I'm Irish, but I'm not a Leprechaun

Irish Soda Bread

I came under a bit of flack recently for not “wearing my Irishness on my sleeve”. In an effort to redeem myself in the eyes of my compatriots I hereby bring you two pieces of my proud Irish heritage. Firstly, the unabridged and fully explained lyrics for Christy Moore´s “Lisdoonvarna”. Secondly the recipe for Irish Brown Bread (aka Irish Soda Bread), commonly eaten by American tourists and locals alike in Lisdoonvarna and all over Ireland.

So that you can all get your bearings.. this is what a Spanish person looks like inside a pub in Lisdoonvarna

How's it goin' there everybody,
From Cork, New York, Dundalk, Gortahork and Glenamaddy[i].
Here we are in the County Clare[ii]
It's a long, long way from here to there[iii].
There's the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, [iv]
And the Tulla[v] and the Kilfenora, [vi]
Miko Russell, Doctor Bill,
Willy Clancy and Noel Hill[vii].
Flutes and fiddles everywhere.
If it's music you want,
You should go to Clare[viii].

CHORUS
Oh, Lisdoonvarna[ix]
Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoonvarna!

Everybody needs a break,
Climb a mountain or jump in a lake.
Some head off to exotic places,
Others go to the Galway Races[x].
Mattie goes to the South of France,
Jim to the dogs[xi], Peter to the dance.
A cousin of mine goes potholing[xii],
A cousin of heres loves Joe Dolan[xiii].
Summer comes around each year,
We go there and they come here.
Some jet off to ... Frijiliana[xiv],
But I always go to Lisdoonvarna.

CHORUS

I always leave on a Thursday night,
With me tent and me groundsheet rolled up tight.
I like to hit Lisdoon,
In around Friday afternoon.
This gives me time to get me gear together,
I don't need to worry about the weather.
Ramble in for a pint of stout[xv],
And you'd never know who'd be hangin' about!
There's a Dutchman playing a mandolin[xvi],
And a German looking for Liam Óg O'Floinn[xvii].
And there's Adam, Bono and Garrett Fitzgerald[xviii],
Gettin' their photos taken for the Sunday World[xix].
Finbarr[xx], Charlie[xxi] and Jim Hand[xxii],
And they drinkin' pints to bate[xxiii] the band.
.. Ain't it grand?

CHORUS

The multitudes, they flocked and thronged,
To hear the music and the songs.
Motorbikes and Hi-ace[xxiv] vans,
With bottles - barrels - flagons[xxv] - cans.
Mighty craic[xxvi]. Loads of frolics,
Pioneers[xxvii] and alcoholics,
PLAC[xxviii], SPUC[xxix] and the FCA[xxx],
Free Nicky Kelly[xxxi] and the IRA.
Hairy chests and milk-white thighs,
And mickey dodgers in disguise.
Mc Graths, O'Briens, Pippins, Coxs,
Massage parlours in horse boxes.
There's amhráns[xxxii], bodhráns[xxxiii], amadáns[xxxiv],
Arab sheiks, Hindu Sikhs, Jesus freaks,
RTE[xxxv] are makin' tapes, takin' breaks and throwin' shapes.
This is heaven, this is hell.
Who cares? Who can tell?
(Anyone for the last few Choc Ices[xxxvi], now?)

CHORUS

A 747 for Jackson Browne[xxxvii],
They had to build a special runway just to get him down.
Before the Chieftains[xxxviii] could start to play,
Seven creamy pints[xxxix] came out on a tray.
Shergar[xl] was ridden by Lord Lucan[xli],
Seán Cannon[xlii] did the backstage cookin'.
Clannad[xliii] were playin' "Harry's Game",
Christy was singin' "Nancy Spain"[xliv].
Mary O'Hara[xlv] and Brush Shields[xlvi],
Together singin' "The Four Green Fields".
Van the Man[xlvii] and Emmy Lou[xlviii],
Moving Hearts[xlix] and Planxty[l] too!

CHORUS

Everybody needs a break,
Climb a mountain or jump in a lake.
Sean Doherty[li] goes to the Rose of Tralee[lii],
Oliver J. Flanagan[liii] goes swimming in the Holy Sea.
But I like the music and the open air,
So every Summer I go to Clare.
Coz Woodstock, Knock[liv] nor the Feast of Cana[lv],
Can hold a match to Lisdoonvarna.

There is only one thing more Irish than a good politically-fuelled bar song, and that is “Irish Soda Bread” (you can tell it’s Irish because it has Irish in its name). I have to thank my parents for this recipe; my Mum for baking it almost daily when we were kids and my Dad for having high cholesterol and thereby requiring it as part of his diet.

