20
January 28th - February 10th 2021
Spain is famous for its cornucopia of home-grown produce but you won’t find all its exotic offerings down at your local supermarket. Charlie Smith samples some of the more surprising specialities in its culinary larder Percebes DANGEROUS DELICACY
Found clinging to the cliffs of Galicia, this tiny delicacy known beyond Spain as the gooseneck barnacle - is highly dangerous to harvest. The percebeiros of Galicia risk their lives plucking these revered crustaceans f r o m their habitat, making it one of the most expensive forms of seafood around. One kilo can fetch over €200. Compared to sweet clams and lobster, the edible part is contained in a black sleeve, capped by a spiky shell resembling a dinosaur claw. The soft pink flesh is boiled in seawater and traditionally served with a simple aioli dressing.
Angulas SLIPPERY SPECIALITY Known as ‘glass eels’, these slippery customers can cost more than €1,000 per kilo. They traditionally appear on Spanish menus on Christmas and New Years Eve and the Day of San Sebastian on January 20. In the original recipe from Bilbao (angulas a la bilbaína) the eels are fried in garlic and chilli until crunchy. Their journey starts when mature 10-year-old eels swim from European rivers to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die. The hatchlings then drift towards Europe on the Gulf Stream where fisherman on Spain’s Atlantic Coast wait with nets. Though legal in Europe, angulas are so popular in Asia that illegal trade in them bagged one Spanish gang over €37 million.
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
Something special, sir? Organic caviar - WORLD FIRST
Black truffles BLACK GOLD Spain is one of the world’s largest exporters of truffles, and the expensive subterranean fungus is readily found in the mountainous east of the country. These so-called black diamonds are notoriously difficult to find and fetch up to €600 per kilo on international markets where truffles are prized for their delicate but instantly recognisable flavour. Truffle season is February to March and the provinces of Huesca, Teruel, Soria and Castellón are particularly known for the delicacy. The truffles are sniffed out by trained dogs that can detect their aroma at 50m away, even when buried 50cm deep.
The tiny village of Riofrio in Granada province hit the headlines way back in 1960 for producing the world’s first organic caviar. And celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey is one of many fans. The sturgeon are farmed in crystal clear spring waters from the mountains and have European-cer-
tified organic production. But what is most unique about Riofrio’s black gold is the time it takes to produce. Patient farmers allow 16 years for the female sturgeon to grow naturally to double the length of other caviar-producing sturgeon on the market
Ethical foie gras - WORLD FIRST Controversially, the production of foie gras uses the inhumane ‘gavage’ system, where geese are force-fed corn through a tube. But Extremadura company Sousa & Labourdette have taken the cruelty out of the process to become world leaders in the production of ethical foie gras. Run by farmer Eduardo Sousa and bird expert Diego Labourdette, the pair allow their se to feast naturally and - most crucially whole year to proworld-renowned appears on the has even been serby chef Dan Barber.
European greylag geeon wild grass, seeds - acorns, waiting a duce a batch of their product. Their caviar world’s top tables and ved to Barack Obama
Orange and cannabis wines RIOJA RIVALS Andalucia’s urban orange trees are not just for decoration and marmalade. The bitter fruit are also in big demand for flavouring vino de naranja - and there are regional differences. Those from Sevilla should be sipped like a fine whiskey. Producers there use an oloroso sherry base, made from Garrido Fino and Pedro Ximenez grapes, and age the wine for between five and seven years. Huelva and Málaga use the solera system where white wine is flavoured slowly. The orange peel is dried and then macerated in the alcohol. The Málaga version is almost clear while Huelva’s is a richer brown shade. If cannabis is more your thing, Andalusian winery Pisando Fuerte has a weed wine that will have you in high spirits. It is the first red wine steeped with cannabis, which is actually classed as hemp due to its low THC content, at the legal maximum of 0.2 per c e n t . Rafael Hoyos is the brains behind this this smoking hot vino, which combines Garnacha and Tempranillo grapes with cannabis leaves. The company has just launched the first 500 bottles of their ganja-grape concoction.