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Private Notes
José explores the wonders of Spanish olive oil in Andalucía, joining workers in the field for the olive harvest and a traditional harvest breakfast. Bringing the oil back home, he uses the liquid gold to put a distinctively Spanish twist on a classic American dish—chicken wings. After preparing a classic Andalucían soup, salmorejo, José heads for a freiduria (a fried fish restaurant) in the beautiful area around Seville, where great Spanish olive oil and delicious fish from the nearby Mediterranean combine for astounding fried fish tapas.
José travels to Cataluña, the region where he was raised, to join in the Calçot Festival, a joyous occasion attended by thousands that honors, of all things, an unusual onion. He uses a similar onion to cook a white bean omelet, and shows us how to create two more traditional dishes from this area: One is mar y montaña, (Spanish surf-and-turf), which he pairs with the region’s famed Priorat wines; the other–canelloni. (OH, you thought that was Italian? Not any more!)
Centuries of history and generations of cooking tradition come together in Castilla y León, where José travels to restaurants that have mastered fire. We look on as master chefs roast pigs and lambs, then watch as José prepare the perfect roast rack of lamb. And we meet the Ibérico pig—source of the Ibérico ham that was unavailable in the U.S. until recently, but is now sweeping the nation as the caviar of cold cuts.
After creating a special drunken goat cheese and tomato salad, José ventures through the region of Murcia in search of the truth behind drunken goat cheese. After visiting the great historic sites of Murcia—the Roman theater at Cartagena, the still-working ancient water wheels—José takes us to a wonderful winery, and explores the famed Murcia vegetable gardens and cooks some great vegetable dishes. Finally, José tries his hand at a unique style of fishing—and, of course, cooks what he catches.
José explores the fascinating region of Valencia, famed for its rice fields and paella restaurants. After visiting the best of them, José takes us back to his home in America and teaches us to cook paella at a backyard barbecue with his wife and three daughters!
José travels to Iles Balears where he begins by making a unique omelet with sobrasada, a rare spreadable sausage—then takes us to the islands where those sausages originate. At a black pig farm on Mallorca he rediscovers a delicacy from his childhood–then takes us to a patisserie that makes a famed local dessert from the pork lard! Then onto the island of Menorca for some lobster fishing (and a traditional lobster dish, of course). José visits both a great cheese maker and one of the worlds most renowned gin makers—where he reveals the recipe for the perfect gin and tonic.
José travels to Andalucía’s Granada, the city that made cold soup famous, and creates two of his own–the famed gazpacho, and the purely Andalucían delicacy, ajo blanco. He dances his way through one of Spain’s most famed festivals, the Feria de Abril in Sevilla, and takes us on a tapas bar-hopping trip to sample the local delicacies —all sandwiched around a visit to La Alhambra, one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
Exploring the fertile peaks, fields and valleys of Cantabria, the area known as Green Spain, José creates a unique tapa pairing Cantabria’s most prized product—anchovies—with a surprising ingredient: nectarines. José returns to Cantabria to follow the anchovy trail and see how the locals eat the–then heads to the thriving capital city of Santander and the beautiful town of Santillana del Mar, to explore ancient cave paintings. After quick stops to a great bakery, a great restaurant, and a great cable car ride, it’s back to Washington D.C. to create a super steak with Cantabria’s creamy blue Picón cheese.
A return to Valencia makes a star out of the region’s nuts. José whips together a nutty dessert called postre de turrón, then heads to Valencia to show how turrón – a nutty paste – is made, starting with the beautiful almond trees in Jijona and ending in the factories and stores that make and sell this regional Christmastime delicacy. He even visits a horchateria where tiger nuts are made into a creamy drink! There are stops at great wineries along the way, time out to cook up a delicious Valencian noodle dish known as Fideua, and a stop at the wild, fire-filled Valencia Fallas festival. José winds up at one of Spain’s most famed restaurants, El Poblet—where he watches his old friend, chef Quique Dacosta, prepare a dish made with real gold.
After cooking two quick tapas – one with a local cheese from Extremadura, the other with the region’s cherries – José makes a sweet escape to the startlingly beautiful cherry fields of Extremadura, meets the cheese makers (and the sheep) responsible for the decadent creamy cheese known as Torta del Casar. After giving a pinch of pimentón—Spanish paprika —to the traditional Extremadura salad known as Cojodongo, José’s inspired to return to the region to visit the fields and factories where the unique sweet and smoky Spanish spice is made. And he reveals why a French culinary tradition must pay thanks to a small monastery here.
In the mythical forests of Aragón, a heavenly region almost too beautiful to be real, José is inspired to cook two very earthly regional dishes: Migas, an ancient dish based on breadcrumbs (in this case, paired with mushrooms and serrano ham) and pollo al chilindron, a chicken stew made with a green and red pepper sauce. He returns to Aragón to walk the Pyrenees Mountains, fish for trout, and even hunt for truffles, the old-fashioned way.
José explores one of the most sophisticated regions of Europe, Basque Country, and cooks some of the iconic dishes of the countryside – from pintxos (small regional tapas) including one named after a movie star, to the delicate cod dish known as bacalao al pil pil. He takes us to the traditional place in Spain for eating bacalao – a cider bar; explores the beautiful city of San Sebastian; and he visits Arzak -- the restaurant of one of his mentors, and one of the greatest restaurants in all of Spain.
Since the United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato, José begins his trip to these stunningly beautiful islands of Canarias by cooking up a fascinating local dish of wrinkled potatoes and two great sauces, a mojo rojo and a mojo verde – then visits the potato fields on the island of Tenerife. While there, of course, José stops off at a great winery and a fabulous restaurant, then ventures on to the island of Lanzarote (but not before creating a superb sancocho–a local version of fish stew).
