom the security of a familiar adultlap. À la recherche du temps perdu(Remembrance of Things Past),surely the most languorous andmultipartite 20th century novel,begins with just such an evocationwhich is triggered by the act ofdipping a little sponge cake intoa cup of tea. For the literary

imagination of Marcel Proust (187-1922), this small domestic incidentprovides the point of departure forrevisiting the events, emotions andsocial settings of the past. Proust’smadeleine (for that is what thesponge cake was) has becomesynonymous with nostalgia,representing the cultural potencywith which tastes are imbued, andserving as the prototype for scent-triggered memories. Interestingly,science corroborates the evocativepower of scents: according toexperts, smell is the most efficientand evocative of all our senses. Weremember just 2% of everything wesee and no more than 5% of whatwe hear, but we assimilate andretain as much as 35% of what wesmell. In other words, the aromasof sweet foods can justifiably besaid to constitute the subtlest—andstrongest—element of their appeal.

In the field of tastes as a whole,sweetness probably occupies thebroadest, and most agreeable,tranche. We find it difficult nowto imagine life without ready accessto sweetness, yet cane sugar wasunknown in the Western worlduntil implanted in the IberianPeninsula by the Arabs during theirlong period of occupation (711-1492). By the 9th century, sugarcane was being grown as a crop inSpain, and came into popular usearound the time of the Crusades(military campaigns conductedbetween 1095 and 1291) or slightlyearlier, along with most spices.Sugar was initially used only asa medicine or preserving agent,a mysterious substance handledby apothecaries, who made a lot ofmoney out of it by making it intothe first curative “confections”(the word derives from the Latinconficere, meaning “to prepare”)and selling them as a remedyfor ailments. In consequence, thenew substance acquired a mystiquethat persisted long after it hadbecome more familiar.In La physiologie du gôut (ThePhysiology of Taste), the seminalwork of world gastronomypublished in 1825, Brillat-Savarinincludes a meditation, or apologia,on the subject of sugar. Hedescribes it as the quintessenceof positive taste and a sine qua nonof sweetness. It seems likely thatsweetness was the earliest cravingexperienced by the human palate:tree-dwelling hominids almost

certainly obtained their firstpleasant taste sensations fromthe natural sweetness of fruits.The juice of ripe fruit and honeyraided from hardworking insectswould have helped palliate theinsistent yearning for sweetnessthat would eventually becatered for specifically by sugarobtained from sugar cane, sugarbeet and chemically engineeredartificial sweeteners.

The madeleineeffectIt would be a fascinating exercise—and a tribute to Proust—to tryto identify which item from ourvast array of sweetmeats bestreplicates the madeleine’s memory-triggering effect for the averageSpaniard. I wonder what most of uswould vote for if asked. Certainlynot the magdalena, despite the factthat this version of the Frenchoriginal has long been a familiarfeature of our domestic diet. Themagdalena is a traditional type ofcake known to have originated inFrance (where it can be dated backto 1755), more specifically in theCommercy district of the Lorraineregion. Madeleines/magdalenas are,essentially, simple homemadeindividual sponge cakes made witheggs, sugar, butter, wheat flour,yeast and lemon zest. The secretof their characteristically springytexture is stiffly-beaten egg white,whose addition lightens themixture. Commercy madeleines are

TRADITIONAL SWEETS

TEXTLUIS CEPEDA/©ICEX

PHOTOSFERNANDO MADARIAGA/©ICEX

TRANSLATIONHAWYS PRITCHARD/©ICEX

Tarta de Santiago


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TRADITIONAL SWEETS




Tarta de Santiago


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(meringues, made with beaten eggwhites and sugar, baked in theoven); mojicones (individual spongecakes made with marzipan andsugar; and lenguas de gato (“cat’stongue” biscuits made with flour,butter, sugar, egg white andvanilla). Local specialties constituteanother sub-division, and include:empiñonados (sweets made ofalmonds, sugar, water and eggwhite, coated in pine nuts), madein Valladolid; and Vergara bizcochos(sponge cakes filled with egg yolkand dusted with icing sugar). Thereare posh ones such as canutillos(horn-shaped pastries made withflour, oil, milk and lemon) andcrema catalana (confectioner’scustard enriched with egg yolksand topped with caramelizedsugar); monastic ones such asalmendras garrapiñadas (candiedalmonds); ephemeral ones suchas buñuelos de viento (little puffydoughnuts made with flour andbeaten egg white and fried in olive

oil); obviously Moorish ones, suchas alajú (a sweet, sticky paste madeby cooking honey, breadcrumbsand crushed almonds or walnutstogether, served sandwichedbetween pieces of rice paper) foundin Cuenca (Spain) as readily as inOran. The latter is a prime exampleof the sweetmeats that constitutejust one aspect of Spain’s Muslimheritage. Contrary to popularbelief, the Muslims did not comebearing cane sugar when they firstinvaded Spain. They did, however,introduce the use of orangeblossom, both as sweet, stronglyscented flowers and in the formof orange flower water (possiblyan accidental discovery) whichbestows a certain elegance on themany sweets in which it features.Seven centuries of Hispano-Arabcoexistence in the Iberian Peninsulaleft their mark, and not just on ourrepertoire of sweets. They explainwhy Spain’s gastronomy as a wholeis so different from that of the rest

of Europe that did not experiencethe prolonged presence ofuninvited guests.Despite the wide variety of Spain’straditional pastries and the cocktailof influences that each of themrepresents, a pattern of preferencedoes emerge: Spaniards areparticularly fond of the fried sweetdelicacies known generically asfrutos de sartén (fruits of the fryingpan). In El Aceite de oliva virgen en larepostería de ayer y hoy (Extra VirginOlive Oil in Confectionery Past andPresent, Spain Gourmetour No. 80),a long overdue defense of the role ofolive oil in dessert cookery, authorJosé Oneto points out that frutosde sartén are the sole exampleof desserts in which the use of oliveoil has always been accepted.

Let themeat churrosChurros are the most classic exampleof frutos de sartén, and are an

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baked in tins with scallop-shellshaped indentations. Historically,this reference to the symbol (stillrelevant in France) worn bypilgrims traveling the road toSantiago de Compostela in Galiciamade them a popular snackoffered for sale at various stagesof the route. In Spain, however,the pilgrimage link faded insignificance and the shell moldswere superseded by individualwaxed corrugated paper cases,though the recipe remainedunchanged. Magdalenas are stillwrapped in much the same waytoday, and are a familiar sightin Spanish homes, typically eatenfor breakfast and merienda(late afternoon snack, muchlike British tea-time).

In searchof an iconIt turns out to be no easy matter tosingle out from Spain’s traditionalarray one iconic confection that canboast the evocative power of Proust’smadeleine. It ought to be somethingof an everyday nature and eaten bymost of us; but our repertoire is aneclectic one, ranging as it does fromflights of fancy to markers of keydates on the ecclesiastical calendar,some redolent of local idiosyncrasyand others of the timeless seclusionof convent life. Anotherdifferentiating factor is whether theyuse butter or olive oil as the fattymedium that communicates theirflavor—an important difference,according to Catalan gourmet,author and journalist Josep Pla

(1897-1981), who summed up thedifference thus: “(sweetmeats) madewith oil are bright and sunny, whilethose made with butter are lunarand cheerless.”Spain’s traditional sweets arevirtually innumerable and alwaysremarkable. Some, for example,are decidedly holy: torrijas, madeduring Holy Week, are slices ofbread soaked in milk or wine, thendipped in beaten egg and fried inolive oil; huesos de santo (saint’sbones) are little cylinders of rolledmarzipan. Others are out and outfestive, such as turrón, which is analmond and honey nougat. Stillothers are part of almost sacredrituals: roscón de Reyes—the ring-shaped loaf of sweet spongy breadembedded with caramelized fruit,eaten on January 6th to markEpiphany, the Feast of the ThreeKings. Then there are homemade

sweets in the sense of desserts:arroz con leche (rice pudding madewith rice, milk and sugar); flan(caramel custard made with eggs,milk and sugar); and leche frita(“fried milk” made with flour, milkand sugar). Regional specialties inthis category include Galicia’s filloas(pancakes made with flour, beatenegg yolks, milk and sugar), CanaryIsland frangollo (milk, gofio [flourobtained from toasted grains],lemon, eggs, sugar, almonds andraisins), and Asturian frisuelos(pancakes made with flour eggs,milk, water, sugar and salt). Thenthere are the classics with a longpedigree, often associated withoutdoor celebrations: barquillos(rolled wafers made with plainflour and sugar or honey), pestiños(folded fritters made with flour andbeaten eggs, fried in olive oil andcoated in honey); merengues

TRADITIONAL SWEETS

Mantecada de Astorga


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enduring favorite in Spain. Thesecrisp, aromatic loops of fried doughtransport one back to childhood.Indeed, watching the churro-makerat work, cylinder of dough on hisback, deftly piping just the rightquantity for each churro loop intothe vat of boiling oil, is still a thrill.In the old days, the churros werethreaded onto pliable raffia stripsand tied in batches of twelve readyfor taking away; meanwhile, womenholding flat baskets piled high withporras (a thicker version of churros)and buñuelos against one hipadvertised their wares with cries thatwere part of the pleasure of Sundaymornings. Churros are still verymuch with us, but are now to befound in churrerías or chocolaterías,shops where you can eat them onthe spot or buy to take home, freshlyfried. Some cafés serve them onlyfirst thing in the morning (they losetheir charm once they have gonecold), and some exotic restaurants,such as Kabuki in Madrid, have

adopted them as a tribute to localcustom, serving miniature ones as adessert, accompanied by a little cupof chocolate (more on that later).Surprisingly, churros have becomemore popular as a breakfast itemthan as a merienda; this lateafternoon snack is more likely toinvolve picatostes (sugar-sprinkledFrench toast fingers). The biggestand most aerated fruto de sartén isthe porra, the batter for whichincorporates beaten egg whites.The batter is piped into the hot oilto form huge continuous spiralswhich are cut up into portions withconfectioner’s scissors when cooked.The existence and natureof churrerías are part and parcelof Madrid’s reputation for stayingawake until the early hours havinga good time: some legendary fountsof churros either stay open all nightor start serving very early in themorning. Chocolateria San Ginés isa famous example, though there areequivalents—both up-market anddown—all over Spain. In Andalusiathey make a fruto de sartén that isa cross between a churro and aporra, known as a tejeringo, tallo,or calentito, made from a ratherlighter dough and served well-sugared. There are delicious ones tobe found in the churrerías of Sevilleand Cadiz, and I also have fondmemories of ones eaten in Baez andÚbeda (Jaén), and at Casa Ramon inthe Plaza de los Naranjos in Marbella(Málaga), where they are brought tothe table as complete spirals, freshlyfried in extra virgin olive oil (whichis regularly renewed during the longworking day).

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TraditionalConfectionery

· GuadalajaraLa Flor y NataTel.: 949 22 60 05

· MadridEl Horno de San Onofrewww.hsonofre.com (Spanish)

San GinésTel.: 913 656 546

NunosTel.: 914 092 456

Pastelería Salinas(Alcalá de Henares)Tel.: 918 881 522

· MarbellaChurrería Casa Ramónwww.churreriaramon.com (Spanish)

· San SebastiánGeltokiwww.geltoki.net(English, French, Spanish)

San GinésTel.: 913 656 546

· SevilleConfitería La Campanawww.confiterialacampana.com(Spanish)

· ToledoConfitería Santo Toméwww.mazapan.com (Spanish)

· ValladolidCuberoTel.: 983 356 077

· MajorcaCa’n Miquel. Forn de Sa PelleteriaTel.: 971 715 711


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forward in broad terms by Spanishjournalist, cosmopolitan chroniclerand expert in the physiology of taste,Julio Camba (1882-1962) in hisbook La casa de Lúculo (The Houseof Lucullus) published in 1929.Which brings us neatly to theaforementioned chocolate, in whichboth those basic tastes are present. Itis at once bitter by nature and sweetbecause of the sugar amalgamatedinto it to enhance its appeal to thesweet-toothed, both in its liquidform as drinking chocolate and insolid form as bars, bonbons, andconfectionery in general. Theinclusion of milk and nuts to create

various specialties extended thisappeal still further.

Chocolatea la españolaThe Aztecs’ equivalent to ambrosiaand nectar was chocolate, whichthey looked upon as the food of thegods. This aromatic fermented seedof the cacao tree was one of thehitherto unknown and bafflingfoodstuffs with which the Spanishconquistadores were confronted atthe laden table of Moctezuma(15th-16th century Aztec emperor).

