It has been over 8 years since I have left my company on a weekday, suddenly I find myself alone in Madrid with very little Spanish wondering what I am going to find in Spain over the next 10 days. The answer became more than I can put into words. What struck me most is the diversity of a country the size of Texas and how each region relates to the food, people, and culture. I cannot stress enough the importance of experiencing Spain for myself to comprehend the products we are promoting here at JDY/ Solex. So, I want to share my experience and try to divide my trip between the touristic and food, if that is possible.
MADRID:
TOURISTIC- This is the first time I have been in an old European City. You can get lost in the back alleys zig-zagging every direction all filled with small tapas bars, cervecerias, and bakeries. Of course the first trek of mine was finding the few tapas bars I had heard of and hunting down there specialties. I traveled through several areas, Plaza Mayor, Plaza Santa Ana, Real Madrid, and my favorite Cava Baja. The streets were packed in the afternoon with lunch time partiers bouncing from one tapas bar to another. Madrid seemed to be very casual, working class, with people who love to talk.
FOOD- Small tapas bars were the order of the weekend. I was first very intimidated not knowing the formalities of tapas much less the language. I finally learned to push myself to the bar as if I were still in college, point to what I wanted and hope I got it right. Highlights were padron peppers and grilled pigs ears at Oreja de Oro., Spanish sausage plate, tortilla Espana at Orixe.
At the end of the trip we also got to tour the Merca Madrid. It is the wholesale food market of Spain, including the second largest fish market in the world. The fish market had at least 60 vendor stalls under one roof, each displaying the offerings and flying past on pallet jacks. We got to tour Nortenos meat which is the largest distributor in Spain. They are still taking full carcass and breaking them down into sub primal all the weigh down to portioned steak. They did this from beef carcasses, pork, baby lambs, and even had 6 pound suckling pigs. All very clean and professional, I was very jealous of the system they had set up.
ANDALUCIA:
TOURISTIC- From Madrid I took the Ave train into Sevilla and met Jose, partner at Solex, for the Andalucia Sabor food show. The first and only night we got to tour the old quarter with its narrow streets we had dinner with several other importers from Despana, Rogers collection, Matiz, and La Espanola. It was great getting their perspective on the business and they could not have been more friendly. Throughout the region, we also got to visit Granada, the Alhambra palace, and the deheasa of Jabugo. The only thing more beautiful than the countryside are the women who are famous in that part of the world.
FOOD- Olive trees grow like corn in this part of Spain, most gourmet olive oils are made in Jaen where varieties such as Picual, arbequina, and Hojiblanca rule. There is a range of flavors of the oils, the higher regarded ones in Spain tend to have strong, grassy, distinct flavors and aromas. We need to take a lesson how to use these different styles for different applications, the impact it can have on a dish is enormous.
Vegatoro- We visited our olive producer. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this is yet another small family company. Juan Luis showed us some new awards he won in Belgium for his olives, and then the new line of products he was working on. Candied olives anyone?
Jamon now means something completely different to me. You must understand how the Iberico market actually works in Spain. There are a lot more companies and Iberico pigs than I originally thought. There are two main competing regions raising their hogs, Salamanca and Jabugo. Each claim their Deheasa has more oak trees and their pigs are more pure. We visited Cinco Jotas in Jabugo which is considered one of the top producers, original structure of the plant dates back over 100 years, beautiful. They had 1 million jamones aging in their underground bodegas which we walked through, it was a massive hall of jamon. You can really tell the difference between the different producers and regions. It is so special this process and tradition, it becomes obvious why jamon Iberico de bellota is considered to be like caviar or truffle across the world.
From Sevilla we traveled to the other Jamon region, Salamanca to visit our producer of Iberico Hams, Fermin. Fermin is the currently the only company approved to export iberico products to the United States. We toured the plant with Javier, showing us the full process and what they had to do to receive USDA approval. La Alberica is the small midevil town where Fermin is located. They donate a pig to the town every year which walks around the village square asking for food and saying hello to outdoor diners.
BARCELONA:
Touristic: Barcelona is a very cosmopolitan, international city. The port is filled with cruise ships and a different language can be heard wherever you go. We arrived in the middle of the Merce festival, where each square had bands set up and parades just appeared with a display of fireworks. Of course we hit the major sites, Gaudi’s Parc Guelle, Segrada Familia, La Rambla, and La Boqueria. We also stepped up our food consumption opting for the more avant garde rather than the traditional tapas we have already experienced.
