Simple but tasty tapas you can do at home
One of the thing I here whenever I start talking about serving a Spanish table is that cooking Spanish style (or iberian in general) is very complex. I can tell you that it’s just not true. Or rather that it doesn’t have to be. If I was I could not do it. I have an adversarial relationship with my oven. So if it ain’t range top or grill, I’m screwed… and so are my guests. The good news is there is so much you can do with Tapas.
As an example, a couple months ago I was perusing the menu at Sala 19 and decided to start adapting a couple of the tapas dishes to ingredients I can get here in Fresno. I can’t get real Iberico ham here (I’d like to…) so Proscuitto can be exchanged. You can get it at virtually any supermarket deli counter. Does that make the recipe Italian? Maybe. Does it matter? Not really!
So the recipe goes something like this:
DATILES CON JAMON (dates with ham)
16 dates (preferably pitted)
1/4 pound thick cut procuitto (about 1mm thick)
unsalted almonds
First pit the dates if its not done already. The stuff in 1 almond into each date and wrap the date with a 1 inch by 4 strip of prosciutto. Place in a 400 degree oven just until the proscuitto just crisps up. If you don’t get on well with your oven either, the grill works fine too.
Serves 4
The salty meat plays off the sweetness of the dates perfectly and it almost melts in your mouth!
Even better, the prep takes maybe 15 minutes. Pure simplicity.
Another day, another restaurant
This time I found a killer tapas joint in Manhattan. Sala One Nine. Creative dishes such as dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped with bacon are simple and delicious. The wine list is rather limited, though they do have a Mensia which is the grandfather of cab franc, but the food is simply scrumptious. If in NYC this place is definitely worth a visit.
