New year Food

As a result of a discussion with a friend, I decided to stay in this New Year’s Eve and cook. I was sharing the cooking with a number of people and the theme was to be Tapas. Now we have all had tapas and if you haven’t then please read this blog before you buy it in a restaurant.

I am by no means an expert in food and certainly not Tapas. However I did sample some delicious food in Galicia in the summer of 2014 and used this to inspire some of the dishes I cooked. With Galician cooking, the focus is simplicity and freshness. I could manage the simplicity, it being a huge part of my life and general being. The freshness I couldn’t quite deal with. Fresh scallops in Leeds? A luxury just above my price band.  I did cook little Queen scallops but tried to do it in the Galician way, minus the freshness. Some will say that that isn’t Galician at all. Oh well.

Firstly I chopped a lot of garlic. I mean a lot. I think I chopped a whole bulb of garlic. IU also acquired a lot of olive oil. Probably half a pint for not a lot of seafood. I then proceeded to gently heat some of the oil and some of the garlic in a pan then add the rest of the garlic then the prawns. I added pimento towards the end, a quick stir and served with lemon. I did pretty much the same with the scallops but cooked them a little longer.

Food is a great unifier. When thinking about the great historical moments of our times and the times of those gone long before us, food is not too far away. New Years Eve, normally a drag for me, “It’s just another day isn’t it?!” was transformed into a stupendous food-gasm with a veritable smorgasbord of treats and delights. Again, along the garlic theme, two guests brought home made aioli and mini chorizo sausages tightly packed with flavour. I created albondigas in a rich tomato sauce with a lot of sherry and, unsurprisingly, garlic.

But what is the point of me telling you this long and, frankly, boring account? Because even though there was simplicity in the making, the eating was a delight. Served with fresh crusty bread and fresh lemon, this food was delicious. The almost psychosis-inducing intensity of the garlic took me back to sitting outside the fag-end in Pontevedra with Colin and Dwight and it was a joy. (Note, dear readers, that this is not a comment on the company, which, to be honest, was a darn sight better on NYE.)

A belated happy new year to you all.