Juan Mari Arzak and his neighbors (in Greek) – Ο Juan Mari Arzak και οι γείτονες

Ο Juan Mari Arzak είναι ένας από τους πιο σημαντικούς σύγχρονους μάγειρες. Έχει τρία αστέρια Michelin κάθε χρόνο συνέχεια από το 1989. Το εστιατόριο του είναι μια οικογενειακή επιχείρηση από το 1887. Τον Δεκέμβριο του 2003 είχα την ευκαιρία να επισκεφθώ το εστιατόριο  του στο San Sebastian, στη χώρα των Βάσκων.

Ομολογώ ότι είχα μεγάλη αγωνία. Θα πήγαινα για πρώτη φορά σε τριάστερο εστιατόριο.

Ευτυχώς στο διπλανό τραπέζι ήταν ένα ζευγάρι από τη Μαδρίτη και πιάσαμε κουβέντα οπότε έσπασε η ένταση. Όπως συνηθίζεται, στα εστιατόρια αυτά συνήθως δεν παραγγέλνεις α λα καρτ, αλλά σου προσφέρουν το μενού που έχει ετοιμάσει ο μάγειρας. Έτσι έκανα κι εγώ, έτσι και οι διπλανοί.

Καθώς λοιπόν άρχισε η διαδικασία, και μετά από δύο ποτήρια κρασί, χαλάρωσα και μπόρεσα να σηκώσω το κεφάλι και να αρχίσω να παρατηρώ την πελατεία. Εκείνο που μου έκανε εντύπωση είναι ότι οι περισσότεροι πελάτες ήταν ντυμένοι απλά, άνδρες και γυναίκες, πολλοί είχανε έρθει με τα παιδιά τους, και η ατμόσφαιρα ήτανε περισσότερο ατμόσφαιρα του εστιατορίου της γειτονιάς, παρά του τριάστερου εστιατορίου πολυτελείας. Ηλικιακά η πελατεία ήτανε κατά μέσο όρο κάτω από τα 40.

Juan Mari Arzak – Photo courtesy of Restaurante Arzak

Κάποια στιγμή παρουσιάζεται στο τραπέζι και ο ίδιος ο μάγειρας.  Πιάσαμε την κουβέντα με την βοήθεια των διπλανών, γιατί ο Arzak δεν μιλάει αγγλικά, κι εγώ δεν μιλάω ισπανικά. Αφού συστηθήκαμε και με ρώτησε αν μου αρέσει το φαγητό, δεν μπόρεσα να κρατηθώ και του είπα ότι βλέποντας την πελατεία έχω την αίσθηση ότι είναι οι γείτονες που ήρθανε να φάνε στο αγαπημένο τους εστιατόριο.

«Μα βέβαια, έτσι είναι»,   μου απάντησε ο μάγειρας, «τους περισσότερους τους ξέρω χρόνια τώρα, και τις οικογένειες τους, εγώ γι΄ αυτούς μαγειρεύω, και είναι οι πιο αυστηροί κριτές μου.»

Σημειώνω ότι οι τιμές στο εστιατόριο ήτανε στο ένα τρίτο των τιμών ενός τριάστερου στο Παρίσι.

Juan Mari Arzak and his customers Photo credit: Nikos Moropoulos

Τα γράφω αυτά επειδή σε ένα κόσμο παγκοσμιοποίησης, και αποθέωσης της γκλαμουριάς και του συστήματος των υπέρλαμπρων αστεριών, ο Arzak παραμένει τοπικός, σε απόλυτη αρμονία με αυτό που οι Γάλλοι ονομάζουν  terroir, εντοπιότητα,  και τα αυτιά ανοιχτά στο τι θα πούνε οι γείτονες πελάτες του.

Αυτό δεν είναι τυχαίο. Οι Βάσκοι είναι μια κοινωνία με ισχυρούς δεσμούς μεταξύ των μελών της, με πολιτιστικές καταβολές αιώνων και διατηρούν τις παραδόσεις και τον πολιτισμό τους με θρησκευτική ευλάβεια. Το δε γαστρονομικό επίπεδο είναι πάρα πολύ υψηλό. Στη χώρα των Βάσκων θα φας καλά ακόμη και στο μικρότερο χωριό.

Έτσι ο Arzak μπορεί να παραμένει τοπικός και Βάσκος και περήφανος γι’ αυτό, σε ένα κόσμο που δείχνει να χάνει τον τοπικό χαρακτήρα στο όνομα της διάχυσης και ομογενοποίησης των πάντων.

Restaurant Boroa Jatetxea – Second visit

Back in 2015 I wrote about my first visit to the Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant. I write this following my second visit, which took place in November 2016.

The converted 15th century farmhouse is a wonderful building, spacious and “warm”. Do not let the rural setting fool you. This is a one Michelin star restaurant.

Íñigo Elorriaga, a Basque who lives in nearby Gernica (Guernica), is the chef in charge of innovation.

Jabier Gartzia Ruiz, a native of Gernica, is the head chef.

Oxtail capuccino. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Oxtail capuccino came as a welcome drink and it was delicious! Light enough not to overpower the senses, but still capable of providing flavor, it was smooth and warm.

Chorizo. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Chorizo is always welcome on my plate, especially this one that was accompanied by a sauce that had all the flavor of this wonderful sausage.

