INTERNATIONAL: SPAIN: Catalonia: Sauces 4 & 5: Salbitxada/Salvitxada and Xató

• Salvitxada or Salbitxada (above) made from almonds, hazelnuts, garlic, bread, vinegar, tomatoes, olive oil and dried red peppers).  Salbitxada sauce (essentially a romesco).  

See post on Romesco here:

LINK to Romesco Sauce

Xató, a variety of 
Salvitxada/Salbitxada without tomatoes.

What is traditional Spanish Xatonada?

Grilled Vegetables with Xato Sauce

XATÓ FEVER: CATALUNYA´S MOST BELOVED SALAD

INTERNATIONAL: ITALIAN REGIONS 1: Abruzzo/Abruzzi 1 - L'Aquila province and Video

LINK TO ABRUZZO RECIPES

About Abruzzo aka Abruzzi:

• Capital - L'Aquila
• Four Provinces

• Dialects:  
• Sabine dialect, in the province of L'Aquila (central Italian dialects)
• Abruzzo Adriatic dialect, in the province of  Teramo, Pescara and Chieti, that is virtually abandoned in the province of Ascoli Piceno (southern Italian dialects)
• Abruzzo western dialect, in the province of L'Aquila (southern Italian dialects)

Sabine is a dialect as said above and the people have their own foods that have survived the times. The Sabines were tribes before the founding of Rome.  The Sabines divided into two populations just after the founding of Rome, which is described by Roman legend. The division, however it came about, is not legendary. The population closer to Rome transplanted itself to the new city and united with the pre-existing citizenry, beginning a new heritage that descended from the Sabines. The second population remained a mountain tribal state, coming finally to war against Rome for its independence along with all the other Italic tribes. After losing, it became assimilated into the Roman Republic. 

LINKS - Abruzzo and L'Aquila

VIDEO LINK:

L'Aquila 2017 (in Italian)

VIDEO LINK: 

LINK TO CUISINE OF ABRUZZO

SECOND LINK TO ABRUZZO CUISINE 

LINKS - Sabine (below photos)

PINTEREST


L'Aquila (in Italian)

SABINE OLIVE OIL HARVEST

INTERNATIONAL: SPAIN: Catalonia: Sauces 3: • Picada

Picada

This is a very traditional Catalan sauce made from garlic, parsley, roasted almonds and pine nuts. It is used as a base for other sauces for both fish and meat.

Other ingredients can be added such as this recipe:

CHICKEN with Picada Sauce


Another recipe using picada

Fisherman Stew with Picada and Romesco

Picada and Romesco above; fish stew below

Another Picada recipe

SUNDAY NIGHT CHICKEN

 Another Chicken Picada Recipe

CHICKPEA STEW with picada and romesco sauces

INTERNATIONAL: SPAIN: Catalonia: Sauces 2: All-i-oli, Allioli - Alioli - Aioli - recipes, gifs,video and more!

Allioli or All-i-oli la catalana

True Catalan Allioli is a thick sauce made of garlic and olive oil, used with grilled meats or vegetables, and some other dishes. Allioli means garlic (all) and (i) oil (oli) in Catalan.  NO EGGS.  

Another definition and recipe is made with garlic, olive oil, egg yolk and a touch lemon juice which makes this extraordinarily popular sauce called alioli. Simple to make, alioli is delicious on everything from potatoes to fish and even vegetables.

LINK to real Catalan Allioli VIDEO - no eggs

Alioli and Aioli

The non-Catalan or French Alioli and aioli is a simple sauce made from olive oil, egg yolks and lots of garlic! If you’ve ever made home-made mayonnaise, it might look familiar… because it is creamy mayonnaise with plenty of garlic added!

LINK to Alioli or Aioli VIDEO with eggs

INTERNATIONAL: SPAIN: Catalonia: Sauces 1: Romesco - recipes, gifs,video and more!

Romesco   

Romesco preparation and finished product in GIF above

Romesco Uses Below

Romesco, a rustic, ruddy-hued, all-purpose sauce from Catalonia, is served with fish, poultry, meats and vegetables, and in stews. In that northeastern part of Spain, eating the seasonal grilled spring onions called calçots without romesco for dipping is unthinkable.

There is no standard recipe or even ingredient list for romesco. It invariably includes ripe tomatoes — we did say summer or early fall? — garlic, olive oil, almonds or hazelnuts, bread and mild chiles, but the proportions can vary. It is not particularly spicy, unless you want it to be. The nuts and bread thicken it and give it texture.

