Gelonch Restaurant: 9-14-11

When a professional cook suggests restaurants to eat at, you obey.  You obey, and you will eat well.  After disappointing fine dinning experiences in the Basque Country, we ate at mostly tapas places recommended by a cook friend while in Barcelona: Bar Pinotxo, El Quim de la Boqueria, Tapac 24, and Cal Pep.  All were amazing delights in their own special way.  We did end up eating at one fine dining restaurant, though.  Again on the recommendation of our cook friend, we ate at Gelonch Restaurant and had the second best meal of the entire trip to Spain. Costing 63 Euros for a 12 course tasting menu, Gelonch was easily the best value of any place we ate at in Barcelona.  Every single course was packed with creativity and flavor, which made the fact that we were only 1 of 2 parties served the entire night bewildering.

There would have been a 3rd party in the cozy little restaurant, but after briefly looking at the menu, 2 ladies dressed in posh dresses got up and left.  I felt sorry for the potential diners because they were missing out on really excellent food.  That pity quickly turned into frustration because they refused to give the restaurant a chance.  There was even an a la carte tapas menu for them to test the waters.  I got even more frustrated when I learned that Gelonch does not lay claim to any Michelin stars.  The food we were served at Gelonch was astronomically better than the 3-star Akelarre and definitely better than the world-renowned 2-star Mugaritz.

Not only was Gelonch better than a 3 and 2-star Michelin, but it was better than every 1-star Michelin I’ve ever been to except for Schwa and Blackbird here in Chicago (not counting DiverXO because shortly after dining there they deservedly were awarded their 2nd star).  Interestingly enough, Gelonch felt like the Catalan version of Blackbird: somewhat global flavors rooted in the regional cuisine with a sprinkling of modern techniques when appropriate.  If you’re ever in Barcelona, take the cook’s advice and get yourself to Gelonch.

Strawberry gazpacho with its air

 

Grilled iberian pancetta, roasted scallop, peanut tabouli, crunchy prawn, and coriander cream

 

Wagyu beef carpaccio, honey breadcrumbs, beech smoke, grilled rocket leaves

 

Tuna toro slice on a cracker with olives, cheery tomatoes, and oil foam

 

Cuttlefish taglierini with deconstructed pesto: parmiggiano whey, basil oil, garlic chips

 

Quail eggs, grilled baby squid, anemones, asparagus, baked  garlic cream, and chorizo breadcrumbs

 

Codfish loin with morels

 

Wagyu beef 40 hour stew, beet lactose, and salsify in watercress

 

Suckling pig 24 hours sous vide, sunchoke cream, cashews, and croissant

 

Assorted fruit cocktails: orange Campari, apple Grey Goose, watermelon gin tonic, pineapple-coconut rum

 

Balearic Islands: sobrasada air cake, ensaimada ice cream, cheese cream, and Soller tangerine coulis

 

Summer truffle ganache, matcha tea cake, chocolate ice cream, and caramelized pistachio

Tomato & Sumac Cookie With Olive Oil Powder

Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of tomatoes.  They’re just something that may never grow on me.  I even found the tomato dish at Alinea hard to swallow.  However, when I do find something that I actually enjoy that has tomato in it, I tend to really like.

In fact, my favorite soup of all time is my mom’s Vietnamese tomato soup (bun rieu).  Another tomato-based soup that I’m fond of is salmorejo.  Think of it as a thicker version of gazpacho.  While in Spain, it was interesting to see that salmorejo was a lot more common than gazpacho on menus in the regions we visited.

A bowl of salmorejo was just what I needed a couple weeks ago when the weather reached 100 degrees.  The acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar combined with the coldness of the soup was very refreshing.  It was so refreshing that I wondered if I could emulate that satisfying feeling with a cookie.

The idea for a salmorejo cookie eventually devolved into a simple tomato cookie.  I omitted the jamon so the cookie could be vegetarian-friendly and left out the egg as I felt a cookie is pretty rich to begin with.  Another tweak I made was to substitute sumac for vinegar in order to add tartness without adding liquid.

