Guadalupe had an unwanted, I’m sure, lesson from me on cooking Saturday afternoon. While she prepared some dishes for dinner, I very politely asked if there was anything I could do to help (don’t ask me why). Her friends were all bringing something. An elegant Madrid version of a pot-luck supper. I have no idea what I was thinking when I made my offer. Unless she wanted me to wash a dish, I wasn’t going to be able (OK… willing) to do anything else in the kitchen. I had told her what I thought of cooking in general. But no one seems to fully comprehend what I mean when I say, “I don’t cook.” Guadalupe now understands. I think it was just a problem with the translation from Spanish to ‘Mitchell.’ In Spanish, “Yo cocino” means “I cook”; in Mitchell, it means “I’m in hell.” (Click the images to enlarge the deliciousness.)
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| SOME THINGS WE DIDN’T BUY SATURDAY: SEPIA (CUTTLEFISH)… |
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| …NEXT TO THE CUTTLEFISH, “UGH! WORMS?!? EELS?!?” NOPE. POTATO NOODLES. |
After a delicious lunch at home, Guadalupe started to get ready for that night’s dinner party. On the counter was a bowl of something (apples? potatoes? grapes?… it didn’t register with me). In response to my offer of help, she asked in Spanish, “Do you want to peel those?”
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| LUNCH AT HOME SATURDAY: DORADA A LA SAL (SALTED SEA BREAM). |
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| MOMENTOUS: I PEELED THE SALTED SKIN (AND HEAD!!!) OFF MY OWN FISH. AND I SAY I DON’T COOK. |
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| SLICE OF SPINACH TORTILLA (SPANISH-STYLE TORTILLA). |
Guadalupe is an extremely intelligent and intuitive person. She saw that I was about to have a panic attack at the thought of “peeling” whatever it was she had asked me to peel and was very understanding when I quietly headed upstairs to lie down. (But I did help set the table and I did help with clean-up at 2 in the morning.) And just so you know, even without my help (or more likely because I didn’t help), dinner was a brilliant success. Check out just a few of the dishes.
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| BREAD TOPPED WITH SALMOREJO (LIKE GAZPACHO) AND ANCHOVIES. I USED TO THINK I HATED ANCHOVIES. IN SPAIN, I’VE BEEN PROVEN WRONG TWICE. |
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| I THINK IT WAS PARMESAN… AND IT HAD SOMETHING DRIZZLED ON IT… AND IT WAS SO GOOD. (I HAVE LEARNED THE CHEESE WAS MANCHEGO AND IT WAS DRIZZLED IN HONEY.) |
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| SOME KIND OF PEPPER… BAKED IN SOMETHING… BRILLIANT. |
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| IN A BLENDER: VANILLA SUGAR, COCONUT MILK, AND PINEAPPLE… OH… AND BACARDI RUM. THEN CHILLED. |
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| FRIENDS (LEFT TO RIGHT): ROSALVER, ROCÍO, CARMEN, KEREN, AND GUADALUPE. WARM, KIND, GRACIOUS, FASCINATING, FUNNY… AND GREAT CHEFS. |