Pimentón de la Vera is a paprika-like powder made of smoked and ground chilli peppers, produced in Extremadura, one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. Extremadura is in the South-West of Spain, close to Portugal, and it is in fact where the first chilli peppers were introduced as they were brought back from the New World.

Pimentón is made from pimientos that are grown locally, and then slowly dried over an oakwood fire. The process lasts for ten to fifteen days, during which the peppers are constantly hand-turned, until they are completely dried and infused with smoke flavors. They are then transferred to a manufacture where the stem and seeds are discarded, and the flesh is ground to a super-fine, brick-red powder.

I get particularly excited about “magic” spices that shake up any dish you put them in, and lend it an unusual depth of flavour.

Initially made by monks from a Yuste monastery in the 16th century, pimentón progressively grew to become a regional specialty, and was awarded a Denominación de Origen to certify its quality and authenticity. It was the first chili pepper to be thus protected, just before the piment d’Espelette. About a dozen producers are currently allowed to call their chili powder Pimentón de la Vera, and their little tins are marked with a special numbered label.

Continue reading »

[Rice Cakes]

“Waste not, want not“, saith popular wisdom. I do hate having to throw out good ingredients or tasty leftovers. I generally strive to make the most of my supplies, and in fact it’s an excellent exercise for your creative muscles to try and find ways to do so. But I have to admit it’s a constant battle between this thrifty side of me and the other one, who rolls her eyes and moans, “We’ve eaten that twice already, can we please move on to something else?”

So I could have thrown out the leftover basmati rice that we had in the fridge, but decided instead to make little rice cakes, mixing the rice with an egg and what vegetables I had on hand, and cooking the patties in the skillet. The resulting galettes were a very pleasant mix of crunchy and tender, with the lovely aroma of basmati rice enjoying the fresh company of spring onions and diced tomato, the whole thing being spiked up by a sprinkle of red pepper flakes — piment d’Espelette, to be specific.

They are very easy to make and assemble, the only step requiring a bit of skill is the flipping of patties in the skillet: be gentle but quick, and don’t flip them too soon or they’ll fall apart — which has no consequence on taste, just presentation. Naturally the recipe below is just a suggestion, you should go ahead and use whichever vegetables (raw or cooked) you have on hand, and maybe throw in a bit of ham or diced tofu in the mix.

Continue reading »

When Louisa brought me peaches and zucchini from Le Potager du Roi in Versailles, her birthday gift was really twofold — delicious produce to enjoy now, and the promise of a fascinating new place to discover later. And so it is that on a bright and sunny day last week, my parents and I took a little trip to Versailles, snubbed the castle and walked straight on to the Potager.

Le Potager du Roi — the King’s Vegetable Garden — was built by Jean-Baptiste La Quintinie between 1678 and 1683. A few years before, La Quintinie had been appointed by Louis XIV as the Director of All Royal Fruit and Vegetable Gardens, and part of his mission was to build a vegetable garden just South of the Château de Versailles, to accommodate the court’s needs for fresh produce. For this purpose he was given nine hectares (about 1,000,000 square feet) of swamps, which he dried out and structured into a large central square with a fountain and thirty smaller gardens all around, in which he proceeded to plant a wide variety of produce, experimenting and inventing a few horticultural techniques along the way.

More than three centuries later, his Potager would still do him proud. It is just a bit smaller — some elements have disappeared or been replaced — but it is still planted with more than 300 varieties of fruits and vegetables maintained by the students from the school of horticulture next door, and it produces over 70 tons of produce every year.

Continue reading »

As I write these lines, we have 52 56 contributions to this 13th edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday! I’m delighted that so many of you took part in the game and had fun playing. I won’t lie to you, it does give me a little thrill to know that 52 56 of us — and that’s not even counting the friends and family we embarked on the adventure — conducted this chocolate/wine tasting experiment, just a few days apart and each in our own little corner of the world.

So without further ado, let me direct you to their respective tasting notes. To try and make things somewhat organized, I ordered contributions by type of wine — and not by type of chocolate confection, although the thought did cross my mind. Some participants experimented with different wines, and these you will find in the “multiple tastings” section. I realize that the “red” category could probably be broken down some more, maybe into dessert wines and non-dessert wines or by region, but I didn’t always know enough to make that distinction. If you don’t find your entry listed here or if I made a mistake in the description/classification, please email me and it will be promptly corrected!

Thank you so much for participating: it’s been fun, I’ve learned a lot, and I have also added quite a few chocolate recipes on my to-try list!

Continue reading »