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| Kayce and I sitting down to eat, feast before us. |
First off, I'd like to tell you that the Spanish love, and I mean love, their pork, especially in Madrid. There was so much bacon, serrano ham, chorizo, pork chops, and whatever else you can make from a pig everywhere. I chose some of the dishes that I enjoyed the most there. The first was a simple combination of bread, chorizo (Spanish sausage, most often found dried like salami) and manchego cheese.
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| Dried Chorizo sausage and Machego cheese |
The second was my favorite tapa that we had at a restaurant in Madrid that was Spanish meatballs on top of brie and a piece of baguette. I know that one sounds like mostly French stuff, and it is, but it was a very popular tapa served in many different restaurants in Madrid, and extremely delicious. The meatballs also use a gravy, which I made with chicken stock, olive oil, flour, onions and garlic.
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/spanish-meatballs.html - Spanish Meatballs recipe
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| Forming the meatballs! |
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| Meatballs cooking in the pan. |
The last dish I made was a Tortilla Espanola, which basically is a big omelette with potato and onion. This was a signature dish in Spain and was served in a ton of different ways; for breakfast on its own, as a tapa, or even as the main ingredient on a sandwich (my personal favorite).
http://spanishfood.about.com/od/tapas/ss/tortilla.htm - Torilla Espanola recipe and direction
The olive oil I used was actually also from Spain. After I got back, I was out with my mom walking around downtown Frederick, MD (near where I live) and we noticed a new specialty shop. It was a store that sold exclusively oils, vinegars, and some other sauces. We went in and got some free samples (taking shots of olive oil and vinegar was quite interesting), and I ended up buying a bottle of Spanish Castille style olive oil, which was perfect for making these dishes.
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| Tortilla Espanola (after I had just flipped it!) |
The olive oil I used was actually also from Spain. After I got back, I was out with my mom walking around downtown Frederick, MD (near where I live) and we noticed a new specialty shop. It was a store that sold exclusively oils, vinegars, and some other sauces. We went in and got some free samples (taking shots of olive oil and vinegar was quite interesting), and I ended up buying a bottle of Spanish Castille style olive oil, which was perfect for making these dishes.
http://www.loveoliveoilvinegar.com/ - link to the oil shop in Frederick
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| Castille Style Spanish Olive Oil |
The wines we chose were a verdejo, a garnacha (grenache), and a cava (sparkling white), all from Spain. We poured a glass of each and tried each dish and explored how each one effected each wine. Some pairings were better than others, but they all had significant effects on the wines.
The following is my notes on how each dish affected the wines we paired them with. As I stated before, we tried each wine one glass at time and tried with each food before moving on to the next wine, so that is the order the notes are in.
Bornos Verdejo
Alone: Smelled like apples and a little bit like grapefruit and other citrus fruits. Very tart smelling. Very light body. It was crisp but not overly tart on the tongue. The acid was very pleasant which added a nice component, not just making it a boring light white wine.
With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: The acid and sweetness were definitely enhanced after eating the first tapa. I also got a new taste, pear, that came out after eating this dish. It changed the apple flavor into something a little different. A pretty good pairing.
With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: I didn't really enjoy this pairing. It might have been the rind on the brie that I thought didn't react well with the Verdejo. Almost all the sweetness was gone and the acid was greatly enhanced. The meatball was a little overpowering and not a great match for the lightness of the wine.
With Tortilla Espanola: Almost completely neutralized the acidity (maybe the proteins in the egg had something to do with this), mostly just the sweet flavors of the wine came through, the fruit flavors were slightly enhanced. I thought it tasted a little smoky after eating this dish. Maybe it was the onions.
Tres Ojos Garnacha
Alone: This wine smelled delicious. It was fruity yet not overly sweet smelling. It was acidic and dry, yet also a little sweet and fruity. Very full bodied, this was one of my favorites in the lineup. Did detect a little bit of spicy to it It reminded me a lot of many of the dozens of bottles of wine I had while hiking through Spain last summer.
With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: Alcohol was really enhanced, it was a lot more hot drinking after eating the chorizo and manchego cheese. Brought out the fruit flavors a bit more, but only right up front. The wine fished a little more blandly after eating this tapa.
With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: The meatballs and gravy made the garnacha taste a lot more earthy and complex. The brie worked really well with this big red, as well as the meat flavors. This was probably my favorite pairing of the dinner. This tapa made the garnacga taste a lot more Old World.
With Tortilla Espanola: This dish made the wine taste very yeasty and bready. It was a very interesting pairing, but I kind of liked it. It also took away most of the fruit flavors and just left the body and acid.