Disappointingly, I have often tried to recreate our family recipe, but failed. The bread invariably turned out too damp, too hard etc. Here is a great recipe from Maureen Tatlow’s humblingly called “Back to Basic Cookbook”.

Recipe (makes 1 small loaf[lvi])
450 g flour (½ plain flour and ½ wholemeal)
1 tsp salt
1 level tsp bread soda
1 tsp caster sugar
30 g butter
300 ml buttermilk (or natural yogurt, milk and lemon juice)

Given that it took me many attempts to find a good recipe and get this to work, it is rather depressing that Maureen calls it a “quick ‘n easy” bread, but if it encourages you to try it.. so be it.

It is interesting, and a testament to the lady, that Maureen packs more tips and tricks into her 1 ½ pages on soda bread than all that I could find in that other noble Irish institution Ballymaloe’s “The Ballymaloe Bread Book”. Most interestingly Maureen explains the background for this national treasure. Bicarbonate of Soda didn’t arrive into Ireland until the early 19th century. It was here that, as Maureen says, it met its destiny in “wonderful tangy Irish buttermilk”. She goes onto explain the chemistry; alkaline bicarbonate combines with acidic buttermilk to create enough gas in order to raise a loaf of bread. The Irish renamed bicarbonate of soda “bread soda” and so it began…

Instructions:

Here are some of the basics that one should consider when making Irish soda bread:

Preheat the oven fully to 220C. The creation of carbon dioxide begins the instant that “wet and dry” touch. Ensure that the oven is fully preheated before you mix the ingredients.

They say that only real Irish wholemeal can be used to make Irish Soda Bread. This may be a rumour spread by the manufacturer... either way the owl is pretty fierce looking.

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. Rub the butter through with your fingertips until dispersed. Make a well at the bottom and add nearly all the wet ingredients. Don’t take too long at this point as the chemical reactions are already starting.

Note the flagrant disregard for instructions.

Don’t over mix the dough. There is an inclination to over handle the bread dough. This only elongates the gluten and thereby toughens the bread. You also want to avoid dissipating the gas. It is interesting that Maureen recommends a spoon for the mixing; this lowers heat and thereby reduces gluten elongation further.

A further note on the science. It sounds like I’ve got a bit of a thing against Ballymaloe at the moment, but, hey! If you’re gonna get enemies, why not start with Cork. Their recipe also differs from Maureen’s in a number of interesting ways:
- On a like for like basis, Ballymaloe uses 36ml more milk. Most liquids (including milks) act in order to bind gluten together (toughener).
- It does not recommend the use of lemon or sugar. Both sugars and acids act as tenderizers in the formation of gluten.
- Ballymaloe recommends mixing by hand. At higher temperatures (i.e. those transmitted by the hand), gluten develops more readily through the absorption of water.
These 3 reasons could explain why the Ballymaloe bread has a tendency to turn out a little heavier and with a tougher crust… excuses, excuses.

Aim for a dough that is soft, but not sticky or sloppy. Lightly flour the worksurface and roll the dough out. Pat into a single round. Place upon a lightly floured baking tray. Cut a deep cross with a sharp knife and prod each quarter to “let the fairies out” (I have no idea where this expression came from… I’ll make something up if you like). Bake for 20 minutes at 220C before reducing to 200C for a further 20 minutes.

Check the bread is done. Tap on the underside, if it sounds hollow, it’s done.

Eat the bread quickly. Bread is best served fresh. If you don’t have that much appetite, freeze once it has cooled and sprinkle any air exposed bread regularly to prevent the crust becoming too hard.

Calories are all in vogue at home at the moment (something to do with 1 month of Christmas diet followed by 1 month of Central American diet). I did a bit of investigation; it seems that Irish Soda Bread contains about 140 kcal per slice.

So… there we are… my attempt to put my Irishness back on my sleeve. I hope that I’ve succeeded, and I’ve failed… well, you can just feck off…

