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JR's notes:

THE MASTER'S TABLE is a magazine published by the Master Chefs of Great Britain. Understandably, its main focus is on food, but especially food - and the accompanying wines - from different parts of the world under the feature heading 'The Gastronomic Globe'. This article appeared in the Autumn of 1997

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The Gastronomic Globe: Rioja

EATING AROUND THE EBRO

John Radford celebrates the simple but splendid cookery of Rioja

It's not all in la Rioja, of course. Rioja the wine district spreads north, across the river Ebro, into the Basque province of Álava and east into the sandier lowlands of Navarra, and the food they cook crosses three cultures: the inventive brilliance of the Basques, the lordly affluence of the Riojan nobility, and the simple dishes of the Navarra farming community, all taking advantage of what has been available locally for the past few centuries. True, it's hardly possible to throw a grape in Logroño or Vitoria or San Adrián without hitting a specialist seafood restaurant, but I'd like to take you back to the days when there was no refrigerated transport - indeed, no refrigeration - and food had to be freshly prepared or preserved in some other way if it were to survive the winter.

The Basques have always preserved fish (most notably cod) in salt, carried it over the mountains from Vizcaya to Álava and married it with strong, spicy, rich sauces; the landowners of La Rioja farmed lamb and pork and shot deer, partridge and pheasant to their hearts' content; whilst ordinary folk preserved their pork by making it into chorizo - the classic spicy sausage - and hung it with the jamón serrano in the rafters to wait for Christmas.

Autumn was the time for storage, of course - in between bouts of grape-picking and, in those days, trampling. Wine, oil, garlic, dried meat, dried fish, herbs and vegetables were all sorted and stashed for the coming winter in the hope that, once the weather finally turned, families would have more than enough to sustain them until the vine buds burst, the following May.

The result is full-flavoured, strongly individual and above all 'tasty' food - dishes with character, food which fills all the corners and, of course, wines which have evolved to match - from the smoky, oaky traditional whites to the classic, rich, raisin-scented Reservas and Gran Reservas produced in the longest and most golden of autumns. The recipes below select from the major traditions (except for one!). They have been generously provided by the First Lady of Spanish Cookery: María-José Sevilla of ICEX in London.

RECIPES

1) BACALAO A LA VIZCAÍNA

From the Basque Country - the traditional way of preparing salted cod in the province of Bizkaia

INGREDIENTS (serves 6-8):

1.1kg bacalao (salted cod)

2kg onions

500gm ripe tomatoes (optional)

10 dried sweet red peppers

1 medium ham bone

1 garlic

100 gm flour

2 slices of fried bread

2 fresh red peppers

¹/₃litre olive oil

1 litre light fish stock or plain water

¹/₃ litre white wine

METHOD:

Wash and de-salt the cod, remove bones and dry it with a cloth. Coat in flour and fry in olive oil. Set aside. Strain the oil and place in a casserole. Add the onion, cut into thin strips, the unpeeled garlic and the ham bone. Cook over a low heat, stirring with a wooden implement.

When the onion begins to brown add the dried sweet peppers, previously soaked, together with the bread and the white wine. Once the wine has evaporated add the tomatoes and sauté for approximately 45 minutes. Add the stock (or water) to cook on a low heat.

Remove the ham bone and the garlic. Blend the remains and strain through a chinoise. Cover the cod and allow to cook gently until ready.

Serve garnished with strips of peeled red pepper. (Note - the tomatoes are a Riojan addition to an originally Basque recipe. In Bizkaia itself the dish is usually made with more dried sweet red peppers.

WINE:

This dish demands a classic oaky white wine, with a modern-day choice of barrel-fermented with rich, bright oaky 'notes' to the more laid-back classic style. These will have spent six months in oak, with Crianza the most common, Reserva and Gran Reserva increasingly rare. Some very old Gran Reservas may spend anything up to four years in the cask.

2) LECHAZO ASADO AL CASTELLANO

The classic dish of La Rioja and Old Castile itself - roast baby lamb (with acknowledgements to Traditional Spanish Cooking by Janet Mendel)

INGREDIENTS (serves 8):

1 baby lamb (about 5kg)

salt and pepper

3 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tsp thyme

1 pinch of rosemary

1 tsp wine vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp paprika

50gm lard

¼ litre white wine

METHOD:

Have the butcher open, clean and quarter the lamb and rub the meat inside and out with salt and pepper. In a mortar, crush the garlic, parsley, thyme and rosemary and mix it with the vinegar, oil and paprika. Rub the lamb with this mixture and let it stand for 2 hours.

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF, gas mark 6). Place the lamb in an earthenware roasting-dish, skin-side up. Spread it with the lard and place in the oven. Immediately reduced the heat to 160ºC (325ºF, gas mark 3). Roast for 30 minutes and then pour the wine over it. Continue roasting, basting with the dripping occasionally, until the meat is tender (about 2½ hours). If the meat browns too fast, cover it with foil.

WINE:

This dish demands a fine old red Reserva (at least a year in oak) or Gran Reserva (at least two years in oak) - indeed, there are those who say that good Reserva Rioja with roast baby lamb is the most perfect marriage in all gastronomy.

3) PATATAS A LA RIOJANA

Classic, simple, farmhouse food which has been enjoyed in Rioja for centuries

INGREDIENTS (serves 4):

1kg potatoes, peeled and cubed

250gm chorizo, thickly sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 glass white wine

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 bay-leaf

Vegetable stock or water

3-4 tbsp olive oil

salt and black pepper

METHOD:

Heat the olive oil in an earthenware pot or cazuela. Sauté the chorizo, add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper, the bay-leaf and the paprika. Stir, and pour in the wine.

Add a little stock (or water) and cook very slowly until the potatoes are ready: firm, but with all the liquid evaporated.

WINE:

This is a dish for a young ('Joven' - no oak at all) or a Crianza red - with a little oak-ageing to provide depth and fullness but still maintaining the fruit of the younger wine to match the bold flavours of the chorizo and garlic.

4) RIOJA ICE CREAM

I'm not sure just how traditional this is - but it is, nevertheless, a splendid way to end a meal.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bottle red Crianza Rioja

9 egg-yolks

200gm sugar

1 stick cinnamon

lime peel

METHOD:

Dissolve the sugar in the wine. Add the cinnamon and the lime peel. Bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes to allow some reduction. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Beat the egg-yolks and start adding them to the wine, little by little. Blend well and sieve into a bowl. Place the bowl on top of a pan filled with boiling water. Stirring constantly, allow the mixture to thicken to a custard constituency.

Place in an ice-cream maker. Serve with a few mint leaves.

WINE:

This demands a semi-seco white or even a licoroso if you can find it. A very few bodegas in Rioja are starting to produce these styles of wine... Failing that, a glass of good Rioja Brandy (almost equally rare) Should do the trick!

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