Five Beautiful Vineyards You Can Visit in Spain

Guest post contributed by Sauce PR for Spanish tapas restaurant and bar Barrafina, located in the heart of London’s West End.

1. Scala Dei, Priorat

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Scala Dei literally means "staircase to God" and this beautiful vineyard was founded by Carthusian monks in 1163. Situated on the Iberian Peninsula, it is nestled in an ancient village above which soars the Monstant mountain, known as the "holy mountain" and next door is a monastery in ruins. Wine maker Jordi Vidal invites guests to sample the many fine "black wines" produced at his vineyard and explore his micro boutique wine making facilities.

2. Codorniu Winery

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Since 1551, the Codornui Winery has been producing sparkling wines using the traditional methods of fermenting champagnes in the bottle which is referred to as cava. Today, the winery uses modern equipment but does not change their age old production methods. Guests are welcome to spend the day strolling through the fabulous gardens, exploring the museum on the grounds and sampling their excellent vintages at the visitors center. Reservations must be made in advance and they are closed on holidays.

3. Txakoli Vineyards

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Located in the foothills overlooking the Basque coast, Txakoli is famous for producing some of the world's most intriguing novelty wines. The beautiful winery is housed in a charming "Caserio," a traditional Basque farmhouse complex, amid lush hills above the seaside city of Zarautz. Though officially founded in 1992, the family has been making their speciality wines for generations, and hope to carry on the family tradition.

4. Vega Sicilia

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Located in Northern Spain in the Ribera del Duero region, this Spanish winery was founded in 1163, making it the oldest winery in Priorat. Vega Sicilia has been run for generations by the Primum Vini family and produces some of the most expensive wines using the old style of wine making. Some of their best wines, like Unico, take up to 50 years to mature are coveted by the likes of the British royal family.

5. Martúe Winery

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Explore the land of Don Quioxte when you visit the modern Martue Winery in the La Mancha region of Spain where the winery is housed in a beautiful modern replica of the classic hacienda style. The vineyards stretch out all around the estate because this is one of the few Spanish wineries that uses the single vineyard strategy of wine growing. The wines, though excellent, are made to satisfy the mid range price market. The comfortable tasting room is a wonderful place to relax and sample the delicious vintages made by the young, but promising, Castilian team.


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Mussels in Chili Salsa

You know when you just fancy a big bowl of mussels for lunch?

Ingredients:

2kg Fresh mussels
4 Hot red chili peppers (small)
500g tin peeled plum tomatoes
4 Garlic cloves
Olive oil
Coriander
Flat leaf parsley

How to:

1. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil into a large cooking pot, heat until the oil begins to smoke.

2. Add the cleaned mussels, cover with the lid and cook for 4 minutes until shells are open.

3. Meanwhile, puree the plum tomatoes in blender or simply mash up if you want to go rustic, finely chop the garlic and dice the chili peppers.

4. Once the mussel are steamed pour away half of the liqueur.

5. Add the tomatoes, garlic and chili pepper, mix well and simmer for 2 - 3 minutes.

6. Roughly chop the coriander, add to the sauce and mix again.

7. Serve into ceramic bowls and garnish with parsley.

Enjoy with white wine and fresh crusty bread. Just the job!


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Carving your Spanish ham wafer thin

Carving Spanish ham can be a delicate operation, afterall, having spent your hard earned money on one of Spain's best cured hams it would be more than dissapointing if it was not fully savoured and enjoyed. Most Spanish ham carving experts agree that the nature in which the ham is carved enhances the flavour - we agree, you don't want any peculiar shaped gammon steaks from that leg, more like wafer thin transparent slices which, when left to breath for a few minutes at room temperature will produce a flavour unlike anything else.

One of the most common mistakes to make is to continually carve the ham in the center, thus creating a "curve in the leg". An easy habit to fall into but ultimatley will degrade the ham and result in wastage - exactly what we are trying to avoid so... keep the carving level, don't be afraid of the hip bone and life will be made infinately easier!

