Comments for Olive Me

Comment on In Pursuit of Plankton: An Andalusian Love Story by Trixie

Trixie — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:57:18 +0000

Well, after some years of spending long days–and nights– at sea in an open boat, I can say that I read this plankton blog with great interest. Whales have very smelly breath but I imagine they didn’t have the advantage of aborio. Or for that matter, Angel.

A splendid description. I love your writing. I think I would laugh a lot on a Spanish Journey.

Comment on In Pursuit of Plankton: An Andalusian Love Story by Teresa

Teresa — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:30:45 +0000

Eddie — I must send this to Angel, he will love it. Too bad he hadn’t read this story before spending his long and fruitless day trolling for plankton and getting almost none… it goes on to say the plankton dive deep during the day, so the best “plankton fishing” is at night.

Comment on In Pursuit of Plankton: An Andalusian Love Story by Eddie

Eddie — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:24:22 +0000

According to the Boating Enyclopedia, the ocean scientist William Beebe said in 1927 that “shipwrecked men in an open boat, if their lot is cast on waters rich in plankton, need never starve to death.” In 1952 Alain Bombard, a French doctor and adventurer, drifted across the Atlantic from Casablanca in a rubber life raft called “L’Heretique” to prove Beebe’s point. He lived exclusively on fish he caught and on plankton “soup” he trawled with a fine-mesh net.

Comment on In Pursuit of Plankton: An Andalusian Love Story by tony

tony — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:06:15 +0000

whoops - make that angel…

Comment on In Pursuit of Plankton: An Andalusian Love Story by tony

tony — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:05:45 +0000

my wife took me to aponiente for my birthday last summer. the most exquisite food i can recall tasting. we had the degustacion (tasting) menu - nine or ten dishes and every one a visual feast, only bettered by the taste. the restaurant is only open in the summer and now that ferran adria has closed el bulli for two years (from 2011), i hope angle gets the recognition he deserves. i’ll be back when he opens his doors in the late spring.

Comment on Better Manchego by Ann Larson

Ann Larson — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:20:13 +0000

Teresa, your comments are so true.

When I took my US family a Ribera del Dueros (imho much better than most of the oft-found Riojas) they couldn’t believe how great it was. The Spanish don’t believe you should have to pay a fortune for good quality. Nor do they believe that you should buy only with your eyes.

I met some guys from NYC when I was in San Sebastian - they were going to El Bulli. Afterward, they said it was only so-so, and they paid $200/head WITHOUT WINE !!! We had lobster in the town centre for $40 for 2 of us.Go figure.

Comment on Better Manchego by Teresa

Teresa — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:07:32 +0000

Ann,
I agree it’s still hard to find really good quality Spanish products in the U.S. The whole ham story here is ridiculous (with “pata negra” prepared especially for our market via an FDA approved — as if that meant anything good — plant that makes for, perforce, a more mass produced product than bellota should be) and you can practically forget about finding really delicious wines at reasonable prices (though here I think the “Spanish wine should be dirt cheap — and it’s OK if it’s kind of bad” mentality is a problem). What’s hardest, I think, is that really the best foods in Spain are the simplest and rely so much on great fresh sourcing… after finishing cooking school in Spain, my US friends often asked what my favorite dish was. Answer: sardines, grilled over wood and rosemary, right on the beach. Not replicable here. My hope is that when people go to Spain they’ll slow down enough to taste the simpler things, the flavors specific to different locales, not just go for the Michelin starred places found in food magazines. And of course here’s hoping the Catalans and Sevillanos and other people attached to their own foods will stay “slow” enough to protect what they’ve got.

Comment on Better Manchego by Ann Larson

Ann Larson — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:46:05 +0000

I live in Spain, grew up in the US. I find that most of the Spanish products sold in the US are both expensive and of poor quality.

This is outrageous - the Spanish do so love their food, but don’t expect to pay huge amounts of money for it. The best acorn-fed ham, of course - but there are sooo many other ‘grades’ of jamon that are extremely good, and eaten everyday. For example, we purchased a whole jamon for about $60 - not the highest quality ‘black hoof’ but wonderful sliced thinly on toast, etc.

The same with Manchego - soooo many grades of it, but all good!

PS - try making your own membrillo! It’s dead easy and cheap to make!

Comment on Mantecados for Christmas by Teresa

Teresa — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:24:51 +0000

Mac, I’m so glad you made these… and the anise flavored version too (I love you even more than ever now). I’m thinking maybe the liquid version of anís or Pernod really dissolves the powdered sugar quickly — you know how those old icing recipes work where the cream quickly turns a bowl full of confectioners’ sugar into a little bit of icing? That must be why matalauga or anis seed is more commonly used.

Comment on The Caganer: That’s What It’s All About by Teresa

Teresa — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:21:24 +0000

Eddie, I cannot believe you don’t like that tender song!