Much later, 20th century Mexicanwriter José Vasconcelos, promoterof the notion of a “cosmic race”,perceptively summed up howsignificant these new discoverieswere: “A civilization unfamiliarwith those flavors could not beconsidered complete.”Spanish colonizers of the Americasintroduced chocolate into Europeas two separate substances—cocoasolids, or cocoa paste, and cocoabutter—which were combined invarying proportions. From the Ageof Enlightenment (18th century) on,the addition of sugar to the mixturegreatly enhanced the appeal of

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Just dessertsThe Sunday churros we remember aschildren tie in with the idea of foodas a reward. They were—and stillare—deployed as a token of adultapproval of a child’s behavior. Sweetthings are the ultimate reward, asSpanish sociologist Amando deMiguel observes in his Sobre gustos ysabores: los españoles y la comida (OnTastes and Flavors: Spaniards andFood; Alianza Editorial, 2004). Herecalls that the usual punishment fornaughty children was to make themgo without pudding and, while onthe subject of sweets, informs us:

“There was a great variety inClassical society, made at first withhoney and later with sugar. Fruitdid not count as a sweet except indehydrated form, such as dried figs,sun-dried peaches or apricots, raisinsand prunes, and crystallized fruit.A taste for sweetness was somethingthat united Moors, Jews andChristians.” One very sweet dessertconfection made of egg yolk andsugar, whose dense texture andyellowish color apparentlyresembled the fatty part of saltpork, was given the name tocino decielo (heavenly pork fat). Given thatpork was a taboo food for both Jews

and Muslims, this version was“heavenly” in the sense thatit defied religious boundariesby being acceptable to all.It emerges strongly that sweet-associated memories gladden theheart more than savory ones. Thereis a school of thought that maintains(pace the physiologists) that there arereally only two tastes (bitter andsweet), acidic and salty being simplysensations or aggressions of differingdegrees of intensity, namely (like“hot” in the sense of piquant) slightburns rather than tastes. This theoryis not my own, though I do find itreasonably convincing. It is put

TRADITIONAL SWEETS

Churros Sobaos pasiegos


contemporary patisserie andconfectionery). In Spain, hotchocolate generally comes withchurros or porras which seemto have been invented as the idealcomplement; however, there areplenty of equally compatiblecandidates among our traditionalsweet repertoire: sobaos pasiegos andMajorcan ensaimadas are just acouple of examples…

Sobaosand ensaimadasThe origins of sobaos pasiegos arelittle documented, though they are

known to have been made forover a century in the Pas Valley(Cantabria, northern Spain)from a recipe created by EusebiaFernández Martín, cook to a certainDr. Madrazo (1850-1942) of theVega de Pas sanatorium. Nowadays,these little sponge cakes enjoyProtected Geographic Indication(PGI) status which guarantees theirprovenance. In days gone by, theywere distributed by early-morningdelivery men who replaced anyleft over from the day before withfresh ones. They are made of abatter of wheat flour, butter, sugar,eggs, lemon peel, star anise, salt

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and honey which is poured intomolds, baked, then left to coolbefore packing. They are presentedin characteristic rectangular papercases, cleverly folded for easyextraction. Bright yellow in colorwith a dense, spongy texture, theymake a delicious breakfast ormid-morning snack in combinationwith hot chocolate or café con leche.Note, however, that—unlikefrutos de sartén—sobaos are soabsorbent that they should not bedunked: the best approach is totake a bite, then follow it witha sip of chocolate or coffee.The ensaimada, a Majorcan

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chocolate to a public conditioned torespond negatively to strong bittertastes at a time when these wereassociated with poisons. Jesuitmissionaries to the Americas wereknown for promoting acceptanceof indigenous agricultural productsand livestock, particularly the turkey(at one time nicknamed jesuita)and cocoa. Despite a few false startsand initial public mistrust, chocolatesoon caught on and wasmanufactured as a preparation fordrinking hot a la española, namelythick, dark and fragrant, as it is stillenjoyed today (while also being amajor component of traditional and

TRADITIONAL SWEETS

specialty, has always been consideredsomething of a quality item inpatisseries and cafés. It takes itsname, and sticky texture, from thepork lard (saïm, in the Majorcanlanguage) that is a characteristicingredient of its sweet dough (theother ingredients are strong flour,water, sugar, eggs and sourdoughstarter) which is left to ferment inspecial cupboards for 12 hours ormore before baking. Ensaimadas areshaped into coils of two or threeclockwise turns and, once baked, arepale gold and wavy-surfaced, slightlycrisp on the outside and soft, close-textured and relatively inelastic on

the inside with an idiosyncraticpuff pastry effect that it takesa skilled baker to produce.Ensaimadas are a deeply-rootedtraditional product of the islandof Majorca (one of the BalearicIslands off Spain’s east coast). Theearliest written references date fromthe 17th century and mention themas being made specifically for ruralfestivals and parties. Most of theovens in which they are bakedtoday are over 150 years old andbelong to family-run bakeries.In the 18th and 19th centuries,ensaimadas were taken up by highsociety and eaten (with hot

Alfajor de Medina Sidonia Mazapán de Toledo


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chocolate) at breakfast or merienda;a pattern of presenting anensaimada as a social gift emergedwith the result that they becameincreasingly popular, no longera mere curiosity mentioned incookery and travel books. In the20th century the ensaimadaacquired its current iconic statusas a classic tourist purchase:homeward bound visitors to theisland carrying the trademark—and sometimes enormous—flatoctagonal or circular boxes in whichthey are sold are a frequent sight atPalma airport. Ensaimadas also havePGI status, which covers two types:classic Majorcan type, and Majorcantype filled with golden shreds ofcandied squash known as cabello deangel (angel’s hair).

The most Spanishof cakesAnother distinctive and deeplytraditional sweet from the Spanishrepertoire is tarta de Santiago, aground almond tart in a pastry casemade of a nicely balancedcombination of one third almonds,one third sugar and one quartereggs. Permitted flavorings (inhomeopathic quantities) includelemon zest, sweet wine, brandy ormarc. Icing sugar also features, butagain only in sufficient quantity tosprinkle on top in such a way as toleave the sign of the cross of St.James (emblem of the Order ofSantiago) silhouetted across it center.The first written reference to tartade Santiago dates from 1577, andconcerns an official visit by Pedro

de Portocarrero, CommissionerGeneral of the Holy Crusade, to theUniversity of Santiago to conductan enquiry into banquets given inhonor of the academic staff duringthe awarding of degrees. The firstrecipe for tarta de Santiago appearsin a manuscript dated 1835 inMonoñedo (Lugo, northwesternSpain), part of the confectionerynotebook of Luis Bartolomé deLeybar, a soldier billeted there.Headed Vizcochada (sponge cake),the recipe matches almost exactlythe current specifications laid downby the PGI for tarta de Santiagode Compostela. By the late 19th

century, the cake had acquired itscharacteristic icing sugar topping,as described in El confitero y elpastelero (The Confectioner andPastry Cook) by Eduardo Merín.In 1924, the St. James’ Crosssilhouette (created by sprinklingicing sugar over a template whichis then removed) became astandard feature, pastry cook JoséMora being credited with itsintroduction. Spain’s most readilyrecognizable cake makes liberal useof almonds, which are typically ofthe best Mediterranean varieties:Comuna, Majorca, Marcona, Molla,Largueta and Planeta.

Sacredand secularThere are various versions of howToledo marzipan came into being.One dates its invention back to1212 and attributes it to the nunsof San Clemente who created a newdelicacy in celebration of the

Christian victory at the battle ofLas Navas de Tolosa by crushingalmonds and sugar with a mallet(“maza” in Spanish, hence“mazapan” [marzipan]). This isunconvincing on various counts,not least its anachronistic mentionof sugar which by that date wasnot yet in widespread use asa sweetening agent. The useof almond and sugar mixturesfor making specific sweetmeats,such as marzipan, is rootedin the history of the EasternMediterranean, having probablyoriginated in Persia, where sugarcane (originally from India) had

FOODBASICS

Web sites

· PGI Alfajor de Medina Sidoniahttp://calidadagroalimentaria.besana.es/web/denominaciones_calidad/denominaciones_especificas/alfajor (Spanish)

· PGI Sobao Pasiegowww.alimentosdecantabria.com(Spanish)

· PGI Mantecados de Estepawww.afames.com (Spanish)

· PGI Tarta de Santiagowww.ingacal.com (Galician)

· PGI Mazapán de Toledowww.turismocastillalamancha.com/restaurantes/denominaciones-de-origen/igp-mazapan-de-toledo/ (Chinese, English, French,Spanish)

· PGI Ensaimada de Mallorcawww.illesbalearsqualitat.com(Catalan, English, French, German,Italian, Spanish)

· PGI Mantecadas de Astorgawww.mantecadasdeastorga.es(Spanish)


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where they are baked and packed.They used to be well-known all overthe country, not least because theywere sold at hub railway stations byvendors advertising their wares withloud cries. Other products sold inthe same way were candied almondsin Briviesca (Burgos) and circularcakes known as tortas de Alcázar deSan Juan, which were sold in thestation where travelers changedtrains for La Mancha. A highproportion of the mantecadasproduced are still sold as a localspecialty to tourists passing throughAstorga. They are still made to thetraditional recipe and are stillpresented in their characteristichand-folded cajillas (made by localladies known as cajilleras).Another sweet with broad popularappeal comes from Andalusia(southern Spain). As summer fades,Estepa (Seville), a small town ofsome 12,000 inhabitants, launchesinto a period of frenetic activityproducing mantecados in readinessfor Christmas. Christmassy smells(sesame, cinnamon, roastedalmonds…) waft through thestreets of Estepa throughout thefall, emanating from its 20confectioneries, all busily engagedin producing a total of over 25,000tons of mantecados. Mantecadosare not to be confused withmantecadas (as described above);mantecados date back to the 19th

century, the wheat flour, sugar andfresh pork fat recipe being used bythe local inhabitants and Clarissanuns to make fairly basicshortcakes for their ownconsumption. A woman called

Micaela Ruiz Téllez, nicknamedLa Colchona (perhaps besttranslated as “Chubby”), knownfor the excellence of hermantecados, began sending somefor sale in Córdoba, using herpeddler husband as transport.So that they survived the journeybetter, La Colchona adapted therecipe to create drier mantecados,cleverly managing to producecakes that were firm and close-textured on the outside and melt-in-the-mouth within. Localconfectioners were not slow toimitate the refined product, whichmet with such success that smallfactories were set up to meetdemand: by 1934 there were15 registered mantecado producersin the town. Today, at least onemember of every householdin the area is directly involvedin mantecado manufacture.Guadalajara, the nearest to Madridof La Mancha’s sizable towns,

is home to a curious kind of cakewith a very long history, known asbizcocho borracho (drunken spongecake). For many years, bizcochosborrachos featured importantly onthe product list of all nearly everyconfectionery and cake shop inSpain. They are harder to comeby these days, but a journey toGuadalajara (capital of the Alcarriaregion) is rewarded by theopportunity to sample one on thespot: they can either be bought totake home from a cake shop such asCatapán, or selected from thedessert menu at the town’s cafés andrestaurants. Bizcocho borracho isarguably the spongiest and mostflavorful of the entire sponge cakecategory, its attributes no doubtenhanced by the customary additionof rum, brandy or fortified wine.The recipe is quite conventionalexcept that it is beaten extrathoroughly to ensure that the cake isspongy and absorbent: after baking,a syrup containing rum (distilledfrom sugar cane) or a sherry brandysyrup is poured over it, leaving itappetizingly aromatic and sweet inan unusual way. Some confectionersprefer to use a sweet wine syrup.

Arabian aromasAlfajores are little tubular pastriesknown to have originated inMedina Sidionia, right in the heartof Cadiz province (southern Spain).If their very name provides a cluethat alfajores are of Arab origin, thelist of what they contain leaves noroom for doubt: honey, almonds,hazelnuts, flour, breadcrumbs,

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been grown for centuries. Therecipe and technique for makingthis simple, dense sweet was latertransported from east to west byland and sea during the invasion byArabs from Africa or at the time ofthe Crusades. We do know thatmazapán (possibly derived from theSpanish for “March [by implication“Lenten”] bread” or “paste [perhapsmeaning “sticky”] bread”) wasreadily adopted, first of all by Araband Jewish confectioners and laterturning up in convents, where thepaste was molded into shapesassociated with Christian imagery.One typical eye-catching shaperepresenting an eel—a forbiddenfish for Jews and Muslims—musthave been a successful selling ploy,reinforcing the Catholic shareof the market and keeping qualityhigh so that marzipan (which hasalso been produced for centuriesin Italy, Central Europe and theAmericas) in Toledo attaineda standard of quality known as“calidad suprema” (top quality).In marzipan of this type, a fine-textured dense paste is achievedby mixing ground raw, peeledalmonds with different kinds ofsugar. It comes in variouspresentations, the paste beingmolded mechanically or by hand,and then baked or cooked,sometimes with other confectioneryingredients added. The range oftraditional Toledo marzipanproducts includes filled or coatedmarzipan, marzipan figures, eels,crescents, magdalena-like marzipancakes, pine nut-coated marzipanballs, egg yolk cakes, marzipan and

meringue cakes, and paste formaking almond soup. ConfiteríaSanto Tomé, the Convento de lasDominicas, Confitería Telesforo onPlaza de Zocodover (which datesback to 1806), and PasteleríaAdolfo are all excellent sources,selling marzipan shapes throughoutthe year. Don’t wait for a specialoccasion—these examples of topquality artisan confectionery are tobe enjoyed just as they come.