One ingredient from salmorejo I wasn’t willing to part with, though, was olive oil.  At the same time, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice butter for olive oil in the cookie dough.  As a compromise, I made an olive oil powder to top the cookie by combining Spanish olive oil with tapioca maltodextrin.  The result was a powder that turns back into a liquid once it hits moisture (saliva).

If I could do a salmorejo-inspired cookie again, I’d probably serve it frozen or add some peppermint extract to the dough (or perhaps both for an elBulli Mint Pond sensation) to add that extra layer of refreshment found in a cold soup.

Tomato Cookie

Mise En Place

1. Follow M.E.P. for the Momofuku Milk Bar corn cookie with the following substitutions and additions
2. Corn flour => flour
3. Freeze-dried corn powder => dried tomato powder
4. 45 g dried tomato bits (about 1 cm by 0.5 cm)
5. 30 g sumac

Method

1. Follow method for the Momofuku Milk Bar corn cookie with the following additions
2. Add sumac and tomato bits with dried tomato powder

Cookies

Seaweed, dried longan, lotus seed – Inspired by Vietnamese che sam bo luong

Earlier this year, I went on somewhat of a cookbook shopping spree.  White Heat, The Fat Duck Cookbook, Heston Blumenthal at Home, The Flavor Bible, Ideas in Food, and Momofuku were all purchased in the same week.  One book that stood head and shoulders above the rest, however, was Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi.  Momofuku Milk Bar is bakery with a handful of locations in New York City and are known for their quirky pastries like the compost cookie: chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crumbs, pretzels, potato chips, oats, and coffee grounds.

 

Oatmeal, pandan, raisins – Inspired by the groats I made one time

What really got me hooked on the book was Tosi’s electric personality that comes through in the stories and anecdotes she tells as well as in the recipes.  On top of that, the recipes are some of the most well thought out and detailed recipes I’ve come across.  It’s one of the only cookbooks I’ve read cover to cover and it’s probably my favorite cookbook.

 

Peanut butter, celery seed, olives – Inspired by ants on a log and a dessert I had at DiverXO

Once I finished reading the book, I made it a goal to bake all the cookie recipes minus the holiday cookie since Christmas had passed and minus the oat cookie because I was planning on using it for crack pie.  That amounted to one cookie recipe per week for 8 weeks.  After 8 consecutive weeks, I met my goal, learning a lot of things on the way through trial and error and via Tweet with Tosi Fridays.  I couldn’t just stop at 8, though.

 

Black sesame, white sesame crunch, miso – Inspired by a course I had at Next: elBulli

On week 9, I started making my own cookies based on the ratios found in the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook but with ingredients and flavors that were near and dear to my heart.  It’s now week 18 and I’ve managed to come up with the 10 cookies you see here.  The tentative plan for the week 19 cookie is an homage to Schwa, where I recently had the best meal of my life: dried shrimp and Fruity Pebbles or celery root, celery seed, and green apple.

 

Vietnamese dried banana, coconut, chocolate crumb – Inspired by Vietnamese banh chuoi

 

Chocolate, preserved kumquat

 

Chocolate, milk crumb

 

Corn, coconut, sesame seed – Inspired by Vietnamese che bap

 

Dried mango, milk crumb

 

Dried persimmon, milk crumb

Schwa: 6-21-12

If you don’t know about Schwa, this GQ article is great, and the Wikipedia articles on chef/proprietor Michael Carlson and his restaurant are surprisingly detailed.  One thing that the GQ article nails is Carlson’s generosity and kindness.  From the time we walked through the doors, we were treated like old friends despite having never dined there before.

Before I had time to say a single word or sit down, Carlson said “Hey what’s up, man?  Brian, right?” and gave me a hug (no high fives allowed at Schwa).  Going to Schwa was like going to a dinner party thrown by your best friend who happens to be a world class cook.  We were eating some of the best food I’d ever had (I’d put it at #2 behind DiverXO) in the most unpretentious, casual, and fun setting.

