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.

 

Joselito – Bellota Ham

The picture that you see is not a fake. You see pigs with black feet (pata negra) enjoying the environment of woods and waters in Spain) in one of the farms of Joselito, may be the most famous producer of bellota (acorn fed) ham. The leg is cured for a period ranging from 2 to 4 years and the whole process transforms the flesh of the acorn fed pig into a symphony of flavours. In addition, due to the chemical composition of acorns, the fat of the pig is transformed into an olive oil tasting substance.

There is no way to relay the whole experience, one has to taste this beautiful piece of cured meat. During my recent visit to Munich, Manolis welcomed me with a whole leg of Joselito’s bellota ham. This post is dedicated to Manolis and Joselito.

I start with the presentation of the whole leg on its stand, as presented to me upon my entry in Manolis’ dining room. Next to it, stands a bottle of rioja, “Castillo Ygay”, of 1978. The little card has a poem of Manolis:

“Το συντεκνο ο Μανωλιος

για να καλωσορισει

τον Χοσελιτο εστειλε

να τον προυπαντησει”

(liberally translated this means:

Preparing to  welcome his brother,

Manolis has sent Joselito

to greet him)

The task of slicing is what can destroy or glorify the meat. The thinner the slice, the bigger is the surface exposed to the air, thus more aromas are released. But the most important seems to me is the marbling of the meat, these thin translucent lines of  fat that give to the meat the unique flavor. Although the initial treatment of the leg is in a mix of salt and herbs, the meat is not salty at all! This is the first sign of quality.

Eating Joselito ham is a long process, that requires very good wine, that can accept the role of the second violin, as the first violin and the conductor of the orchestra is unquestionably, Joselito! The experience grows on you as you overcome the shock of the first tasting. I have tasted Joselito now since 2003, and it is always a revelation. The aftertaste is long and complex. This requires a slow eating process, long pauses to enjoy, to close your eyes, to relax and retreat into the world of the senses!

The first day’s session lasted almost 6 hours, and as you can see it had a noticeable  impact on the leg.

When you see the meat close up, you will be impressed by the thick ruby color. Another important feature of bellota ham, is that it sweats, i.e. it releases its fat gradually and steadily once it is cut.

The hard work of day 1 required a second wine, which was a native Austrian red, with the impressive name “Admiral”, produced by Poeckl, in 1999.

The hard work with Joselito work continued on day 2 and the results are noticeable.

After such a wonderful experience, you are no longer a mere mortal, but an angel. May be not as beautiful as the Angel created by Manolis’s daughter, Athina, but nevertheless an Angel!

"Angel", by Athina Payatakis

Thank you Manolis, thank you Marion, thank you Athina, for this wonderful treat!

Thank you little acorn fed piggy! You are an angel too!

Thank you Jose Gomez, for producing the ham!