Drunk and soberWriting El arte de repostería (The Artof Confectionery), published in1747, author Antonio Martín creditsJuan de la Mata, pastry chef to the

Royal Household, with the inventionof a type of artisan-made spongecake known as mantecada de Astorga,made by baking a mixture of plainflour, eggs, butter, pork lard andsugar. As a general rule mantecadasare presented in individual, open-topped, square paper cases (knownas cajillas) skillfully folded at thecorners for easy extraction of thecake. Each mantecada weighsaround 30 g (1 oz), is firm-texturedwith a domed, golden-baked, sugar-sprinkled top. The crunch of thesugar topping in combination withthe spongy texture of the cake is partof its appeal. Mantecadas de Astorgaare a traditional local product of theAstorga district of northwest Spain,

TRADITIONAL SWEETS

Mantecado de Estepa


78

herbs and spices (coriander,cloves, aniseed, sesame andcinnamon). All these combine toproduce a light brown interior witha delicately spicy aroma andhoneyed flavor with hints of nut.The population of Medina Sidoniawas originally Phoenician, thoughit was during the Muslimoccupation that this region enjoyedits heyday. The ancestral methodfor making alfajores is as follows:the honey is heated before addingto it the hazelnuts and walnuts(toasted and split), thebreadcrumbs, flour, toasted sesame,coriander, cloves and aniseed andmixed together thoroughly. Theresulting dough is cut up whilestill hot and allowed to cool toroom temperature, then shapedinto the characteristic elongatedcylindrical shapes. The individualalfajores are then dipped in syrupand dusted with sugar andcinnamon before packing. MedinaSidonia’s confectionery-makingtradition is of considerablehistorical importance and thereare many literary and otherwritten references to it. It iscurrently the most importantcenter of confectionery productionin Cadiz province.To describe Spain’s repertoire oftraditional sweets as boundless islittle short of the truth. As onestarts to explore it, one discoversmore and more at every turn andsimply has to accept that anyattempt at an exhaustive accountwould be a fool’s errand. The bestone can hope for is to sketch in thebasics and describe their most

salient and best-knowncharacteristics. However, thisresolve crumbles in the face ofgems of information such as thefact that Yemas de San Leandro (richegg yolk sweets from Seville) owetheir survival to the generosity oflocal winery owners who habituallydonated the superfluous yolks leftafter using egg whites to clarifytheir wines to the Augustine nunsof San Leandro convent.This gesture ensured the survivalof a sweet famous since the 15th

century despite the poverty thatpreceded and succeeded theSpanish Civil War. The pattern wasreplicated in Avila, where similarsweets, known as Yemas de SantaTeresa, are produced in honorof peripatetic mystic Teresa deCepeda, better known as SantaTeresa de Jesús, or Saint Teresaof Avila (1515-1582), patron saintof Spanish gastronomy. Equallyfascinating is the discovery that thecandied almonds sold by Clarissanuns through a revolving hatchwayin their convent door are by nomeans the only local sweet inAlcalá de Henares (not far fromMadrid). Alcalá is also the fountof costradas (puff pastries filledwith confectioner’s custard,meringue and almonds) androsquillas de lustre (little sugar-glazed doughnuts), invented by elmaestro Lino, master confectionerat El Postre. Meanwhile, one isastonished to learn that La Mancha(central Spain, a region known forits restraint) produces one of themost elaborate examples of fruto desartén: the dough (flour, milk, eggs

and honey, flavored with aniseed)is painstakingly stamped outinto flower shapes before frying,giving an end product known asflores del Campo de Calatrava.To pop a pionono de Santa Fe (rolled-up syrup-soaked pastry topped withtoasted cream) into one’s mouth is tobe reminded that this little townjust outside Granada iswhere the army of the CatholicMonarchs (1474-1516) campedduring the campaign that culminatedin their reconquest of Granada, thelast Moorish stronghold in theIberian Peninsula. And why, you findyourself wondering, is turrón—thecrème de la crème of Spain’s sweetrepertoire and enduringrepresentative of Al-Andalusin present-day Alicante—limitedto cameo appearances atChristmastime rather than beingenjoyed all year round, as itsdeliciousness and appeal wouldseem to merit? All in all, Spain’straditional sweets inhabita mysterious, shifting realm to whichhistory, legend, traditionand memories contribute inequal measure.

Luis Cepeda is a journalist andauthor of many books, including LosCien Platos Universales de laCocina Vasca, Gusto de Reyes,Lhardy, La Cocina de Paradores andMaridaje de Vinos y Platos. He iscurrently gastronomic correspondentfor OnMadrid, the leisuresupplement of national daily El País,and technical director of the SpanishChef’s Association (Federación deCocineros de España).

TRADITIONAL SWEETS


67

(meringues, made with beaten eggwhites and sugar, baked in theoven); mojicones (individual spongecakes made with marzipan andsugar; and lenguas de gato (“cat’stongue” biscuits made with flour,butter, sugar, egg white andvanilla). Local specialties constituteanother sub-division, and include:empiñonados (sweets made ofalmonds, sugar, water and eggwhite, coated in pine nuts), madein Valladolid; and Vergara bizcochos(sponge cakes filled with egg yolkand dusted with icing sugar). Thereare posh ones such as canutillos(horn-shaped pastries made withflour, oil, milk and lemon) andcrema catalana (confectioner’scustard enriched with egg yolksand topped with caramelizedsugar); monastic ones such asalmendras garrapiñadas (candiedalmonds); ephemeral ones suchas buñuelos de viento (little puffydoughnuts made with flour andbeaten egg white and fried in olive

oil); obviously Moorish ones, suchas alajú (a sweet, sticky paste madeby cooking honey, breadcrumbsand crushed almonds or walnutstogether, served sandwichedbetween pieces of rice paper) foundin Cuenca (Spain) as readily as inOran. The latter is a prime exampleof the sweetmeats that constitutejust one aspect of Spain’s Muslimheritage. Contrary to popularbelief, the Muslims did not comebearing cane sugar when they firstinvaded Spain. They did, however,introduce the use of orangeblossom, both as sweet, stronglyscented flowers and in the formof orange flower water (possiblyan accidental discovery) whichbestows a certain elegance on themany sweets in which it features.Seven centuries of Hispano-Arabcoexistence in the Iberian Peninsulaleft their mark, and not just on ourrepertoire of sweets. They explainwhy Spain’s gastronomy as a wholeis so different from that of the rest

of Europe that did not experiencethe prolonged presence ofuninvited guests.Despite the wide variety of Spain’straditional pastries and the cocktailof influences that each of themrepresents, a pattern of preferencedoes emerge: Spaniards areparticularly fond of the fried sweetdelicacies known generically asfrutos de sartén (fruits of the fryingpan). In El Aceite de oliva virgen en larepostería de ayer y hoy (Extra VirginOlive Oil in Confectionery Past andPresent, Spain Gourmetour No. 80),a long overdue defense of the role ofolive oil in dessert cookery, authorJosé Oneto points out that frutosde sartén are the sole exampleof desserts in which the use of oliveoil has always been accepted.

Let themeat churrosChurros are the most classic exampleof frutos de sartén, and are an

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66

baked in tins with scallop-shellshaped indentations. Historically,this reference to the symbol (stillrelevant in France) worn bypilgrims traveling the road toSantiago de Compostela in Galiciamade them a popular snackoffered for sale at various stagesof the route. In Spain, however,the pilgrimage link faded insignificance and the shell moldswere superseded by individualwaxed corrugated paper cases,though the recipe remainedunchanged. Magdalenas are stillwrapped in much the same waytoday, and are a familiar sightin Spanish homes, typically eatenfor breakfast and merienda(late afternoon snack, muchlike British tea-time).

In searchof an iconIt turns out to be no easy matter tosingle out from Spain’s traditionalarray one iconic confection that canboast the evocative power of Proust’smadeleine. It ought to be somethingof an everyday nature and eaten bymost of us; but our repertoire is aneclectic one, ranging as it does fromflights of fancy to markers of keydates on the ecclesiastical calendar,some redolent of local idiosyncrasyand others of the timeless seclusionof convent life. Anotherdifferentiating factor is whether theyuse butter or olive oil as the fattymedium that communicates theirflavor—an important difference,according to Catalan gourmet,author and journalist Josep Pla

(1897-1981), who summed up thedifference thus: “(sweetmeats) madewith oil are bright and sunny, whilethose made with butter are lunarand cheerless.”Spain’s traditional sweets arevirtually innumerable and alwaysremarkable. Some, for example,are decidedly holy: torrijas, madeduring Holy Week, are slices ofbread soaked in milk or wine, thendipped in beaten egg and fried inolive oil; huesos de santo (saint’sbones) are little cylinders of rolledmarzipan. Others are out and outfestive, such as turrón, which is analmond and honey nougat. Stillothers are part of almost sacredrituals: roscón de Reyes—the ring-shaped loaf of sweet spongy breadembedded with caramelized fruit,eaten on January 6th to markEpiphany, the Feast of the ThreeKings. Then there are homemade

sweets in the sense of desserts:arroz con leche (rice pudding madewith rice, milk and sugar); flan(caramel custard made with eggs,milk and sugar); and leche frita(“fried milk” made with flour, milkand sugar). Regional specialties inthis category include Galicia’s filloas(pancakes made with flour, beatenegg yolks, milk and sugar), CanaryIsland frangollo (milk, gofio [flourobtained from toasted grains],lemon, eggs, sugar, almonds andraisins), and Asturian frisuelos(pancakes made with flour eggs,milk, water, sugar and salt). Thenthere are the classics with a longpedigree, often associated withoutdoor celebrations: barquillos(rolled wafers made with plainflour and sugar or honey), pestiños(folded fritters made with flour andbeaten eggs, fried in olive oil andcoated in honey); merengues

TRADITIONAL SWEETS

Mantecada de Astorga


78

herbs and spices (coriander,cloves, aniseed, sesame andcinnamon). All these combine toproduce a light brown interior witha delicately spicy aroma andhoneyed flavor with hints of nut.The population of Medina Sidoniawas originally Phoenician, thoughit was during the Muslimoccupation that this region enjoyedits heyday. The ancestral methodfor making alfajores is as follows:the honey is heated before addingto it the hazelnuts and walnuts(toasted and split), thebreadcrumbs, flour, toasted sesame,coriander, cloves and aniseed andmixed together thoroughly. Theresulting dough is cut up whilestill hot and allowed to cool toroom temperature, then shapedinto the characteristic elongatedcylindrical shapes. The individualalfajores are then dipped in syrupand dusted with sugar andcinnamon before packing. MedinaSidonia’s confectionery-makingtradition is of considerablehistorical importance and thereare many literary and otherwritten references to it. It iscurrently the most importantcenter of confectionery productionin Cadiz province.To describe Spain’s repertoire oftraditional sweets as boundless islittle short of the truth. As onestarts to explore it, one discoversmore and more at every turn andsimply has to accept that anyattempt at an exhaustive accountwould be a fool’s errand. The bestone can hope for is to sketch in thebasics and describe their most

salient and best-knowncharacteristics. However, thisresolve crumbles in the face ofgems of information such as thefact that Yemas de San Leandro (richegg yolk sweets from Seville) owetheir survival to the generosity oflocal winery owners who habituallydonated the superfluous yolks leftafter using egg whites to clarifytheir wines to the Augustine nunsof San Leandro convent.This gesture ensured the survivalof a sweet famous since the 15th

century despite the poverty thatpreceded and succeeded theSpanish Civil War. The pattern wasreplicated in Avila, where similarsweets, known as Yemas de SantaTeresa, are produced in honorof peripatetic mystic Teresa deCepeda, better known as SantaTeresa de Jesús, or Saint Teresaof Avila (1515-1582), patron saintof Spanish gastronomy. Equallyfascinating is the discovery that thecandied almonds sold by Clarissanuns through a revolving hatchwayin their convent door are by nomeans the only local sweet inAlcalá de Henares (not far fromMadrid). Alcalá is also the fountof costradas (puff pastries filledwith confectioner’s custard,meringue and almonds) androsquillas de lustre (little sugar-glazed doughnuts), invented by elmaestro Lino, master confectionerat El Postre. Meanwhile, one isastonished to learn that La Mancha(central Spain, a region known forits restraint) produces one of themost elaborate examples of fruto desartén: the dough (flour, milk, eggs

and honey, flavored with aniseed)is painstakingly stamped outinto flower shapes before frying,giving an end product known asflores del Campo de Calatrava.To pop a pionono de Santa Fe (rolled-up syrup-soaked pastry topped withtoasted cream) into one’s mouth is tobe reminded that this little townjust outside Granada iswhere the army of the CatholicMonarchs (1474-1516) campedduring the campaign that culminatedin their reconquest of Granada, thelast Moorish stronghold in theIberian Peninsula. And why, you findyourself wondering, is turrón—thecrème de la crème of Spain’s sweetrepertoire and enduringrepresentative of Al-Andalusin present-day Alicante—limitedto cameo appearances atChristmastime rather than beingenjoyed all year round, as itsdeliciousness and appeal wouldseem to merit? All in all, Spain’straditional sweets inhabita mysterious, shifting realm to whichhistory, legend, traditionand memories contribute inequal measure.

Luis Cepeda is a journalist andauthor of many books, including LosCien Platos Universales de laCocina Vasca, Gusto de Reyes,Lhardy, La Cocina de Paradores andMaridaje de Vinos y Platos. He iscurrently gastronomic correspondentfor OnMadrid, the leisuresupplement of national daily El País,and technical director of the SpanishChef’s Association (Federación deCocineros de España).

TRADITIONAL SWEETS


6564






TRADITIONAL SWEETS




Tarta de Santiago


81

FOODBASICS




Rodrigode la Calle*


False rice pudding with date milk,

At Christmas, in true Toledotradition, my father always broughtout a selection of almond sweets,and almonds have always been oneof my favorite nuts for desserts.They are the inspiration for thisdish, but they also take us to Elche,an important production area forboth Marcona almonds and dates.This dessert has been on our menusince 2005.

SERVES 4For the false rice pudding: 50 g / 2 oz

pasta; 250 ml / 1 1/8 cups fresh cream;

250 ml / 1 1/8 cups milk; 300 g / 10 1/2 oz

fresh dates from Viveros Huerto de Elche;

icing sugar.

For the marzipan: 240 g / 8 1/2 oz Marcona

almonds; 250 g / 9 oz sugar.

For the cinnamon snap: 50 g / 2 oz butter;

50 g / 2 oz flour; 50 g / 2 oz sugar.

Others: Dried flower petals.

False rice puddingPlace the fresh dates in a vacuumpack with the milk and cream andcook in the Roner at 65ºC / 149ºFfor 1 hour, then strain, retainingthe liquid. Cook the pasta in theresulting cooking liquid over a lowheat until al dente.

MarzipanSoak the Marcona almondsfor 3 hours, then dry and grind.Add the sugar and knead for about15 minutes until the mixturecomes together and does not stickto your hands. Form into a rollabout 2 cm / 0.8 in in diameter,place on an oven pan and bake at280ºC / 536ºF for 10 minutes.Leave to cool.

Cinnamon snapSoften the butter, then mix with thesugar and flour to form a dough.Roll out until very thin and bake at190ºC / 374ºF for 4-5 minutes.

To servePlate the false rice pudding.Sprinkle with icing sugar andcaramelize. Grate marzipan overthe top, covering almost all thesurface of the rice. Finish withthe cinnamon snap and a fewdried flower petals.