They traded jokes and stories with us.  They donned luchador masks at one point.  They blasted the Notorious B.I.G., Michael Jackson, and other great classics over the sound system.  They brought us back to hang out with them in the kitchen.  They shared some of their wine and beer with us.  They started a strobe light dance party.  It was surreal.  As an entire package, the meal at Schwa was the best meal of my life by a large margin.

Many of the dishes had flavor combinations that sounded odd but worked so beautifully.  Other dishes were fantastic riffs on classics.  In all cases, the creativity, thought, and care that went into each dish was of the highest level.

Chocolate Cherry Manhattan – The amuse.  What looked like a chocolate-covered maraschino cherry was actually cherry-flavored chocolate.  The faux cherry swam in little pool of cocktail.

Orange Coriander Soda – This served as a chaser to the Manhattan.  It was very refreshing and aromatic.

Pig Face Cassoulet Salad – The salad course.  I found it pretty hilarious that Schwa took a rich, heavy casserole and made it into a salad course.  Despite being called a salad, there weren’t that many greens on the plate.  It consisted primarily of beans, so perhaps the “salad” descriptor was meant to convey that it was a bean salad.  Regardless, I didn’t find this dish as heavy as traditional cassoulet and the pig face was very flavorful.

Baked Potato Soup – The soup course.  This was described as an homage to the Wendy’s baked potato bar.  The potato formed the base of the soup and was garnished with a chive puree, bacon, bacon puree, sour cream, truffle, and a long strip of amazing gooey choose from Utah.  It tasted like the greatest baked potato ever and reminded me of the “hot potato, cold potato” dish at Alinea.

Quail Egg Ravioli – An extra course.  Somewhat of a Schwa signature dish.  A perfectly cooked ravioli filled with a runny quail egg yolk.  The ravioli was glazed with butter, herbs, and I believe truffle oil.  Rich, velvety, buttery, earthy.

Celery Root Tortellini with Celery, Green Apple, & Truffle – The pasta course.  This was my favorite dish of the night.  It was also the most interesting dish of the night in terms of flavor combinations.  The celery and green apple went so well together while the truffle added a big savory note.  The tortellini were served atop a green apple reduction.  The green apple reduction was perfect because it was a great substitute for something like tomato sauce: both are acidic and sweet.  The reduction reminded me of Spaghetti-O’s sauce.  I should note that I love Spaghetti-O’s.

Fruit Loops – The roe course.  Blis steelhead roe with passion fruit gelee, pickled papaya, and violet foam.  Yes, it smelled and tasted like fruit loops with roe.  No, it was not gross.  It was amazing.  When I stopped to think about the combination, I wondered why I’d never seen something like this before because it makes complete sense.  The tartness and sweetness from the passion fruit work as a great foil to the saltiness and brininess of the roe.

Oyster with Oatmeal – An extra course.  Carlson invited us back into the tiny kitchen to chat while he prepared this dish.  The oatmeal sort of looked like vomit, but that didn’t matter at all because the single bite of oyster with a bit of oatmeal and some type of fruit was outstanding.  There was a great contrast between the briny and earthy flavors.

Salmon with Pink Lemonade, Grapefruit & Truffle - The fish course.  Sous vide salmon with (if I recall correctly) a pink lemonade gelee, candied grapefruit rind, and truffle.  Nothing wrong with the dish, but nothing too exciting either.  It boiled down to a well cooked piece of fish with some citrus.

Curry-Crusted Foie Gras with Kumquat – The offal course.  Foie gras was shaped into a small ball and coated with an intensely aromatic curry powder.  I can’t remember how the kumquat was prepared, but I’m guessing a jam or puree.  The foie gras and kumquat combination I immediately understood, but the addition of curry is why the guys at Schwa are geniuses and I’m not.  It just worked.  After much pondering, I came to the conclusion that kumquat and curry went well together because coriander and citrus are a natural pairing.  Coriander is in curry powder and kumquat is a citrus.

Pheasant with Popcorn & Bourbon – The meat course.  Confit pheasant leg and roasted pheasant breast served over a popcorn/bourbon sauce topped with popcorn and popcorn foam.  I understood the pheasant and bourbon pairing after having bourbon chicken countless times at mall food courts, and the combination of popcorn and bourbon almost reminded me of caramel popcorn.  This was an interesting dish and no doubt tasty, but I wasn’t wowed like I was with most of the other dishes.