--------------- eh, rather extensive footnotes ----------------

[i] Cities in Ireland. Cork is the second largest in Ireland, with a population of 123,062. Dundalk in Louth, Gortahork in Donegal and Glenamaddy in Galway. New York is a city in North America.
[ii] One of the 32 counties of Ireland; located on the west coast
[iii] Possible reference to the famous 1912 marching song; “It's A Long Way To Tipperary”.
[iv] References to famous natural sites in County Clare. The Burren is approximately 300km square of limestone rocks. The Cliffs of Moher rise 120m from the Atlantic Ocean. AKA: The “cliffs of insanity” in the movie “The Princess Bride”.
[v] Taken from the Offical Ireland Mid West website; In Tulla, "There is also a Post Office (doubling as a souvenir shop) and a library - please note, the opening hours are peculiar"... say no more.
[vi] Kilfenora is a town of historical importance in County Clare, it is the site of an early monastic settlement.
[vii] Famous Irish fiddlers.
[viii] Reference to the famous music feastival of Lisdoonvarna that ran in the years from 1978 to 1983.
[ix] Town in County Clare, famous for having a Christy Moore song written about it, its spa, music feastivals and a matchmaking contest in September every year.
[x] On the last Monday of every July Galway hosts the famous horse-racing feastival. This is a seven-day race meet.
[xi] Dog racing; famous in Ireland.
[xii] Activity of swimming in underground caves. Particularly prevelant in the Burren area, Co. Clare.
[xiii] Famous Irish singer. Wikipedia mentions that he was, interestingly, one of the first Western artists to perform in Russia.
[xiv] Frijiliana, town in Malaga. Malaga receives a great number of Irish visitors every year, looking to enjoy some sun and fine local Pizzas.
[xv] Dark beer made from roasted malts or barley. It originated in Ireland. The most famous is a small local brew called “Guinness”, first brewed in 1756 in Leixlip.
[xvi] Don’t get too excited; reference to the musical instrument rather than the culinary slicing instrument.
[xvii] Famous Irish musician of Uilleann pipes and whistle. Has recorded with Christy Moore.
[xviii] Famous Irish musician, ego and former Taoiseach.
[xix] Ireland’s first and still leading (in terms of sales if not content) tabloid.
[xx] Finbarr Harte, Irish country star. He may be one of Ireland’s greatest country stars as he is included on a CD of 40 country stars called “Ireland’s Greatest Country Stars”.
[xxi] Charles Haughey, former Taoiseach of three terms. His lifestyle has been revealed as somewhat extravagent and receipts of more than 8million pounds in donations somewhat illegal.
[xxii] Irish music promoter.
[xxiii] Colloquialism of “beat”.
[xxiv] Line of Toyota vans popular for their size and ability to carry large quantities of rubbish, drink and people... most often in that order.
[xxv] Popular measure of spirits in Ireland; thought to be 70 cl, but opinions vary, probably due to the timing of the question.
[xxvi] Meaning fun or enjoyment, or a impure version of cocaine that contains water and “cracks” when heated. Apparently derived from the English use “to crack a joke”, although this may be a case of the English simply claiming credit for a great Irish invention... (that’ll go down well at home).
[xxvii] Irish teetotalers... limited popularity.
[xxviii] Pro-life Amendment Campaign (PLAC), pro-life lobby group that surfaced during the 1983 abortion referendum in Ireland with the aim of asserting the explicit right to life of the foetus, equal to that of pregnant women.
[xxix] Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, UK pro-life organisation opposed to abortions .
[xxx] Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil, the Reserve Defence Force of the Irish army
[xxxi] Famous for the 1983 hunger strike in defence of his innocence.
[xxxii] Irish for “song”.
[xxxiii] Irish open drum, played vertically on the knee.
[xxxiv] Irish for “fool”.
[xxxv] Radio Telefís Éireann, Ireland´s publicly funded broadcaster.
[xxxvi] Generic name for the Klondike Bar, a dessert consisting of vanilla ice cream square coated with a layer of thin chocolate.
[xxxvii] Influential American singer-songwriter, famously played at the Lisdoonvarna music feastival.
[xxxviii] Irish musical group famous for playing traditional music.
[xxxix] Frequent serving measure for previously mention stout.
[xl] Famous Irish racehorse, winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby. Kidnapped in 1983, rumoured by the IRA, and never found.
[xli] Earl of Lucan. The 7th Earl famously went missing in 1973 and has never been seen again. Declared dead by the High Court in 1999.
[xlii] Lead vocal and guitar for the Dubliners.
[xliii] Irish folk music band famous for the theme tune to Robin of Sherwood, the theme to Harry's Game and sprouting Eithne Ní Bhraonáin (Enya).
[xliv] Famous English journalist of the 50´s and 60´s who died in a light aircraft accident on the way to the Grand National.
[xlv] Canadian singer-songwriter.
[xlvi] Irish singer-songwriter.
[xlvii] Van Morrison, Irish singer song-writer. “Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)” features amongst his songs.
[xlviii] Emmylou Harris, country music singer from Alabama, USA. Released the Daniel Lanois produced “Wrecking Ball” in 1995.
[xlix] Irish folk-rock band of the eighties, Christy Moore was a founder member.
[l] Irish folk-rock band of the seventies, Christy Moore was a founder member.
[li] Former Minister Justice in the Haughey government of 1982. He resigned when it was revealed that he had authorised phone tappings of two journalists. Haughey resigned as leader of Fianna Fáil and subsequently as Taoiseach when it was revealed that he knew of the tappings.
[lii] International beauty competition hosted in Tralee every year.
[liii] Famous right-wing politicion in the Dáil from 1943 to 1987.
[liv] The Virgin Mary, St Joseph and St John the Evangelist were rumoured to have appeared in Knock in 1879. It has since enjoyed the visits of about half a million pilgrims annually.
[lv] Marriage feast where a young man was rumoured to have turned water into wine.
[lvi] Irish slang for head butt. Although probably not in this context.

