Pimiento de piqulllo con crema de queso y mojo verde
(Piquillo pepper stuffed with goat’s curd mixed herbs and mojo verde)
These are really quick and colourful: great for summer parties and picnics. Josep, our executive chef, who came up with the combination, uses goat’s curd from La Bauma, but you could substitute cream cheese or cottage cheese.
Menestra de verduras often served in littles bowls in fashionable Madrid bars, but probabaly the best I have ever had was made for me by Raul Domingo, when I stayed with him and his family in the city. Raul is a history lecturer, his wife, Carmen, a photographer, lecturer and archivist, and their student daughter Livia is a jazz and classical violinist. The shelves of their home groan with incredible books and the walls are covered in extraordinary paintings, and when it comes to food, Raul is in charge of the kitchen and his cooking is excellent. While I was writing up recipe notes he brought me a Madrid tapa of fine crisps and escabeche mussels (see page 111) and then a little bowlful of this light, delicious, nutritious menestra.
Brindisa, the renowned Spanish fine food import company, has become a byword for excellent Spanish food.
The Brindisa Spanish Cook Book is the ultimate in contemporary Spanish cooking, including classic regional recipes, tapas dishes and information about the very best ingredients and food producers. Ranging from the most unusual artisan dishes to the classics of Spanish cooking, this recipe collection draws on Brindisa’s specialist knowledge to introduce you to delights such as jamon iberico de bellota, chorizo, cured ham and fish, fumet (rich Catalan fish stock), farmhouse cheeses, prepared pulses, olive oils and vinegars, sweet treats and storecupboard basics that are essential for Spanish and Mediterranean cooking.
