Pat and David

Chocolate around the clock in Madrid

Posted on by Pat and David
Chocolate seems to have its “day” several times a year, with October 28 being named as National Chocolate Day, courtesy of the National Confectioners Association (“Making Life Sweeter Since 1884”). Truthfully, we think chocolate is worthy of international celebration. Our favorite place for hot chocolate, especially during what Spaniards call the “madrugada” (between midnight and dawn) is Madrid's Chocolatería San Ginés (Pasadizo San Ginés 5; tel 91-365-6546; www.chocolateriasangines.com). Here's what we have to say about it in our new edition of Frommer's Spain: “At some point, all of Madrid comes into Chocolatería San Ginés for a cup of the almost fudgy hot chocolate and the fried dough sticks known as churros. When the music stops in the wee hours of the morning, disco queens from...Read More

Green tomatoes inspire tequila cocktail

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Two years ago we passed along Gerry Jobe's recipe for the Killer Tomato Cocktail, and this harvest season we discovered another way to drink tomatoes, courtesy of the Bar at Rialto, Jody Adams' terrific restaurant in the Charles Hotel in our hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The smooth and elegant tequila drink with lots of layers of flavor -- created by Rialto beverage director Young Won -- seemed especially timely since it uses green tomatoes. By the looks of our garden, we'll still be gathering them right up until frost. Like many craft cocktails, you have to make many of the components well in advance, so plan accordingly. ACQUA FRESCO... GREEN TOMATO, THAI BASIL, GINGER, MINT OIL To make the acqua fresco: 4 green tomatoes, chopped...Read More

Tomatoes meet their match in bacon & basil

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Faced yet again with an abundance of tomatoes, we didn't have to travel far for inspiration. The inventive cooks of the Catered Affair prepare the food for the Courtyard Restaurant at the Boston Public Library, including a lovely afternoon tea. Last year when we visited during harvest season, the chefs served a dainty version of a BLT. They placed a mixture of chopped bacon and chopped tomato between two small slices of bread with the crusts cut off. It was a lovely variation on a classic. This year we decided to use some of those prolific garden tomatoes to scale up the sandwich for a hearty lunch. We used English muffins and spread them with homemade basil mayonnaise, since basil is growing far more profusely...Read More

Traditional Norteño barbacoa at Casa Hernán

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As we suggested in the La Gloria post that started this San Antonio series back in June, chef Johnny Hernandez has been helping San Antonio reclaim the Mexican side of its culinary heritage. Easy-going venues like La Gloria and The Frutería focus on the simplest of Mexican food — street food, really — but at his special events venue Casa Hernán, Johnny gets into some of the more complex traditions. [caption id="attachment_2542" align="alignleft" width="350"] Brunch at Casa Hernán[/caption] Hernandez does a grand Sunday brunch about once a month at Casa Hernán, sometimes featuring barbacoa in the South Texas/northern Mexican tradition. In some parts of interior Mexico, cooks will roast an entire animal in a pit, usually a lamb. In northern Mexico, barbacoa usually signifies a...Read More

CIA classes bridge to Latin cuisines

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There's nothing like a cooking class to build bridges across cultures, and the San Antonio branch of the Culinary Institute of America has a special interest in the cuisines of Latin America. Its spacious and modern campus opened in 2008 in some of the larger buildings of the former Pearl Brewery. It was a keystone in the development of the Pearl District, a lively area of restaurants and shops and site of a Saturday farmer's market. In addition to professional chef training, the CIA offers enthusiast classes for home cooks. During Culinaria in May, we joined a Latin Boot Camp class for a crash course in several styles of South American cooking. The class was led by Sergio Remolina, who hails from Mexico City and...Read More

Sustenio’s escabeche puts zing on the plate

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The San Antonio outpost of super chef Stephan Pyles, Sustenio at the Eilan Hotel (18603 La Cantera Terrace, San Antonio, 210-598-2950, www.eilanhotel.com), veers more toward Mediterranean cuisine than his Dallas restaurants, which range from the made-in-Texas cookery of Stampede 66 to the global fusion of his eponymous dining room. With executive chef Mike Collins (right) in the kitchen, Sustenio presents a light and bright Mediterranean option to San Antonio diners who are often otherwise forced to pick between Mexican cooking and a steakhouse. The menu is especially strong on charcuterie (top), much of it made in house. Those plates are great for munching at the bar with craft cocktails before sitting down to a table and tucking into tandoori-style roast salmon (below). When we ate...Read More

Tuk Tuk Taproom weds Asian street food & craft beer

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San Antonio certainly has its native spice (thanks to Mexican chile peppers), but David Gilbert has given the city an injection of southeast Asian flavors that pair perfectly with hoppy, malty craft beers at Tuk Tuk Taproom. Raised in Dallas, chef Gilbert has traipsed all over the world to cook — and to dive. Recipient of a StarChefs Rising Chef award for work in Los Angeles and a multiple nominee for James Beard awards for work in San Antonio, he came to the Alamo City in 2011 at the behest of Texas cuisine master Stephen Pyles, who was opening a new restaurant in the Eilan Hotel and wanted Gilbert to run the show for him. Ever restless (see his book Kitchen Vagabond: A Journey Cooking...Read More

What to eat at the San Antonio airport (SAT)

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The 8 million people a year who fly through San Antonio's airport (SAT) used to be forced to fall back on fast food chains for something to eat. But last year local chef Johnny Hernandez came to their rescue by opening La Gloria in July and The Fruteria in December. Waitress Ana Mendez at La Gloria explains the reaction of most travelers: “They come in here and think they're going to get Tex-Mex,” she says. It's a natural expectation, given that San Antonio might well be the capital of Tex-Mex cuisine. “They're surprised that it's real Mexican food. People really like it.” The mural inside La Gloria might say it best: No hace falta morir para llegar a la gloria. That translates loosely as "You...Read More

What to eat at the airport in Málaga (AGP)

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Until last year, international travelers at Terminal 3 in Málaga's airport servicing the Costa del Sol were pretty much stuck with international fast food like Starbucks, Burger King, and England's Soho Coffee. So we were delighted to see that Michelin-starred local superchef Dani García had opened Dani García DeliBar. Much of the menu overlaps offerings in García's Manzanilla tapas bar in downtown Málaga, which is one of our favorite spots in a city that has belatedly but enthusiastically embraced contemporary Spanish cuisine. One of García's strengths has been the reinvention of some classic sandwiches by giving them a distinctly Andalucían twist. His bacalao (salt cod) sandwich with tomato sauce and chipotle mayo is heads above the best filet-o-fish. His Burguer Bull (pictured above) has brought...Read More

A prawn by any other name

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Few things are as quite as confusing as the wonderful array of crustaceans available in southern Spain. When we were in El Puerto de Santa María in February, we photographed some of them at the Romerijo fish market (www.romerijo.com). The same crustacean (per its Latin name) may have two or three different common names, depending on size and where it is caught. The six images here, for example, only show four different species. Here they are, from left to right, above: Camarón (Palaemon serratus) is the common rock shrimp (common prawn to the Brits) found in abundance at the mouth of the Río Guadalquivír. When they are small like this, they are comparatively inexpensive. In Andalucía, they are often fried up, shell and all, in...Read More