Don Conde Cava (Brut)
Alone: Super bubbly, tingled the nostrils just to smell it (would have been even more nose tingling if we had been using champagne flutes). It was dry, but still retained some sweetness, mostly in flavor really than sugar levels. I picked up apple and a tiny bit of citrus, but also some vanilla, and I am fairly certain it was not an oaked wine, but got that hint of vanilla.
With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: The first tapa made the cava a little bit sweeter, the salty dried chorizo probably helped bring out any sweetness left in the wine. I also picked up a little bit of spice, like cinnamon and nutmeg after trying with the chorizo and cheese.
With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: This was a terrible pairing, worst of the night. It might have been the gravy that didn't match up, or just the meatballs in general, but this was straight up terrible. The cava became very bitter and acidic, and there was no sweetness or anything coming through anymore. Don't recommend this.
With Tortilla Espanola: This was an interesting pairing. Oddly enough, after eating some tortilla, I got hints of bacon in the after taste of the wine. The bodies of the wine and tapa matched up nicely, both were light and fluffy, the bubbles were almost enhanced. I enjoyed this pairing.
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| Table all set with wine and food, Chorizo on left, Meatballs in blue bowl, and tortilla to right of meatballs. |
The following is my notes on how each dish affected the wines we paired them with. As I stated before, we tried each wine one glass at time and tried with each food before moving on to the next wine, so that is the order the notes are in.
Bornos Verdejo
Alone: Smelled like apples and a little bit like grapefruit and other citrus fruits. Very tart smelling. Very light body. It was crisp but not overly tart on the tongue. The acid was very pleasant which added a nice component, not just making it a boring light white wine.
With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: The acid and sweetness were definitely enhanced after eating the first tapa. I also got a new taste, pear, that came out after eating this dish. It changed the apple flavor into something a little different. A pretty good pairing.
With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: I didn't really enjoy this pairing. It might have been the rind on the brie that I thought didn't react well with the Verdejo. Almost all the sweetness was gone and the acid was greatly enhanced. The meatball was a little overpowering and not a great match for the lightness of the wine.
With Tortilla Espanola: Almost completely neutralized the acidity (maybe the proteins in the egg had something to do with this), mostly just the sweet flavors of the wine came through, the fruit flavors were slightly enhanced. I thought it tasted a little smoky after eating this dish. Maybe it was the onions.
Tres Ojos Garnacha
Alone: This wine smelled delicious. It was fruity yet not overly sweet smelling. It was acidic and dry, yet also a little sweet and fruity. Very full bodied, this was one of my favorites in the lineup. Did detect a little bit of spicy to it It reminded me a lot of many of the dozens of bottles of wine I had while hiking through Spain last summer.
With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: Alcohol was really enhanced, it was a lot more hot drinking after eating the chorizo and manchego cheese. Brought out the fruit flavors a bit more, but only right up front. The wine fished a little more blandly after eating this tapa.
With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: The meatballs and gravy made the garnacha taste a lot more earthy and complex. The brie worked really well with this big red, as well as the meat flavors. This was probably my favorite pairing of the dinner. This tapa made the garnacga taste a lot more Old World.
With Tortilla Espanola: This dish made the wine taste very yeasty and bready. It was a very interesting pairing, but I kind of liked it. It also took away most of the fruit flavors and just left the body and acid.
Don Conde Cava (Brut)
Alone: Super bubbly, tingled the nostrils just to smell it (would have been even more nose tingling if we had been using champagne flutes). It was dry, but still retained some sweetness, mostly in flavor really than sugar levels. I picked up apple and a tiny bit of citrus, but also some vanilla, and I am fairly certain it was not an oaked wine, but got that hint of vanilla.
With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: The first tapa made the cava a little bit sweeter, the salty dried chorizo probably helped bring out any sweetness left in the wine. I also picked up a little bit of spice, like cinnamon and nutmeg after trying with the chorizo and cheese.
With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: This was a terrible pairing, worst of the night. It might have been the gravy that didn't match up, or just the meatballs in general, but this was straight up terrible. The cava became very bitter and acidic, and there was no sweetness or anything coming through anymore. Don't recommend this.
With Tortilla Espanola: This was an interesting pairing. Oddly enough, after eating some tortilla, I got hints of bacon in the after taste of the wine. The bodies of the wine and tapa matched up nicely, both were light and fluffy, the bubbles were almost enhanced. I enjoyed this pairing.
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| Sink full of dishes after cooking. |
