Zoe at the mercado

So I had to go shopping today. Well let me be honest I didn't really need to shopping but I had to get out of the piso because it's like 400 degrees in here. The upstairs neighbors are watching tele-novellas with the volume at 11 while at the same time listening to mid eighties Spanish Pop at 12 and hooting like wounded blood hounds, not to mention that the school in the back has decided to throw a fiesta for the remaining remedial kiddies featuring 1980s disco and traditional catalan songs of love, death and sepia. And speaking of sepia, AKA cuttlefish, it ain't my favorite thing to eat in the sea. It's basically a fat squid with shorter footsies. Mostly is comes out tasting like art gum erasers ala plancha. Cheweeeee. These critters are much more interesting alive and underwater than dead and swimming in olive oil on a plate.

So my five year old Zoo Zoo and I supped at Manu's bar at the mercado. I had some lovely salt cod with great, thinly cut potatoes and Zoe had her favorite croquetas and patatas bravas. Manu has Pilsner Urquel on tap which is like McDonald's having some swanky merlot as part of a happy meal. I of course partook of one of the finest beers in all the world, Zoe wisely went for a Fanta.

OK back to the sepia, after we bade Manu and his bird whistles adeu, we strolled by the big fish stand where they did in deed have the aforementioned sepia as well as cap de rape, which is monkfish head. Even in the best of times a monkfish is one oogly fishy but when you are staring at a pile of freshly decapitated specimens, well they don't look like fishsticks.

Zoe has been on this aquisition knowledge regarding cartlidge for the six months. Every day begins with questions about this miraculous material somewhere between bone and tissue. And a pile of monkfish noggins is of course going to peak her interest. The heads were all placed upside down for esthetic reasons one could presume. One of the nice vendedoras flipped one over for us. Yep... Oogly! We checked out the merluza, AKA hake, another looker. Now a dorada is a lovely looking fish, a fish as if designed by Disney. Big eyes, stylish flippers and a lovey almost pink sliver color. They are also lovely to eat. A recipe shall be forthcoming.

Underwater Brilliance

I get my ideas in the shower. No not those kind of ideas. Well sometimes those kind of ideas but usually insights of various sizes that are the sum of other little insights. I have had some doozies. Not that I’ve been able to carry through with them. But that’s another entry. New slimemold project. Shower revelations. When I have ‘em, so shall ye.

Same pan different dish

So this Sunday's comida highlight was Fideus. Fideus is prepared in a paella pan and in many ways is a similar dish. The big, big difference is that fideus uses short pasta rather than rice. It also tends to be simpler and even more unadorned. OK here you go. Take one paella pan and place it over medium heat, add a little olive oil and fry a few 2" chunks of monk fish (It really is the right stuff) and a few prawns. And like a paella you want to try to have the pan as evenly heated as possible, a gas barbique works swell. When the monkfish is browned on both sides remove the monkfish and the prawns and toss in 3 peeled and finely chopped tomatoes and a medium onion. This is called a sofrito and is an instrumental part of many Spanish recipes. Cook until the onions are translucent. At this point add a teaspoon or so of sweet pimento and salt to taste. Toss back in the seafood and add the pasta You'll need 500 grams of fideus which is also known as fideo in Castillano and probably can be found in Latin American markets. If you have the option the correct size is number 4. Spread the pasta evenly in the pan and try to coat it with the sofrito. Now add 2 liters of fish stock (I cheat and use chicken stock), stir once and bring to a boil and then reduce to medium. Without stirring wait for the liquid to be absorbed into the pasta. It should take about 20 to 30 minutes ar so. There should be no liquid remaining. That's it. Oh and serve with Allioli. What's allioli? Espera... espera...

A Dark Joy

"I wanted to account for something that is demonic but also joyful, and so I came up with the idea of "dark joy" because I think this force is life-giving, and life-enhancing, and yet it's also tied to death. What Lorca means by duende, when he says that a singer has it, or a that a flamenco dancer has it, or that a poet has it, or that a particular performance has it, he means that something else takes over, some kind of haunting or possession. Something lifts off in the process of creating the work that leads an artist to the summit of the work, to somewhere that he or she hasn't been before. And so it's a kind of demonic enthusiasm, a kind of dark force."

Edward Hirsh

But it's just...

Had lunch at a bar that has perhaps the best Patatas Bravas in all of Spain. Insert castinet flourish here. Why, I dunno but the place is always packed. The waiter is one of those classic Spanish camereros with a voice like a foghorn and a heart as big as his size 12 shoes. Simple stuff, prepared right. After all Patatas Bravas are just fried potatoes, a slightly spicy sauce and alioli (which is another example of the mystery of "but it's just..."). But in Spain everything can have duende, even fried potatoes.

Barca-iti

OK I think tagging is stupid. Hey you kids, stop that! But those of you who can man a can of spray paint for something more than the equivalent of poodles pee peeing on fire hydrants... Dudes and Dudettes an awful lot of your stuff is fuerte, vibrant, stunning and sometimes makes me want to cry... And lay down my brush. Ah Kant doo any bedder...Here's a few recent works from the area around MACBA and the CCCB.

This coffee is the bomb.

BBC Link

I am ill. This seems funny to me. What italian prisoners? I thought all the criminals were working for Berlusconi. And what do the anarchists have to do with the oppressed Italian prisoners being held in Catalunya? Is this part of a terrorist exchange program or something? It would have to be an espresso machine. One of those 2 part metal jobs that we all had and retired as soon as we could afford a nice cheaply made german plastic job. I know it. But the question arises, why would that cause undo attention in front of the Italian Cultural Instituto. I mean the French Cultural Instituto has hundreds of spent snail shells lying around and nobody thinks this is suspicious. Stupid. And a dog got killed and a policeman got hurt. Stupid. Again... Less thumpin' mas humpin'. Amen.