Eel. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Slightly smoked European eel and avocado in spiced quince veil over foie gras with citric aroma was my starter. An absolute winner, a dish I could again and again without ever getting bored.

Eel. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

This is what great cooking is all about.

Cod tasting. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Cod tasting (grilled, vizcaina and pil pil) was my main course. I have a special devotion to salt cod and it cannot get any better than what I taste in Basque Country.

The dish has three pieces, wach cooked in a different way.

Cod tasting – Pil Pil. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulo

The first is pil-pil, which is a traditional Basque preparation. The sauce is an emulsion of olive oil and the cod’s juices.

Cod tasting – Vizcaina. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

The second piece is “vizcaina”, another local preparation, with a thich red sauce. The purists say that the sauce should be made only with red peppers, that is without any tomatoes. Today it is more often than not that you find a tomato thrown in the sauce.

Cod tasting – grilled. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

The last preparation is grilled. This is a “nowhere to hide” preparation. The smallest fault of the fish will reveal itself on the grill, as well as the cook’s ability to maintain all the juices and aromas of salt cod’s most expensive cut.

Fruits of the forest sweet. Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Raspberry, yogurt and Dulcey junket Dulcey crumble, raspberry and yogurt junket, creamy yogurt, different Dulcey textures and raspberry meringue was my desert.

The desert was recommended to me by the propritetor, Mª Asun Ibarrondo, and I obliged

The desert was a harmony of tastes and textures and aromas, and by the time I finished it I could only think of how hard it would be to improve on such a finish to a wonderful meal.

 

 

 

Casa Garras, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country

Town Hall, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Some time ago, I visited Casa Garras to have lunch. It is located some 60 km southwest of Bilbao, and more than half of the route is twisty, narrow, and requires extra care. The low clouds and mist did not make the route easier. After such a challenging drive, I was wondering whether the place was worth it.

Facade, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

The entrance leads you to the bar, where you can have a drink and some pintxos (tapas in the Basque language). The restaurant is on the first floor. I arrived early, at 1345 hrs – by local standards – and had the opportunity to observe the customers settling in. I think I was the only foreigner in the restaurant. In addition to the families and couples, there were large groups of friends, mostly men, getting together to enjoy lunch. By 1500 hrs – the time locals usually have lunch on a Saturday – the place was packed solid.

Dining Hall. Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

The chef  of the restaurant is Txema Llamosas, whose parents owned Casa Garras,  has worked with some of the holy monsters of Basque and Catalan cuisine:  Eneko Atxa (Azurmendi), Juan Maaari Arzak (Arzak), and Ferran Adria (elBulli), and returned to his parents’ restaurant in 2010. With his inspiration and the support of his wife Pilar, who is the somelier of the restaurant, Txema has managed to establish Casa Garras as a gastronomic jewel in the Valley of Carranza, one of the nicest and mostly unknown area of Vizkaya in the Basque Country.

Txema Llamosas, Casa Garras, Vizkaya. Photo: Casa Garras

I tasted the gastronomic menu on offer. and took a bottle of the locally produced txakoli wine (txakolina).

Petite, Txakolina, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

The somelier recommended Casa Garras’s brand “Petite”, and I obliged.

Ox capuccino, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

This foamy, hot, tasty broth made from ox’s tail started the meal.  Its depth is unforgettable.

Queso a partir de queso Idiazabal con brioche de mantequilla, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Soft cheese made from locally produced Idiazabal cheese, served with a butter brioche.

Marinated horse mackerel on white garlic soup with trout pearls, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Extremely smooth and tasty! And it looked good too!

Atún rojo marinado sobre su emulsión, salsa ponzu, algas wakame y perlas de wasabi, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Marinated red tuna in its emulsion, ponzu soup, wakame seaweed and pearls of wasabi. The visible fusion of Basque cuisine with Japanese flavors.

Gambas de Huelva sobre pieles de bacalao y mayonesa de sus corales, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

White shrimp from Huelva on cod skin and mayonaise made from the stock of their heads and shells.

The shrimp comes from Huelva, a city in the southern region of Andalucia.

Morrillo de atún sobre mousse de aguacate, cebolla morada de Zalla, pieles de cerdo y jugo
de pimiento, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Glazed red tuna neck, avocado mousse, pickled purple onion and morcels of fried pigskin. I do not remember the sauce’s name, but it was delicious.

Cocochas de merluza con pilpil de aceite ecologico y sus espinas, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Hake double chins cooked the pil pil way, with organic olive oil.

I absolutely love “kokotxas” (the double chin of the fish) and I can only find them in Spain and the Basque country!

Chipirón relleno del guiso de sus garras y cremoso de tinta, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Stuffed squid, fried legs, and sauce made from its ink. The squid is stuffed with finely chopped legs.

Yema de huevo de caserío con crema carbonara, papada y ralladura de queso Idiazabal de
Karrantza, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Egg yolk on carbonara cream, cured pig’s jowl and idiazabal cheese crisp.

Merluza a la plancha  y emulsión de coliflor, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

Grilled hake on a cauliflower emulsion.

Láminas de chuleta de vaca pinta de Karrantza, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulo

Rib steak of Karrantza beef, served with morcels of its fat.

This is one of the best steaks I have ever eaten! It melts in your mouth, and it unbelievably tasty!