Technorati Tags: irish brown bread recipe food

Platform 9 ¾ for the Central Food Market of San Salvador

The other day we went for the morning to the central market of Salvador. The market is located at 6 Calle Oriente, between 23 and 27 Avenida Sur in the neighbourhood of La Mermeja. Another slightly more unfortunate (but relevant) landmark is that of the General Cemetary.


Little did I realise that I was in fact going to a place that doesn´t seem to exist. It´s the Hogwarts of food markets. The reason for this is that, outside of the market itself, it is extremely difficult to find information or reference to its existence. The web speaks very little of it and more surprisingly local blogs (admittedly these seem to be mostly written by North Americans) don´t mention this jewel of markets. Ever since going to the market, I have been part pleased and part distressed by the shock of locals when they are told. Two factors seem to cause this reaction and both reflect problems that lie at the heart of the drive to develop and open the market of El Salvador. .

Firstly, you can not mention El Salvador without referring to the gang problems that it is currently facing. La Prensa Grafica [i] recently reported on the murder rates in Latin America. El Salvador did not fair well. The murder rate in El Salvador is approximately 55 per 100,000. Comparison rates are Honduras 41, Guatemala 38, Colombia 34, Venezuela 23, Costa Rica 8. Yesterday a marero (gang member) was shot dead while eating shellfish in the market. Interestingly, the murder rate for Washington D.C. is 47, Spain and Ireland both sit at 2 murders per 100,000.


Secondly, the disparity amongst the populations of El Salvador also goes some way to explaining this lack of information. The poverty rate [ii] has fallen from 60% in 1991, but with a rate of 35% households in poverty, it is still a country of disparities. In the past years the development seems to have slowed, El Salvador ranked 103 in 2000 in the Index of Human Development, 5 years later it sat at 104. This is most simply illustrated in where some parts of the population shop and where others only dream of. Although the trip to the central market is only 15 minutes, it is a journey that is seldom, if ever, made by some locals.

The market that doesn´t exist is located in the center of San Salvador. The surrounding streets are a collection of free market stands, cd copies and parking lots. The market itself is arranged over the interior two floors. You enter at the bottom into what is the predominant food section of the market.

Here are some of the highlights of the market...


Corn being stripped and prepared in order to make tortillas
After they are boiled, ground and used to make pupusas.


Manzanillas. This is the Castillan for chamomile, but in El Salvador relates to a small apple fruit.


Granadilla. More familiarly known as a variety of the passion fruit. This exotic fruit´s seeds are eaten. El Salvador promotes the export of this fruit, particularly to the southern regions of Mexico.


Toilets. You can enter the toilets with paper or without. It costs 10 cents, and could be considered a wise investment.


Pacaya. This is the flower of the Palmácea; the palm tree. These are typically [iii] cooked, sliced down the center, stuffed with cheese and cream. We had them for lunch today, “unusual” was the general response.


Casco de Morro (on the left). The well-known horchata from Spain is made with chufas. That of El Salvador is made from the seed of morro, rice, sugar, pumpkin seeds, ground cocoa, cinnamon and sesame seeds. The empty morro shells can be used to make everything from candle holders to maracas... the latter are more tuneful. Here is a simple recipe for horchata:

Ingredients (for alot)
1 lb morro seeds
1 oz cinnamon
2 whole nutmeg
2 oz coriander
24 thick peppers
4 lb rice

Toast the rice slowly. Add the other ingredients and leave to golden. Grind all the ingredients. This may be stored in sealed bags for as long as you require. When you want to prepare the drink, use 2 dsp to one glass of liquid. For a litre use 3 cups of water, 1 of milk and 8 spoons of powder.

Casco de Armadillo (on the right in the above photo).
Crunchy on the outside; for the previous occupant, tragically empty on the inside.


The church of Calvario of San Salvador. This forms part of the view from the upper floor of the market... just behind the pupusa stands.

Sources:
[i] Tim´s blog
[ii] ANEP Asociación Nacional de la Empresa Privada; ENADE 2005
[iii] Rellenos de Pacayas

Technorati Tags: El Salvador Mercado Central food

Green Mango... the taste of the tropics

The minute we arrived in El Salvador Blancs started asking for Green Mango (mango verde). She called this "the taste of the tropics". Although the supermarket was sold out, we did manage to buy it from a street vendor when waiting for the traffic lights to change. It cost $1 for a bag of about 10... seemed like a bargin at the time*.


