Green Bean

Ah, a nice crunchy Risotto in the making.....                                                                                                  

But, no... zees are not zee rice, zee vialone, carnaroli o zee arborio... no no no, it eez zee oats... you is avena laugh!

No no no greenbean, you have stepped over zze line.

Not bad, i gotta say.. a bit bouncy. Enough salt in the bacon and perhaps a bit of pre-soaking will soften the meal up.

For that true Atlantic Europe taste, some proper grown up lamb, some leeks... but consider the addition of some extraordinary, cliffhanging samphire. 

Fit for dragons i'd say. Found this driftwood dragon washed up on the beach at the end of a rainbow.

Mum, and other stall holders had warned me that selling at Riverside Market in Cardiff on a match-day is not much fun. On the river, opposite the Millenium Stadium, the usual sunday morning city centre calm becomes a scrum-down as the roads are closed, buses diverted and upto 70000 fans head down the embankment to the game. The commited regular customers who come to the market faithfully week in week out either come early on these rare days to avoid the crowds or they stay away and wait until next week.

I thought it would be a good idea to be positive and try to turn a problem into an opportunity. Make something of the occasion, take the chance to show off the market we are proud of, extend the conversation that already exists between the consumer and producer, but also marginalised community; the homeless, the developing world producer, the immigrant and refugee ethnic community. Many - most of those rugby fans are a new community, new actors, new audience to the market, lets show 'em what we've got.

It wasn't even hard to dream up a terretorial, national, pride in your country, heritage, team kind of line. floating in the rafters at the theatre we have a dragon ex sea monster rucksack-worn giant that could be borrowed. The  Draig Goch --- Red Dragon of Wales... stretching it's wings, light and bright swooped along the river capturing in a view the market, thousands of people, the stadium, and something to be proud of and give joy. That's not to mention the tremendous,  gourmendous treats on offer..

And a table full of daffodils. That was at the core of it all. I wanted to sell daffodils, and if my regulars wernt all coming... though many (including readers here) did... then how about some "big fat yellow ones" to take to the game, along with flags and hats and all the regalia?? Regalia that included.. to my bemusement.. yard long plastic inflatable daffs. Thousands and thousands of them!!

Bemused... to miffed, as fans turned down my generous offer of real Welsh daffs.. "well iss gay innit.. you can't hit the Irish man in front over the head with 'em... an besides these are really welsh ennay?" and depression sets in as i realise these automatic plastic worst of chinese tat inflatable daffs are sponsored by Really Welsh, Emmit's brand new hope.

And here the story takes a twist as we see a little inside  the "buy local"  game.

The multiple retailers are falling over themselves at the moment to garner a share of the now mainstreaming enviro market. Amongst initiatives to reduce packaging, erect wind-turbines on top of stores and carbon neutralising comitments are the endorsements for local... or at least locality-ised procurement. This is a big story and greenbean looks on wide-eyed as it plays out before us. But Sunday, yesterday, I found myself in the thick of it's inflations.

Up for review... i'd love any comments/feedback

oh and a totally vacuous profile of Adria.. 

And i love this: "molecular gastronomy does not exist" 

Catalonia is not Spain

PIC: Gastrognome

Although this region sports a donkey logo on its cars rather than the Spanish bull, It's no stubborn mule. Catalonia just recently passed a referendum to make this Mediterranean, Pyrenean North East corner of Spain independent. Its a vibrant, dynamic, multicultural, hard-working place. In seeking it's own identity Catalonia embraces a globalising world with flair, and looks ambitiously to the future.

Barcelona celebrated the referendum vote in style on the night of San Juan, an all-night midsummers beach-party. 100's of thousands of revellers danced under a firework sky until dawn on the spectacular seafront, welcoming a new season and a new freedom. The city, extensively redeveloped around the time of the 1992 Olympics is one of Europe's most popular destinations. Visitors attracted to the fine architecture, fabulous beaches and cultural vibe also enjoy a tremendous food experience. The streets and walkways of Barcelona are packed with bars and restaurants offering a phenomenal gastronomic adventure. Through the eyes of a gastronomer, exploring the region, looking into the products, finding out about and tasting dishes, the true spirit of Catalonia is revealed.

The food producers here are not hanging around, this is where you'll find state of the art olive groves and marketing initiatives that build on the cultural capital behind local cured meat products. Something about the spirit of success here combines beautifully the best of the old with that of the new. The municipal markets have been the most recent target for progressive post-modernisation. Rather than left to crumble and be re-valued and gentrified by the property market, they are the focus for local economic development. Barcelona's 39 municipal produce market buildings are systematically being transformed into dynamic artisinal yet highly competitive spaces. It seems as though the discussion that has led to the regions autonomy and development has embodied the activities of the 21^st century. Embedded in what it feels and knows from the past but playfully, confidently inviting new perspectives: be they cultural or technological. Real markets bursting with colourful fresh produce combined with innovation and creativity bring an exciting dimension to the Catalan menu.

