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Barrafina, Frith Street

26th January 2016 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

My experience of Spanish food in London has never been great. Sad jugs of overly sweet sangria and soggy patatas bravas, drowning beneath a mound of flavourless chopped tomatoes is hardly inspiring. It always fared pale in comparison to the simple, pared back, yet impeccably executed traditional tapas I grew accustomed to eating on family holidays to the small Andalusian town where my grandparents retired. But last week, that all changed – I ate at Barrafina.

With three London locations, Barrafina does not accept reservations, so you should be prepared to wait. I had tried to visit the Frith Street branch once before, but after being told it’d be two and a half hours before I could sit down, my rumbling stomach and I went elsewhere. This time, I arrived less hungry and more determined. An hour’s wait? With pleasure.

Serving up simple, classic Spanish dishes, ranging from the famous tortilla – Time Out’s 10th best London dish of 2015 – to the hispanic black pudding morcilla, Barrafina is more than worth the wait. Friendly staff (all Spanish speaking) advise you on the menu and keep the bustling bar running smoothly as you agonise over what to order. If bottomless wallets and stomachs existed, I would still be propped at the bar.

However, with only so much cash to spend and an impressive, yet not invincible appetite, we ordered a solid, varied spread. Opting for a mix of the characteristically carby traditional tapas options (the beiger the better), we went for meat and fish dishes too, with a pudding to share.

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Pan con tomate

If it’s wrong to say that this plate above, toast and tomatoes and very little else, was my favourite dish of the entire meal, well…I don’t want to be right.  The sweet, tomato sauce is slightly tinged with garlic, providing this bready bite with a wonderfully contrasting savoury taste, enhanced by the addition of salt and a sprinkling of chopped parsley on top.

Ordering the Spanish tortilla was a given, and even when presented with variations (one with prawn and one with ham), I knew it has to be la classica. Sitting by the bar, you can admire the chefs at work, creating this small yet perfectly formed dish. Brown and golden on the outside but meltingly soft in the middle, this is yet another dish that uses minimal ingredients, but used to their best potential to create an exceptional result.

For the gambas al ajillo, I took nose-to-tail eating onto seafood, quite literally devouring them from ears to end. Salty, meaty and served with thin slices of chilli, to have left any part of the prawn uneaten just seemed wasteful.

Tortilla classica y gambas al ajillo at Barrafina

Tortilla classica and gambas al ajillo

Barrfina do a brilliant job at quashing the myth that pork has to be cooked right through, as they serve their pluma ibérica bloody and rare…so much so, I thought it was beef. This particular cut comes from the shoulder of the loin, and when left medium rare as it was, the outside caramelises while the inside is left a glorious red, the marbling fat left to melt into itself. This results in an incredibly tender pork dish – a far cry from the tough, grey pork chops I remember from my childhood (sorry, mum).

My love of offal is no secret – from genitals in Colombia, duck liver in Berlin and some hearty (literally) skewers in Buenos Aires, it’s been well documented. Alongside organs, I’ve really got a thing for black pudding, and seeing my old friend morcilla on the menu at Barrafina made me all nostalgic for my beef-filled days in Buenos Aires, where I reckon I single handedly upped my local butchers sales of this beautiful blood sausage by at least 50%.

Morcilla ibérica topped with quails eggs

Morcilla ibérica topped with quails eggs

This morcilla ibérica was served on top of roasted red peppers and wore a hat made of tiny, baby quails eggs. A visually stunning plate, I was slightly disappointed at the actual amount of sausage given in a portion. Now don’t tell the Spanish speaker in me that ‘small plates’ is very much the point, and definition of tapas. I am aware. But two bites of morcilla? That’s just a bit mean. Portion size aside, the morcilla was rich, as you’d imagine a sausage made of blood would be, but actually with a taste far more like a smoky chorizo than the rice-filled Spanish morcilla I’ve eaten in Spain. And while I love smoky chorizo and its peppery pimentón flavour, it’s not quite what I’m expecting when I opt for my beloved blood sausage. All the same, this morcilla was marvellous…I’d perhaps just like to have eaten a bit more of it.

Other items we ordered included the patatas bravas, so very unlike the description of the sad and soggy potatoes I opened this post with. Served on the side rather than on top of the potatoes, the sauce was a fluffy cloud of roasted red pepper puree; I’m now concerned that any tomato condiment eaten on future sides of chips will never compare.

For dessert we chose a crema catalana to share, the Spanish cousin of the French creme brûlée. Just like the kids at school who seem all tough on the outside but are just big softies underneath, as we cracked into this dessert’s hard, caramelised outer layer, our spoons were met with warm and creamy custard below.