Preparation time2 hours

Recommended winePedro Ximénez, Vors 30 años (DOJerez-Xérès-Sherry), by BodegasHarveys. This golden wine witha greenish sparkle is dry and offersaromas of crystallized fruit andnuts. It brings together the differenttextures and aromas as if by magic,and ends with a lingering aftertaste.

(Falso arroz con leche de dátil, mazapán y canela)

MARZIPANAND CINNAMON


81

FOODBASICS




Rodrigode la Calle*


False rice pudding with date milk,

At Christmas, in true Toledotradition, my father always broughtout a selection of almond sweets,and almonds have always been oneof my favorite nuts for desserts.They are the inspiration for thisdish, but they also take us to Elche,an important production area forboth Marcona almonds and dates.This dessert has been on our menusince 2005.

SERVES 4For the false rice pudding: 50 g / 2 oz

pasta; 250 ml / 1 1/8 cups fresh cream;

250 ml / 1 1/8 cups milk; 300 g / 10 1/2 oz

fresh dates from Viveros Huerto de Elche;

icing sugar.

For the marzipan: 240 g / 8 1/2 oz Marcona

almonds; 250 g / 9 oz sugar.

For the cinnamon snap: 50 g / 2 oz butter;

50 g / 2 oz flour; 50 g / 2 oz sugar.

Others: Dried flower petals.

False rice puddingPlace the fresh dates in a vacuumpack with the milk and cream andcook in the Roner at 65ºC / 149ºFfor 1 hour, then strain, retainingthe liquid. Cook the pasta in theresulting cooking liquid over a lowheat until al dente.

MarzipanSoak the Marcona almondsfor 3 hours, then dry and grind.Add the sugar and knead for about15 minutes until the mixturecomes together and does not stickto your hands. Form into a rollabout 2 cm / 0.8 in in diameter,place on an oven pan and bake at280ºC / 536ºF for 10 minutes.Leave to cool.

Cinnamon snapSoften the butter, then mix with thesugar and flour to form a dough.Roll out until very thin and bake at190ºC / 374ºF for 4-5 minutes.

To servePlate the false rice pudding.Sprinkle with icing sugar andcaramelize. Grate marzipan overthe top, covering almost all thesurface of the rice. Finish withthe cinnamon snap and a fewdried flower petals.

Preparation time2 hours

Recommended winePedro Ximénez, Vors 30 años (DOJerez-Xérès-Sherry), by BodegasHarveys. This golden wine witha greenish sparkle is dry and offersaromas of crystallized fruit andnuts. It brings together the differenttextures and aromas as if by magic,and ends with a lingering aftertaste.

(Falso arroz con leche de dátil, mazapán y canela)

MARZIPANAND CINNAMON


83

FOODBASICS

ADAPTATION OFTARTA DE SANTIAGO

One of the great Spanish dessertsis Santiago tart. It is surprisinghow well the almond flavors blendwith calamondin orange, oneof the citrus fruits grown bySantiago Orts at Viveros Huertode Elche. An excellent winterdessert, full of taste and aromas.

SERVES 4For the cake: 85 g / 3 oz ground almonds;

215 g / 7 1/2 oz icing sugar; 20 g / 1 oz

inverted sugar; grated rind of 3 calamondin

oranges; 200 g / 7 oz egg white; 3 g / 0.10 oz

baking powder; 100 g / 3 1/2 oz hazelnut

butter; 85 g / 3 oz flour.

For the crystallized calamondin orange:

250 g / 9 oz calamondin oranges; 250 g /

9 oz sugar; 1/2 l / 2 1/6 cups water.

For the calamondin orange sorbet: 250 g /

9 oz calamondin oranges; 1/4 l / 1 1/8 cups

syrup; 1 sheet gelatin; 5 g / 1/6 oz glucose.

Others: powdered tea; Heartsease

flower petals.

CakeMix the grated almonds with theicing sugar, inverted sugar andgrated calamondin orange rind.Place the egg whites in a separatebowl and mix without beating.Lightly mix in the baking powderand flour then add the sugar andalmond mixture and, finally, thehazelnut butter.Bake at 180ºC / 356ºF for 25minutes.

Crystallized calamondin orangeMake a syrup with the waterand sugar. Bring to a boil and addthe oranges. Cover and simmer forthree hours.

Calamondin orange sorbetGrate, then juice, the calamondinoranges. Mix the syrup with theglucose and gelatin, then add thejuice and grated rind. Pour into asorbet maker and freeze.

with calamondin orange

To serveBreak the cake into pieces and servesome on a plate. Pour over some ofthe syrup used for crystallizing thecalamondin oranges and add a littlepowdered tea. Finish with the sorbet,and top with crystallized oranges andHeartsease flower petals.


Recommended wineEnrique Mendoza Moscatel de laMarina, by the Enrique Mendoza(DO Alicante) winery.This wine has a clear, transparentyellow color with greenish tinges.Its honey notes blend well withthe calamondin oranges, balancingout any bitterness. It is both lightand creamy, helping bring togetherthe acidity and the sweetnesspresent in the dish.

(Adaptación de la Tarta de Santiago, con calamondín)


PASSION“Gastrobotanics” is the joint brainchild of restaurateurRodrigo de la Calle and biologist Santiago Orts. It’s aconcept that has turned De la Calle into a champion ofundervalued and overlooked vegetable species which,in his hands, become the stuff of haute cuisine. Thedishes he creates to showcase the attributes of his rawmaterials are object lessons in harmony and fine-tuningbacked up by considerable technical expertise.

TextAlmudena Muyo/©ICEX

PhotosTomás Zarza andToya Legido/©ICEX

TranslationHawys Pritchard/©ICEX

Rodrigode la Calle

and principles

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have been conducive to theemergence of interesting speciesand varieties of this type, manyof them originally implanted bythe various cultures that, en passant,have left their mark on Spain.”A book entitled Gastrobotánica,100 platos al natural para cada estación(Gastrobotanics, 100 NaturalDishes for Every Season) is justone tangible product of Rodrigoand Santiago’s collaboration.

OriginsSantiago Orts runs Viveros Huertode Elche, a family-owned plantnursery that was originally part ofthe historic Palmeral de Elche, avast palm grove declared a Heritageof Mankind site by UNESCO. Thenursery has now expanded beyondthe confines of the Palmeral, havingacquired a new role about a decadeago when it was given over togrowing dates as a crop instead ofornamental palms. At around thesame time, Rodrigo de la Calle tookover at La Taula del Mileniorestaurant (also owned by the Ortsfamily) armed with experiencegained at Madrid’s top flight Lhardyand Goizeko Kabi. The day whenSantiago offered Rodrigo fresh datesfor use in the restaurant proved tobe a pivotal one: in fact, fresh dateshave since become a signatureingredient. “I still remember thatday!” Rodrigo declares passionately.“I’d never tasted fresh dates before.They made such an impression onme that – quite unexpectedly - myprofessional and personal life tookquite a different turn from then on.

I still look forward to the start ofthe date season in October, and I’malways a bit downcast when it endsin January.”Realizing that exploring thegastronomic potential of fresh datescalled for more specifically relevantexperience, Rodrigo secured a jobat the 2-Michelin-star Mugaritzwith Andoni Luis Aduriz—not onlya big name, but one with a specialinterest in vegetable cuisine. Theexperience of haute cuisine heacquired there was further roundedout by subsequent periods workingat 3-Michelin-star MartínBerasategui; at Pastelería Totel withmaster pâtissier Paco Torreblanca;and at Quique Dacosta’s 2-Michelin-star El Poblet.In the course of seven action-packed years, he acquired andmastered cutting-edge techniquesand the skills and secrets specific todesserts, patisserie, rice…Meanwhile, his research work withSantiago Orts continued in parallel.Furthermore, he was able to offerconsistent supplies of dates andother protégé products to the chefswith whom he worked. In 2005,Martín Berasategui presented thefollowing dessert at the 7th LoMejor de la GastronomíaConference (the international foodconference held at variousdestinations in Spain): Dátil en crudoy en agua con helado de almendraamarga, bomboncitos de naranja y floresde almendra (Fresh date with bitteralmond ice cream, orange bonbonsand almond flowers served withfresh date liquor). While it mayseem surprising that none of the

other chefs showed much interestin these new products, as SantiagoOrts observes: “It was a period ofunprecedented creative activity inthe gastronomic world, and Spain’stop chefs were swept up in sucha whirlwind during those years thatthere was far too much going onto take it all in.” On top of which,as Rodrigo points out, “they werebombarded with new products everyday, required to make appearancesat all kinds of events, both in Spainand abroad. At that pace it wasinevitable that many things got littlemore than a passing glance.”Meanwhile, Rodrigo and Santiagowere having fun staging their owngastronomic conferences inemulation of the top chefs. It wasat one of these, in 2005, that theydecided over a glass of wine thatthe time had come to put a nameto their area of research, and cameup with “gastrobotanics”. Theydeclare unanimously that theircommitment to gastrobotanics hasbeen life-changing, has broughtthem happiness and enabled themto live according to their principles.It is also clear that Rodrigo’sgastronomic work derives its verybeing from Santiago’s botanicalresearch and vice versa.

Restaurantede la CalleShortly after his 30th birthday,towards the end of 2006, Rodrigode la Calle decided to open hisown restaurant, a showcase for hisown auteur cuisine and thegastrobotanics concept. “I’d

RODRIGO DE LA CALLE

I’m off to Aranjuez (46 km / 28.5 misouth of Madrid), and feeling quiteexcited at the prospect of eating foodcooked by Rodrigo de la Calle (hewas named chef of the year for 2011at Madrid Fusión, the prestigiousinternational gastronomic conferenceheld in the Spanish capital everyyear). I’m also looking forward totraveling through one of my favoriteparts of the country—the fertile fruitand vegetable-growing area besidethe Tagus River. Given that it’s winter,it won’t be looking its best, but Ialways love it anyway. As it turns out,however, the weather prevents myseeing it at all by veiling it in a densemist that reduces visibility to just afew feet. I muse on theunpredictability of Nature and on theadvisability of reveling in its vagariesrather than railing against them.It occurs to me in retrospect thatthis brush with Nature put me injust the right frame of mind forgrasping the essential point ofRodrigo de la Calle’s cuisine, whichtakes its inspiration from thevegetable kingdom. He is, after all,the inventor (along with biologistSantiago Orts, who runs the Viveros

Huerto de Elche plant nursery)of “gastrobotanics”, a culinaryconcept that ushers unaccustomedvegetable species into the realmof haute cuisine (some of themrescued from oblivion, otherssimply unfamiliar, but all of themfounts of hitherto untappedgastronomic potential).In the setting of the welcomingrestaurant that bears his name,located right in the center ofAranjuez, Rodrigo de la Callewastes no time in determinedlygetting the message across: “Theidea is to reinstate vegetable speciesand varieties that possess notablequalities yet have been disparaged,left unexplored, or simply neverbeen discovered—products thatcontribute added value togastronomy. Some may already beclose at hand, possibly having beencultivated by our forebears, whileothers will be discoveries made inthe course of our research; Naturestill has plenty of secrets to keepthe spirit of enquiry occupied.”But there is more to it than that:the ultimate aim is to endowproducts that he considers to be

of significant gastronomic interestwith the sort of status that makesit a financially viable propositionto grow them as a crop. Obviousexamples are fresh dates; fingerlimes (Citrus australasica, littlelemon-like fruit with tiny vesiclesthat look deceptively like FerranAdrià-type microspheres, that burstin one’s mouth releasing a richlyacidic taste); and ice plant(Mesembryanthemum crystallinum)and ice lettuce (early leaves of theice plant). The latter two areleading representatives of “desertvegetables”, so-called becauseit rains so rarely in Elche (easternSpain) where they are grown.Rodrigo’s habit of speakingin the plural is a reminder thatgastrobotanics is the productof nine years’ worth of work andresearch carried out in closecollaboration with his alter ego,Santiago Orts. When Orts joinsus later, around lunchtime, helaunches immediately into anexposition of his theory that…“the reason for Spain’s abundanceof vegetable species is that its veryspecific geographical characteristics


89

countryside every morning beforegoing to the restaurant.” It comesas no surprise to learn that he hasadopted Martín Berasategui’s motto:“Technique is there to serve thepurposes of my cooking ratherthan my cooking to demonstratetechnique.” His symbioticmushroom-and-seaweed dishexemplifies this point beautifully.Rodrigo de la Calle describes hiscooking as simple. By this he meansthat it respects the flavor of theingredients involved, even whenthere are three or four elements.This notion was brought home tome perfectly when we sampled hisCogollo de lechuga embebido en agua dealgas, con flores de romero y ralladurade dragonfly (Lettuce hearts steepedin seaweed-infused water, withrosemary flowers and zest ofdragonfly (Poncirus trifoliate, a typeof miniature orange with velvetyskin which gives off a potent, freshpine-and-woodlands fragrance). Inevery mouthful of this dish, I canidentify the taste of the lettuce heartwith the seaweedy salty tang, theMediterranean grace-note suppliedby the rosemary, and thesmoothness of the dragonfly, andyet at the same time I canappreciate an overall harmony, the

rosemary enhancing the bitter-saltiness of the seaweed water-soaked lettuce heart and theplangent fragrance of the dragonfly.Top-quality prime ingredients areobviously a sine qua non as far as thischef is concerned, and seasonalproducts are given star billing ona menu that changes with theseasons. When a customer is shownto his table, he finds a little roll ofparchment tied with a red ribbon.It contains this message:“Vegetables and their characteristicsare the mainstay of our cuisine. Werespect fresh produce. We accept itsseasonal nature and the fact that itcomes and goes. By observing thelife cycles governed by the seasons,we are able to present theirproducts at their best and mostexpressive.” That’s quite somepolicy statement, and they reallydo practice what they preach.“We’ve lost our links with theagricultural world. We complainthat fruit and vegetables aretasteless, yet we don’t respect theirbiological cycle. We expect to eattomatoes all year round, but if youwant them to have flavor it simplycan’t be done.” Rodrigo still looksforward avidly to the start of theirproducts’ seasons. “I get quite edgy,

but pleasantly so because there’ssomething special and desirableon the way: I can hardly wait to getmy hands on the first asparagus inApril and feature it on the menu,and I still get a bit sad when itfinishes in June.” His love of freshproduce dates back to earlychildhood: he was brought up inthe country and has vivid memoriesof his father, a farmer, cominghome at the end of the day withwhatever was then in season, whichwas what the family ate.

