La Vuelta Gastronomica – The Euskaltel-Euskadi Pâté

A series to pay homage to the biggest cycling event in Spain: La Vuelta a España. You can join this tour without a bike, but not with an empty stomach. For more Spanish recipes on this series, follow this link.

Today’s recipe is a very Pacific North-West take on the extremely popular “pastel de cabracho” by Basque chef Juan Mari Arzak – the first chef in Spain to win three Michelin stars, and also the first to popularize cabracho, the fishy protagonist of this very recipe. Apparently, nobody before Juan Mari had thought of inviting this freaky-looking fish (Scorpanea scrofa, by its Latin name) to the Spanish table. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given his face:

Ugly Cabracho as last seen in Wikipedia

La Vuelta Gastronómica – Quesada Pasiega, A Cantabrian Cheesecake… Without Cheese

A series to pay homage to the biggest cycling event in Spain: La Vuelta a España. You can join this tour without a bike, but not with an empty stomach. For more Spanish recipes on this series, follow this link.

You can’t say this gastronomic tour is not giving  you enough time to let the food settle. Two weeks since the last stage, and we are still meandering through the green scenery of Northern Spain, still caught between the Cantabric Sea at our left and  the slopes of the Cantabric Mountains at our right, as we finally leave behind the Asturian region to enter neighbouring Cantabria.

I am a firm believer in the “when in Rome, do as the Romans” maxim, so now that this little virtual tour is taking us to La Tierruca – as Juan Jose Cobo and Oscar Freire would put it – I think we should do just as any of these two renowned Cantabrian cyclists would. Don’t worry, I am not talking about trying to keep Chris Froome on a leash, in a nail-biting Vuelta duel up Peña Cabarga. Nope, there’s little exertion required for what I have in mind. Instead, let’s leave the bike aside for a moment and join Oscar and Juan Jose for dessert. As you are about to discover, you can prepare a “cheesecake” without cheese, but you’ll not find a real Cantabrian – cyclist or otherwise – prepared to go without their most popular dessert: Quesada!

La Vuelta Gastronómica – Vegetarian Empanada Gallega

A series to pay homage to the biggest cycling event in Spain: La Vuelta a España. You can join this tour without a bike, but not with an empty stomach. For more Spanish recipes on this series, follow this link.

A not so well-intentioned popular saying has it that “if you see a gallego (Galician) in the middle of a staircase, you can never be sure if he is going up or down”. Galicia’s remote location, on the far North West corner of Spain, has probably contributed to the (mostly) undeserved perception of Galician folks elusive and wary – you know, the kind of people that will answer any question with another. And whereas most Galician people I’ve met are usually far from that stereotype, I have to say that the saying fits the bill for at least one very Galician thing: the dough for their popular Empanada Gallega.

Many failed (and hard to bite) attempts at making empanada dough have had me tweaking the saying to a more personally flavoured: “If you see a Galician empanada in your oven, you can never be sure if its going to rise or let you down”. Luckily, the search paid off, and I finally found a fool-proof  empanada dough recipe that is also 100% stereotype free.

La Vuelta Gastronómica – Pote Asturiano (Almost Vegan Version)

A series to pay homage to the biggest cycling event in Spain: La Vuelta a España. You can join this tour without a bike, but not with an empty stomach. For more Spanish recipes on this series, follow this link.

Oh, it’s hard to keep up to the pros! It’s been exactly one month since Peter Sagan was doing no-handed wheelies up the Anglirú in Asturias, and I had yet to post the recipe that I had in mind for that stage. Luckily, there is no better time to enjoy this dish than on a fall, rainy evening. If you live in a place like Vancouver, where we have been waking up to the rain every day since October came, my delay may work just as well.

Spanish traditional cuisine is packed with one pot stews that require little cooking skills, but some preparation and time – lots of it. Each Spanish region translates the legumes and meats available in their area into their own interpretation of the ultimate homey stew. So you’ll find Madrileños enjoying their very “contundente” (heavy), two-course chickpea Cocido, Catalans savouring  Escudella, and Asturians showcasing their beloved fabes in a number of these meals, including this Pote Asturiano.

La Vuelta Gastronómica – Queso Manchego Frito

A series to pay homage to the biggest cycling event in Spain: La Vuelta a España. You can join this tour without a bike, but not with an empty stomach. For more Spanish recipes on this series, follow this link.

Manchego cheese has to be the most well-known variety of Spanish cheese around the world. Protected by a Denomination of Origin, and made with the milk of a special breed of sheep from La Mancha area, it has a sharp, distinct flavour that stands on its own, but also goes beautifully with nuts, salads and membrillo.

Arab-named La Mancha - Al-Mansha, ”the land without water” – is an extension of arid, endless plains in central Spain – an unlikely place for heroes, no matter how quixotic. Luckily, it is not all hardships and fights with mills that turn giants here: La Mancha is also a land of simple culinary pleasures that stem from ancient pastoral traditions. As we Spaniards put it: all griefs with bread are less - ”las penas con pan son menos”. And if you pair that bread with a plate of Manchego cheese and a glass of red wine, you have found the perfect remedy to leave behind the afflictions of the day. Oscar Freire, take note!