NosH&Jumper
¡Viva España!
Tuesday June 12th 2007
It might have been raining outside, but our evening of Spanish food and wine matching made us forget about the British summer and embrace the land of tapas, manzanilla and wild, acorn-eating pigs!
We had invited new supplier, Mediteria, to talk to us about the different ingredients that they import from the Iberian peninsula and to give us some ideas on how to use them. As well as the old favourites of jamón serrano, chorizo and juicy green olives, they brought along delicacies that were new to many of us such as cecina which is air-dried, lightly smoked beef barely known outside of Spain. The meat comes from the hind legs of cattle of at least 5 years of age, giving it a real depth of flavour and after smoking over holm-oak it is then cured for at least 12 months. The result is succulent beef that just melted in the mouth.
Paul from Mediteria also explained to us the different types of cured ham produced in Spain; from the well-known serranos to the rather more exclusive jamón ibérico de bellota which comes from the black-footed Ibérico breed of pig, a direct descendent of the native wild boar, which roam freely in oak forests and feed mainly on acorns and wild plants. The ham from these pigs is prized throughout Spain for its rich nutty flavour and tender texture.
Having eaten our way through the main ingredients we were then treated to some traditional tapas; chorizo en vino, pulpo a al Gallega (octopus seasoned with paprika), chipirones (baby squid) and albondigas (meatballs). These were paired with a great selection of Spanish and Portuguese wines supplied by Jascots. We tasted white and red Riojas, fragrant albariño from Galicia (delicious with the seafood), spicy Cortello from Portugal and of course no tapas evening would be complete without an ice-cold copita of sherry.
For the uninitiated amongst us, we were given a crash course in the making of these fortified wines from Jerez. We learnt how the wines are moved through the solera system of blending to give consistent quality and flavour year on year, the differences between the main types of sherry; fino, manzanilla, amontillado and oloroso and their best food partners and most importantly of all, we were told that sherry must always be drunk very cold and like any wine should not linger open in the fridge for more than a day or so. Oh dear!
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