In Spain we experienced a couple of bests or at least ones that tied
for first. Both involved food, surprise
of surprises. In the interest of fairness gained from a lifelong culinary
adventure I will name herein the contenders for First Prize in the categories
of Orange Juice and Steak.
Zumo de naranja not jugo as used in Latin America is near
and dear to my heart and palate. Rich, sweet, viscous orange juice is a top
tenner among all foods to me and we had the honor of drinking the best orange juice
in recent memory at Casa Antonia in Gaucin.
When we didn’t eat breakfast at home we repaired to the little bar on
the plaza for desayuno of Café con Leche, Zumo de Naranja Natural (fresh
squeezed) and Pan Tostada. On more than one occasion we ordered a second round
of the profound juice from the oranges from Enrique’s trees outside Gaucin. I
know this because I asked Enrique where he got his oranges, the very same
question I asked the proprietor of an obscure shack between Corona del Mar and
Laguna Beach more than thirty years ago. These august juices contend for the
best ever to pass my lips. I am unable
to show you the rich, viscous nectar from Casa Antonia for reasons
well established in these pages. The
best I can do is show the outdoor café at which we partook of the juice. In the
event the erstwhile files are retrieved I will post pics of Collins glasses
filled to the brim with the stuff of legends.
Ever the thorough researcher, my study did not stop with
where the oranges came from but also uncovered the variety of orange yielding
this elixir. And here I had a tiny surprise. In California the regal Valencia is the king
of juice oranges while the humble but larger Navel is the one for eating because
it’s so easy to peel. Imagine my surprise to learn than Enrique’s oranges were not
the vaunted Valencia but the rude Navalina.
And then in a discovery at the opposite end of fooddom came
the steak of a lifetime at El Churrasco in Cordoba. The epic steak described
as Lomo de Buey and that we would call Sirloin was simply the juiciest, most
tender, most flavorful steak ever or at least since devouring The Lindey’s
Special Sirloin at Lindey’s Steakhouse in Arden Hills just north of Saint Paul,
Minnesota more than forty years ago. Lindey’s is still going strong after 56
years which informs us about doing something simple really well. I recall a visit a mid-winter visit to Lindey’s with our good friend Harold Bissner when the thermoter dipped to 56 below. Mind you this was in our new, yellow BW Beetle. In ordinary climes one would have expected a empty restaurant but this was rugged Minnesota. There was a wait.
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| El Churrasco |
And at El Churrasco as at Casa Antonia, the provenance of
their magnificent steaks was paramount. The duly proud manager said
that the restaurant bought its beef about fifty kilometers north of
Cordoba and done so for decades. The obvious follow up was how long they aged their beef. The steak had some
serious age on it. The answer was three weeks off premise and another one to
two weeks in-house. That’s a boatload of
aging and it yielded mythic results. The ample fat was as buttery as
marrow. I defy you to have that steak
and not sneak a bite of that fat.
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| Me high on steak |
This whole episode had us talking about El Churrasco for the
rest of the trip and doing research on how to dry age our own beef.
Thanks to the resourceful and talented Peggy
Immel for the supporting images. I got nothing.
Thanks for asking.
The hard drive is in the loving hands of Drive Savers where they are surgically extracting the files, a process that will take four or five
business days and at a price on the north end of their estimate. I am, as they say,
cautiously optimistic and still not smiling. Failing that I
will be on the redeye to Spain to retrace my steps and recapture the shots
lost due to operator error. I’m only kinda joking.
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2 comments:
Kudos, Steve, for your exemplary writing, taste testing, and descriptors, and to Peggy for the supporting images. Really fresh orange juice is indeed one of the elixirs of the gods. I have had some recently, and can almost conjure the taste now!
The first bite of that steak must have been heavenly.
Next week, you will be smiling with a resurrected hard drive, more images, and memories!
Talk about a mouth-watering post on a blog. Written so well (and without pictures of the food/drink to seal the deal), I'm preparing to go tackle a steak at my nearest beef emporium, although it will come no where near what you've described. Please ease of for awhile on culinary delights. Neither my waistline nor pocketbook will afford me the opportunity to read further;
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