The preparation is very simple, peel and slice the mango. Season it with Limón. In a nice twist of confusion, it turns out that in Central America, limón means LIME, not lemon. It is only here that you will find the limes of sufficient acidity to make really good mango verde, ceviche etc.


Add a pinch of salt and alguashte. There is little information as to what alguashte really is. Opinion seems to fall between the seed of pepitoria and achiote. I managed to find a site that offers what is considered to be the true answer. The missionaries of El Salvador (you´ve got to trust them!) say that alguashte is slang (caliche) for ground pumpkin seeds.


* today in El Mercado Central of San Salvador we bought 5 manos (hands) of mango verde for $0.35. In 2001, El Salvador exported $0.3M (160,000kg) to the world... that´s a lot of hands.

Technorati Tags: El Salvador Mango food

Christmas Sweets from the Convent of Las Comendadoras de Santiago

In the twilight, the door slowly rotated until it stopped to the impression of weight and age. Blanca timidly stepped forward and said “hola?”*. Silence greeted her from the other side of the door. She knocked once on the door. Again the wood magnified the sound and seemed to mock her paltry efforts to get attention in such an auspicious place of worship. There was still no response. The light was quickly fading, the lights of Granada were streets away and the sound of the evening shoppers was now a distant memory. In this half-light we found a doorbell located to the left of the doorway. Its shrill note seemed out of place in this place of quiet prayer. Momentarily a frail voice came from the other side of the door “que quieres?” (“what do you want?), this greeting sounded more like an accusation to the shoppers.

The torno at the door of the convent.

A month earlier… in November this year, Amanda Hesser wrote an article on the Thermomix for the New York Times. In this she explained the somewhat “counterintuitive” marketing strategy used by the firm. The product is not sold in shops, it is sold through introduction (somewhat like Tupperware) and the US supplier was less than forthcoming with information. To summarise, she thought the service was bad. Up until yesterday, I would have agreed with her that this was certainly unusual customer service.

In Spain, there is a long tradition of nuns producing sweets. The “dulces conventuales”, whilst not specific to Andalucía, are more important here due to the number of convents and range of sweets that are produced. Two historical facts need to be examined in understanding the development of these sweets.

[i] Firstly, Granada was the last Moorish kingdom to be reconquered by the Catholic Monarchs. In order to celebrate this throughout the Christian world, from the moment of the victory both civil and religious authorities worked to Christianise the city. This was to such an extent that a number of years later, the archbishop of Granada had to put a break on the construction of religious communities. Nevertheless, by the end of the 16th century, there was approximately 1 religious person for every 30 inhabitants, or 622 nuns and 585 monks.

A knight of Santiago... a long way from sweet making.

One of the monasteries that was founded was called “El Monasterio de la Madre Dios” (by the full name; Real Casa de la Madre de Dios, de la Orden de la Caballería de Santiago de España; known as El Convento de las Comandoras de Santiago (The Convent of the Commanders of Santiago)). It was opened by Queen Isabella in 1501. The Order of Santiago itself dates back to 1175, when it was founded by Pedro Fernandez de Fuenteencalada whom, along with 12 other knights of the order, wanted somewhere to protect his wife and children whilst he was fighting the Muslims. Today live 20 nuns in the monastery, 11 of whom come from India.


The second fact that must be considered is the [ii] “desamortización” (disentitlement). This is an economic process that ran in Spain from the end of the 18th century and culminated in the middle of the 20th. It consisted of putting on the market, through means of public auction, the non-productive lands and wealth that were in the hands of the “dead hands” (typically the church and religious orders that had accumulated them through donations and wills). The aim of the desamortización was to grow the national wealth and develop a bourgeoisie middle class of landowners.

[iii] The process of desamortización was used to its fullest by Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, the first minister of Isabel II of Spain. Isabel II proclaimed queen at the age of 3 after the death of her father Fernanado VII. Her accession was disputed by her uncle Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, whom, citing the law (Ley Sálica) that there could be no female heir to the thrown, claimed the thrown for himself. During the war that followed; the First Carlist War (1833-1840), Isabell came to represent the liberal, moderate “nuevo orden”, whilst her uncle, the traditional, religious “antiguo orden”. Mendizábal sold many religious lands in order to finance Isabell’s victory. It is said that the loss of these lands and wealth forced many convents into the production of “dulces convetuales” and sowing in order to earn money.

Most of the recipes are egg based. Convents are often donated a large amount of egg yolks from surrounding wine producers who use the whites during the clarifying process. Additionally, Irene tells me that there is a strong tradition in the south of Spain of gifting eggs to the convents in order that they pray for no rain on wedding days. Blancs and I didn’t do this, but it didn’t rain.