Typical of busy, historical Mediterranean port towns, a diversity of flavours and recipes has for ever arrived with migrants and traders and invaders, established themselves and mutated into particular specialities. Look out for familiar flavours and compare the salt-cod bunyols with Venetian baccalau, the coca to the Neapolitan pizza and the picados against Genovese pesto. Not to simplify: arguably Catalan cuisine, when it sticks to its roots, has maintained into modernity perhaps most accurately its medieval use of nuts, spices and combinations of sweet and savoury. While orthodoxy has it's place, post-modern Catalonia is forging into new territory by working with its heritage and re-interpreting the ingredients and dishes to meet the needs of a new society. Tapas is a super example. It's origins simply a piece of bread to “top” an evening glass of wine; stop the flies, stave off hunger. It's complications and varieties come from all over Spain; in a particular dish, a set of flavours; meat, cheese, olives, fruit, vegetables, with or without bread. Now, it's the perfect vehicle for a chef to show off and grab the tourists in the evening into one of the thousands of tapas bars and restaurants. Tapas is a format.. a medium for culinary creativity. And neither is it frowned upon to be using thoroughly exotic ingredients and combinations so the boundary between tapas and sushi, for example, becomes blurred. For the consumer you take it as far as you want, one can be a snack with a drink, or a dozen-shared: a full degustatory menu, and typically in the same establishment.

Contemporary Catalan cuisine is not an idea without its drivers. The historical pedigree for cultural absorbency is reflected in an emergent avant guard cuisine. Chefs like Ferran Adria are “de-constructing” the language and practice of cuisine. His workspace is as much chemistry laboratory and media studio as kitchen. The motives though, for boiling local products in liquid nitrogen and de-stabilising our sense of familiarity and comfort, recognise that gastronomy belongs to everybody and a new language is required that doesn't exclude the ordinary person. Adria's polemic creates a reference point, the discourse is established as we write. But most importantly, and this is the cunning, is that it sets a practical example. “Cooking isn't art, it's cooking, “ he says, “the complicity of eating.. a food creation... engaging all the senses and the body... makes it closer to us than the arts.” What the avant gard do and say is resonating with the vibe. It's talking to the middle class plaza tables and the socialist garage-band student bars and gives the ubiquitous patatas bravas experience an irresistible vibrancy.

Innovation is one thing, but what's it all for? This is not novelty for the sake of it, it's at the core of Catalonia's uniqueness. The voice of ordinary and infinitely various people is institutionalised in Catalonia. Barcelona's redevelopment, with its magnificent buildings and public spaces values the individual as much as it gives incentive for economic investment. Celebrating and giving space to marginalised people is a way of life. As well as the living street-food culture seen with tapas, the region's sparkling wine, Cava, is a great example of this modern food culture being people-centred and lively. Elsewhere in Europe, fizzy pop producers might well construct protective legends of status and tradition around their products. Here wine-makers showing you around the disgorgement cellars won't forget the legacy and knowledge that goes into the bottle, but will sooner toast your happy visit rather than linger self-consciously on the rim of the glass. The important thing is to load the crates on the bus and get down to that beach party... That's where the life is.

Pasta is easy to make. Essentially it is flour and water kneaded to stretch and join the strands of protein and form a silky, elastic dough. If the flour is weak, or if a stronger, richer dough is required, then the water can be substituted with an egg. The worked mixture has a noble character; cool, weighty and firm yet sensuous, delicate and responsive. Under the rolling pin it stretches out impressively wide and thin.

Millions of generations of Italian enthusiasm for this simplest of formulas has led to its punctilious refinement. At the same time there is a bewildering variety of cuts, forms and shapes. There's everything from angel's hair and little ears to butterflies and worms and that’s before getting started on the sauces and fillings.

The complexity of Pasta in the Italian psyche is enough to justify the military discipline experienced in the kitchen when it comes to the size of pan, the boiling of the perfectly salted water and the judgement of cooking time. Comparing recipes can animate and divide dining strangers for hours. Having to squeeze its cultural history into a dozen hours of lectures will bring tears of desperation to a Professor’s eyes. The importance of pasta to Italians, in short, renders these most communicative of people lost for words. Pasta is gloriously, simply lived. It is anticipated, made, honoured with the finest of condiments, shared and consumed.

There is much to be appreciated and learned from participating in the ritual of Pasta. But at the same time, perhaps the most important lesson is that with a few ground rules, the simplest ingredients can adapt themselves to a world of diversity. It provides delightful substance to everything from the smallest fish to the heartiest beef and to every season and continent of vegetable. Pasta, its companions and protocols owe practically everything to centuries of historical change and global integration. Italy's is not the world's first combination of flour and water, but certainly one of the most refined, complex and exciting.

Making Pasta is easy - so easy that everyone should try it. You can follow the rules if you like, but the spirit of the game is taking the humblest leap of faith and creating legends out of what can be made at home with the best local ingredients.