Uses:

• grilled onions (calcots)
• alongside portions of daurade, a Mediterranean fish
• great as a dip for crudités
• thicken soups
• “punch up” a kind of Majorcan ratatouille served with red snapper
• with lamb
•  fold into rice and noodle dishes.
•  a dressing for bitter greens like escarole or frisée
• garnish for roasted potatoes and onions
• romesco pasta sauce

In the summer or early fall, think of slathering it on a burger or using it as a dip for fries or to replace butter on corn on the cob, as my granddaughters did when I tested the recipe. It is as versatile as mayonnaise, with even more personality, and keeps for weeks in the refrigerator.

• But like professionals, the amateur cook should plan to make it, not buy it. There is no supermarket gold standard, as there is for mayonnaise. Romesco sold in small jars in Spain, or imported and sold here, is less vibrant than anything you can make at home.
• Fairway uses ancho and chipotle chiles. But in Tarragona, the city south of Barcelona where the sauce is thought to have originated, the chile of choice is a dark, round, dried ñora.
  

  
  Mr. Solé i Torné uses romesco as a condiment, in salad dressings and notably to thicken sauces for seafood, as in a casserole of fish baked over potatoes, or simmered in a dish of skate with clams and mussels. His own recipe will vary according to the application.
  Some cooks and chefs add wine, onions, roasted peppers like piquillos or red bell peppers, vinegar and Spanish paprika or cayenne. The ingredients are always cooked before being blended. Most chefs grill and roast them. Mr. Solé i Torné prefers frying, which for home cooks is an easier method than roasting batches of each ingredient.
  Either way, it’s a typical Mediterranean mixture, originally pounded in a mortar, like Italian pesto,

  

  and French rouille

  

  and tapenade.

  

   Near Tarragona, Victor Gilgado Martos, a local chef, demonstrated making romesco using a mortar in a farmhouse kitchen while the calçots
  

  

  were grilling outdoors. But halfway through, he picked up a hand blender. So it goes.
  Traditionally, fishermen made it to eat with seafood. But when? Some say its origins are Roman, from the time that Tarragona was a provincial capital of the empire. Others credit the Moors. Mr. Solé i Torné said that “rumiskal” — a word meaning to mix, from the Moorish era in Spain — may point to Arab origins for the sauce.
  Nonetheless, it took the arrival of tomatoes and chiles in Spain in the 16th century for romesco to acquire its present-day character.
  And now, with a growing interest outside Spain, romesco’s uses and variations are bound to keep multiplying.

Romesco ideas for serving

LINK to Allrecipes recipe and 14 photos and uses

LINK to 5 minute Romesco Sauce and uses for!

LINK to Epicurious recipe and uses

LINK to Simply Recipes recipe

LINK to VIDEO - Romesco and Asparagus

INTERNATIONAL: German 3 foot long bratwurst eaten in Minneapolis!!

LINK to video and info and photos

INTERNATIONAL: FRANCE: Authentic Provencal Unique Gourmet Cultural Tour

LINK to authentic provencal gourmet tour

See gif below

INTERNATIONAL: Greek Festival in Dallas, TX September 22-23-24 2017

http://www.greekfestivalofdallas.com

 The Tastes of Greece — A La Carte!

 Enjoy one taste sensation after another:

• NEW! Grilled Lamb Chop — PAITHAKIA — Two Greek Style Lamb Chops grilled over hardwood charcoal seasoned with olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper, served with a lemon wedge.

• NEW! Greek Street Style Marbled Pork Shoulder Kebobs — KALAMAKIA — on a stick, grilled to perfection on an hardwood charcoal, seasoned with oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, and Lemon, served with a slice of bread.

•  Feta Bites — ORIGINAL or SPICY! Try Original Feta or Spicy Feta (TYROKAFTERI). Original is a delicious morsel panko crusted, fried golden brown and served with a choice of roasted fig jam or roasted raspberry chipotle sauce. Mmmm. Or if you are daring, try the Spicy Feta Bites, also panko crusted, fried golden brown with a nice kick. OPA!

• Lamb Sliders or ARDEFTES ARNION — Sliced hot off the rotisserie and kissed with tzatziki sauce or other sauc, leg of lamb sliders are pure melt in your mouth deliciousness.

• The Personal Pastitso — A flavorful mix of pasta, beef and béchamel, sized to be your very own.

• Greek Sausage — LOUKANIKO

•  Chicken Souvlaki

•  and Pork Souvlaki 

— grilled to perfection over an open fire and served with tantalizing Tzatziki sauce and warm pita bread.

• CLASSIC GYRO

 freshly sliced off an upright rotisserie and topped with Tzatziki, tomatoes, and onions! FESTIVAL FAVORITE!

• An array of delicacies including Dolmas 

(herbed rice & beef rolled in a grape leaf), 

• Spanakopita

 and Tiropita

 (spinach and cheese tucked into filo and baked to a turn).

• Greek Fries 

— seasoned to perfection. Try with Feta!

• Freshly tossed Greek Salad

• Appetizer plate of creamy spreads, pita, feta & olives.