One tool that will make carving your Spanish ham easier is a boning knife, if you don't have a boning knife then any small sharp knife will do, there comes a certain point when after carving your first few slices you will come across the hip bone. There is still plenty of meat around the hip bone and the best way to take advantage of this is to cut around the bone (about an inch in depth, vertically), this will allow you to cut smaller slices from around the bone that will simply fall away.

An important point is to continually cut around this part of the ham as well as slicing from the broader part of the leg (see photo). This practice will keep your ham as flat as a board. A level ham is much easier to carve those wafer thin slices as a pose to a ham with a "curve" in it. Less wastage and better flavour are the end result.

Equipment ie carving knives are also an essential part of succesfully carving a Spanish ham. The ham carving knife comes in various different lengths, the most common being between 25 - 30cm. These knives are flexible with very thin blades and are designed for the purpose. Expert carvers boast an array of knives but for simple home carving all that is required is a small knife for boning and the ham knife (sometimes known as a "jamonero").

Keeping your knives sharp is also a fundamental aspect of Spanish ham carving, the jamonero should be sharpened regularly - even during carving if a lot of slices are required. Place the blade over the meat at a 30 degree angle and cut just a millimeter into the ham then, level up horizontally and slice nice and level. There is no right or wrong as to how big or small ham slices should be as long as they are thin, ideally you should be able to see the blade of the knife through the slice. Your ham should then be served with your chosen accompaniments (tomatoes, cheese, olive oil, olives, almonds etc) and left for a few minutes until they begins to "sweat".

When ham slices sweat they form very small beads of transparent fat on the surface, it at this point that they have optimum flavour and should be enjoyed.

For more detailed advice on ham carving please see the Orce Serrano Hams website.

Carving
Spanish hams


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Chicken and Serrano Ham Salad

This recipe for chicken and serrano ham is ideal if you have a chicken left over from the night before. The combination works well, similar to chicken and bacon but with a Spanish twist. For this recipe we simply sliced the serrano ham straight from the leg and served but you could also lighty fry the ham in olive oil to serve over the top of the salad.

A great way of using up leftover chicken and a light lunch using two different cold meats. Other ideas would be the addition of capers to the salad, or replacing the serrano ham with some fried pancetta, sobrasada also works well with chicken.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

300g Leftover roast chicken, shredded
150g Serrano ham, thinly sliced
12 Cherry tomatoes
1 Jar of whole pequillo peppers
Cucumber
Mixed salad leaves
Olive oil

How to make:

1. Arrange the mixed salad leaves in a cazuela or bowl.

2. Chop the cherry tomatoes in half and cut half a dozen slices of cucumber.

3. Drain the jar of peppers and chop each pequillo pepper in half.

4. Cut 10 – 12 slices of Serrano ham (or tear in half if using pre packed ham)

5. Roughly shred/tear up the chicken and add all the ingredients to the mixed salad leaves.

6. Toss the salad mixing the ingredients well.

7. Serve either in the cazuela or transfer to a large plate, drizzle generously with good extra virgin olive oil.


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Spain goes nuts after World Cup win

Well here they are again, barely 24 hours later and Spain are the world cup champions. After the video in the previous post it was hit and miss whether the country would be one football commentator less, the man gets so excited he almost bursts. A goal 4 minutes from the end of extra time and both he and the entire country went beserk. Well done Spain!



A few sore heads today no doubt, the local village of Orce is draped in Spanish flags. Great to see them do well, as for our friend the commentator it would be great to have a party round at his wouldn't it - especially if theres a game on...

Spain World Cup Fever 2010

Spanish world cup fever... Well it is that time, Spain have never reached a world cup final before but the European champions have done a great job so far. David Villa had risen as one of the world cup stars and lets hope that Spain gets it in the bag tonight. Excitement is the name of the game, the video below explains all with a hilarious 30sec clip of Spanish football commentry (Spain vs Germany).



...if you thought that was funny you should have seen our local policeman riding through the village on his moped holding a Spanish flag bigger than he was screaming Espana.

...and if they win tonight...