"Exit in Spain once again, how nice!" Many friends tell me.
Well, no actually it is not. Yes, I admit the weather makes a pleasant change from sad to precipitation in the North West of England and I have some good friends, where I work in Spain, but at the end of the day is a holiday not work.
Dressed in a suit and tie on a plane full of tourists traveling to Alicante is quite depressing, but then there is a taxi system for a full working day in a facilityair-conditioned office followed by a taxi to the hotel. Back to the plant in the morning, another full day will receive, etc. etc. .... the image? How is the weather has to do with it?
The only salvation for me is the food. Spanish cuisine is up there with the Italian for me is that it relies on fresh ingredients and simple cooking. The only difference is the selection of snack bars - Tapas.
Because of the simplicity and variety of food, manyTapas are suitable for grilling and smoking found their way into my web pages without BBQ recipes. Every day I am looking for a new bar, new tapas, ask the bartender how to produce and then hand on the laptop during the flight. Perhaps there is a business upside, after all.
The word tapas (plural) comes from the word tapa means a cover. In bars and bodegas of Andalucia in the days before air conditioning, the bartender would have covered a tapa of its customersGlass of sherry to fly It 's always been the would not stop long before the bartender a piece of bread and tapas place is here that evolution has started the tapas.
Technically tapas snacks for use in the bar with a drink, eat before the main house for lunch and a siesta, of course, eating. The tapas revolution now means that are available all hours and many can be eaten at the same time, to make a meal in itself and it is this concept that the ideal tapasthe grid.
Some need a little 'and take control Esgarrat such as bacalao (cod) and roasted red peppers in olive oil. The sweetness of the peppers produced combines with the salt cod is a wonderful combination of flavors. Share with friends a dish and soak the bread in olive oil - great on a hot summer day!
Preparing Esgarrat take time (one week) and the habit of smoking two basic techniques of the grid, before polymerizationand then the fire roasting so here's how it goes.
Take 150 g 6 oz cod fillet or loin (without skin) and put it in a plastic bag with two tablespoons of salt. Seal the bag and hit them in the fridge for a week. The days of consumption, remove the cod loin cut from the bag, wash under the tap and thin slices, as you would smoked salmon. Technically bacalao must be dried in the air, but I find the above process more than adequate and certainly the best that I can reach in a wet basementUK maritime climate.
When coal is good and hot, place two red peppers on the grill and roast smoker until the skin is black and blistered and the flesh is soft. When finished, place the peppers in a plastic bag, seal left to cool and set. Once cooled, remove the peppers from the bag and peel the skin black, and there will be a beautifully soft peppers, which is ready for cutting to the left. Cut into strips in a shallow bowl with salt cod and throatin olive oil - a paid job, only to give him an hour so the flavors blend and you're ready to serve.
Esgarrat Enjoy, enjoy what left the summer, and I will be back in the fall to some Spanish culinary adventures.