Panacotta de vainilla con dulce de leche casero, nueces garrapiñadas, crujiente de chocolate blanco y maíz, con cremoso de queso y pompas de nata, Casa Garras,, Valle de Carranza, Vizkaya, Basque Country. Photo: Nikos Moropoulos

The desert was based on panacotta, and it was nice, but nothing compared to the savoury dishes. It is clear that Chef Llamosas prefers savoury!

 

 

 

Bacalao the Magnificent

 

 

 

cod

 

A selection of some of the best bacalao dishes I have tasted, published as a photo story in storehouse.

Mushrooms and Truffles: A “Fluxus Eleatis” disourse

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: The word gastronomy has been revived from the Greek; it sounds sweetly in French ears, and although imperfectly understood, simply to pronounce it is enough to bring a joyful smile to every face.  We have begun to distinguish gourmandism from greed and gluttony; it has come to be regarded an admissible inclination, a social quality welcome to the host, profitable to the guest, and beneficial to the art: and gourmands are now classed with all other enthusiasts who share a common predilection.

Mrs. T: Mushrooms are primarily texture. Truffles are primarily flavour. Mrs. T: We had grilled mushrooms, in the Dimatis Tavern, Aghios Dimitrios, West of Mount Olympus in Greece. The mushrooms were collected earlier on the day we had lunch, grilled and sprinkled with coarse sea salt, crushed garlic, parlsey, olive oil and lemon juice. Perfection in simplicity, the apotheosis of texture.

Mr. FFF:  Mrs. T will reveal herself today, as a person, of unknown ethnicity, born in Romania, a few days after the Revolution of 1989 in Timisoara. Her parents died in a car crash the day after she was born. I found her by accident – most important things in life happen by accident – and we have been together ever since. She has become my gourmand alter ego. Mrs. T: I met Mr. FFF in Targoviste. It was 24th December 1989. I was 3 days old. Abandoned in a trash can.

MM: Why was Mrs. T found in Targoviste, a town 500 kilometers east of Timisoara, on the day the Causescus were arrested and taken into custody?
Mr. FFF: After the grilled mushrooms west of the mount of Greek Gods, I beg to travel East, and taste crispy deep fried mushrooms with wasabi flavor. I thank Arlene B. Hsu for the recipe, I fell in love with the dish. Arlene says it can be found in variations as street food in Taiwan. This alone is a good reason to visit the island country. Succulent juicy but firm mushroom flesh, coated in crispy dough, oozing wasabi heat and intensity, gives you a reason to live, in spite of the fiscal mess in Europe.
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán: Cookig is a metaphor for culture. Eating means killing and swallowing a being which has been alive, whether animal or plant. If we directly devour the dead animal or the uprooted lettuce, one would say that we were savages. However, if we marinade the beast in order to later cook it with the aid of aromatic Provençal herbs and a glass of rancio wine, then we have effected an exquisite cultural operation, equally based on brutality and death. Cooking is a metaphor for culture and its hypocritical content.
Fricando +

Mr. FFF: The road has been opened centuries ago and traversed billions of times since then. From the grill to the frying pan, and then to the stew pot. Fricando (beef stew) in Restaurante Ramon Freixa, Barcelona, Cataluna. Wonderful flesh, superbly cooked slowly until it becomes soft and delicious, with the tasty mountain mushrooms “moixernons”. It was served with garlic cloves (like candy) and the green stuff that was absolutely amazing: bitter, crunchy, full of flavour!  This dish is like a volcano of flavours!

Ferran Adria:  the creative inspiration I have drawn from Japan is a revelation, a drink from the fountain of youth.

Akelare: Wild mushrooms and egg pasta (Μανιτάρια με παστα)

Mr. FFF: Wild mushrooms and egg pasta in Pedro Subijana’s restaurant, Akelare, near San Sebastian.

Pepe Carvalho: She asked me to be taken “somewhere where we can  just  eat anything”,  just anything being, precisely, what I never wanted to eat.

Mrs. T: Who was this she?

Pepe Carvalho: Teresa Marsé, a spoilt member of the bourgeoisie dedicated to shopping.

MM: Pepe Carvalho tiene una relación  tormentosa con Charo, su novia. Charo es puta; puta feminista para más señas… ante la promiscuidad de Carvalho ella  se enfada, aunque no ocurre al contrario ,el detective comprende y acepta el trabajo de su novia…

Amanita muscaria

Amanita muscaria: I do not know what to say, may be it is enough to say I am beautiful.

Mr. FFF: Between dishes it is always good to cleanse the palate with fizzy water.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: A saute of truffles is a dish of which the mistress of the house always does the honours herself; in short, the truffle is the jewel of cookery. I set out to find the reason for this preference, for it seemed to me that several other substances had an equal claim to the honour; and I found that reason is the widespread belief that truffles are conductive to erotic pleasure; what is more, I became convinced that nearly all our tastes, predilections, and admirations are born of the same cause, so closely are held in thrall by that most capricious and tyrannical of the senses.

Mr. FFF: Mugaritz. Loin of duck, served with iodized compliments; crumblings and shavings of summer truffle in the Mugaritz restaurant, near San Sebastian.

Julia Kristeva: Analysis strictly speaking exacts payment of the price set by the subject for revealing that his or her complaints, symptoms or fantasies are discourses of love directed  to an impossible other – always unsatisfactory, transitory, incapable of meeting my wants or desires.

