Juan Mari Arzak, embajador internacional de la gastronomía española a través de HRT F1 Team
Juan Mari Arzak, one of the most renowned chefs in the world, declared himself proud to be associated with a project of international magnitude and to be responsible for promoting the Spanish gastronomy. Free translation from Formula1box.es:
The renowned Basque chef Juan Mari Arzak will be responsible, through the catering company Arzak-Bokado, not only of serving the most discerning palate of Formula 1, but will also be responsible for feeding the team members of the 20 Grands Prix this season.
The team of Arzak-Bokado will travel with the F1 team and will have its base in the new motorhome of the team for the European events. While away from the old continent will use the facilities of each circuit to maintain the same quality service.
The special logistics on travel and transport around the world will not be a problem to use national fresh produce and quality that characterise the unique and renowned Spanish cuisine, but will also seek support from chefs and suppliers in each one of the countries visited.
Source and full story [Spanish]: Formula1box.es
Read MoreTwo Events on Saint Valentine
On the occasion of St. Valentine, students of Via Magna organised a dinner in Tortosa at two different places, on Saturday February 11 at Restaurant Julibert and Saturday February 18 at Restaurant Lakinoa.
During the week, evenings after school, students of Kitchen and Gastronomy prepared menus and students of Restaurant Services on the one hand were in charge of event marketing and booking management and the other hand prepared the staging of the event.
The night of the event, culinary students made the dinner and restaurant students were responsible for serving. Each student was in charge of specific items with specific functions. In addition to the evening menu, there was also a magic show and finally a dance accompanied by a cocktail service self-created by students, with products such as “Titanium” or “Love is in the air.”
The audience responded fantastically and we hosted the event with a good influx of guests both days. We also want to thank for the congratulations received from some parents of students and acquaintances.
The objective of this event was to raise funds for a student trip. Via Magna students will organise more events in the future to continue raising funds while reinforcing learning.
Read MoreBittersweet Pork Tenderloin
Recipe: Bittersweet Pork Tenderloin
Summary: This exotic recipe is a different way to prepare the popular pork tenderloin. We served it accompanied with mashed potatoes and mushrooms.
Ingredients
- Pork tenderloin
- Flour
- Honey
- Lemon
- Salt and oil
Directions
- Cut the tenderloin in portions and salt them.
- Squeeze lemon and mix with honey until dissolved.
- Let macerate the meat in the honey and lemon for about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Subtly coat meat in flour and finally fry.
Valentine’s Day Special Cocktail
Recipe: Valentine’s Day Special Cocktail
Summary: February 14, Valentine’s Day is the day of love and our students designed this cocktail to celebrate it.
Ingredients
- 6 oz milk
- 2 oz grenadine
- ½ oz vodka
- ice
- layers of strawberry
Directions
- Put ice in a cocktail glass to cool.
- Shake ingredients: milk, grenadine, vodka and ice.
- Renew ice in the glass and add a bit of grenadine.
- Strain shaken ingredients into glass.
- Garnish using a fresh strawberry and make heart-shaped slices.
This is the Catalan pizza Albert Adrià presented in Paris des Chefs 2012
In late January took place Paris des Chefs, chefs and architects encounter in which Albert Adrià participated along with Vega & Luesma for Tickets Restaurant.
Albert Adrià began presenting his establishment with a bistro format. Everything is cooked at the moment and the chef has direct contact with the customer.
Then the two Catalan designers involved in the creation of 41 ° explained their work, recycled materials, old wood, plastic and glass used in creating hand-crafted items.
Finally the presentation of dishes, among which was the orginal Catalan pizza we see in the picture.
3 secrets from the second best chef of the world
The Diario de Gastronomía interviewed Joan Roca in the last Madrid Fusion. He is the older of the three brothers in front of El Celler de Can Roca (Girona), an establishment which last year won the second position in the prestigious ranking of The World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards.
After reading the interview, I share here three interesting ideas:
1. Education in a hotel school
The Roca brothers are the third generation of hospitality professionals, so they were born and raised in a kitchen, in a restaurant. They began helping out their parents and learned there. But also in school, at that time there were only two hotel schools in Spain, one in Girona and the other in Madrid. They were fortunate, says Joan Roca:
We were fortunate to have a hotel school here and that’s probably also one of the reasons why we are dedicated to this: because we could study and have a formal education. But anyway, in the kitchen you realize that you are always learning and that the road is long and still not over.
2. Keep grounded
El Celler de Can Roca has 50 employees and all of them have breakfast, lunch and dinner in the restaurant of the parents. Joan Roca admits that it solves a logistical issue, but also keeps them true to their origins.
Home-made food … is like keeping the umbilical cord with the mother, something that keeps you well grounded from the gastronomic point of view, but also in the sense that-actually-it’s very easy for chefs to lose our head and believe everything the media tells us, awards and recognitions. When you go every day to your parents’ house, you ground yourself and say “okay, here’s where we come from, this is what we are.”
3. Exceptional products
Class chefs require class products …
Read MoreToday one of the most important concerns of the chefs is to find premium products, apart from the creativity and other things that obviously also influence, but finding products is becoming an obsession.