HarmonyRodrigo carries perfectionismto the extreme. His dishes areperfectly balanced, each a littleconcerto of flavors in which everyelement retains its own identitywhile playing its part in the overallharmony. Flavors start off specificand develop into the general.I experienced this effect with hisEspeto de trucha con caviar casero ycaldo de yuku (Brochette of troutwith house caviar and yuku broth)(yuku is Citrus junos, a mandarinhybrid, yellow in color and witha complex sulfuric flavor withhints of clove and oregano).A de la Calle dish allocates top

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accumulated enough experienceto be able to cook in my own way.Our menu includes a gastrobotanicoption consisting of 5 dishes:Ostra con caviar cítrico (Oyster withcitrus caviar), Huevo con trufa ygerminados (Egg with truffle andsprouted seeds); two rice dishesfeaturing different desertvegetables; and a fruit macédoinethat celebrates the diversityof citrus fruits now available.”De la Calle is passionate aboutfood. “I cook the way I do becauseI follow the dictates of my heartand my instinct,” he declared atintervals throughout the day wespent together. Perfectionist andsensitive by nature, he has alwaysknown exactly what he wantedto do, remaining unwaveringly trueto his conceptual approach to foodeven when, in the process ofbalancing the books, he discoveredthat only 15 customers had actuallyordered his gastrobotanic menu inthe first two years: “There wasnever any question of abandoningthe concept: if I couldn’t dogastrobotanics in my ownrestaurant, I’d take it wherevernecessary.” Whether Aranjuez is theideal location for a restaurant ofthis kind is not up for discussion at

the moment (romantic attachmentto a woman was what took himthere in the first place, but she isno longer in his life). Criticalopinion has been favorable and hashelped build up his by nowconsiderable reputation. He wasnamed Madrid Fusión’s RevelationChef in 2009, Chef of the Yearat the same event in 2011, andmeanwhile has been nominatedfor his first Michelin star.The hoo-hah that inevitablyaccompanies this sort of successis much in evidence during mywinter visit. Manuel de la Osa(of 1-Michelin-star Las Rejasrestaurant) has popped in just tosay hello; Ignacio Medina, one ofSpain’s leading restaurant critics(he won the Spanish RoyalAcademy of Gastronomy’s nationalprize for food journalism in 2009)is tucking in to specialties of thehouse at a table adjoining the oneI’m sharing with Santiago Orts;meanwhile Rodrigo de la Calle’smobile never stops ringing witharrangements for interviewsand photographic sessions.Rodrigo can’t quite believe what’sgoing on, and looks rather wide-eyed as he does what he has to do.He can’t quite credit the fact that he

is being ranked with chefs thatwere his role models just a shorttime ago, and he becomes quiteemotional (as he did when talkingabout his cherished products)as he recalls leaner times in therestaurant’s early days, and how thetapas bar upstairs enabled him tocarry on producing auteur cuisine.

Passionate aboutproduceSo what, you may be wonderingis Rodrigo de la Calle’s cookingactually like? His style of cookingis out-and-out contemporary,at once flavor-packed and subtle.His dishes are cleverly thoughtout and their cooking is judgedto the second so that theirjuxtapositioning of flavors andtextures can be experienced tothe full. Ingredients can sometimesbe unexpected yet they take theirplace comfortably among the rest.The influence of Martín Berasateguiis discernible here, albeit slightlytoned down. “He was the maestroas far as I’m concerned: myapproach to food is just like his.We got on very well together, bothprofessionally and personally. Infact, we used to go for a walk in the


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species of vegetable and onceit has been confirmed as edible, heshares it with Rodrigo to find outwhether or not it is of gastronomicinterest. If so, he plants it andobserves it for a year to ascertainwhen it reaches its peak: “We judgewhether it’s better to use it inwinter, when it’s more saline,or when it’s in flower, since that’swhen its flavor is at its richest,or perhaps to wait for it to bearfruit. When we’ve decided at whatstage to use it, it is taken to therestaurant and we then decide onthe most appropriate preparationmethod: straightforward boiling,pressure cooking, frying…Weconsider liquidizing it, infusing it,grating its rind, using it raw…and then decide whether it is staringredient material or more of agarnish.” Once all these questionsare settled, Rodrigo’s creativitycomes into play, and he designsboth the content of the dish andthe aesthetics of its presentation,

“although the dish isn’t launchedin the laboratory, but at the tablein the restaurant when thecustomer tucks into it,” declaresRodrigo with total conviction.We’ve been chatting at the tablelong after finishing our meal.It’s been quite a day in gastronomicterms. Before I leave, Rodrigomakes a point of declaring thathe doesn’t like to be labeled anddoesn’t belong to any trend.His guiding principle isgastrobotanics. Pure and simple.

Almudena Muyo worked for over12 years as a journalist specializingin international trade before takingup her current post as editorialcoordinator of Spain Gourmetour.

Restaurante de la CalleAntigua carretera de Andalucía, 8528300 Aranjuez (Madrid)Tel.: 918 910 807www.restaurantedelacalle.com(English, Spanish)www.gastrobotanica.com (Spanish)

CLOSE-UP

see all the produce growing anddeveloping as the months go by, asI pick and taste them I start to seeculinary uses for them in my mind’seye—sometimes even the finaldish.” The creative process maywell be triggered in his mind by thesight of something growing in thegarden, but a lot of experimentinggoes on in the kitchen before thedish is declared complete.“When Santiago comes up with anew product for me, I find that itsorganoleptic properties are usefulindicators of its culinary potential,and very often I know intuitivelywhich parts to use: the peel, thepith, the flesh, and so on. I’velearned to trust my intuitionbecause, on the whole, those firstinklings tend to be confirmed whenI actually start using the product inthe kitchen, and pursuing otherpossibilities too,” Rodrigo de laCalle explains.It’s a long process that can go on foryears: Santiago Orts reinstates a

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billing to vegetables and consignsanimal protein to a supporting role:“Vegetables are the mainstay of therestaurant, and on the gastrobotanicalmenu, animal protein features as agarnish: meat or fish, it can appear inmany guises—little chunks, or evenin a broth, but always in a minorrole.” His Filamentos de lombarda concaldo de chipirón (Filaments of redcabbage with baby squid broth)is a classic example.The citrus fruits grown by SantiagoOrts provide a leitmotiv, seasoningevery dish, from oysters with citruscaviar through to the complete rangeof desserts. Indeed, acidity is aconsistently recurring theme inmany of his dishes and even someentire menus: he makes imaginativeuse of the lemons’ tangy scent, butfor flavor uses the sweeter limequat(Fortunella X citrus limetta), theperfumed delicacy of sweet citron(C. Medica X Reticulata) or the velvetyrich orange-blossom fragrance ofkumquat (Fortunella Margarita L).Rice is another thematic axis inRodrigo de la Calle’s repertoire.Again in his rice dishes there isthat stamp of perfection—grainsjust the right size, cooked for justlong enough—and again one’s palateis introduced to completely newexperiences: in his risotto liquen(lichen risotto), the symbioticconjunction of seaweed andmushrooms creates a wholegreater than the sum of its parts.Watching things grow in SantiagoOrts’ plantations in Elche areRodrigo de la Calle’s greatest sourceof inspiration: “When I go there and

RODRIGO DE LA CALLE



Landing

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

New Horizons for Pagode los Baldíos de San Carlos

TEXTPAUL RICHARDSON/©ICEX

PHOTOSPAGO DE LOS BALDÍOS DE SAN CARLOS

MOONAn olive oil made with olives pickedunder the full moon. It soundedextraordinary, and my curiosity waspiqued. A party was to be held incelebration of this product. I hadbeen invited and I was on my way towhat turned out to be as exotic andoriginal an event as the product itself.On a dark fall night, I drove throughthe countryside outside the villageof Majadas del Tiétar (Cáceres,Extremadura), finally coming upona collection of industrial warehouses:the headquarters of Pago de losBaldíos de San Carlos, one ofExtremadura’s most successful oliveoil companies. Outside in thecourtyard, under the powerfulfloodlights, was a figure in white silkpajamas practicing what looked verymuch like kung fu.The ghost of Bruce Lee appearsin the wilds of western Spain? It was asurrealistic sight, but in fact there wasan entirely logical explanation. Theparty held by Pago de los Baldíos deSan Carlos was not only to mark thebeginning of the harvest for this year’sFull Moon olive oil, but also to bringto our attention the promising debutof this extremeño (from Extremadura)brand in the increasingly importantChinese market. Which explains thekung fu fighter, not to mention theChinese dancers, the famous Chinesesinger who gave a pricelessperformance of La Paloma (a classiczarzuela, a type of Spanish Operetta)in highly-accented Castilian, and thethrong of Chinese guests devouringthe pinchos (small bites) of ham andcheese and the extremeño red wine,all in a tobacco drying shed kitted outfor the occasion.

The Pago de los Baldíos de SanCarlos is an unusual set-up, no doubtabout it. Its unusualness starts withits geographical position in the valleyof the Tiétar River, below the GredosMountains, a part of Extremaduramuch better known for theproduction of tobacco, soft fruits,oranges and cherries than for olives.When Don Vicente Sánchez, alandowner whose 600 ha (1,630acre) Finca La Laguna was largelygiven over to the cultivation ofVirginia tobacco, made known hisplan to make a fine olive oil on theestate, locals thought nothing wouldcome of it. This was not, and wouldnever be, olive-growing land. Vicenteforged ahead, however, planting atotal of 120 ha (296 acres) ofArbequina and Cornicabra olivetrees, varieties seldom found inExtremadura.Eight years after the first plantingsand three after the first production ofolive oil, the skeptics have beentrounced and the vision of thisfarsighted farmer, entirely vindicated.The Sánchez family’s olive oil haswon prizes in the world’s major oliveoil contests, including gold medals atExtrema Selección (Spain), L’Orciolod’Oro in Pesaro (Italy) and a silvermedal at the Los AngelesInternational Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Competition (all in 2009). In 2008,its all-Arbequina brand merited aspecial mention in China’s mostimportant olive oil fair, Oil China.Pago de los Baldíos de San Carlos ispresent in the kitchens of premierleague Spanish chefs like Arzak,Berasategui, Adrià, Subijana, Arola,Arbelaitz and Dacosta.

ApproachingmarketsIn terms of exports, the success of thebrand has been astounding. In thethree years since it started sellingabroad, Pago de los Baldíos de SanCarlos has elbowed its way into noless than 25 countries on all fivecontinents, making it perhaps thesingle extremeño food product withthe highest profile on a global scale.According to Maite Parra, thecompany’s export manager, themarkets most important to thecompany are still those of theEuropean Union, logically enough,but Russia, Japan, Singapore, China,Canada, the United States, andMexico (in that order) are coming upon the inside track. The company hasdesignated exports as a maximumpriority, and plans to make 2011 itsbest year ever in this respect, with asmuch as 80% of total turnovercoming from overseas markets. Theidea is to get the oils into the contextof connoisseurship and quality,which is to say gourmet food shops,high-end supermarket chains, andthe kind of classy delicatessen whereprice is no object for the customerlooking for the best of everything.Few extremeño food producers, it

08_AF_BUSSINESS_WATCH.qxd 25/2/11 09:39 Página 92

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ATCH

Which happens to be just the waythe Sánchez family likes it. A centralplank of their philosophy as oilmakers is total control of the process.It wouldn’t do to be reliant onsomeone else’s oil mill, like the vastmajority of Extremadura’s olivefarmers; the company has its ownstate-of-the-art almazara (oil mill),avoiding lines and delays. Both thecondition and the speed with whichthis delicate fruit arrives at thealmazara are of crucial importance.The olives are picked early, whichmakes for lower yields but plays upthe fruit aromas and avoids the spicyand bitter notes that come later in theseason. (Cornicabra grown in theMontes de Toledo, in the center ofSpain, for example, is often picked inJanuary, three months after those atthe Finca La Laguna). Only olivespicked from the tree are used, neverthose that have fallen or otherwisecome into contact with the ground.Arbequina as a variety is notoriouslyunstable, the oil often going into asteep decline even after six months.If Pago de los Baldíos de San Carlosremains as fresh as a daisy more thana year after it was made, I can’t helpwondering whether the Sánchez’sobsession with hygiene might havesomething to do with it.Meanwhile, in the tobacco dryingshed, the extremeño wine flowedfreely and the speeches began: firstDon Vicente Sánchez, thepaterfamilias, who spoke of the moonand how it dominates the naturalworld, the meaning of the moon inChina, and Full Moon and itsimportance to a family (his own) that

has been farming since the year 1760.Then came the mayor of Majadas deTiétar (where the company islocated), permanently amazed at thepresence of his tiny extremeño villagein the upper ranks of worldgastronomy, and the CommercialCouncillor of the Chinese Embassy inSpain, who revealed a series ofheartening statistics: that Spanishexports to China are growing by 50%year-on-year, and that Spain leads theway in the fast-growing Chinesemarket for olive oil.The official business over, the gueststrooped out into the olive groves,where the full moon shone with aneerie bluish light. Now was themoment chosen for the officialinauguration of this year’s harvest,and a symbolic picking of the firstolives destined for the Full Moon oil.The guest workers busied ourselvesas best we could, stripping thebranches of the hard, shiny, jadegreen fruit, which rattled into thebuckets around our waists.Beside me a Chinese woman wasworking hard, her face, wreathed in asmile of satisfaction, seeming to glowunder the moonlight. If ever therewere an image of the extent andpower of globalization in our time,this was surely it. Under the full

94

seems to me, are quite so sure-footed intheir approach to marketing. At the topof their range of various coupages, eachappealing to different world markets(the Arbequina-Cornicabra blend Orode San Carlos, for example, is big inGermany and France, while the 100%Cornicabra is a hit in Brazil), is theproduct they call Full Moon. Presentedin a cuboid, matte black bottle thatlooks like a chic designer perfume,the design is curious and attention-grabbing. According to Ana MariaSánchez (Don Vicente’s daughter),the presentation is just right for the giftmarket and looks the part in airportshops and upmarket souvenir emporia.She describes a scenario, plausibleenough, of a wised-up gourmet whomight take the square black bottle to adinner party instead of a bottle of wine,delighting the party with this enigmaticand original present.As for the Chinese market, Pago delos Baldíos de San Carlos is hardlythe only Spanish olive oil makerchasing the upper echelons of theworld’s most numerous and second-richest collection of consumers.Though China is not traditionally anolive oil producing country, theChinese are learning fast not onlyabout olives as a crop, plantingthousands of acres per year, but alsoabout Spanish extra virgin olive oil aspart of a healthy lifestyle. My Chinesefriends tell me that olive oil, thoughexpensive in China, is increasinglypopular among a certain sector of thewell-to-do middle class as aluxurious and healthful unguent, tobe drizzled sparingly on bread as abreakfast food or evening aperitif.