FOOD- We immediately hit La Boqueria for lunch, luckily Chef Ryan Poli of Perennial had given us great advice from his time staging in Spain. First the famous Pinotxo, where we had grilled calamares, >>>>>. Then on to Quim, it took a long time to jockey for a seat but the reward was a raciones of sautéed local mushrooms, poached egg, seared foie, with a balsamic vinegar reduction, not bad for a 15 foot food stall in the middles of a food market. We then had dinner at Inopia, Albert Adria’s tapas bar. The food was surprisingly, traditional, simple, and fantastic. Highlights were the fried eggplant with a cane sugar reduction, the conservas of clams with the house sauce which is simply vinegar and paprika. Of course you know you are in the right spot when the uber-trendy Madeline Albreicht walks in behind you for dinner. Finally we had lunch at Sergi Arola’s restaurant in the hotel arts. Ryan’s friend Ishmeal is chef de cuisine and treated us great. The simple things stick out to me and I hope someone steals this, for the bread appetizer they had a do it yourself tomato bread. A trey came out with bread, tomato, garlic, salt and a bottle of Arbequina olive oil. The guest cuts the garlic in half then rubs it on the bread, cuts tomato in half then rubs on bread, sprinkle salt and and add olive oil. It was ingenious, someone use this for tomato season next year please! We also got to check out the kitchen and talk to Ishmeal, thanks Ryan!
SAN SEBASTION:
Touristic: It felt like we entered yet another part of the world when we entered San Sebastion, the climate is cooler and landscape very green. San Sebastion itself is probably the classiest destination you could imagine. Set on the Cantabrian Sea bordering France, it is a classic beachfront city without the excessive lights and noise that ruins most others. Jon from Ortiz was our host, and lived up to all the hype of the basque people being the most hospitable in the world. We visited several smaller port towns along the coast where there are still real fishing villages and families have lived and fished for generations.
FOOD-
Conservas Ortiz- This company was our sponsor for the trip, they have seven plants dating from the very old to the very new. We got to see the full process in which they can their Tuna and Anchovies. Again everything is packed by hand, from the layers of salted anchovies to the hand cut tuna loins packed in glass jars with olive oil. The Tuna is only caught in the local waters of the Cantabrian Sea, while the anchovies are caught in the northern Mediterranean only using the largest variety possible. Fishing for anchovies has been halted in the Cantabrian Sea for 4 years but is supposed to resume again next year. We also got to try the different types of Tuna they offer from Yellow fin, to the famed Bonito, and the Ventresca (belly) of the Bonito. Now I can see why Ortiz is differentiated from the different Tuna’s that are being offered. It is a completely different flavor and quality.
PINTXOS- The old quarter of San Sebastion is filled with Pintxo bars. Simply a Pintxo is a one or two bite piece usually on bread with a toothpick through the top, kind of like a large canapé. This is my favorite types of Tapas. You can easily get lost in the old town bouncing from bar to bar with the most delicious food you can imagine.
ARZAK- Our trip ended with a grand finale, lunch at Arzak. This restaurant lived up to its reputation. We went for the tasting menu; several highlights included the carmelized foie on top of thin slices of fig. Perfectly cooked lamb, Grilled Bonito tuna with balsamic reduction spheres, check out the pictures. I cannot thank Jon and Ortiz enough for such an experience. I must return.
FINAL THOUGHTS-
It is hard for us to translate the importance of this culture and food to our customers in Chicago, as we are now in a great transition in American cooking to an artisanal, local movement. The thing is the producers and people of Spain never lost this concept. It has been instilled in them and evolved from the very beginning. The regions and D.O.’s that are so important to them, it translates into product that is not duplicated anywhere in the world. So as we further promote this product and culture we must realize the people behind it are the most artisanal and traditional that you can find, by necessity.
I also have to thank the people that made this trip possible for me. First, my wife Karrie for being able to handle the operations of the company and letting me escape. My full staff at JDY, for stepping up to the plate and putting the extra hours in to make this happen. The Extenda operation, conservas Ortiz, Embutidos Fermin, and Vegetaro for their support and hospitality on this trip. And especially Jose Sarrate from Solex Partners, he is the one who allowed this to happen. I learned a lot about the food and culture from him, more importantly we really developed our, he would say relationship, I will say friendship. Gracias Jose!!
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