This meal between two, with a bottle of wine to share, was £40 a head. For the quality of food, so good that tomatoes on toast taste better than far fancier dishes at other restaurants I’ve eaten at, I think it’s good value. Maybe not what you’re looking to spend on every meal out, but then you’re probably not keen on queuing for an hour every time either. So find a friend who appreciates good food, have a little snack beforehand to see you through the wait, and go to Barrafina. Because it is really, really rico.

Filed Under: food writing, london, review Tagged With: barra fina, london eats, morcilla, offal, spanish food, tortilla espanola

From Peru to Texas while in Buenos Aires

3rd August 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Buenos Aires is a city unlike any other. Despite being a Latin American capital, it has a distinctly European vibe due to its rich history of immigrants arriving at its ports. Not just a place attractive to Europeans, the city is also home to a huge mix of Latinos from all across the continent. Such a diverse mix of cultures means that Buenos Aires is a great place to eat. Hurray!

The Buenos Aires barrio of Once (pronounced on-say) is a brilliant place to come and sample cuisines from other Latin American countries, especially Peru. One of my old favorites in the area is the Peruvian eatery, La Rica Vicky. A popular lunch spot, the ‘menu especial‘ includes a soup and 10 plates to choose from, ranging from chicken and rice to the famous lomo saltado (beef strips cooked in a Chinese style sauce with chips) or aji a la gallina (chicken in a creamy yellow sauce made with small yellow peppers).

Being back in Buenos Aires meant catching up with friends, like Ari. We had met in Colombia and when she shared my fried ear and tongue picada after a night out, I knew she was a girl after my own heart. Sadly after three years of living and working in BA she was off back to the states. Her departure meant that cocktails at lunchtime were perfectly acceptable – being at the Peruvian joint La Rica Vicky, the typical tipple of pisco sour (pisco served with lime juice and frothed egg white) was the natural choice. Cheers to Ari and the next chapter in her life (and for making daytime cocktail sipping acceptable!).

Despite offering such a cracking lunch menu, on this particular trip to La Rica Vicky my offal-loving eye was drawn elsewhere. Anticuchos, how I love thee. Basically just a whole load of offal, these caught my eye as I was familiar with chunchuli (intestine), down with mollejitas (sweetbreads) but what an earth was rachi? Turns out it its beef heart marinated and cooked on a skewer, and would also would be my lunch for the day.

My heart was marinated to perfection. I don’t know if it’s due to the type of meat heart is (being an organ an all), but these skewers had a really great flavor, a mix of garlic, coriander, and cumin. Since researching a bit more about the role offal plays in Peruvian cuisine, I found a great recipe for these skewers here. To those of you daring enough to open your heart the eating a bit of heart, why not try cooking it at home?

It’s a well-known fact that in Buenos Aires you can get some of the best meat money can buy. But it tends to be cooked in the same way every time – on a grill, without any marinating or pre-curing. So I was very excited to discover that since I had last been in BA, a new Texan BBQ joint had opened to absolutely roaring success.

El Tejano is bringing Texan cuisine to Buenos Aires and the people are welcoming it with open arms. The owner Larry has been smoking and grilling his way around Buenos Aires for the past few years, throwing puerta cerrada style dinners – offering set menus in different locations week to week for a small amount of diners. However for the past two years he has been fixed in a small Palermo spot, offering lunches and booked out dinners to the hungry, barbecue lusting masses. (Thanks to the El Tejano Instagram for the pic).

I was lunching with my friend Lau and we happily let Larry do the ordering for us. Between two we ended up with an impressive three dishes…to sample a bit of everything, you know. Below is the brisket bagel, served with an incredible creamy sauce and cooked peppers, accompanied by some really, realllly good fries. What makes the fries so great? Apparently it’s the addition of chili salt and using oil which is constantly changed and kept fresh. Only the freshest fry for us ladies!

Moving on, we also sampled the famous El Tejano ribs. How very cliché to describe the meat of a tasty rib as ‘falling off the bone’, but what the hell, this meat really did fall off the bone! Smoked, marinated and grilled, they were some of the best ribs I have ever tasted.

Just when we thought we couldn’t squeeze in any more, along came the wings. These for me were the highlight, as being in Buenos Aires for a few days already I’d had my fair share of meat. But chicken wings, smoked and then fried, smothered in BBQ sauce? Well, there’s a thing I hadn’t eaten in my entire life! As Larry told us, he’s the only person in BA smoking and frying his wings, and actually the only guy in Texas to do so too. So if you want to try these authentic Texan smoked wings (which you really, really do), get your arse to Argentina.

