Peeling Back Porto’s Tastiest Layers With Its Signature Sandwich Francesinha
November 15, 2011 by Anil P.
Filed under Food, Pictures and Video
It’s been two weeks since I was in the best city to visit in 2011 voted by you, Porto, having taken a huge bite out of the city with Visit Portugal and ATTTurismo‘s help. I didn’t quite know how to introduce you to Portugal’s second largest city but when it comes to bites, francesinha is the answer in Porto. This simple cheese exterior hides the 1,600 calorie layers of cured ham, steak, sausage, and bread all swimming in a spicy beer-based sauce. So, while rumors as to its origin are rampant – from French princesses to Porto expats in France (hence the name “little Frenchie”) – it’s city of origin is something everyone agrees on.
Francesinha can be found all over Porto so prevalently that I couldn’t find any two people who had the same favorite spot to get some. The photo above was taken at Cafe Santiago, one of two restaurants with the same name in the city that was voted by Porto residents as serving the best francesinha last year. A bit of a biased result I’m told since Cafe Santiago is nearly twice the size of Restaurante Bufete Fase, another local favorite (and Jamie Oliver’s pick) . While I visited both restaurants to try their francesinha, it’s a debate I can’t find a side to sit on; mostly because I could barely get up after each taste test.
Time For Wine In Madrid, Spain At Mercado De San Miguel
August 26, 2011 by Anil P.
Filed under Food, Pictures and Video
Markets aren’t supposed to have walls; rather cluttered open-air spaces with sheets of cheap plastic or scrap metal barely protecting the commerce below. That’s at least in my colored impression of them, mostly from Turkey but reaffirmed in places further away like Ecuador. Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid, Spain is really quite the opposite of that traditional term “market” but there’s a good reason for its modernity. Located in the middle of Madrid, Mercado de San Miguel was reborn in 2003 to pump some life into the city’s heart while concurrently boosting the local economy.
Originally opened in 1915 and left to die a death of neglect some years later, what breathes vigor into this modern version of market is variety. It’s not 33 vendors selling variations of similar dishes but a wave of Spanish cuisines so enticing the first hungry steps inside can have you frantically and un-decidedly bouncing from one end to the other. It’s almost not fair, especially when you stop by on a short visit from Valencia before heading to the airport as I did. Mercado de San Miguel nearly caused me to intentionally miss my flight altogether, I hadn’t even gotten around to the seafood after trying some caprichos de embutido, bastones de fuet (both types of dried sausage), and a glass of wine.
And the wine is what slows things down it seems for the hungry folks and plentiful tourists lounging in front of tubs of shrimp while occasionally being cooled down by automatic sprays of water mist. (There is no air conditioning inside which is a nice old-school market touch.) The prices too, are surprisingly economical when compared to eating out in the rest of Spain for food of such high quality – walls or not. The Mercado de San Miguel is open Monday-Thursday from 10am to midnight, and two hours longer the other days of the week.
You can see more pictures in my album from Madrid here.
A Slice Of Naples At Pupatella In Arlington, Virginia
It’s really hard to get your food noticed in an metropolitan area with the kind cultural diversity of Washington DC has. One with such a wide ethnic sprawl over a large physical area, cultures here are quickly homogenized, along with their cuisines. Pizza is the sort of dish you wouldn’t expect to stand out here – a generic term that evokes images of fast food low on the culinary pecking order. But what’s cooking at Pupatella in Arlington, Virginia isn’t simply pizza. It’s Neapolitan pizza prepared by the experienced hands of Italian Enzo Algarme.
Verace Pizza Napoletana Certified
You can’t just make Neapolitan pizza and declarations of such must be certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN); a governing body that lays down very specific requirements for how Neapolitan pizza is to be made. The dough, individual ingredients (e.g type of flour), cooking time, and circumference are all precisely laid out by the VPN. Along with a wood burning oven – check – Pupatella’s had one custom made in Naples and shipped to its modest establishment in Arlington, Virgina.
