C.C.'s Video of the Week

Our village is surrounded by cats!

Human Highlighter Suit Tally: 6

On Thursday evening we left Barcelona to spend a long weekend in Cadaques, a charming and picturesque fishing village on the Costa Brava in Spain.  After battling rush hour traffic—our first experience trying to leave the city at that time—we arrived in Cadaques at about 9:30.  The town is really, really, old, the streets narrow, steep and winding, and Dolores (our GPS) was completely befuddled.  After trying to allow her to guide us for a half hour—as she instructed us to turn the car into the sea and down dead end streets (we practically burned out the clutch having to back up an incredibly steep hill), we stopped, ordered some pizza, and called the folks from whom we were renting.  Isabel and Joaquin met us at the pizza place and had us follow them up to their house.

They own a few small cottages right below their own house and, as we walked the short distance from our car down a narrow path with overhanging trees and flowering bushes, several cats emerged and began to check us out. You may remember a couple of weeks ago, when we were trying to arrange a home exchange with someone in Provence, France, and received a funny note in which they told us that their house was surrounded by cats.  Well, we are in a completely different place, but the cats are everywhere!  Isabel explained that there is some kind of cat association here.  Everyone seems to leave food and water out for them, and the vets make their rounds on the streets and take them in for treatment if necessary.  It seems that the cats each have their territory, and different people care for different cats.  Isabel and Joaquin take care of Pinky, but Tango also seems to hang around our house.  C.C. and Milo think it’s the coolest.

The town slopes up steeply from the street.  It’s the kind of place that’s packed in summer but is now quite tranquil.  We spent Friday morning eating breakfast by the sea and wandering the streets, ducking into shops and galleries.  The streets are quite safe, and there were always cats for the kids to play with outside, so they were more patient outside. 

The town has been a draw for artists, for obvious reasons.  Picasso spent time here, and Dalí lived here for more than 50 years.  So, after lunching on some delicious fresh fish, we walked the short distance to Dalí’s house.  Starting in 1930, he began to buy fisherman’s houses right on the sea and ultimately strung seven of them together to create a labyrinthine structure filled with the kind of curiosities you would expect Dalí to have in his house—stuffed bears and birds, enormous Japanese parasols, giant pictures of sea urchins.  The kids, who would normally be pretty bored by a house museum, thought it was pretty cool. 

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Tumbet

Human Highlighter Suit Tally: 6

A few evenings ago, I shut myself in the kitchen with a sack full of late harvest vegetables and my iPod playing a podcast of The Splendid Table—perfect to cook to. I had decided to capitalize on the last of summer’s bounty by making a tumbet, a Mallorcan dish of layered summer vegetables—eggplant, zucchini, potatoes—alternated with a thick tomato sauce into which diced, sauteed red and yellow peppers are stirred (Rafa Nadal is from Mallorca, so we know good things come from this Spanish island).  A tumbet is a lot like a ratatouille, at least in terms of its ingredients.  The tumbet is more labor intensive, so I was curious to try it and find out if it´s worth the extra effort.  We ate it the next night, alongside grilled pork chops, and I am here to tell you that it is worth the trouble.  The vegetables are sliced and either roasted or fried.  The tomato sauce is rich and concentrated.  The end result has more vegetable-y flavor than does ratatouille, which is more of a stew.  So if you are short on time, by all means go with the ratatouille.  But if you have the patience, try the tumbet.

Mallorcan Eggplant and Potato Casserole (Tumbet)

(From The New Spanish Table)

2 medium eggplants (about 2 ½ pounds total) trimmed and cut lengthwise into 1/3      inch thick slices

Coarse salt

½ cup fragrant, extra virgin olive oil, or more if needed

2 medium yellow bell peppers, peeled, cored, seeded and diced.

2 medium red bell peppers, peeled, cored, seeded and diced

1 pinch sugar

1 splash vinegar

3 medium Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 ½ pounds), peeled and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices

2 thick, medium zucchini, cut in half crosswise, then cut lengthwise into ¼ inch thick slices

Joan’s Tomato Compote (recipe follows)

1.     Rub the eggplant slices with salt and place in a colander.  Let stand for 30 minutes.  Rinse well and pat dry with paper towels.

2.     Heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat.  Add the yellow and red peppers and cook, stirring, until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet, and cook the peppers until they are very tender, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste the peppers; if the flavor is not vibrant enough, add the sugar and vinegar, then season with salt to taste.  Increase the heat to high and cook until the liquid is reduced a little bit, 1 – 2 minutes.  Set aside.