Even so, the market has not beeneasy to penetrate. “It’s been verydifficult,” admits Maite Parra. “We’vebeen trying hard for three years, andwe have realized that China is a verytricky market for high-end olive oils,given that most companies arelooking for high volume and lowprice and ours is obviously not aproduct like that. Finally, however,we have found the perfect distributorto get us in there, and we hope tobuild on this promising start andmake 2011 the year of our definitivesuccess in the Chinese market.”Luckily, their star product, the FullMoon oil, has an inbuilt advantage asfar as the Chinese are concerned(though it pre-dates the company’sinterest in that market). As Ana MaríaSánchez points out, in China the fullmoon is an important national fiestawhen family gatherings are commonand wishes made with conviction arebelieved to come true.All of this may sound like puremarketing blarney, but there is moreto Full Moon than a name, a prettybottle and a shameless attempt tocozy up with the Chinese. In fact, theolives for this oil are gathered in theweek of the full moon in October,not necessarily at night, but at a timeof the month when the moon is at its

zenith. The result, claims Ana María,is an extra virgin oil whose fruityintensity is even more pronouncedthan that of the company’s standard,non-lunar line. Ana María is quick tosuggest that the moon’s influence onthe cycles of the natural world isboth widely documented and broadlyaccepted in traditional societies, fromthe Mediterranean to the Far East.Even today, Spanish rural processeslike winemaking and pig slaughter(la matanza) are commonly guidedby the lunar phases of waxing andwaning. If the full moon makes thesap move faster around the olive tree,might that not have an effect on theflavor of the finished oil? Quite apartfrom the appeal of the notion as amarketing tool, the Sánchez familygenuinely believes that it might.

Quality: total controlWhen all’s said and done, however,what really matters is the quality ofthe product. Here, too, the companyhas done its homework. Across itsrange of oils, the overridingimpression is of extraordinaryfreshness, a certain smoothness(there is no pepperiness or bitternessin these oils) and a predominance offruit, including subtle flavors ofalmond, apple, tomato and greenbanana. Acidity is astonishingly lowat around 0.08% (a figure which,says Ana María, even the expertscannot quite explain), and theperoxide level, indicating the oil’sdegree of oxidation, comes in at avery low 3 or 4 (an index of 20 isregarded as acceptable).

PAGO BALDÍOS SAN CARLOS

Pagode los Baldíosde San Carlos, S.L.· Workforce10

· Gross turnover 2009600,000 euros

· Export quota50%

· Foreign marketsAustria, Belgium, Canada, China,Czech Republic, France, Germany,Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway,Russia, Singapore, Sweden,Switzerland, United Kingdom, andUnited States

· ProductsExtra virgin olive oil: Pago BaldíosSan Carlos, Oro San Carlos, FullMoon Pago Baldíos San Carlos,San Carlos Gourmet

· Web sitewww.pagobaldiosancarlos.com(Chinese, English, German, Italian,Japanese, and Spanish)

moon of October, I made a wish thatwas more like a fantasy: within fiveyears Extremadura becomes ahousehold name in China, its superbextra virgin olive oils, like those of thePago de los Baldíos de San Carlos, inthe kitchens of discerning homesfrom Shanghai to Beijing. And whoknows? The way things are going, it’sa wish that might just come true.

Paul Richardson lives on a farm innorthern Extremadura. A freelance traveland food writer, he is the author of A LateDinner: Discovering the Food of Spain(Bloomsbury, UK, and Scribner, USA).


83

FOODBASICS

ADAPTATION OFTARTA DE SANTIAGO

One of the great Spanish dessertsis Santiago tart. It is surprisinghow well the almond flavors blendwith calamondin orange, oneof the citrus fruits grown bySantiago Orts at Viveros Huertode Elche. An excellent winterdessert, full of taste and aromas.

SERVES 4For the cake: 85 g / 3 oz ground almonds;

215 g / 7 1/2 oz icing sugar; 20 g / 1 oz

inverted sugar; grated rind of 3 calamondin

oranges; 200 g / 7 oz egg white; 3 g / 0.10 oz

baking powder; 100 g / 3 1/2 oz hazelnut

butter; 85 g / 3 oz flour.

For the crystallized calamondin orange:

250 g / 9 oz calamondin oranges; 250 g /

9 oz sugar; 1/2 l / 2 1/6 cups water.

For the calamondin orange sorbet: 250 g /

9 oz calamondin oranges; 1/4 l / 1 1/8 cups

syrup; 1 sheet gelatin; 5 g / 1/6 oz glucose.

Others: powdered tea; Heartsease

flower petals.

CakeMix the grated almonds with theicing sugar, inverted sugar andgrated calamondin orange rind.Place the egg whites in a separatebowl and mix without beating.Lightly mix in the baking powderand flour then add the sugar andalmond mixture and, finally, thehazelnut butter.Bake at 180ºC / 356ºF for 25minutes.

Crystallized calamondin orangeMake a syrup with the waterand sugar. Bring to a boil and addthe oranges. Cover and simmer forthree hours.

Calamondin orange sorbetGrate, then juice, the calamondinoranges. Mix the syrup with theglucose and gelatin, then add thejuice and grated rind. Pour into asorbet maker and freeze.

with calamondin orange

To serveBreak the cake into pieces and servesome on a plate. Pour over some ofthe syrup used for crystallizing thecalamondin oranges and add a littlepowdered tea. Finish with the sorbet,and top with crystallized oranges andHeartsease flower petals.


Recommended wineEnrique Mendoza Moscatel de laMarina, by the Enrique Mendoza(DO Alicante) winery.This wine has a clear, transparentyellow color with greenish tinges.Its honey notes blend well withthe calamondin oranges, balancingout any bitterness. It is both lightand creamy, helping bring togetherthe acidity and the sweetnesspresent in the dish.

(Adaptación de la Tarta de Santiago, con calamondín)


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ATCH

Which happens to be just the waythe Sánchez family likes it. A centralplank of their philosophy as oilmakers is total control of the process.It wouldn’t do to be reliant onsomeone else’s oil mill, like the vastmajority of Extremadura’s olivefarmers; the company has its ownstate-of-the-art almazara (oil mill),avoiding lines and delays. Both thecondition and the speed with whichthis delicate fruit arrives at thealmazara are of crucial importance.The olives are picked early, whichmakes for lower yields but plays upthe fruit aromas and avoids the spicyand bitter notes that come later in theseason. (Cornicabra grown in theMontes de Toledo, in the center ofSpain, for example, is often picked inJanuary, three months after those atthe Finca La Laguna). Only olivespicked from the tree are used, neverthose that have fallen or otherwisecome into contact with the ground.Arbequina as a variety is notoriouslyunstable, the oil often going into asteep decline even after six months.If Pago de los Baldíos de San Carlosremains as fresh as a daisy more thana year after it was made, I can’t helpwondering whether the Sánchez’sobsession with hygiene might havesomething to do with it.Meanwhile, in the tobacco dryingshed, the extremeño wine flowedfreely and the speeches began: firstDon Vicente Sánchez, thepaterfamilias, who spoke of the moonand how it dominates the naturalworld, the meaning of the moon inChina, and Full Moon and itsimportance to a family (his own) that

has been farming since the year 1760.Then came the mayor of Majadas deTiétar (where the company islocated), permanently amazed at thepresence of his tiny extremeño villagein the upper ranks of worldgastronomy, and the CommercialCouncillor of the Chinese Embassy inSpain, who revealed a series ofheartening statistics: that Spanishexports to China are growing by 50%year-on-year, and that Spain leads theway in the fast-growing Chinesemarket for olive oil.The official business over, the gueststrooped out into the olive groves,where the full moon shone with aneerie bluish light. Now was themoment chosen for the officialinauguration of this year’s harvest,and a symbolic picking of the firstolives destined for the Full Moon oil.The guest workers busied ourselvesas best we could, stripping thebranches of the hard, shiny, jadegreen fruit, which rattled into thebuckets around our waists.Beside me a Chinese woman wasworking hard, her face, wreathed in asmile of satisfaction, seeming to glowunder the moonlight. If ever therewere an image of the extent andpower of globalization in our time,this was surely it. Under the full

94

seems to me, are quite so sure-footed intheir approach to marketing. At the topof their range of various coupages, eachappealing to different world markets(the Arbequina-Cornicabra blend Orode San Carlos, for example, is big inGermany and France, while the 100%Cornicabra is a hit in Brazil), is theproduct they call Full Moon. Presentedin a cuboid, matte black bottle thatlooks like a chic designer perfume,the design is curious and attention-grabbing. According to Ana MariaSánchez (Don Vicente’s daughter),the presentation is just right for the giftmarket and looks the part in airportshops and upmarket souvenir emporia.She describes a scenario, plausibleenough, of a wised-up gourmet whomight take the square black bottle to adinner party instead of a bottle of wine,delighting the party with this enigmaticand original present.As for the Chinese market, Pago delos Baldíos de San Carlos is hardlythe only Spanish olive oil makerchasing the upper echelons of theworld’s most numerous and second-richest collection of consumers.Though China is not traditionally anolive oil producing country, theChinese are learning fast not onlyabout olives as a crop, plantingthousands of acres per year, but alsoabout Spanish extra virgin olive oil aspart of a healthy lifestyle. My Chinesefriends tell me that olive oil, thoughexpensive in China, is increasinglypopular among a certain sector of thewell-to-do middle class as aluxurious and healthful unguent, tobe drizzled sparingly on bread as abreakfast food or evening aperitif.

Even so, the market has not beeneasy to penetrate. “It’s been verydifficult,” admits Maite Parra. “We’vebeen trying hard for three years, andwe have realized that China is a verytricky market for high-end olive oils,given that most companies arelooking for high volume and lowprice and ours is obviously not aproduct like that. Finally, however,we have found the perfect distributorto get us in there, and we hope tobuild on this promising start andmake 2011 the year of our definitivesuccess in the Chinese market.”Luckily, their star product, the FullMoon oil, has an inbuilt advantage asfar as the Chinese are concerned(though it pre-dates the company’sinterest in that market). As Ana MaríaSánchez points out, in China the fullmoon is an important national fiestawhen family gatherings are commonand wishes made with conviction arebelieved to come true.All of this may sound like puremarketing blarney, but there is moreto Full Moon than a name, a prettybottle and a shameless attempt tocozy up with the Chinese. In fact, theolives for this oil are gathered in theweek of the full moon in October,not necessarily at night, but at a timeof the month when the moon is at its

zenith. The result, claims Ana María,is an extra virgin oil whose fruityintensity is even more pronouncedthan that of the company’s standard,non-lunar line. Ana María is quick tosuggest that the moon’s influence onthe cycles of the natural world isboth widely documented and broadlyaccepted in traditional societies, fromthe Mediterranean to the Far East.Even today, Spanish rural processeslike winemaking and pig slaughter(la matanza) are commonly guidedby the lunar phases of waxing andwaning. If the full moon makes thesap move faster around the olive tree,might that not have an effect on theflavor of the finished oil? Quite apartfrom the appeal of the notion as amarketing tool, the Sánchez familygenuinely believes that it might.

Quality: total controlWhen all’s said and done, however,what really matters is the quality ofthe product. Here, too, the companyhas done its homework. Across itsrange of oils, the overridingimpression is of extraordinaryfreshness, a certain smoothness(there is no pepperiness or bitternessin these oils) and a predominance offruit, including subtle flavors ofalmond, apple, tomato and greenbanana. Acidity is astonishingly lowat around 0.08% (a figure which,says Ana María, even the expertscannot quite explain), and theperoxide level, indicating the oil’sdegree of oxidation, comes in at avery low 3 or 4 (an index of 20 isregarded as acceptable).

PAGO BALDÍOS SAN CARLOS

Pagode los Baldíosde San Carlos, S.L.· Workforce10

· Gross turnover 2009600,000 euros

· Export quota50%

· Foreign marketsAustria, Belgium, Canada, China,Czech Republic, France, Germany,Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway,Russia, Singapore, Sweden,Switzerland, United Kingdom, andUnited States

· ProductsExtra virgin olive oil: Pago BaldíosSan Carlos, Oro San Carlos, FullMoon Pago Baldíos San Carlos,San Carlos Gourmet

· Web sitewww.pagobaldiosancarlos.com(Chinese, English, German, Italian,Japanese, and Spanish)

moon of October, I made a wish thatwas more like a fantasy: within fiveyears Extremadura becomes ahousehold name in China, its superbextra virgin olive oils, like those of thePago de los Baldíos de San Carlos, inthe kitchens of discerning homesfrom Shanghai to Beijing. And whoknows? The way things are going, it’sa wish that might just come true.