What do we do? we try to establish contacts with small producers, people who produce what we want or are willing to produce what we want and we are willing to pay what it’s worth. That is the key to having an outstanding product, which is what we all seek: the only way is to establish such contacts and synergies that yield close to the product.
Chickpeas with Prawns
Recipe: Chickpeas with Prawns
Summary: traditional Spanish stew made with a local product such as the excellent and very popular prawns from La Ràpita
Ingredients
- ½ kg of chickpeas
- ½ kg of prawns from La Ràpita
- 1 onions
- 1 head of garlic, and 2 cloves
- 1 red pepper
- 4 plum tomatoes
- laurel
- paprika
- parsley
- salt
- oil
- water
Directions
- Let chickpeas soak during the night before.
- Peel the prawns and cook the heads and shells in a pot with water for 15 minutes. After this time, strain the water and put it to a pressure cooker to cook the beans in it. Add the salt, bay leaf and a head of garlic (roasted or raw). Cover the pot and let cook chickpeas (for 25 to 40 min. depending on the pot) and when steam stops coming out, remove the lid.
- The broth should not exceed more than three fingers the size of all chickpeas together. If so, remove a little.
- Peel the remaining two cloves of garlic. Put oil in a frying pan and when hot, fry the garlic and slice of bread until well browned.
- Remove the garlic and bread and put them in a mixer bowl. In the remaining, fry the onion, tomato and red pepper.
- When done, add paprika, remove from heat quickly and add it to the mixer bowl with the bread and garlic. Add a little water and mix.
- Add the resulting paste to the chickpeas pota and boil all together for five minutes. Near the end add the prawns and parsley.
Source: Peláez, E. ‘Secretos de los fogones del Sur: 180 recetas de la cocina casera andaluza’. Malaga: Consejería de Turismo, Comercio y Deporte, 2005
Number of servings (yield): 6
Culinary tradition: Spanish
Caipirinha Cocktail
Recipe: Caipirinha Cocktail
Summary: The Caipirinha is one of the most internationally known Brazilian drinks. You will find it in most bars and restaurants in Brazil and is considered the national cocktail, probably because it is made from cachaça, which is the alcoholic beverage most widely extended and elaborated in the country.
Ingredients
- 4 small limes
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 ½ oz Cachaça
- 4 crushed ice cubes
Directions
- Put two teaspoons of sugar in a rock glass.
- Cut each lime into four pieces.
- Put the lime in the glass and press lightly with a small pestle.
- Add Cachaça and ice.
- Finally, mix well to dissolve sugar.
- Serve and drink with the ingredients thoroughly mixed.
Gastronomic Forum Santiago 2012
The Gastronomic Forum Santiago is held every two years, alternating each year with the Forum of Girona to take advantage of all the gastronomic potential of Catalonia and Galicia.
This year’s Forum Santiago 2012 will take place in Santiago de Compostela the next 26, 27 and 28 February.
Following is the programme and registration details:
Sunday Programme
Monday Programme
Garden produce in the young Galician cuisine
Vegetables: Fruits of speech
The new desert vegetables
Creations spring 2012
Hunting sea
Chocolates for restaurants
Naturalism in haute cuisine
Iago Pazos (Abastos 2.0, Santiago), Iñigo Lavado (Singular Foods, Irún) José Carlos Capel (Crítico Gastronómico El País), Enrique Castelló (Universidad de Santiago de Compostela)
Living in the Bay of Biscay. Taming the sea
Tuesday Programme
The role of biodynamic gardening at Can Fabes
Oriol Rovira (Els Casals, Sagàs)
From the farm to the kitchen, closed circles
Oldest breeds, new wine
Dani García (Calima, Marbella)
Andalusian avantgarde
New techniques for flavoring dishes
100% Albariño
A contemporary view of fish
Basically, land and sea (Mediterranean)
Crossroads, Japanese cuisine in the heart of Madrid
Chocovic Chocolates and vermouth
Dialogue: The taste of the future
Josep Roca (Celler de Can Roca), Quico Sosa (Comercial Sosa), Enric Rovira (Xocolates de Barcelona), Josep de Haro (Sociedad Española de Ciencias Sensoriales)
Ancestral fish Minho border culinary landscapes
Javier Torres (Dos Cielos, Barcelona). Embajador de Chocovic
Chocolate in savouring cuisine
The future of tradition, 50 years of Casa Solla
Registration
Sign up now Sign up now to the workshops, the Dulce Forum, the Forum or the Active Classroom came from 20 € and get free admission to the exhibition center and auditorium sessions.
You just click here and follow the steps.
Read More
Mojito
Recipe: Mojito Cocktail
Summary: The popular Mojito cocktail comes from Cuba and is a “must master” for all baristas.
Ingredients
- 4 oz. white rum
- 4 oz. soda or mineral water
- 2 tbs of raw cane sugar
- 1 cup crushed ice
- 1 sprig of mint (12 leaves approx.)
- 1 lime or lemon
Directions
- Put the sugar in a Collins glass.
- Cut the lime into pieces and add them to the glass, together with the mint leaves.
- With the help of a small pestle, press gently to release the aromas.
- Add rum and crushed ice and mix well to dissolve sugar.
- Finally add sparkling water and serve decorating with lime and mint.
Via Magna