MM: I did not set a timeframe, but I expected to see a mushroom article – an exhaustive one.

Amanita phalloides: I am deadly poisonous! I contain both phallotoxins and amanitins. It is the amanitins that are responsible for the poisonings in humans. Amanitins are cyclic octapeptides that stop protein synthesis in the cells they encounter. All human organs are effected, but damage to the liver is most severe and liver failure is primarily responsible for the death of my victims. Symptoms usually appear 8-12 hours after ingestion. Death occurs in 7-10 days in 10-15% of patients.

Julia Kristeva:  My commitment to analysis … is ultimately shaken by the discovery that the other is fleeing me, that I will never possess him or even touch him as my desires imagined him, ideally satisfying.

Mrs. T :  Artichoke cream with black truffle, in Restaurant Cilantro, Arles, Provence, France.

Pepe Carvalho: Sex and gastronomy are the two most serious things there are.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: Hence it may be taken for certain that the truffle is a food as wholesome as it is agreeable, and that, eaten in moderation, it goes down as easily as a letter into a postbox.

Mrs T: When we went  to Arzak’s restaurant, we had the wonderful truffle egg. But Elena does not want us to publish any of our photos, and we respect this wish. I therefore share a photo from Arzak’s recipe book published by “El Pais”, Baked potatoes stuffed with truffles. Wonderful in its simplicity.

Joni L. McClain: In March of 1985, four illegal aliens who had been without food for several days consumed fried wild mushrooms after picking them in a field in Southern California. They each ate between one a nd six mushrooms and, approximately one to two days after consuming the mushrooms, all four men developed gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and watery diarrhea. They went to a local mission for the homeless where they were unable to eat. Their symptoms continued and they were taken to two local hospitals. On admission, all four men appeared dehydrated and three were hypotensive (blood pres- sure less than 100/50). One man stated that he had developed “white stools .”  Three of the men were initially assessed as having gastroenteritis or acute hepatitis or both. The fourth man had been admitted to a sepa rate hospital with the diagnosis of possible acute mushroom poisoning when he was able to ident ify the mushrooms he had consumed f rom a picture of Ama nita phalloides. The hospital where the other three victims were being treated was contacted and the diagnosis and treatment were modifed accordingly…Three of the men died within three days of admission (five days after eating the mushrooms ), and the fourth died eight days following admiss ion (eleven days after eating the mushrooms) . At autopsy, each of the men d emonstrated findings typical of hepatic failure ..The kidneys were pale, swollen, and  in one case displayed multiple cortical infarct ions. The heart in each case demonstrated hemorrhage ranging f rom patchy petechiae to confluent subendocardial left ventricular intramuscular hemorrhage. Two of the men demonstrated hemorrhagic gastritis , one had focal rectal ulcers, and the fourth had no gastrointestinal abnoralities. Mrs. T:  Veal Sweetbreads with artichokes, black truffles and mashed potatoes, in , Restaurant Cilantro, Arles, Provence, France.

Pepe Carvalho: One must drink to remember, and eat to forget.

Terence McKenna: … the transformation from humans’ early ancestors Homo erectus to the species Homo sapiens mainly had to do with the addition of the mushroom Psilocybe cubensis in its diet – an event which according to his theory took place in about 100,000 BC (this is when he believed that the species diverged from the Homo genus)…In higher doses, the mushroom acts as a sexual stimulator, which would make it even more beneficial evolutionarily, as it would result in more offspring. At even higher doses, the mushroom would have acted to “dissolve boundaries”, which would have promoted community-bonding and group sexual activities-that would result in a mixing of genes and therefore greater genetic diversity. Generally McKenna believed that the periodic ingestion of the mushroom would have acted to dissolve the ego in humans before it ever got the chance to grow in destructive proportions.

Porcini e fegato di vitello

Mrs. T:  A divine combination, porcini mushrooms with tender ultra sweet calf’s liver, from “dal Pescatore”, in the Park of River Oglio in Northern Italy.

Mr. FFF: Carles Abellan. Deconstructed three-part tortilla (omelette).

MM:  You are a mushroom and truffles man.

Mr. FFF: truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean mushroom; spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. Almost all truffles are ectomycorrhizal and are therefore usually found in close association with trees.

Robert Burton: Cookery is become an art, a noble science: cooks are gentlemen.

La Famiglia Urbani

Olga Urbani: Truffles grow wild, underground, usually at the base of an oak tree. They used to use pigs, but they ate the truffles.Very rich American people they only see truffles on the table of a very elegant restaurant. They don’t see this. Now you know why they are expensive, right?

Florence Fabricant:The prized, richly fragrant black truffles of France have been called black diamonds. But for some swanky dishes this season, zircons may be more like it. Another, cheaper kind of black truffle, the tuber himalayensis from China, has been flooding the market. This influx has created a problem because unscrupulous dealers in France have been mixing the two and selling them all as French truffles, tuber melanosporum, to restaurants. Dealers in the United States have been doing the same. Although the two types look the same, the Chinese truffles, when cut, are likely to be blacker, with less veining. They tend to have a chemical odor and very little flavor.