Rice Krispies Treat with Horchata – An extra course.  As far as I could tell, a traditional preparation of a Rice Krispies treat. It may have had spices such as cinnamon to compliment the excellent horchata, but I honestly can’t remember.  Much later, I realized how natural it was to pair a Rice Krispies treat with horchata: both are made from rice.  Much, much later, I learned the Rice Krispies treat was made from dried parsnip flakes and the horchata from parsnip milk.  The fact they were able to get the texture of a Rice Krispies treat from parsnip was very neat.  I typically love desserts that feature root vegetables, and learning that this was parsnip-centric dessert made me love Schwa even more.

French Onion Soup – The cheese course.  Imagine a lollipop where instead of hard candy there’s a pie crust.  Inside the pie crust were caramelized onions and cheese.  It tasted like French onion soup in pie form.

Dr. Pepper – The dessert course.  Dr. Pepper was deconstructed into a dessert consisting of some type of ice cream, vanilla foam, carbonated prune, prune puree, cherry sauce, a short bread cookie, and other things I can’t recall.  When eaten all together it tasted like Dr. Pepper.  How could I tell?  Because they served it with a glass of Dr. Pepper.

Hoosier Mama Chocolate Chess Pie – An extra “course.”  During the middle of service, a delivery from Hoosier Mama Pie Company arrived for the kitchen.  At some point during the meal, Carlson brought one of the pies out and plopped it down on the vacant table next to us and commanded that we eat the pie made by what he described as the best pie makers in the world.  I trusted his expert opinion.  After finishing the Dr. Pepper, we went to work on the pie.  As I said, Michael Carlson is a very generous person.

Banh Chung

Recently, I learned eating banh chung is a traditionally eaten during the Lunar New Year.  Previously, banh chung was simply something my Vietnamese grandma would always make around the holiday season and sometimes during other parts of the year.  No matter the occasion or time of year, though, I could never get enough of her banh chung.

Her version is a vegetarian one: glutinous rice and mung bean wrapped in banana leaves.  Personally I don’t mind the lack of meat because for me it’s all about the rice.  When you boil glutinous rice for several hours as you do for banh chung, it takes on a unique texture when you eat it at room temperature and the aroma of the leaves comes through.  The texture is almost between that of onigiri and mochi.  Slightly chewy but yielding.

The texture can take on a drastically different profile when the banh chung is flattened and fried in a pan until golden brown.  In this form, the texture is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  After going back and forth between which preparation I prefer most year after year, I recently came to the conclusion that I prefer the non-fried version.  I find that frying the banh chung kills the subtle flavors of the rice and leaves.

So for my banh chung, I eat it at room temperature.  This time around, I filled mine with leftover pork rillettes from CharcutePalooza that I had in the freezer, and instead of wrapping the banh chung in banana leaves I used lotus leaves simply because that’s what I had in my pantry.

Banh Chung (makes about 3 individual servings)

Mise En Place

1. 200 g glutinous rice, soaked overnight in water and a few drops of pandan extract
2. 200 g mung beans, soaked overnight in water
3. 200 g pork rillettes or some other protein
4. 3 lotus leaves or banana leaves, soaked in warm water
5. Fish sauce

Method (for 1 individual serving)

1. Drain mung beans and place in a pot with enough water to cover.  Simmer until tender and mash, about 25 minutes.  Season with fish sauce and pepper.
2. Drain rice and season with fish sauce.
3. Fold the leaf in half so it is doubled.
4. Place 1/6th of the rice in the middle of a leaf in the shape of a rectangle.
5. Place 1/3rd of the protein on top of the rice.
6. Place 1/3rd of the mung beans on top of the rice.
7. Place 1/6th of the rice on top of the mung beans.
8. Shape into a rectangle by hand and wrap tightly with twine.
9. Wrap again in foil
10. Place in simmering water, weighted down, for about 6 hours.