Paul Richardson lives on a farm innorthern Extremadura. A freelance traveland food writer, he is the author of A LateDinner: Discovering the Food of Spain(Bloomsbury, UK, and Scribner, USA).



BUENOSsomething, then move on to therestaurant at the back, where mealsare served only à la carte. ForSunday lunch the place is full, butyou are more likely to hearPortuguese than Spanish. That’sthe day when the Brazilian touristscome in flocks so, if you arelooking for peace and quiet,I recommend a weekday visit.It’s time to go but, first, a peek atthe top floor. True to the traditionof the old-style taverns, thisestablishment includes a smallhotel upstairs. The flat roof aboveit affords a magnificent view overthe city. Take a glass of your favoriteterroir and drink it up here.The magic will transport you towherever you would most like to be.

TextRaquel Rosemberg/©ICEX

Raquel Rosemberg from

PhotosSagardi S.A.


Have a Spanish Break!

When I feel nostalgia for Spain andall things Spanish, I set out for acorner of Spain here in BuenosAires. Sagardi, a Spanish cateringgroup with ten establishments backin the home country, also has onehere, offering genuine Basquecuisine. It is located in an attractivepart of the old San Telmo district,and was the first to introduce thelocals to the tradition of pintxos,the Basque version of tapas. But firstI should explain that this way ofeating, with no table—just a glassin your hand and somethingto eat from the bar—is unusualhere. Sagardi faced a real challenge.I remember at this company’sestablishments back in Barcelonait was hard to even make it as far as

Sagardi EuskalTabernaHumberto Primo 319Buenos Aires, Argentinawww.sagardi.comTel.: (0054 -11) 4361-2538

Raquel Rosemberg was born and livesin Buenos Aires. She is a graduatein social communication and works asa food writer. She is food editor for themagazine El Conocedor, writes forthe Ollas & El Sartenes culinarysupplement of the Clarín newspaper,wrote the book Sabores que matan(Editorial Paidós) and in 2010 wasappointed Latin American representativefor the guide entitled The World’sBest 50 Restaurants.

Mendoza (Argentina), and nextis a Tempranillo from the DOCaRioja, to accompany the piquillopeppers with brandade and thecharcoal-grilled portion of steak.I enjoy several more pintxos whileI listen to Miguel telling of hisadventures on his constant searchfor quality ingredients. His storieswould fill another article.Though the octopus is stilllingering on my taste buds, myhosts insist I try what they call their“orgasmic” dessert— a cheese basewith walnuts, a pimiento peppercrisp and cranberry jam.The bar is filling up, but the tablecontinues to be more popular withthe groups coming in after a weekof work. Many of them try a little

the bar. Here things are moresophisticated, with the business beinglocated in a tastefully-renovated,19th-century building, opposite thechurch of San Pedro Telmo.I find myself a place at the large bar,though most of my compatriotschoose to share the huge communaltable beyond it. I am immediatelyserved some still cider fromAstigarraga (Basque Country, northSpain), poured from a height ofabout 0.9m (3 ft) so that it splashesinto the glass. “That’s part of thetradition,” says manager MiguelEnríquez, an Argentinian who hasbeen working with the chain foryears. Just one sip and I’m almostback in Spain. Then come thepintxos, both hot and cold, but

always different, a test of the chef’screativity. The first one I try offers atrendy Japanese touch—a salmonroll with a cheese and fish roemousse. It’s good, but not whatI came here for. I prefer whatfollows: chistorra (a thin porksausage flavored with pimentón,a type of paprika from Spain), hakein green sauce, potato omelet anda combination of olives withanchovies and intense olive oil.I love the variety, but my favorite isa simple, noble offering—a chunkof potato en confit with tenderoctopus and pimentón de la Vera.Just a mouthful, but it takes medirectly to Spain.By now the cider has given way toa Malbec produced by Sagardi in

AIRES

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La cocinade la salud

(Healthy cooking)by Ferran Adrià, JosepCorbella and ValentínFuster. Spanish.Thiscollaborative workbetween a chef, doctor andjournalist really covers allthe bases, and is a self-proclaimed manual for ahealthy life and healthyeating. All too often wethink that for something totaste good, it must be badfor us. Not true. This bookshows how to eat healthyand eat well at the sametime, how to enjoy eating.The text recreates a day inthe life of a family—anyfamily—to illustrate howwe can improve breakfast,shopping, foodpreservation, and cooking.It also takes on issues suchas exercise, weight control,blood pressure andcholesterol, and how toeducate children on theimportance of taking careof their bodies. It is trulycomprehensive in itsapproach and is chock-a-block with ideas, tips andsuggestions, all of whichare very easy to digest.(Editorial Planeta, S.A.www.planeta.es).

Reinventing Food.Ferran Adrià: the ManWho Changedthe Way We Eat

by Colman Andrews.English. No other chef inhistory has been obsessedover like Adrià. Hisprofessional life has beenchronicled, his philosophyshared with the world,reporters/foodies/chefs hanging on his everyword. In fact, so muchmaterial exists that theauthor’s goal here was toprovide the portrait ofFerran Adrià that other textshaven’t been able to show,adding unknown facts,telling untold anecdotes.After two years of researchand much collaborationwith the chef and hispeople, Andrews dares totell the story “of how oneyoung chef changed thegastronomic world forever.”This is the first authorizedbiography, full of freshinsight and information. Soif you want the real story, ifyou want the nitty-grittydetails, this is the text thatreally traces Adrià’s rise“from dishwasher to creativegenius.” (Phaidon PressLimited, www.phaidon.es ).

Miguel’s Tapas

by Miguel Maestre.English. Miguel Maestre isa well-known TV chef andowner of El Toro Loco inSydney, Australia, and hehas worked in the world’stop restaurants. NowMaestre has teamed upwith French celebrity chefManu Feildel to runanother Sydney restaurant:Aperitif, in Potts Point.This is Maestre’s firstcookbook. Organized bytime of day, he offerssuggestions includingCaramelized melon andcrispy Iberico ham(breakfast), Vanilla infusedwith wild boar cheeks(lunch), and Chickencabbage parcels (dinner).With more than 75suggestions, mixingtraditional recipes withsignature tapas dishes,along with a glossary ofterms and tips forpreparing the basics, thisbook is ideal for anyoccasion and pays adeserving homage to theworld of tapas.(New Holland Publishers PtyLtd., ww.newholland.com.au)

43 palabrasde la vid y el vino

(43 Words on the Vineand Wine) by MiguelIbáñez Rodríguez.Spanish. This book comeswith its counterpart,The Specialized La RiojaWine Dictionary, in a blackcase, chock-a-block withinformation on La Rioja’swine sector. Together theyoffer an exhaustive lookat the specific, popular,and specialized languagesurrounding wine.The author addressesissues such as metaphorsused in oenology, therelationship betweenSpanish and French wineterminology, and La Riojawine words, amongothers. Each “chapter”is dedicated to a term,such as ampelography,the field of botany inwhich grapevines areidentified and classified;and cata, or wine tasting.This is one of two must-have books for anyonewho not only appreciatesgood wine, but also thelanguage behind it.(La Rioja Government,Ministry of Agriculture,Livestock and RuralDevelopment, ww.larioja.org)

Diccionarioespecífico del vinode Rioja

(The Specialized La RiojaWine Dictionary) by JoséMaría Pastor Blanco.Spanish. This book ispresented in tandem with43 Words on the Vine andWine, providing acomprehensive overviewof La Rioja’s wine culture,and includes more than3,000 entries. The author,a philologist, endeavoredto present a linguistic winerepertoire, includingeverything from commonterms to terms in danger ofextinction. He researchedfor four years to compilethis dictionary, whichincluded countlessinterviews in La Riojanvillages with longstandingwine traditions. This is thebroadest rangingdictionary of its kindpublished to date, andit reflects a uniquelanguage and seeks topreserve it. It is, withouta doubt, the new leadingreference on the topic.(La Rioja Government,Ministry of Agriculture,Livestock and RuralDevelopment,www.larioja.org)

The Sorcerer’sApprentices.A Season in theKitchen at FerranAdrià’s elBulli

by Lisa Abend. English.There are many books onelBulli, which has,undeniably, “attained a near-mythic reputation forculinary wizardry.” Thereare texts on Ferran Adrià,his philosophy, his recipes,the story of the restaurant…but what about the otherpeople that make it functionlike clockwork?This book provides the first-hand stories of the stagiers,or interns, that work for freefor Adrià in the hopes oflearning from the master.The text reflects how theapprentices pushthemselves to the limits oftheir culinary skills, howthey adjust to the demandsfor creativity, and how theydeal with the pressure ofperforming nightly,cranking out up to 1,500dishes per day. They areaspiring chefs from all overthe world, submitted to agrueling challenge andpursuing a dream. Someexcel, some crack. And hereare their stories. (Free Press,www.simonandschuster.com)

TextSamaraKamenecka/©ICEX

Everything butthe Squeal. Eatingthe Whole Hogin Northern Spain

by John Barlow. English.Barlow lives in Galicia, inthe northwest corner ofSpain, known for reveringthe pig and consumingevery single part of it, withthe animal ending up ascured hams, chorizo, servedin cocido (a typical stew),and in many forms inbetween. In thisinformative and clevernarrative, Barrow setshimself a challenge: to eatevery bit of a pig over thecourse of a year. Hededicates 365 days to thisculinary exploration, a“porco-graphical tour” ofsorts, during which timehe eats “everything but thesqueal” and sharesobservations about animalconsumption. Along theway Barlow offers thehistories and traditions ofGalicia, and the text ispeppered with entertaininganecdotes. An adventurein eating, indeed.(Farrar, Straus and Giroux,www.fsgbooks.com)

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Araex – Rioja Alavesa,S.L. – Spanish FineWine, S.L.

Tel.: (+34) 945 150 [email protected]: Back cover

F.J. Sánchez Sucesores,S.A.

Tel.: (+34) 950 364 [email protected]: Inside back cover

Foods From SpainPage: 6, 103

G’S España Holdings, S.L.

Tel.: (+34) 968 188 [email protected]: 106AD

INDE

XAceites Borges Pont, S.A.

Tel.: (+34) 973 501 [email protected]: Inside front cover

Ángel CamachoAlimentación, S.A.(Fragata)

Tel.: (+34) 955 854 [email protected]: 5

Grupo Gourmets


Industrial QueseraCuquerella


Loreto SpecialityFoods, S.L.


Pago de los Baldíosde San Carlos


Rafael Salgado, S.A.


Vinos D.O. Navarra


Wines From Spain

www.winesfromspain.esPage: 4

Xunta de Galicia -Consejería de Culturay Turismo


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PREMIUM QUALITY SPANISH CHEESE

-THE GRANDEE OF SPAIN-

“GRAND SELECTION 2010 CONTEST”: MAESE MIGUEL D.O. 3 MONTHS:

GOLD MEDAL AWARDED

Award winning 12 month matured Manchego D.O. from

La Mancha October 2008

Awarded first prize Manchego cheese at the annual Manchego

cheesemakers guild contest .

TARTESANA, S.L

“Tarquessia de La Mancha”

Ctra. de Toledo, s/n

13420 Malagón (C.Real) Spain

Tel: +(34) 926 266 410

Fax: +(34) 926 266 413

[email protected]

I. QUESERA CUQUERELLA, S.L. - QUESOS ROCINANTE

Malagón (C. Real) - Spain - Tel.: +34 926 266 410 - Fax: +34 926 266 413

[email protected] - www.rocinante.es

“THE CROWN JEWEL”

INGLES 2011:Maquetaci n 1 1/12/10 01:17 PÆgina 1

Araex – Rioja Alavesa,S.L. – Spanish FineWine, S.L.

Tel.: (+34) 945 150 [email protected]: Back cover

F.J. Sánchez Sucesores,S.A.

Tel.: (+34) 950 364 [email protected]: Inside back cover

Foods From SpainPage: 6, 103

G’S España Holdings, S.L.

Tel.: (+34) 968 188 [email protected]: 106AD

INDE

X

Aceites Borges Pont, S.A.

Tel.: (+34) 973 501 [email protected]: Inside front cover

Ángel CamachoAlimentación, S.A.(Fragata)


Grupo Gourmets


Industrial QueseraCuquerella


Loreto SpecialityFoods, S.L.


Pago de los Baldíosde San Carlos


Rafael Salgado, S.A.


Vinos D.O. Navarra


Wines From Spain

www.winesfromspain.esPage: 4

Xunta de Galicia -Consejería de Culturay Turismo



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PREMIUM QUALITY SPANISH CHEESE

-THE GRANDEE OF SPAIN-

“GRAND SELECTION 2010 CONTEST”: MAESE MIGUEL D.O. 3 MONTHS:

GOLD MEDAL AWARDED

Award winning 12 month matured Manchego D.O. from

La Mancha October 2008

Awarded first prize Manchego cheese at the annual Manchego

cheesemakers guild contest .

