cookbook club

The Barcelona Cookbook

by Jennifer Morris, a reader in Atlanta, GA.

I am so glad I received this cookbook to review, because I happen to love tapas! Sasa and Andy did a beautiful job of bringing this intimate, colorful tradition of Spanish cuisine to the “common” home cook, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Yes, I read it, the whole thing – from the beginning where the evolution of the restaurant(s), the history of the authors, and even a tour of Spain by means of wine/food pairings were discussed, to the end, which contained my favorite section: the desserts. I made these recipes with my fiancé, who is an amazing cook, and we chose to recreate three food recipes plus a cocktail but fully intend to make our way through most of the other recipes as soon as possible.
   In honor of my fiancé, who is half-Cuban, we made the Mojito. Mojitos are one of the easiest cocktails to drink, so refreshing and uplifting, and they make your kitchen smell heavenly. We set out to make the Metrotini, but could not find blood oranges in the markets. It’s still perhaps a little too early in the season for them. No worries; we will try it soon!
The first recipe we tried was “Roasted Beets with Cabrales and Toasted Walnuts.” This was very easy to make, and the roasted beets with the rice wine vinegar were fantastic! Toasting the walnuts made all the difference. There is something so earthy and right about eating roasted beets, and in combination with the softened cheese from the heat of the beets and the warm, toasted walnuts, it was superb. My fiancé actually preferred a bite of just the warm cheese and walnuts, and I have to say that was really good. But the beets made the dish.
   The second dish we made was the “Filet Mignon with Horseradish Cream on Toasted Ficelle.” The peppercorn/rosemary/garlic rub for the steak was wonderful and formed a nice crust on the pan-seared surface. And there is hardly a better combination other than steak and horseradish!
The third dish we tried was the “Goat Cheese with Mojo Verde.” One word: GENIUS!! This was our absolute favorite. The mojo verde was very reminiscent of the Argentinean chimichurri, which is an all time favorite of mine. I love it on everything, and I found myself eating spoonfuls of the mojo verde right out of the bowl! I even spooned it onto the filet-topped ficelle. It was truly wonderful, and in combination with the herbed goat cheese, just divine. Here are a couple of things I would change about the recipe, though, to make it clearer. First, the size of the green bell pepper is not specified and so we ended up having a little too much bell in the verde (because we had a huge one!) and had to adjust the other ingredients accordingly. Not a big deal, but perhaps specify a measurement (i.e. ¼ cup, etc.). Also, the ¼-inch dice on the peppers and onion was a little big. We thought a smaller dice would make the bite more cohesive. Other than that, it was an awesome dish!
Since I do have tremendous foodies in my circle of friends, I would definitely buy this book for them. However, I don’t mean to imply that only advanced cooks would enjoy this book. The recipes are clear and concise and today, thankfully, most of the perhaps more exotic ingredients can be found in everyday grocery stores. The recipes range from classically easy (Roasted Olives) to more labor-intensive (Double-Thick Pork Chops with Basque Peppers and Crushed Fingerling Potatoes), with everything in between. Additionally, the inserts that are scattered throughout the book are timely and informative, shedding light on a particular subject such as choosing a good olive oil or curing meats, or describing an asado so delectably that my mouth waters reading the words and looking at the pictures. This was one of my favorite things about the cookbook: the “extras” besides the recipes and is part of the whole that makes this a very recommendable cookbook.