Medellitin

The Calçot is a scallion varietal that is grown in Catalonia. Commonly accepted folklore (e.g. Wikipedia) tells us that Xat de Benaiges, a Catalan farmer, grew Calçots by covering the edible part in dirt. This induces a phenomenon called etiolation. There I go again using one of those sexy food words. Etiolation occurs when plants don't receive sunlight, preventing chlorophyll from forming, keeping them a pale white color. This is the same process used to create white asparagus. A similar process, that involves burying me in work, is used to induce etiolation in Pablo. The Catalans or Catalonians as they would probably rather not be called, throw barbeque like parties called Calçotada's, where calçots are grilled over dried vines and then smothered in sauce and eaten while drinking ridiculous amounts of wine. I don't live in Spain, which makes me sad for a whole host of reasons. But fortunately, in my own neighborhood, I discovered: Wintered leeks (about as close as y

Octopus is a notoriously finicky ingredient. You are usually battling flavor and texture. As McGee writes : The recipes themselves are all over the map with their advice for making octopus tender. Salting is essential to tenderness, or fatal; brief dips in boiling water tenderize, or long slow cooling, or a rubbing with grated daikon, or the addition of a wine cork to the cooking liquid. McGee continues to perform his own experiments with which he does come up with two ways to prepare octopus. Brine/simmer and self-braise at low temp. While I am sure they both work really well, I found that sous vide is hands down the way to go. And it makes sense, because it is sort of like a self braise. One of the best things about cooking Octopus is that you can cook it at a temperature perfect for cooking vegetables. Starches break down around 80C, while pectin doesn't break down until around 85C. And when I think Octopus and starches I most certainly think of Pulpo A La Gallego. Pulpo

olive oil, salt, lemon juice. 180F. drop and go to work.

Two months in a row with rose based food pairings. This time it's Apple/Rose. It is pretty hard to get around the whole persian/middle eastern connection. So I am not going to shock you with MORABAA-YEH SEEB , an apple jam with citrus (usually lime, sometimes lemon) and rosewater. Will you be dazzled with the Rose Scented Apple Pie ? What if I were to tell you of a tree that produces a fruit called the Rose Apple, which is neither Rose nor Apple and is yet reminiscent of both? That's right... the Syzygium jambos produces a fruit that is according to some random sources on the internet both apple and rose like. The above picture comes from here , where you can also find some recipes. I think when: nature itself the ancient persians, and the mother-f'n food network have managed to combine the two flavors, we can call this pairing a lay up.