MENU del DÍA

The Spanish revere lunch. It really is the oasis in the dessert of their day.
And what days. Long days. Hot days.
The history of being a largely agricultural nation meant many people worked the land. The climate that later brought the double-edged sword of tourism, burned a division into the day of the worker. Way too hot to do anything between 1pm and 5pm. So this became pleasure and rest time. The main meal of the day, the gathering of the family and a lengthy rest became a way of life.....and still is. I read that when Spain started to change and become an industrialized nation people were sucked from the land to the growing cities and life changed. People travelled to work which made it impractical/expensive to go home for lunch....even if you are allowed 4 hours. So the government made a law. Every restaurant was obliged to provide an affordable lunch so that people could maintain their tradition without having to go all the way home. And so was born the incredible value Menu del Día.
It is without doubt the best value meal available in Spain. Always 3 courses, often including wine, bread and water....sometmes coffee too.At time of writing the average price is between 8-12 euros. And this is also where the nation;s cooking traditions shine. No-fuss home cooking at it;s best. Don;t expect culinary gymnastics, garnishes, a smile or even conversation. But there is integrity cooked into every dish. A stoic, solid pride baked into each unsmiling cazuela that is banged down in front of you. Blue cigarette smoke still permeates these places, the best of which are packed every day by 3pm. Don;t make the tourist mistake of seeing restaurants empty at 1:30pm and assuming the are bad. Check back at 3pm and revise your opinion!
I still can;t make lunch my main meal. It just doesn;t work for me. I have tried but I can;t eat that much in the day...and I hate sleeping in the day too. And I STILL get caught out trying to do my shopping in the lunch "hour" "al estilo inglés" when everything is closed!!!
Some recent Menu del Día dishes.....

Huevos a la Riojana. Eggs baked in a spicy tomato sauce made with red wine and garnished with two slices of chorizo and some foaming garlic and parsley butter. Delicious, but piping hot which was frustrating. The eggs werent soft which would have been nicer. (Ive had hard boiled egg curry in India to which I would say the same) This, by the way was a starter!

Main course. Classic Catalan cooking. Duck with pears. Slow cooked, (almost confit) Duck (legs obviously) with lightly sautéd pears was a delight. Sticky, rich and falling apart, with just the pan juices as a sauce. Delicious....but don;t expect me to go back to work for at least 12 hours!
Catalan cooking often features meat and cooked fruit, or meat and shellfish togehter (mar y muntanya)(sea and mountain)

Another dish I had illustrates an important lesson to be learned in the appreciation of Catalan cooking. DO NOT JUDGE BY APPEARANCE! Paul Richardson refers to this in his book "A Late Dinner" . Banish any notions of modern food aesthetics. Understand that these dishes are born from a tough survival ethic and cannot countenence any pandering to vanity. In short, don;t be put off by ugly food. This dish looked pretty grim, but tasted wonderful. Broadbeans slowly cooked with morcilla (blood sausage) butiffara (another type of cooked sausage), and pork belly. A fore runner of real baked beans I suppose. The slow cooking had long since rendered any colour out of the beans but created a gravy that was truely wonderful. I have avoided this dish many times due to it's appearance (often in cold tapas counters) but have been thoroughly converted. This was also a starter!

CALÇOTADA - AN UNDISCOVERED CULINARY TREASURE

The Calçotada has held mythical status for me since reading Paul Richardsons' book 'A Late Dinner'. It only exists in Cataluña and is a curious ritual-like feast featuring the most primeval of forces, fire, and the simplest of ingredients, the onion. Of course it holds great sway with me as it embodies the essence of what I call subsistence-alchemy. I have experienced it now first hand and have to say it is something that should be on EVERY gastronome's must-do list. I officially declare the Calçotada one of the gastronomic wonders of the world!
The story goes that from January to March, onion farmers used to dig their fields and would find that the onions missed in the autumn harvest had sprouted, The particular varitey used produced a sprout very simmilar in appearance to a leek. The subsistence survival instincts kicked in and the workers would build a wood fire and roast the onions over the flames. This rustic workers onion barbecue became a local tradition known as the Calçotada.

It is still rustic. Very rustic. Often a stand-up affair it must be done outside with a pine or vine wood fire. It has a party atmosphere derived from the need for all hands on deck; fire building and tending, onion trimming, vegetable peeling etc.
The onions are cooked over a fierce fire to a scarily blackened state. They are then wrapped in newspaper to allow them to steam and relax. The blackened onions are held in the hand and the charred outer leaves are stripped with the fingers to access the simple but exquisite sweet caramelized onion flesh beneath. This is then dipped in the classic romesco sauce of pounded nuts, dried peppers, fried bread, garlic and tomato and conveyed to the mouth by hand. No cutlery allowed! The taaste is exquisite. Smoky, sweet, earthy, and rich. This is real country cooking and a great way to spend a Sunday.





In order not to waste the fire, and to give the meal extra dimension, sausages and meat are also grilled as well as peppers, artickokes and anything else you might care to add to your feast. Click on the videos below to see it in action.

getting a rack on onions on

taking some off and turning the rack

Wrapping them in paper so they steam and stay warm too.

how to eat a calçot