Animelle co i funghi

Mr. T: Sweatbreads with mushrooms. Animelle co i funghi del Monte Algido, in Osteria di San Cesario, San Cesario, near Rome, Italy.

Daniel Boulud: Right after Christmas I started getting some truffles that I thought were overripe at first. They were very dark and had very little veining. They smelled of benzine and tasted like cardboard. Then I began hearing about the Chinese truffles.

Mrs. T:  Venison tournedo with foie on top, potatoes, chenterelles and black truffle, in La Provence Restaurant, Vilnius, Lithuania.  . The meat was medium rare, as it should, and it was delicious! The combination with the foie was also a good one, it worked!

Roland Griffiths:As a reaction to the excesses of the 1960s, human research with hallucinogens has been basically frozen in time. I had a healthy scepticism going into this. [But] under defined conditions, with careful preparation, you can safely and fairly reliably occasion what’s called a primary mystical experience that may lead to positive changes in a person. It is an early step in what we hope will be a large body of scientific work that will ultimately help people. When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously-occurring mystical experiences that, at 14-month follow-up, were considered by volunteers to be among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives. One mechanism underlying these effects appears to be that psilocybin occasioned an experience having features similar to spontaneously-occurring classical mystical or religious experiences. A limit to the generality of the study is that all of the participants reported at least intermittent participation in religious or spiritual activities before the study. It is plausible that such interests increased the likelihood that the psilocybin experience would be interpreted as having substantial spiritual significance and personal meaning. A systematic replication of the study comparing groups having different levels of spiritual/religious dispositions or interests could be informative.

Mr. FFF: Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as “magic mushrooms”, were used in ancient times, and were depicted in rock paintings. Many native peoples have used mushrooms for religious purposes, rituals and healing. In modern day society they are often used to evoke a “high”, which is sometimes described as spiritual experience and is often euphoric in nature. Sometimes however, the disorientation of psilocybin and psilocin’s psychedelic effects may bring on anxiety such as panic attacks, depression and paranoid delusions. However, recent studies done at the Imperial College of London and also at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine conclude that when used properly, psilocybin acts as an anti-depressant.

“I had a rough day. Lets have a smoke and some mushrooms…”

Roland Griffiths:When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously-occurring mystical experiences that, over a year later, were considered by volunteers to be among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives and to have produced positive changes in attitudes, mood, altruism, behavior, and life satisfaction. In addition to possible therapeutic applications, the ability to prospectively produce mystical-type experiences should permit rigorous scientific investigations about their causes and consequences, and may provide novel information about the biological bases of moral and religious behavior.

Funghi Porcini

Participants

Amanita muscaria

Amanita phalloides: also known as the Death Cap, is the most deadly and poisonous mushroom on Earth.

Ferran Adria, Catalan chef and co-owner of the El Buli restaurant in Roses, Cataluna

Daniel Boulud, chef and owner of Restaurant Daniel in Manhattan, New York

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French gourmand and author

Robert Burton, English Scholar and Vicar

Pepe Carvalho, Catalan private investigator

Florence Fabricant: American, New York Times journalist

Mr. FFF, wanderer

Roland Griffiths, of the department of neuroscience and psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School, USA

Julia Kristeva, Bulgarian-French psychoanalyst

Joni L. McClain,  American M.D.

Terence McKenna, American philosopher, psychonaut, researcher, teacher, lecturer and writer

MM, partner

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Catalan writer and journalist

Spencer, private detective

Mrs. T, unknown ethnicity, the gourmand alter ego of Mr. FFF

Olga Urbani, Italian truffle merchant

Brandada de Bacalao – Salt Cod Mash (Brandade)

Updated 26 December 2023

Today’s dish is easy, cheap (cost efficient) and tasty! In addition, it has a name that in some languages refers to sensual oscillations…

Lets start with the geography of the dish. It is a Mediterranean dish, in the large sense, as we find it also in Portugal and the Basque Country. We find it in Catalunya, Provence, Rousillon, Languedoc, Liguria, Valencia.

It is based on salt cod (bacalao), garlic and olive oil. The variations include bread, potatoes, cream. What I present today is my own version, which uses potatoes, parsley, dill, garlic, and bread crumbs. It is an all season all weather dish, and goes very well with white wine. Who said that cucina povera is not wonderful?

It is best to use salted cod for the dish. Desalinate the cod and then remove the skin. Simmer in milk for 5 minutes in medium heat. Then gently break the flesh in a food processor. Gently, otherwise, you will get a mousse instead of threads.

Chop garlic, parsley and dill and boil potatoes until they become soft. Remove from the heat, drain, and then gently mash them in the food processor. Bring all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

 Spread the mix on a baking tray that has been thoroughly oiled, cover with breadcrumds and bake in 200 degrees centigrade for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Prepare a mix of vegetables (fried or baked) for serving with the brandade. I have prepared a mix of red peppers, eggplants and zucchini with tomato sauce.

Cut the brandade in squares and serve over the vegetables sprinkling with chopped parsely.

Enjoy responsibly with chilled asirtiko, and let the good times roll!!!

Dinner Party on the occasion of Despoinarion's Oscar Celebration and Awards

 Today’s post is a celebration for Despoinarion‘s Oscar Awards. 

The celebration is double in nature: we celebrate first the award for imagination given to Despoinarion by her friend Taste Advisor  

 

and secondly the award that Despoinarion has given to some bloggers, including myself. 