This is not the end of my BA eats. Barely the beginning! What would any Buenos Aires food blogging be without at least a couple of steak houses thrown in? And check back for the next post, in which I reveal the location of the world’s best sandwich ever (expertly rated by yours truly).

Filed Under: buenos aires, travel bidmeadbites, travel writing Tagged With: buenos aires, buenos aires beef, el tejano, heart, offal, peruvian food, texan food

Penis, balls and a bit of heart for good measure – more culinary exploration in Cali

23rd July 2015 by Eve Bidmead 1 Comment

The last part of my travels sees me return to what could potentially be my favorite place in Colombia…Cali. I first visited with my sister in January, returned in May and managed to squeeze in one last visit before I head back to the UK. Why do I love it so much? Well, Cali is the country’s (if not world’s) capital of salsa, the weather is hot, the people are friendly and it’s just a lot of bloody fun. They also eat a hell of a lot of meat. What more could an offal-loving salsa enthusiast possibly want?

A very meaty fritanga

To begin this meat filled post, I present the fritanga caleña. Not a dish for anyone watching their waistlines, this is some seriously heavy stuff. Eaten at the famous J&J in the iconic and picturesque old barrio of San Antonio, a fritanga is a mix of fried meat and fritos (pasty type goodies).  J&J know how to do it right, with this epic basket containing fried beef, morcilla (black sausage), pork rind, lung, plantain, new potatoes, empanadas, marranitas (fried plantain balls with pork) and aborrajados (fried plantain balls with cheese). This famous spot features a bar dedicated to condiments and offers guacamole, three different types of tomato salsa, peanut sauce, tartare, sour cream and salsa verde. How will I ever be satisfied with just ketchup again?

It’s highly likely I am so drawn to Cali due to it’s affinity for offal, a sentiment I very much share. On a friends recommendation I headed to the Galeria de Alameda, the place to go for a delicious lunch at an incredible price. I had been told I couldn’t leave Cali without trying the typical (and extremely potent) caldo de pajarilla. This essentially translates as ‘offal soup’ and is a stew featuring kidney, heart, liver and…spleen. This soup is pretty robust and makes for a hearty and heavy midday meal. Whether I actually liked it is perhaps up for debate. Even for an offal lover such as myself, I felt the mix of quite so much offal in one dish created ‘a too many organs spoil the broth’ situation. Oh, that old chestnut!

But if you thought spleen soup sounded a bit much, perhaps you’d be interested to know about the ‘caldo peligroso‘ as advertised in the sign above. This translates as ‘dangerous broth’, but for a keen traveler and adventurous foodie such as myself, I couldn’t fathom what the danger might be. Chatting to the chef, turns out that this ‘dangerous soup’ contains bull penis, testicles, heart and feet. She also alluded to it being some sort of aphrodisiac. While I tried to imagine how eating genitals might get your own private bits somewhat excited, I personally failed to make the link.

This rather impressive looking stuffed pigs head is known as lechona, a whole pig stuffed with rice, vegetables and spices, slow cooked in a brick oven. This is a dish I’ve wanted to try for a while and in all places I found it while passing through a shopping centre! Just another reason to love Cali – pop into a shopping centre in search of a loo and find a whole stuffed pig instead. This dish was a perfect combination of textures and flavors, as you get crispy pork skin along with the soft, richly flavored rice dotted with shreds of slow cooked pork. My lechona lunch certainly beat  any other shopping centre food court meal I’d eaten before!

But what’s this? Something that isn’t meat? Sometimes Cali’s hot, sticky summer days call for something this isn’t a fried dead animal and that is when the very famous cholado fits the bill perfectly. There are various versions and recipes for this typical caleño sweet treat, but, in essence, it features shaved ice, fruit syrup, fresh fruit and a wafer. From there, the sky (or plastic cup’s capacity) is the limit. Popular additions include ice cream, chocolate shavings, sweets, dried coconut – your options are endless.

Leaving Cali for the third time, I was more enamored with the city than ever before (although perhaps feeling ready to eat some vegetables). However, this is something that can wait until my return to the UK, as in a last minute decision I booked myself a flight to my old home of Buenos Aires! Bring on plenty of steak and red wine, along with all the other cuisines Argentina’s capital has to offer. 