Arlington, the county directly south of Washington DC, is the American equivalent of a welcome mat into the United States‘ capital city. Many immigrants begin their journey in Arlington when arriving to stay, a population of 200,000 that sees so much fresh blood it evolves like an accelerated cultural Petri dish.
Sprouting The Seeds Of A Pizza Dream
Pupatella began as a food cart a few years back in a nearby part of town, the bright-red embodiment of my friend Enzo’s dream, one that’s taken off into the hip little pizza joint in the Ballston area of Arlington today. Enzo, often wearing a bright fedora and sunglasses, makes each pizza himself. In the oven, 4 at a time, with an attention to detail and care hard to describe in words. Almost as if each pizza is brought to life specifically for your mouth, the San Marzano tomatoes (the only approved variety) will make parts of your scalp tingle with the first bite.
Much like Enzo, most of the ingredients of Pupatella’s pizza come from Naples. The mozzarella, made with water buffalo milk – not cow – is imported from Naples, though the character of the food is clearly evident, even under the rigid requirements of the VPN. I recommend going for the “Real Margherita” pizza, a classic, along with 2 arancini – fried rice balls stuffed with cheese, peas, and sausage (there is also a vegetarian version). All of this will run you about $16 and 10-30 minutes depending on how long the moment’s lines are. Enzo doesn’t rush any part of the pizza creation process and glowingly says that quality takes time.
I’ve known Enzo for over 10 years now since the time we shared a dorm at university. He’s always had a Mediterranean passion for his work and it’s really fortunate for anyone who makes it to Pupatella that you can eat the product of his hard labor these days. Pupatella is located at 5104 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia and generally open Tuesday through Saturdays from 11:30am to 10pm. Lines can be long in the evening hours and you can best avoid them by popping in mid-afternoon for a pizza, wine, and gelato meal Naples style.
You catch up with Pupatella on Facebook.
A Short History Of Paella At La Matandeta In Valencia, Spain
July 22, 2011 by Anil P.
Filed under Food, Pictures and Video
You cannot separate paella from Valencia, Spain where it originated in the 18th century. This dish and the round flat pan it’s cooked in by the same name, was made possible by the introduction of special short grain rices from Africa. Brought along with the Moors who conquered much of the Iberian peninsula during the 15th century, the hot, dry climate of Valencia proved to be an ideal place to cultivate the rice. And paella is all about the rice – which splits short way when heated – not on the ends like other rices, which allows it to absorb much more flavor from whatever it’s cooked with.
The original paella dishes were often made with rat as other meats were hard to come by but has since evolved into three major branches. Above is an example of the Valencia variety; the major ingredients being rice mixed with beans, tomatoes, duck, snails, olive oil and the essential saffron. (Here’s a full recipe.) All cooked over an open fire in the flat paella pans which vary in size but run about 75 centimeters across. There are countless ways to prepare paella, several of which I tried at La Matandeta in El Saler, just south of Valencia.
La Matandeta feels more like a giant summer house than a restaurant, a place so beautiful and calming at first sight you don’t want to leave. Seven courses and several bottles of wine later I almost couldn’t leave, I was so full.
Content to eat away into insulin bliss I was able to recover with a cafe con hielo overlooking the rice (yes, paella rice) fields from La Matandeta’s terrace. Not something often ordered by tourists I’m told, cafe con hielo is basically espresso served with another glass containing an ice cube. Pour unfiltered coffee over ice and you get a refreshing caffeinated shot on a hot Valencian summer day.
There are a few paella faux pas I was clued into on my trip provided by Tour Spain and Valencia Tourism – first off being that paella is a lunch thing, generally never eaten for dinner. A late lunch I should mention, as in Spain, lunch gets rolling around 2pm and isn’t designed for brevity. Lastly, remember cooking paella takes time and the in the best places you won’t see it within 30 minutes of ordering.
You can see more food and the rest of Valencia in my album here.
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