The guests are:

Despoinarion, Errikos, the Taste Advisor, So Far, Marizz, Gabriel, Roula, Orfia (aka Lena), Manolis, Yanna, Katerina, Natalia.

Yiannis Tsarouchis, Iannis Xenakis, Manos Chatzidakis, Karl Popper, Parmenides, Hoelderlin, Paul Celan, Paul Cezanne

Today’s dinner party is seated and the menu is a combination of dishes I have created, with dishes I have tasted in Italy, Spain, Turkey, the Basque country and Austria. The wines come from Italy, Austria, Greece and Spain. 

To start, I will serve Amalia Brut by Tselepos, a fruity fresh sparkling wine, made the traditional way from moschofilero grapes in the area south of Tripoli, Greece.

 

Σερβιρισμενα

Amuse Bouche: Pies with hot sudjuk (my creation) 

Home made closed pies with a filling of hot sudjuk from Turkey, onions, peppers, sun dried tomatoes and spices.I imasgined this combination one day while I was tasting the hot sudjuk from Turkey and was wondering how to temper the fire and the heat without levelling it to something boring.

 They are hot enough to get the human machine started, so that my guests will endure throughout the process.

Το πακετακι ετοιμο για τυλιγμα

 Antipasto: Greek sushi – sardines with rice in vine leafs (my creation) 

  My Greek sushi uses vineleafs instead of sea weed, rice, and lightly marinated sardine fillets.  I think it is one of the best antipasti because of the unique combination of the oily fish flavors’ and the vine leafs. The rice acts as a mediating agent.

Antipasto: Joselito – Pata Negra 

 Nothing can describe the taste of a slice of Joselito’s pata negra. Keep your eye lids closed, slip into your half open mouth, roll it a bit around without chewing, let it rest for a few seconds, and then open your eyes, and start the cheweing process. Unforgettable!

 

Vino: Albarino – 2006 Granbazán Ambar   

The first wine I will offer is albarino made by Granbazan. Albarino is a wonderful grape, it produces a ehite wine with a good kick and a lot of acidity. I love it and hope you will love it too!!!

Sea Urchin Eggs with Bacalao Tripe

 Primo 1: Sea urchin eggs with Bacalao Tripe (Ristorante Uliassi, Senigalia, Italia) 

I now come to one of the absolutely fabulous dishes of the evening created by chef Uliassi. Frozen sea urchin eggs with cod tripe. What a pandemonium of tastes,  aromas and all of them encased on the tender silky texture of the cod tripe! 

Egg with grilled octopus 

Primo 2: Egg with grilled octopus (Restaurante Andra Mari, near Bilbao, Basque Country) 

This minimalistic dish is absolutely stunning. One of the most unusual combination of tastes, married by the chef of Andra Mari in Vizkaya.

 

Secondo: Iberian Pig’s Tails with crayfish (Restaurante Mugaritz, near San Sebastian, Basque Country) 

The humble tail with its skin intact and crispy combines with the white immaculate flesh of the crayfish in a never ending game of pure pleasure, amplified by jamon iberico crisps.  

The flesh of the tail is surrounded by streams of fat, the best tasting fat in the world! 

The contrast in the texture between the skin and the subliminally soft, almost creamy fat  is unbelievable. 

And when you get back to Earth after this excursion into extreme pleasure, the crayfish comes into play and with its soft flesh and sweet flavor takes you to the cool ocean of elevated joy. 

A crisp of jamon iberico completes the palette of tastes and you find yourself asking the simple question: 

“How could I ever taste something more satisfying than this?” 

The Princess has danced with the Serf, the lights are off,  and the Prince with the skull on hand walks by wandering: 

“To be or not to be?” 

He obviously didn’t manage to get even one bite! 

P.S. This dish is on the menu of the re-opened Mugaritz Restaurant, near San Sebastian in the Basque Region, which was completely rebuilt after a fire destroyed the entire kitchen and a big part of the dining area on the 15th February 2010.  

 

Terzo: Bistecca Fiorentina 

The queen of meats could not be absent from this dinner. Bistecca Fiorentina, bought from my good friend Dario Cecchini, in Panzano, Chianti.

The meat is marbled, and it melts in your mouth dear guest, enjoy it!!!

 

Vino: Poeckl Admiral 1995 

The Admiral, a cuvée of Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch and Cabernet Sauvignon, has been one of Austria’s great red wines for years.

My brother Manolis introduced me to this battleship of reds and I am enslaved by it ever since.  

 

Dolce: Tiramisou (Ristorante Uliassi, Senigalia, Italia) 

The tirami-sou, another creation of chef Uliassi, is deconstructed and absolutely fantastic! The mascarponeisintense and ever present, the cream golden and thick, the chocolate dressed in coffee chunky and bitter! A caramelized wet biscuit on top provides the necessary absorbing agent.No cake needed! 

 

Dolce: Dark chocolate praline with campari sauce in the middle, accompanied by blood orange sorbet on the left and orange grog on the right. 

And now the second dessert! The grog was mildly hot, and contrasted beautifully the cold sorbet (Restaurant Vestibuel, Vienna, Austria). What a wonderful way to end the dinner!!!