TARTESANA, S.L

“Tarquessia de La Mancha”

Ctra. de Toledo, s/n

13420 Malagón (C.Real) Spain

Tel: +(34) 926 266 410

Fax: +(34) 926 266 413

[email protected]

I. QUESERA CUQUERELLA, S.L. - QUESOS ROCINANTE

Malagón (C. Real) - Spain - Tel.: +34 926 266 410 - Fax: +34 926 266 413

[email protected] - www.rocinante.es

“THE CROWN JEWEL”

INGLES 2011:Maquetaci n 1 1/12/10 01:17 PÆgina 1

SWEDENTel.: (8) 24 66 [email protected]

UNITED KINGDOMTel.: (20) 7467 23 [email protected]

UNITED STATESTels.: (212) 661 49 [email protected]

For tourist information,contact your nearestSPANISH TOURISTOFFICE:

CANADATels.: (416) 961 31 31/40 [email protected]

CHINATels.: (10) 65 32 93 06/[email protected]

ITALYTel.: (02) 78 14 [email protected]

JAPANTel.: (3) 55 75 04 [email protected]

MALAYSIATel.: (3) 2148 73 [email protected]

NETHERLANDSTels.: (70) 364 31 [email protected]

NORWAYTel.: (23) 31 06 [email protected]

RUSSIATels.: (495) 783 9281/82/84/[email protected]

SINGAPORETel.: 67 32 97 [email protected]

108 MAY-AUGUST 2011 SPAIN GOURMETOUR

AUSTRALIATels.: (2) 93 62 42 [email protected]

CANADATel.: (416) 967 04 [email protected]

CHINATel.: (10) 58 799 [email protected]

Tel.: (21) 62 17 26 [email protected]

DENMARKTel.: (33) 31 22 [email protected]

HONG KONGTels.: 25 21 74 [email protected]

IRELANDTel.: (1) 661 63 [email protected]

For more information,contact the ECONOMICAND COMMERCIALOFFICES AT SPAIN’SEMBASSIES in thecountries following:

SPAI

NOV

ERSE

AS

DENMARKTel.: 33 18 66 [email protected]

ITALYTel.: (02) 72 00 46 [email protected]

Tel.: (06) 678 31 [email protected]

JAPANTels.: (3) 34 32 61 41/[email protected]

NETHERLANDSTel.: (70) 346 59 [email protected]

NORWAYTel.: (47) 22 83 76 [email protected]

RUSSIATel.: (495) 935 83 [email protected]

SINGAPORETel.: 67 37 30 [email protected]

SWEDENTel.: (8) 611 19 [email protected]

UNITED KINGDOMTel.: (20) 7317 20 [email protected]

UNITED STATESTel.: (312) 642 19 [email protected]




CENTRAL BOOKINGOFFICETel.: (+34) 902 547 [email protected]


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Source: Ailimpo(Lemon and GrapefruitInterprofessionalAssociation)Tel.: (+34) 968 216 [email protected]

TraditionalSweets

Asociación de Fabricantesde Turrones y Mazapanesde la Provincia de Toledode la PGI Mazapán deToledoTel.: (+34) 925 228 [email protected]

Consejo Regulador de laPGI Alfajor de MedinaSidoniaTel.: (+34) 956 410 [email protected]

Consejo Regulador de laPGI Ensaimada deMallorcaTel.: (+34) 971 272 [email protected]

EXPO

RTER

S

FoodProductsThis is a selection ofexporters supplied by theindividual sources.

Consejo Regulador de laPGI Mantecadas deAstorgaTel.: (+34) 987 616 [email protected]

Consejo Regulador de laPGI Mantecados de EstepaTel.: (+34) 954 820 [email protected]

Instituto Galego daCalidade Alimentaria(INAGAL). PGI Tartade SantiagoTel.: (+34) 881 997 [email protected]

Oficina de CalidadAlimentaria de la PGISobao PasiegoTel.: (+34) 942 269 [email protected]

Grapefruit

ANECOOPTel.: (+34) 968 200 [email protected]

El Chapitel, S.Coop.Tel.: (+34) 968 894 [email protected]

Explotaciones Agrícolas dela Región de Murcia, S.L.Tel.: (+34) 968 869 [email protected]

Frutas Naturales, S.A.Tel.: (+34) 968 822 [email protected]

Frutas y Cítricos de Mula,S.C.L.Tel.: (+34) 968 660 [email protected]

G’s España Holdings, S.L.Tel.: (+34) 968 188 [email protected]



BUENOSsomething, then move on to therestaurant at the back, where mealsare served only à la carte. ForSunday lunch the place is full, butyou are more likely to hearPortuguese than Spanish. That’sthe day when the Brazilian touristscome in flocks so, if you arelooking for peace and quiet,I recommend a weekday visit.It’s time to go but, first, a peek atthe top floor. True to the traditionof the old-style taverns, thisestablishment includes a smallhotel upstairs. The flat roof aboveit affords a magnificent view overthe city. Take a glass of your favoriteterroir and drink it up here.The magic will transport you towherever you would most like to be.

TextRaquel Rosemberg/©ICEX

Raquel Rosemberg from

PhotosSagardi S.A.


Have a Spanish Break!

When I feel nostalgia for Spain andall things Spanish, I set out for acorner of Spain here in BuenosAires. Sagardi, a Spanish cateringgroup with ten establishments backin the home country, also has onehere, offering genuine Basquecuisine. It is located in an attractivepart of the old San Telmo district,and was the first to introduce thelocals to the tradition of pintxos,the Basque version of tapas. But firstI should explain that this way ofeating, with no table—just a glassin your hand and somethingto eat from the bar—is unusualhere. Sagardi faced a real challenge.I remember at this company’sestablishments back in Barcelonait was hard to even make it as far as

Sagardi EuskalTabernaHumberto Primo 319Buenos Aires, Argentinawww.sagardi.comTel.: (0054 -11) 4361-2538

Raquel Rosemberg was born and livesin Buenos Aires. She is a graduatein social communication and works asa food writer. She is food editor for themagazine El Conocedor, writes forthe Ollas & El Sartenes culinarysupplement of the Clarín newspaper,wrote the book Sabores que matan(Editorial Paidós) and in 2010 wasappointed Latin American representativefor the guide entitled The World’sBest 50 Restaurants.

Mendoza (Argentina), and nextis a Tempranillo from the DOCaRioja, to accompany the piquillopeppers with brandade and thecharcoal-grilled portion of steak.I enjoy several more pintxos whileI listen to Miguel telling of hisadventures on his constant searchfor quality ingredients. His storieswould fill another article.Though the octopus is stilllingering on my taste buds, myhosts insist I try what they call their“orgasmic” dessert— a cheese basewith walnuts, a pimiento peppercrisp and cranberry jam.The bar is filling up, but the tablecontinues to be more popular withthe groups coming in after a weekof work. Many of them try a little

the bar. Here things are moresophisticated, with the business beinglocated in a tastefully-renovated,19th-century building, opposite thechurch of San Pedro Telmo.I find myself a place at the large bar,though most of my compatriotschoose to share the huge communaltable beyond it. I am immediatelyserved some still cider fromAstigarraga (Basque Country, northSpain), poured from a height ofabout 0.9m (3 ft) so that it splashesinto the glass. “That’s part of thetradition,” says manager MiguelEnríquez, an Argentinian who hasbeen working with the chain foryears. Just one sip and I’m almostback in Spain. Then come thepintxos, both hot and cold, but

always different, a test of the chef’screativity. The first one I try offers atrendy Japanese touch—a salmonroll with a cheese and fish roemousse. It’s good, but not whatI came here for. I prefer whatfollows: chistorra (a thin porksausage flavored with pimentón,a type of paprika from Spain), hakein green sauce, potato omelet anda combination of olives withanchovies and intense olive oil.I love the variety, but my favorite isa simple, noble offering—a chunkof potato en confit with tenderoctopus and pimentón de la Vera.Just a mouthful, but it takes medirectly to Spain.By now the cider has given way toa Malbec produced by Sagardi in

AIRES

COLOPHON

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PXUNTAGALICIA ingles.indd 1 24/2/11 15:52:13


CLICKquestions are answered in the sectionSpain & Regions, a user-friendly sourceof information about the country,with data on economic, social andcultural aspects and full informationon regional gastronomy.The Doing Business section is a juicysource of data for commercial users.A calendar features all the main foodtrade fairs where you can contactSpanish producers, with a full list ofall legislation on the production andsale of Spanish products, directoriesof Spanish companies in the foodsector, contact details of all of Spain’strade offices throughout the worldand statistics on Spain’s foreign tradein food products.Users interested in keeping track ofSpain’s best-known chefs will like theChefs & Training section. In it theywill find profiles of more than 100of Spain’s star chefs, as well as videosexplaining some of the traditionaland cutting-edge culinary techniquesused in their restaurants. Users willalso be able to take note of the dates

and venues of the most importantgastronomy congresses.

…and plenty ofsurprisesAre you planning a gastronomic tourof Spain? Do you needrecommendations for places to eat inSan Sebastian or Seville? Or maybeyou live in New York or Melbournebut want to eat out Spanish-style orbuy ingredients for a tapas meal athome. Shop, Travel & Dine will helpyou plan to perfection, with itsculinary routes and information onrestaurants, food stores, museums andgastronomic festivals in every corner ofSpain. It also includes routes with aSpanish flavor in the main cities of theworld and suggestions for placeswhere you can try Spanish dishes andproducts in more than 20 countries.A cornucopia of data on Spain and itsgastronomy is available in Foodpedia, asmall but comprehensive encyclopediawith collections of articles, a who’s

who of the most important people onthe Spanish gastronomy scene, videos,interactives, a shelf fullof books, a gastronomic glossary, etc.And coming soon the archives of SpainGourmetour magazine. Behind all thiscontent is a team committed to the taskat hand and to the goals of theGastronomy Portal.In addition to the coordination andeditorial team in Madrid, we havea network of colleagues andcorrespondents in different Spanishcities and in the main Spanish foodexport markets, helping us keepusers informed about the Spanish foodand gastronomy scene.This is a pioneering, ambitious projectwith plenty of surprises in store.Follow the trail of our breadcrumbsthroughout the culinary portal withjust the click of your mouse.¡Buen provecho!

Rodrigo García Fernández is a journalist

and member of the editorial team at

www.foodsfromspain.com.

WEB

to taste

It’s been seven years now since thedigital version of Spain Gourmetourmade its first appearance—sevenyears since the publication, whichaims to promote Spanish foodproducts abroad, decided to showcaseitself on the internet. And with time,the possibilities of the world wideweb have multiplied even further,with a revolution in onlinecommunication resulting in conceptssuch as the Web 2.0, based on userparticipation and fast, effectiveinformation sharing.Considering how powerful theinternet has become as a tool forcommunication and promotion,2011, marks the start of a newwebsite: www.foodsfromspain.com.After almost three years of carefulpreparation, this new platform hasbeen unveiled, sharing with thismagazine both goals andrequirements: to provide all the lateston Spanish foods in a reliable,thorough way with contemporary,eye-catching visuals.

Creativity and graphics are trademarksof the new ICEX Gastronomy Portal.The design is fresh and crisp, with aselection of photos, videos andillustrations reflecting the wide-rangingflavors and aromas of Spanish foodproducts and gastronomy. And usersare able to find out all they need fromthe articles, fact sheets on productsgrown and made in Spain, interviewswith well-known chefs, traditional andsignature recipes, gastronomicitineraries covering many of the regionsof Spain, and suggestions on whereproducts can be bought and tasted inSpain and abroad.

A well-fed websiteAlthough the new portal mainlyaddresses professionals—foodimporters, chefs, retailers, hospitalityschools, the media, etc.—theopenness of the internet allows usto reach all sorts of users.Each section covers a different typeof content, with many cross-references.The homepage includes several sub-

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

ICEX Spanish Gastronomy Portal

homes as well as direct links to thelatest news, blogs, digital fora anda year-long food calendar marking allthe gastronomic events in Spain andthe rest of the world.But the backbone of the GastronomyPortal is the Products & Recipes section.This area provides detailed fact sheetson the main Spanish food products,including all those having a quality sealguaranteed by the European Union,specifically, Protected Designation ofOrigin (PDO), Protected GeographicIndication (PGI) and TraditionalSpeciality Guaranteed (TSG).Alongside this basket of productsfull of quality and flavor arerecipes—traditional ones from all theregions of Spain, and new ones—with tapas and signature dishesdevised by some of Spain’s top chefs,illustrating the giant strides of avant-garde cuisine in recent years.

Ideas, advice…Where is Spain? How many regionsare there? These and many other

WWW.FOODSFROMSPAIN.COM

TextRodrigo GarcíaFernández/©ICEX


09_AF_PORTAL_GASTRON.qxd 16/3/11 12:10 Página 96



Contentsp. 2 Juan ManuelSanz/©ICEXp. 3 From left to right:Patricia R. Soto/©ICEX;Amador Toril/©ICEX;Pablo Neustadt/©ICEX

Rosé Winep. 8 FernandoMadariaga/©ICEXpp. 9-16 Juan Manuel Sanz/©ICEXp. 17 Pablo Neustadt/©ICEX

DOCa Riojapp. 18-31 Patricia R. Soto/©ICEXp. 32 Map: Javier Bellosop. 33 Patricia R. Soto/©ICEX

Slow Foodin Spainp. 34-41 Pablo Neustadt/©ICEXp. 42 Map: Javier Bellosop. 43 Pablo Neustadt/©ICEX

CRED

ITS

Grapefruitpp. 44-53 AmadorToril/©ICEXp. 53 Map: Javier Bellosop. 54 Amador Toril/©ICEXpp. 56-61 Toya Legido/©ICEX

Traditional Sweetspp. 62-79 FernandoMadariaga/©ICEXpp. 80-83 Toya Legido/©ICEX

Close-up:Rodrigode la Callep. 84 Tomás Zarza/©ICEXp. 85 Toya Legido/©ICEXp. 86 From left to right:Toya Legido/©ICEX; TomásZarza/©ICEX; ToyaLegido/©ICEXpp. 88-89 Tomás Zarza/©ICEXpp. 90-91 Toya Legido/©ICEX

Pago de losBaldíosde San Carlospp. 92-95 Pago de losBaldíos de San Carlos

ICEX SpanishGastronomyPortalp. 96www.foodsfromspain.com

RaquelRosemberg fromBuenos Airesp. 98 From left to right:Raquel Rosemberg; SagardiS.A.p. 99 Sagardi S.A.

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spain gourmetour 82 (2011)

Documents

trade andtourism

foreign trade icexof

doca rioja wine

shared bythe spanish

best food magazinejust

spain gourmetour

spanish olive oil

publishericexstate secretary