Cooking
When I think of processed foods the first things that come to mind are newfangled convenience and artificial ingredients. But that's not the case with all processed foods. In Spain, preserving vegetables and seafood is a very traditional craft. Olives, piquillo peppers, anchovies and tuna are just a few of the most common "conservas" you'll find.
In Barcelona there is a famous tapas bar called Quimet y Quimet that specializes in using conservas and many shops are filled with precious treasures in cans and jars. I recently got a chance to try some of the products being sold online by AJ Gourmet and was really impressed. The father and son partners are passionate about Spanish foods and import a terrific array of olives, especially stuffed ones.
I talked to Andy Weiss to find out how his stuffed olives were different from the more typically available ones. He told me that the stuffed olives you find in most markets are for the most part standard queens, a large variety that is a bit woody and a tad bitter but easy to stuff (also known as gordales in Spanish) and standard manzanillas. They are generally stuffed with a composite paste that is chosen more for the ease of stuffing than for quality. Worst of all the pimiento in most stuffed olives is not pimiento at all, but a red gel.
AJ Gourmet uses manzanillas finas, the highest quality available, and stuffs them with real products to achieve a flavor balance between the natural nut like flavor of the olive and the unique stuffings. The blue cheese olives are stuffed with a Spanish Cabrales cheese. Other exotic flavors include olives stuffed with real piquillo peppers and olives stuffed with Valencia orange peel. Even the liquid bring is of artisanal quality rather than just plain salty water.
I was pleased to learn that Andy is working with his producer friends in Spain to introduce some new combinations including salmon, shrimp and tuna stuffed manzanilla olives. He willl also be bringing in grilled artichokes and other Spanish specialties including some more seafood items. I can't wait to try them!
- California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil
It all comes down to freshness and quantity. California Olive Ranch plants three varieties, arbequina, arbosana from Spain and koroneiki from Greece. Their olive orchards look nothing like what you may have seen in Europe. The olive trees are pruned...
- Pantry Paella Recipe
My kitchen is overflowing. My freezer is so full I can barely close it. I sometimes hear the crash of bottles, jars and tins falling off my pantry shelves and onto the floor. I seriously think I could cook and eat without going out of the house for a...
- Salad Nicoise Redux
Summer food post #182. Well, maybe not, but lately it's been hot and hot weather requires an appropriate menu. Tonight we had a salad nicoise. If I say "salad nicoise" you probably think of a salad with olives, potatoes, string beans, anchovies and...
- Eating
There are two things about me that I wish I could change (actually if I thought about it for more than two seconds, I'm sure I'd come up with a much longer list): • my shoe size (it's very hard to find ladies shoes in size 10 1/2 • my...
- Stuffed Vegetables
There is something intrinsically charming about stuffed vegetables. Why is this? There seems to be a deep-rooted human love of food stuffed into other food; every culture has some variant. Perhaps it's the idea of food getting extra flavor from its...
Cooking
Crazy for Conservas
When I think of processed foods the first things that come to mind are newfangled convenience and artificial ingredients. But that's not the case with all processed foods. In Spain, preserving vegetables and seafood is a very traditional craft. Olives, piquillo peppers, anchovies and tuna are just a few of the most common "conservas" you'll find.
In Barcelona there is a famous tapas bar called Quimet y Quimet that specializes in using conservas and many shops are filled with precious treasures in cans and jars. I recently got a chance to try some of the products being sold online by AJ Gourmet and was really impressed. The father and son partners are passionate about Spanish foods and import a terrific array of olives, especially stuffed ones.
I talked to Andy Weiss to find out how his stuffed olives were different from the more typically available ones. He told me that the stuffed olives you find in most markets are for the most part standard queens, a large variety that is a bit woody and a tad bitter but easy to stuff (also known as gordales in Spanish) and standard manzanillas. They are generally stuffed with a composite paste that is chosen more for the ease of stuffing than for quality. Worst of all the pimiento in most stuffed olives is not pimiento at all, but a red gel.
AJ Gourmet uses manzanillas finas, the highest quality available, and stuffs them with real products to achieve a flavor balance between the natural nut like flavor of the olive and the unique stuffings. The blue cheese olives are stuffed with a Spanish Cabrales cheese. Other exotic flavors include olives stuffed with real piquillo peppers and olives stuffed with Valencia orange peel. Even the liquid bring is of artisanal quality rather than just plain salty water.
I was pleased to learn that Andy is working with his producer friends in Spain to introduce some new combinations including salmon, shrimp and tuna stuffed manzanilla olives. He willl also be bringing in grilled artichokes and other Spanish specialties including some more seafood items. I can't wait to try them!
- California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil
It all comes down to freshness and quantity. California Olive Ranch plants three varieties, arbequina, arbosana from Spain and koroneiki from Greece. Their olive orchards look nothing like what you may have seen in Europe. The olive trees are pruned...
- Pantry Paella Recipe
My kitchen is overflowing. My freezer is so full I can barely close it. I sometimes hear the crash of bottles, jars and tins falling off my pantry shelves and onto the floor. I seriously think I could cook and eat without going out of the house for a...
- Salad Nicoise Redux
Summer food post #182. Well, maybe not, but lately it's been hot and hot weather requires an appropriate menu. Tonight we had a salad nicoise. If I say "salad nicoise" you probably think of a salad with olives, potatoes, string beans, anchovies and...
- Eating
There are two things about me that I wish I could change (actually if I thought about it for more than two seconds, I'm sure I'd come up with a much longer list): • my shoe size (it's very hard to find ladies shoes in size 10 1/2 • my...
- Stuffed Vegetables
There is something intrinsically charming about stuffed vegetables. Why is this? There seems to be a deep-rooted human love of food stuffed into other food; every culture has some variant. Perhaps it's the idea of food getting extra flavor from its...