 

Vinsanto: Barone Ricasoli – Castello di Brolio 

The Castello di Brolio Vin Santo, true to tradition, expresses one of the “historic” grapes of the area, Malvasia del Chianti.

It is silkyy, aromatic, and can stay with you for a long time. The aftertaste is memorable.

 

Mugaritz Restaurant, near San Sebastian, Basque Country

This is a long due review of my visit to Mugaritz in June 2010. Mugaritz is listed as number 5 in San Pelegrino’s “The Top 50 Restaurants of the World”. Michelin’s Guide Rouge has awarded him two stars for the last 7 years. Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz is considered to be one of the most exciting new chefs in the world. I had the pleasure of visiting Mugaritz in 2003 for the first time, and I returned in 2010. Originally, the date was set for February, but a mishap prevented me from going. When I called a few days later to reschedule, Amaia (the ever gentle lady in charge of bookings) told me that a fire had destroyed the kitchen and the restaurant would re-open in June.

The entrance to the restaurant is the entrance of a farm turned restaurant. Idyllic and calming. It is difficult to find without a navigator, but it is worth the try.

“I was about to remark that farm-to-table cuisine is nothing new to Americans when a waiter placed two stark white bowls on the table. One held a smooth garlic aioli for dipping; the other contained purplish-white orbs that resembled rarefied Japanese stones. These were Aduriz’s famous potatoes, which he’d spent a year researching and perfecting with his pharmacist sister, using a nutrient-rich, edible white clay called kaolin. To obtain the fantastical result, Aduriz dips little boiled Basque spuds in a mix of kaolin and lactose—which makes the coating smooth—then dries them at low heat until a brittle coating forms. Aduriz serves the potatoes in a bowl, among real stones. When I bit into one, the eggshell-thin casing dissolved into the sweet, meltingly tender flesh. I could see what Aduriz meant about luxury.”

Source: Anya von Bremzen

Clay Potatoes with Aioli (photo by "summer of innocence")

The clay potatoes as described by Anya were served in a smoking area outside the main restaurant, and I did not have my camera with me. I could not have believed that such a sumptuous aromatic taste would come from a potato! This is one of the reasons why one should visit Mugaritz. Because you visit the realm “beyond”.

Artichokes sliced paper thin, dressed in Iberian ham fat. Very subtle, and aromatic dish. Its key feature  though is the texture, as the artichoke is practically raw, and therefore crunchy. One of the challenges of the dish for me was that I am used to have artichokes with lemon, and I was thinking lemon while eating it!

“RAZOR CLAMS flavoured with a rich black bean broth, perfumed with cinnamon oil. SWEET BLACK BEANS.”

I come from the school of serving the razor clams grilled with parsley and garlic. To have them like that, swimming in a sweet broth, was a big change. Eventually, I came to like it.

“Over a gelatinous pine nut cream, GLUTINOUS COD FISH and mastic resin.”

This was a really challenging dish, as it combined the belly of the cod with pine nut cream and masticha, the resin from the mastic tree on the island of Chios. Again, Aduriz turned things upside down, serving the gelatinous flesh with a sweet aromatic dressing. It worked quite well though, and it made me feel proud, because masticha comes only from Greece. There is no other place in the world where this tree grows.

Salsifi cooked in the calcium oxide to produce a self pureeing vegetable.

I had no idea what salsify is, but it turned out to be a tuber/root that grows in the sea. I really loved the texture of this thing. Slightly chewy and tough on the outside like the skin of a roasted Japanese sweet potato (this texture reallyexcites me), the inside remained moist and firm but giving. Subtly sweet, it was accompanied by some briny cod roe that exploded with flavour and a sprig of spring onion.”

Source: A Summer of Innocence

“MEGRIM STUFFED WITH VEGETABLE PEARLS and pickled herbs. Small sautéed carrots.”

Megrim is a type of sole fish. It was juicy, firm, tasty. I loved the baby carrots.

“SKATE FILAMENTS bounded in toasted butter glace, Iberian mild sheen.”

The skate worked perfectly with the butter.

“LOIN OF DUCK. Served with iodized compliments; crumblings and shavings of summer truffle.”

This was a minimalist dish, bringing forward the taste of the duck and in the background the subtle truffle.

Braised pork shoulder with garlic. The pork is braised at a temperature of 65 degrees Centigrade, so that haemoglobin does not coagulate and the meat does not turn brown. The garlic was crunchy and mighty. I even ate the flowers!!!

“Tradition, ocean and land: braised IBERIAN PORK TAILS AND PAN FRIED LANGUOSTINES. Reduced braising juices
infused with Iberian “jamón”.” For this dish I posted a short note back in June. I think this is the dish I will ask to eat before my departure from this vain world.
“SELECTION OF EUSKAL HERRIA CHEESE. Artisanal ewe, cow or goats milk cheeses; abbey, monastery and farmhouse
cheeses; mountain and meadow cheeses…”
There is something about cheese in the Basque country, they manage to produce everything and everything is delicious!!! I sound like a primitive being, but the simple truth is this. This stuff is so good, that I cannot ever have a proper Basque meal without cheese.
Broken walnuts with cool milk cream and Armagnac jelly.Although I am not a friend of sweets, especially after my glorious cheese plate, I really enjoyed this creation, which fooled me, as I thought that the walnut shells were real. They were not!!!! They were made of chocolate.