The nuns of the cloister of Santiago are famed for their candied and preserved fruits. There are no written recipes. The sweets are made from memory, based upon recipes that have been maintained over centuries. There combine a cultural and gastronomic legacy and it is said that only the patience and devotion of the nuns can bring out the flavour of the sweets.

Nevertheless, here is a recipe for “Glorias”…

Ingredients:
1 kg ground almonds
1 ¾ kg sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
1 kg Water

Mix the almond, ¾ kg sugar and lemon. Make a strong syrup by heating the water and sugar. Pour into the almond mixture. Beat until the mixture doesn't stick to the side of the dish. Once cool, make into little balls and cook in the oven until golden.

The nuns of Santiago live by a rule that they can not see people; this explains their unique form of salesmanship. At a more secular level, Ferran Adria swears by the Thermomix and there are approximately 200,000 sold every year in Spain and Italy. Whether it’s the mix of religion, history and economic reform or just something in the water… either way both have immense success in Spain.

¡Feliz Navidad!

Vocab builder:
- escarchada – candied
- confitura – preserved
- rosco – ring-shaped cake
- bollos – bread rolls
- erario – treasury
- subasta – auction
- avituallamiento – provisioning
- lote – plot of land
- puja - bidding

Sources:

[i] Lola Quesada Nieto “Dulces de los Conventos de Clausura de Granada y su Provincia”
[ii] Wikipedia http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desamortizaci%C3%B3n “Desamortización”
[iii] Ramón Tamales y Antonio Rueda “Introducción a la economía española” (26ª edición)

* We have since found out that the traditional greeting is an Ave Maria. This may explain the reception we met.

Technorati Tags: spain dulces conventuales recipe food

Los Piononos de Santa Fe

Piononos de Santa Fe

You could easily drive through the little town of Santa Fe without realising its historical significance.
- This small town of about 13 thousand (located about 11 km from Granada city) was built in 1490 by Isabel and Fernando as the base camp for their assault on Granada, the last Moorish outpost on the Iberian Peninsula. It was strategically built blocking the Río Genil and hence communication between Granada and North Africa.
- It was here that the monarchs signed “Acuerdos de Capitulación de Santa Fe” (25th April, 1491). This was the truce wherein Boabdil (last Nazarí king of Granada) agreed the handover of his palace and city. Later, whilst leaving the city, Boabdil looked upon Granada for what would be the last time; he began to cry. In what is one of Spain’s most poignant quotes, his mother said llora como una mujer lo que no has sabido defender como un hombre (to cry as a woman for that which he could not defend as a man).
- In what was a busy year, the Monarchs also signed the other “Las Capitulaciones” on 17th April, 1492. These named Christopher Columbus the “Major Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Viceroy and Governor General of the Discovered Lands” and finaly approved the financing of his trip to discover an alternate route to the Indies.


Besides visiting the town for its historical significance, you can enjoy its culinary achievement; Piononos. This pastry is named in honour of Pope Pio IX (1792-1878); pope for a record 31 years and often lampooned by his Italian name Pio No No (wikipedia explains that he was considered quite conservative).

I had eaten Piononos loads before and never been wowed (upon reading this, local outrage may cutoff my future blog contributions). Their home rightly changed this opinion, but probably means that I’ll only ever eat them in Santa Fe. They are truly delicious; a custard filled pastry topped by burnt sugar.

Double risk on my point… we haven’t yet tried the recipe and it is translated… Blanca explains that this is basically a double recipe; one for pastry cream (creme patissiere) and the other for genoise.

For the pastry cream:
¼ l milk
200 g sugar
2 eggs
40 g soft flour
½ tsp lemon grated
For the biscuit:
3 yolks egg
5 whites egg
60 g sugar
80 g cornstarch
2 sp cold milk
1 cup rum
25 g cinnamon in dust

Pastry cream is a very versatile cream used in many cake and pastries. It is a thick custard cooked on the stove from milk, eggs, sugar, flour and cornstarch (as thickener). For the cream – boil the milk, sugar, cinnamon and lemon. Remove upon boiling. Beat the eggs and flour. Add the boiling milk. Return to a medium-high heat and whisk until it comes to the boil. Cool with a plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.

For the biscuit – beat the yolks with the sugar and milk. Heat and add the cornstarch. Beat the eggwhites until they peak. Add the eggwhites to the mixture. Pour onto baking paper in a linear fashion (approx 2 inches). Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Make a syrup with water, sugar and soak the genoise. Spread the pastry cream and roll. Sprinkle sugar on top and toast in the oven. Serve cold.

Vocab builder:
Empapar – to soak
Almibar – syrup
Almidón – cornstarch
Canela – cinnamon
Rallar – to grate
Regar – to irrigate
Placa - numberplate (you may well wonder how this made it into the vocab)
Harina pastelera – soft flour
Capitulación – capitulation
Rendición – surrender
Virrey – viceroy

Broadband connectivity in the South of Spain obviously felt that I was a little bit ahead of myself by blogging early last October. This is the reason for my one month absence. Hopefully this blog signifies service recommencing as normal.