Filed Under: colombian food, travel bidmeadbites, travel writing Tagged With: caldo de pajarilla, caldo peligroso, cali, cholado, colombian food, fritanga, galeria de alameda, offal

Offally good stuff – Stomach and salsa in Barranquilla

11th November 2014 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Read any guide book that refers to Barranquilla and you probably won’t be stopping by. Often referred to as ‘just a stop on the way to the far more agreeable Cartagena or Santa Marta’ (Lonely Planet direct quote), Barranquilla is not one of the coast’s touristic hot spots.

Oh so many beautiful. . .apartment blocks?

But for that, I love it. Barranquilla is a real coastal Colombian town, where the local phrase is ‘cogerla suave‘, meaning ‘take it easy’ (unless you’re from a Spanish-speaking country where coger has quite a different, naughtier meaning, but we’ll ignore that for now). Life is relaxed and people like to dance, spend time with friends and generally enjoy themselves. What better way to enjoy yourself than a night out on the town, dancing away to the sound of salsa?

La Troja

La Troja is a Barranquilla institution, and was described perfectly by a friend here as ‘an attack on the senses’. It’s loud, bright and crowded – and an incredible amount of fun. Playing purely salsa, if you’re looking for an authentic barranquillero night out, this is the place to come. The crowd is mixed, meaning you’re just as likely to find a group of young ex-pats here as you are a solitary salsa-dancing senior. It’s the kind of ‘anything goes’ type of place which makes me love where I live.

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In my element

Perhaps another one of my main draws to La Troja is the atmosphere around it. If you can’t grab a table inside, head out to the off-licence in front, where there is always a massive crowd chatting, dancing and soaking up the salsa. Also surrounding it are an array of street food stands. While the majority of people might head for a simple chuzo en palo (meat skewer with potato), the more adventurous of us head elsewhere.

You’ll find me at El Piqueteadero, where my love of all things meaty has found its match. Forget your typical Friday night drunken kebab, because here the party-goers late night food of choice comes in the form of pigs ear, lung, intestine and tongue to name but a few consumable animal parts. If it’s a piece of meat you’d never consider eating, you’re likely to find it here, deep fried and served alongside tiny boiled potatoes.

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These often neglected parts of meat are known as offal (or ‘variety meats’) in English and visceras in Spanish. The term offal refers to just organ meats, but can also be used to describe cuts such as ear and tongue. There are two different types of offal, labelled either ‘red’ or ‘white’. Offal such as liver, heart, tongue, lungs, kidney and spleen are labelled as red, due to the fact these parts are more ‘meat’ like. Cuts such as intestines, stomach, brains, and sweetbreads come under the white category, due to their appearance and slightly more foreign taste and texture.

visceras

No donner kebab here I’m afraid

However, be it red or white, the idea of eating an animal’s insides seems to creep a few people out. But listen up meat eaters. If you’re perfectly happy to buy a pre-packaged, pumped up chicken breast in the supermarket yet squirm at the idea of getting down to the butchers and buying some blood sausage, I’d have a second think. In this day and age we don’t need to eat meat. We can find all the necessary protein and vitamins we need through other sources, and the process of feeding animals reared for meat creates an enormous amount of pollution. There’s also of course the ethics actually eating meat, but I don’t feel this post quite warrants discussion on that. If we choose to continually kill animals for food, I think it is important to make full use of the meat available. A great documentary on the meat industry is Get Vegucated, and if you want to know more on the topic I really recommend it.

My bowl at El Picadero

If you’d eat a sirloin or rump steak, you’re eating a cow’s arse. I ask…how far is that from eating its kidney or liver? Or, if your like me and want to try it all, opt for some black pudding (morcilla), pig ear, sheep lung (bofe), cow tongue, a sausage called longaniza and intenstine. Well…at least that´s what my bowl from El Piqueteadero consisted of.

While it was good to try it all, I established a few things. This was not the finest black pudding I had eaten, pig’s ear is surprisingly delicious, lung isn’t my favourite, and tongue is almost too much like a normal cut of meat to even earn its offal status. I’ve now visited La Troja on numerous occasions, and even if not to eat there I will always pass by and have a chat at El Piqueteadero. Perhaps it’s odd that I’m now a recognised face at the fried offal stand, but otherwise how would I check out the variety of odd things on offer, and know what is still left to try? As it stands, testicles and cow udder is my next nibble of choice. Stay tuned for that!

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Bollocks in a bowl. Well, not quite, but on this list for next time!

Filed Under: barranquilla, Uncategorised Tagged With: barranquilla, colombia, get vegucated, la troja, offal, picada, salsa

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