3.     Heat the remaining 6 Tbsp olive oil in another large skillet over medium heat.  Working in two batches, cook the potato slices until light golden and almost soft, about 4 minutes per side.  Don’t overcrowd the skillet.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried potatoes to paper towels to drain.  Then, using the same skillet and working in batches, cook the eggplant until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the fried eggplant to paper towels to drain.   Cook the zucchini slices in the same fashion until light golden, 2 – 3 minutes per side, adding more olive oil if necessary.

4.     When you are ready to assemble the tumbet, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

5.     Place the cooked peppers and the tomato compote in a large bowl and stir to mix. Arrange the potatoes in a layer on the bottom of a 12 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and dab a little of the tomato compote on top.  Arrange the zucchini in a layer over the potatoes, sprinkle it with salt, and dab some sauce on top. Arrange the eggplant in a layer over the zucchini and sprinkle it with salt.  Spread the remaining compote on top and bake until the flavors meld, 15 – 20 minutes.  Serve warm, cold, or at room temp, cut into squares.

NOTE:  I did not peel my peppers—too much work—and it was just fine.  I parboiled my potatoes instead of frying them and that was fine, too.  You can also broil the zucchini and eggplant (brushed w/olive oil) if you want to skip all that frying.

Joan’s Tomato Compote

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup finely chopped white onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 pounds very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

¼ cup dry white wine

1 pinch sugar

1 splash vinegar

coarse salt

Heat the olive oil in a deep, medium sized skillet over low heat.  Add the onion and cook until soft but not brown, about 5  minutes.  Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes, increase the heat to medium high, and cook, stirring, until they release their liquid, 3 – 4 minutes.  Add the wine, sugar, and vinegar and season with salt to taste.  Cook the compote until the tomatoes are soft but still hold their shape, about 5 minutes longer.  If the compote is too liquid, increase the heat to high and cook until reduced, 1 – 2 minutes.  Let the compote cool to warm before using.

Photo of the Day

Our favorite bakery--we are addicted to the brioche and the kids to the chocolate croissants.  As you can see, Milo has taken to wearing his soccer socks, pulled up over his knees, with everything.  It's quite a look.

Uno, Dos, Tres...

Human Highlighter Suit Tally:  6

The kids’ school has a relationship with a Spanish school for the parents, and one thing I’d really like to do this year is improve my español.  So I did a diagnostic test a week or so ago, which consisted of having a conversation with one of the teachers, and answering a few written questions.  I could tell that it was all about verb tenses, those rascals—“What were you like when you were young?” and “Where would you like to live after you leave Barcelona?”  Verb tenses not being my strong suit, I did my best to sneak around the hard stuff.  So I was irrationally happy to learn that I got placed in the advanced group.  The test was hardly objective, as Alec reminded me: “They’re just comparing you to all of the other gringos who just got off the boat.”  Thanks, Alec. 

Anyway, at least I’m not at the bottom of the heap.  I had my first class today—I’ll go two days each week, two hours each day—and I really liked it.  Given that I have been in the midst of so much change and upheaval, and thinking about what I’ll do next research-wise, it is actually soothing to deal with something as concrete and rule-bound as language.  Conjugation, prepositions, worksheets—there is something familiar and mechanical in a way that I welcome right now.  I do think it’s coming more easily to me on a daily basis. I find myself walking around thinking about how I will say this thing or that thing, translating words and sentences in my head.  I even had a meeting today with a big wig at the university and a real estate developer, and it was all in Spanish.  I threw in an English word here or there, and I did not get 100% of what was said, but basically it went fine.

C.C. skyped her entire class back at PS 10 this afternoon, and they treated her like a rock star, shouting her name and jumping up and down.   There were some technical difficulties with the sound, so she could not be projected on a big screen. Instead the kids came up to the computer one at a time and asked her questions:  “Is Barcelona your favorite soccer team?”  “Do you have swimming at school since it’s so hot there?”  She was pretty blissed out by the whole thing, and I think we’ll try and do it again.

I made my first tortilla on my own this evening, and called it dinner.  I wanted to lock in my lesson from last week.  I think it was pretty good for a first attempt, if I do say so myself.   It’s kind of incredible how much oil you use, but it’s the good kind.  You know, the Mediterranean diet and all.  Actually, Spain seems to be paying a price for not sticking to the Med diet.  A recent article showed evidence that Spain ranks third in obese and overweight kids.  The US, of course, is first.

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