------------ STOP PRESS "CASA YSLA Y LOS PINONOS" ------------

I have just been on the web to see if I could find a picture of the pastry shop where we had the famous Pionono. Not only did I find a picture, but a lot more about the Pionono. The pastelería is called "Casa Ysla" and is none other than the originator of the Pionono.

The history is amazing... in 1897 Ceferino Isla González (intern to Manuel “el Gallego”) opened his own store on Calle Real, Santa Fe. He was very devoted to the Virgin and wanted to pay homage to Pope Pius who, in 1854 had issued the infallibly defined the "dogma of the immaculate conception" (essentially that Mary was free from original sin). In this way, he decided to create a new pastry. The aim was to not only carry the name of the pope, but also his likeness; cylindrical and somewhat chubby.

In 1916, the King (Rey D. Alfonso XIII), whilst visiting a friend on a nearby farm, ate some Piononos for his afternoon snack. He was so taken by the delicious flavour that gave the title of official providers to the Royal House to Casa Ysla.


... Spain... go for the pastry and stay for the politico-religious history.

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charity folding - lemon polenta cake

Lemon Polenta Cake


Sometimes getting up at 6 am on a Saturday morning can be good for your health. Blancs has been working the last few Saturdays, so I “decided” that I “wanted” to help out last weekend. We started by doing the shopping for the day. I was mildly disturbed to hear the local supermarket lady say how she “always thought Blanca was a señorita… what a surprise; you’re a señora!”. I don’t want to know why she thought Blancs was a señorita. The stall owners in Notting Hill now call me “Blanca’s little helper” or probably “sucker”… I’m trying to decide which I prefer.

This was my first time in a professional kitchen (I hope that Blanca’s boss never reads this blog). I was on Lemon Polenta duty. This is in the Books for Cooks cookbook volume 1,2 & 3. It is originally from the River Cafe Book 1.

Lemon Polenta Cake
250 g soft butter
250 g caster sugar (granulated)
Zest of 2 lemons
250 g ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
Juice of 1 lemon
125 g polenta
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

Beat butter, sugar and zest until fluffy (and almost white). Stir in almonds and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating each before adding the next. Fold in lemon juice, polenta, backing powder and salt. Spoon the mixture into a buttered cake tin.

Bake in a 160 c oven until sides pull slightly from the edges of the tin. This should take approximately 50 minutes. The cake is cooked when it feels firm and springs back from placing your hand on it.

The science...
Of course, I was acting as a professional, which apparently doesn’t mean that I get paid, it means that I just do things when I’m told and how I’m told… I’m not even Blanca’s “little helper”; I’m her bitch.

Nevertheless, I did have some questions going through my head:
- why use soft butter?
- why use caster sugar?
- why add the eggs one at a time?
- what is fold?
- why fold?
- when can I go back to bed?

I left Books for Cooks as the morning rush started (talk about too hot in the kitchen). When I got home I did some investigations in the Leith’s Techniques Bible. As far as I can see, this method of backing is called the “creaming method” (mainly because it doesn’t involve the use of cream… oh, the irony). This is the method used in making simple sponge cakes. There are 3 steps to the creaming method…

Why do we need to use soft butter and caster sugar?
- Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar. This incorporates air to enable the cake to rise. Some of the sugar does not dissolve, but rather is held in suspension and therefore stabilises the mixture. Caster sugar is the best sized crystals in order to be suspended / support the egg yet retain their invisibility.

Why do we need room temperature eggs and why do we need to add them one at a time?
- Step 2: Room temperature eggs are added (colder eggs can cause the butter to cool and separate into clumps… i.e. curdling). As the mixture is beaten, the egg proteins stretch, holding air bubbles within itself. If the eggs are added to quickly, it can cause the mixture to… guess what; curdle.

Why do I fold.. eh, how do I fold?
- Step 3: Flour is folded into the mixture. This is to ensure that the air is not simply “stirred out”. A large metal spoon with a sharp edge is best (it cuts easily through the mixture). “Cut” the spoon in to the center of the mixture down to the bottom, draw a scoop of batter towards you, bring it up the side of the bowl, lift and turn the spoon to flip the mixture over, rotate the bowl ¼ and repeat. This is called the figure-eight method – chiefly because it looks nothing like a figure of eight. Don’t overfold as this can knock the air out and allow gluten to develop in the flour, making the cake tough.

I thought polenta was an Italian meal – why am I adding it into a cake?
Polenta is a fine ground cornmeal principally used in Italian cooking. When warm it has a soft texture like potato and is regularly eaten as a starchy accompaniment to meats. It is frequently eaten cold (when it has a firm texture) or fried. As I may have mentioned above, it can also be used in cakes as flour.

