The Ritual Master It’s a gloomy and gray afternoon where I am, but reading Chris Stewart’s Driving over Lemons trilogy gives me the perfect excuse to escape in a sunny and delicious Andalucia.
So what could be better than an exploration of southern spanish cuisine to light up the home.
Andalucia has an amazingly wide variety of scenery – from Europe’s second-highest mountain range, to the continent’s only desert, and of course hundreds of km of stunning coastline. Life is wildely different in Sevilla from Malaga, and even more so in the recluded rugged mountains.
There, the local cuisine has adapted to simple ingredients at hand.
Now, the gazpacho is world famous and needs no introduction. However, it is just one of the spanish cold soups that offer refreshment and nourrishment during the hot iberian summers. Today, we’ll make a nice ajo blanco, tipical of Malaga. The base consists of almonds and soaked bread, you can imagine it was made with stale bread and last year’s harvest of almonds safely kept in the cellars. You add a clove of garlic to that, some extra virgin olive oil, a hint of Xerxes vinegar, salt and water until you get your perfect consistency. Served over some grapes, it’s an authentic country side soup of Andalucia.
For the main course, we will stick with the simple cuisine of the farmers, and make an easy and delicious Patatas a lo pobre, or Poor man’s potatoes.
In the first book of the Trilogy, when Chris meets the previous owner of the farm, he gets invited to a simple meal of Patatas a lo pobre, that later becomes a staple in the Stewart household. So let’s begin !
We slice up some potatoes, not too fine or else they’ll break while cooking, and throw them in a pan with some olive oil. Start with a cold pan and let the temperature rise with the potatoes inside, this will ensure they will slowly become tender, like a french confit, rather then fry quickly. When you start to see some colour, about half way through, add in the onion and peppers. Salt and pepper to taste. And let them melt into the potatoes, slowly at medium heat. You’ll know when it’s ready, the potatoes look like they want to become a mash, but with a hint of colour to them. Serve this with some chopped parsley and maybe a juicy tomato salad. If you are not the poorest of the poor, you could fry an egg on the side, or even serve this with some meat. But for this rainy afternoon, I think my simple Patatas a lo pobre will suffice.
Now for desert, things are slightly less “poor”. As you well know from the Book video, I have quite a few lemons on my hands. So what could be better than a lemon pie.I took the lazy road to the pie crust, and bought a ready made one, that I cooked with some dry beans inside, so it will keep a nice shape.For the lemon curd, you start by heating up the juice of three lemons with the zest of one. Meanwhile, you whisk together 3 eggs, sugar and one tablespoon of corn starch. When you lemon juice is boiling, you add it gradually to the egg mixture, than transfer back into the pan and cook it on medium heat whisking constantly, until it thickens. You let it cool off for a while, 20 minutes will do, then add in some room temperature butter, and mix it through.Pour it inside your pie crust, zest over some lime, and let it rest in the fridge for an hour.
All this is quite delicious, but in the spanish heat, I could really go for a refreshing drink. Tinto de verano is Sangria’s cousin, less alcoholic but equally delicious. Start by preparing your fruit, a Granny Smith apple, one orange and one lemon.In a large jug add some ice, the fruit, then fill the half with red wine, and the remaining half with lemon lime soda. If you close your eyes while drinking, you can almoast hear the parrot in the pepper tree.
Well this was an afternoon well saved from the rain. I can go back to my book while you start writing your shopping list.
Hasta pronto ! and in the meantime, enjoy your reading, and your rituals !
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