catalan pintxos & vermut
it felt preeeetttttty glum in new york today, and i wondered if it was because everyone was mourning the loss of anthony bourdain. i scanned the faces of people in the subway and in the streets, and i'm pretty sure i detected (or was seriously projecting) the same glum that i was feeling inside.
what i'm certain of is that i brushed shoulders with people who learned at least one important life skill from anthony bourdain. for me, that lesson was to go out and really see the world by respectfully experiencing how locals eat and live, along with using food as common ground to get to the social and political sentiments in the air. that was the entire main premise of no reservations and parts unknown, right?
there's so much more that i wish i could learn about him and why he decided to take his life, but i don't think we’ll ever be able to dig deep enough to understand. what i could do was to put him in my thoughts and honor his life by recreating a meal from one my favorite memories of food abroad. it was on a recent trip to barcelona where andreu caught me up on all the crazy details from the recent catalan independence referendum whilst having brunch. hearing these stories and growing a heightened sense of pride for catalan people would have never happened without being influenced by the curiosity for culture, people, and food that bourdain imparted in us.
xo, christine
catalan pintxos & vermut
ingredients
vermut
1 cup of vermut chilled
2 tablespoon club soda
1/2 tablespoon olive brine
1 pitted pickled green olive
1 orange twist (peel)
pintxos
1 olive and rosemary loaf, sliced. but any kind of loaf or baguette is fine so as long as it doesn't easily crumble
2 tablespoon of olive oil to brush
chevre cheese
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ideas for toppings
fresh pitted cherries with drizzled honey
pickled roasted tomatoes, crisp dried scallions
olive tapenade, garlic chips
whole grain mustard
notes
i was sad to finish the last of the bottles that i lugged home from a bodega in barcelona, but i was surprised and delighted that my neighborhood wine shop carries it! god, i love brooklyn. you can also have it delivered to you here.
vermut: combine chilled vermut, club soda, olive brine, and olive in a glass. rub the orange peel on the rim of the glass before adding to the vermut. enjoy!
pintxos: you'll find a variety of pickled vegetables, fish, fruit, and cheese piled onto a slice of toasted bread. the point is to find complementary profiles using savory, pickled, salty, crunchy and gooey, creamy, and sweet things you have available on hand.
heat oven to 350
brush olive oil on sliced bread
toast bread for 5-7 minutes until lightly toasted, cool for 10 minutes
spread on chevre cheese
pile on assortment:
pitted cherries and drizzled honey
pickled roasted tomato, crisp dried scallion, maldon salt
olive tapenade, garlic chips
whole grain mustard