DAMNIT… now I need to do a blog on flours.

shf - red plum caramel cake

red plum caramel cake


note: yes, this is an upside down cake and, yes, this is the downside ... believe me, on the first attempt it was better looking than the upside

a runaway karaoke session last night meant that i nearly didn't get to make this blog. luckily, knowing that i would be in tokyo this week, i wrote most of this last week when i cooked. let your mind go back a week and read on ...

... i've been working from home today; i don't think that i could ever be a writer, apart from the apparent lack of style, i think that i would go mad being in the house all day. in an effort to see some people i went to the starbucks down the road (it's healthier than going for a pint and i've discovered that it is recommended by fairtrade so can't be all bad). the fact that i could barely mumble my order and that i found myself slinking off to the corner with pete mccarthy's "mccarthy's bar" to hide from any other customers perhaps means that i really do need to interact more when i work from home - maybe i should start shouting over the fence at my neighbours?

in an effort to avoid seeing no-one on my blog as well as in my house, last week i contacted a few people running food blogs ... debbie from www.wordstoeatby.blogspot.com (that makes us related somehow?) recommended that i stop hassling her and instead cook something for her sugar high friday blogoff (i may have imposed that term on you debbie - sorry).

so i thought - what to cook?

first i considered toffee - the last time i made this was over an outdoor fire in a trangia pan. it didn't turn out all that good as all the toffee burnt to the bottom of the pan and we bent the thing trying to get it out. we did get it out in the end, but the trangia remained scarred and unusable from the experience. considering i'm still new to the learning to cook gig i thought best of breaking the pans ... at least for the moment.

next caramelised onions came to mind - but decided they didn't qualify as the lack of sugar and caramel probably made them a little too abstract for a friday ... (i'm trying to be professional here).

finally, with a little bit of prompting from the chef and a look at the "Books for Cooks 5" i decided on red plum caramel cake. i have it on good authority that this is a big time favourite at books for cooks (www.booksforcooks.com); why should i not take this opportunity to prove to the world that recipes are not a license to produce quality cakes, but that in the hands of truly inexperienced cooks, the entire thing can come out tasting like ... well, caramelised onions?? in conjunction with their recipe, i am also using a recent bfc purchase; mcgee on food & cooking for the science behind the food as i go along ...

the ingredients: [for the caramel] 175g caster sugar, 6 tbsp water, 4 large red plums [for the cake] 180g plain flour, 1tbsp baking powder, 160g butter, softened, 160g caster sugar (this is sugar high friday!), 4tpsp ground almonds, 3 organic eggs (med), 1 tsp natural vanilla (note: this is adjusted from the book recipe ~ other option is to use the book recipe, but increase the oven heat)

the caramel is obviously what we're all here for - this was the first time that i've ever made caramel and i have escaped without burns and the kitchen still in one piece. a secret that blanca taught me during the cooking: clean the pan with vinegar in order to ensure that there are no impurities that would destroy the caramel. place the sugar and water over the heat and stir until dissolved. increase the heat to boil, reduce and heat until dark brown begins to form at the edges. another good tip is to brush the sides of the pan while cooking in order to prevent the caramel from crystallising.

caramelisation is taking place; the process of heating the molecules to the point at which the begin to break apart. during this reaction, they change from a single, odourless, sweet molecule into literally hundreds of molecules that generate flavours (alcohol, butter, fruit, nuts etc.) and a rich brown colour. the longer you leave the caramel on the heat, the more the original sweet is broken down and the more bitter the end product will be. at this point of cooking, i involuntarily decided to part from the recipe; my caramel started bubbling as if i had cleaned it with fairy liquid instead of vinegar and hadn't washed out. i battled through to produce relatively good caramel (albeit with bubbles) at the other end. when cooked, pour the caramel into a cake tin (spring) and place the plum halves face down on top.

for the cake, cream the butter and sugar in a mixer. add the wet (eggs and vanilla) slowly allowing them to mix in with each addition. add the dry (flour, baking powder, almonds) and mix. pour the cake mixture onto the caramel base. cook in an oven at 150c for approximately 100 minutes+ (see note above and comment below about the heat) ...

it is good for the soul to write about culinary disasters and, no doubt, there are many in my future giving me tonnes of inspiration and soul. i managed to undercook the cake. when i released the spring the top of it was pretty liquidy. i tried to reseal the spring and put back in the oven, but the cake was never really the same again. it did taste good, but wasn't exactly attractive. the second attempt was a raging success ... but i'm happy to dwell on the failures for a while ...

p.s. i'm back to london tomorrow so blogging will resume to usual low standard, but regular timing ... until then ... have a happy sugar high friday!