The Wine: Mendraka, a Txakoli from the Basque Country. This steady friend of a wine, kept me going throughout the meal. Txakoli is a perfect second violin to the glorious cuisine of the Basque country!

The double face of experience.And at the end time for philosophizing. These two cards were laid on the table at the beginning, but I present them at the end. They present the two sides of the 150 minute experience.

The Threat
The Opportunity
Au revoir Mugaritz!!!


"Arantzan zu?!" (Thou, among the thorns?!) – The Basilica and Sanctuary of Arantzazu in the Basque Country

According to the legend, these were the words of the shepherd Rodrigo de Balanzategui, who discovered the sculpture of the Virgin in a thorn-bush in the Onati county in the South of the Basque Country.

These words named the place Arantzazu, a holy place for the Basques, where they have erected a Sanctuary.

I visited the Sanctuary of Arantzazu more than a month ago, during a day that the skies were grey and the water was falling continuously, all day long.  As we approach the Virgin’s Assumption on the 15th of August, I felt is would be appropriate to share with you some of my pictures from the Basque Madonna.

The whole area of the Sanctuary is developed for people. You can walk, rest, enjoy the natural environment, visit the Church and the other edifices. The Basilica was rebuilt in 1951, when it was decided that no further extension of the old building made sense.

The Church is modern. The imposing belfry tower has a minimal cross on top.

The main entrance of the Church is modern but powerful.

The spikes of the facade are “thorns”.

The four doors of the main entrance were made by Eduardo Chillida. In the page of Onati dedicated to Arantzazu, we read: “The four doors that provide access to the church were designed by Eduardo Chillida and seem to be almost below ground, being set at the bottom of a steep staircase.”

“With their mineral appearance, the doors suggest the entrance to the underground world, an impression which is further reinforced inside the church by the massive high altarpiece, which measures over 600 square metres. The altarpiece was designed by Lucio Muñoz and is carved in wood of many different colors.”

The 14 Apostles guarding the entrance are the work of Jorge Oteiza. The Bilbao Guggenheim organized in 2005 a major retrospective of Oteiza’s work. We read in the Exhibition program: ” In the same year (1950), he began work tentatively on a major commission for the statuary of the basilica at Aránzazu, a huge undertaking finally realized in 1969. Here, religious motifs are depersonalized; figures are emptied, opened to space, and filled with spiritual content.”

The Pieta crowns the 14 Apostles.

The crypt is accessible from the inside of the Basilica. It is utterly modern, and captivating. The Onati site comments: “The crypt, decorated by Nestor Basterretxea, contains 18 murals of exceptional expressive strength, which have a somewhat aggressive use of color.”

The 15th century statute of the Virgin.

May her Mercy envelop and deliver us more true and free to the world.

May her Grace help us to sustain pain and sorrow.

May her Heart keep us warm in the cold and dark terrain of solitude and remembrance.

Exiting the Chillida doors.

Time to go.

Time to get lost in the mountains and the clouds.

Chillida: Gruss an (Hommage à) Heidegger

Δοκεί δε μέτα τι είναι και

χαλεπόν ληφθήναι ο τόπος

“It appears, however, to be something overwhelming and hard to grasp, the topos (that is place, space)”

Aristotle, Physics, Book IV

The Basque Sculptor Eduardo Chillida in the early 1960’s engaged into a dialog with the German Philosopher Martin Heidegger. When the two men met, they discovered that from different angles, they were “working” with Space in the same way.

Chillida has been quoted as saying: “My whole Work is a journey of discovery in Space. Space is the liveliest of all, the one that surrounds us.” He has challenged the Empty and embraced the Horizon. One might say that his mission in life was to give life to Emptiness.

In one of his interviews, Chillida said: “Heidegger wrote a book, The Art and the Space, that discussed my work: the idea of space as a living space that is in relation to man, and the idea that sculpture reveals the exact character of a space. Heidegger asked for my thoughts because he was astonished to find so many relations between his ideas and my ideas, translated into sculpture.”

Heidegger wrote: “We would have to learn to recognize that things themselves are places and do not merely belong to a place,” and that sculpture is thereby “…the embodiment of places.”

Against a traditional view of space as an empty container for discrete bodies, these writings understand the body as already beyond itself in a world of relations and conceive of space as a material medium of relational contact. Sculpture shows us how we belong to the world, a world in the midst of a technological process of uprooting and homelessness. Heidegger suggests how we can still find room to dwell therein.

Hommage à Heidegger.
Holzschnitt.
Van der Koelen 70016. Signiert und nummeriert. Exemplar 98/100. Auf Japanbütten. 13,8 x 17 cm (5,4 x 6,6 in). Papier: 20,8 x 17 cm (8,1 x 6,6 in).
Beilage zur Vorzugsausgabe des Buches “Martin Heidegger/Eduardo Chillida – Die Kunst und der Raum” von Erhard Kästner, St. Gallen 1970. Gedruckt von der Erker-Presse, St. Gallen, erschienen im Erker-Verlag, St. Gallen. [RS].

Chillida was asked and accepted to prepare the illustrations for the book that was first published in 1969. The illustration above comes from the book.

Gruss an Hiedegger, Frankfurt am Main (1994)

In 1994 Chillida completed his sculpture “Hommage to Heidegger”. The sculpture was installed in open air in Frankfurt an Main.