This week, we are taking inspiration from Spain . As my business has expanded over the past year, we have taken on new staff, each bringing their own character and skills. None more so than our general manager, Virginia, who comes from León in the north of Spain and has an unrivalled passion for hospitality. As part of the daily ritual in a restaurant, we all sit for staff food at about 4pm, and ideas on what to eat can often run thin. With this week’s column in mind, I asked Virginia for the most traditional food from her home region for our dinner, so we could try it out in advance. Thus, this week’s menu brings you on a short journey across the Bay of Biscay to the flavours of Spain, using great Irish ingredients.
The magic of this food is that it lets the produce speak for itself. Most of these dishes are designed to be served up to share in the middle of the table with a glass of wine and a fill of healthy conversation. Lamb shoulder with patatas bravas is as simple as it gets. The lamb in the northern regions of Spain is often milk-fed and pale in colour, with delicately flavoured meat. For this reason, it isn’t roasted as hard as we would our own lamb in Ireland. It’s dressed with some garlic, rosemary and olive oil before being seasoned and cooked in tinfoil at a low temperature until the meat is soft and moist and the bone able to gently slip out of the middle. Patatas bravas involves crispy fried potatoes in a light tomato dressing. It is one of the quintessential Iberian staples. By chopping the potatoes small and cooking them all the way in a pan you can deliver those crispy edges in no time. The dressing uses up store cupboard staples and is brought together in a blender. This is fuss-free cooking that delivers with ease.
The second dish is a fried croquette that use dried mash with cheese and soft Irish black pudding. These can be made in advance and kept in the freezer in rolls. It’s a great way of using up leftovers when they appear and keeping them in the freezer ready to go if you have guests. The red pepper aioli is a handy recipe to have up your sleeve. It works well with a range of dishes, even simply served on toasted bread. In an ideal world you would use a soft black pudding here, to improve the texture of the mix. My favourite on the island is Annascaul Black Pudding, made by the Ashe family in Kerry. It is similar in texture and feel to traditional French boudin noir and is perfectly seasoned. In fact, it would be the perfect ingredient for these croquettes.
Give them a go and bring some Spanish flair to your weekend
Tip of the week: When cooking lamb shoulder, the bone should easily slip out when it is cooked. If it doesn’t, leave it in for longer.