Food

Well, we did it again. The 5th Saturday Supper Club met last Saturday, the theme this time was SPAIN and we had a fabulous meal! We all choose a course and everything really complimented well.
 
Starters were by Jane-Elizabeth and Judd: spinach empanadas and cheese straws. The dough for the empanadas was very thin and light, not at all overpowering the fillings.  Margaret had manchego cheese topped with quince that she'd cut in little shapes. There were lots of other cheeses and olives and some caramellized walnuts which were amazing with a slice of a bleu cheese! The flavors just perfectly matched. Mike served a delicious sausage with a dipping sauce made of simple syrup and saffron. At first you would think it a mustard and the sweetness was a nice surprise. I am happy to hear about a new cheese market in Austin, Antonelli's. I'm heading that way.
 

The Three Sisters Cooking school with Chef Glenn Gamboa

In the village of El Valle, we visited the market, an organic farm, and then learned how to cook Panamanian sytle. Our guide through this taste day was Reinhild Gamboa, a German-American who moved with her husband, Chef Glenn Gamboa, to El Valle along with the Three Sisters, their Vietnamese pot bellied pigs. We started at the market where we saw a lot of interesting veggies that we didn't recognize. The soil in Panama, and especially around El Valle is very rich. As a matter of fact, the village is located in the center of a collasped volcano so you can imagine just how good the growing conditions might be. The most interesting to all of us was culantro, not cilantro. It is a long leafy thing that is used in everything, especially chimichuri, which is a staple here and everyone has his/her own recipe. It's very simple and I would equate with a pesto but even more versatile.

Chef Diana Temple, owner & founder of Diana's Creative Catering of Malibu, visited Charlie Collins Cooking School December 2009. Her photographer husband Brian, took all these great photos. Here's her report:

What a tremendous opportunity to come across a cooking class in Boquete. I booked the class not even knowing about the chef, Charlie Collins. As a caterer in California, the most interesting part of my business is learning new recipes from other countries. Not only does it expand your knowledge, but it is most fun to pick a place and find the FOOD!

Back to the cookbooks - I just picked a few off my shelf to talk about -

1. The 100 Best Tapas - these are very simple recipes and all are listed in English and Spanish and there is a picture for each one! Did you know that Tortillas in Spain are an omlette/potato item? Here in Texas a tortilla is a bread substitute and we joke that we can go for days eating everything in a tortilla and not have to use silverware! Anyway a Spanish tortilla (pronounced Tor-tee-ja) has sliced potatoes, onions, cooked omlette style in olive oil.

2. Rezepte - German-Texan Culinary Art by Nevilee Maass Weaver - back when everything was Hausgemacht. This simple cookbook tells as much a story of the Germans who settled in Central Texas as it does recipes. Also included are German expressions like 'Man soll dem Tag nicht vor dem Abent loben' - One shouldnot praise the day before the evening, or 'Don't count your chickens before they hatch'. The recipes are simply written, ex.

Kohlsuppe (Cabbage Soup) - put some chopped bacon, potato slices, chopped cabbage, salt and other seasoning in a pot. Cover with water and cook till vegetables are done. (me? I need more direction than that!)