Everyone at the table!
Now yes, the arrival of the Christmas dates is more than imminent. The gifts arrive, the feasts, the binge eating and the regret afterwards... What is clear is that they are dates of sharing around the table.
And look where you are, this year it has been your turn to organize the preparations for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas lunch or New Year's Eve feast.
Do I buy now or wait? What is the best in these dates? How do I surprise my family this day? Doubts will settle in your head, as if you don't have enough to do as much work as possible in order to take a few days off.
But friends, for that in Traveler we have spoken with great producers and experts to tell us how to prepare the shopping basket and subsequent Christmas dinner, in the purest style of Babette's Feast.
You will only have to worry about following to the letter these tips to give a dinner to remember.
ARCANO, the new range of artisanal hams from Ibéricos Maldonado
STARTING AT THE BEGINNING: THE APPETIZERS
Remember, we are talking about gourmet Christmas, so this year the appetizers will rise to the occasion. Shall we start with some good Iberian?
From ** Ibéricos Maldonado ** tell us why it is so important to choose national product for these dates: “In the first place, it is important because The Spanish Iberian pantry is the best , and secondly, it is a way of promoting and contributing to the national economy. The entire production process has a direct impact on our economy, from livestock production to processing and distribution”, they comment.
That said, we are clear that the sausage, if it is Spanish, is better. However, how to distinguish them? Very easy, checking the label and its origin, there are the details to know if it is a sausage 100% acorn-fed and national.
and on the table how do we serve it? “The consumption of Iberico meats in a good table, and more so in Christmas gatherings, is essential. A good 100% acorn-fed ham is irreplaceable, but so are Iberian meats, loins and sausages. We can easily verify it if we observe that it is the first thing that disappears from the table and it is very easy to introduce them in our menus in appetizer format since they do not need more elaboration than a good cut”, they tell us from Maldonado.
What's more, looking for that purity of the Iberian, they have launched ARCANO, a new range of artisanal hams, that preserves all the organoleptic characteristics of an animal, which comes from ancestral lineages.
The cheese board: a must
What would a good sausage be without its cheese accompaniment? For this we have spoken with ** Es Queso **, a project that was born last year to bring together the entire national dairy sector and whose primary objective is to promote the consumption of cheeses from our territory (more than 150 types, 32 Protected Designations of Origin or Protected Geographical Indications), based on the fact that in Spain we have little cheese culture and that we still have a lot to learn.
how do we prepare the perfect cheese board for this Christmas? “In Spain we have more and more specialized cheese shops, with a huge variety of high-quality cheeses. The best thing is to let yourself go and let yourself be advised. Ideally, we combine a mixture of stronger cheeses, with other softer ones, so that there is something for all tastes: blue cheeses of the Cabrales type, goat and sheep cheeses, fresh ones...”, he tells us. Águeda García-Agulló, managing director of InLac, interprofessional organization for the entire dairy sector in Spain and responsible for the EsQueso project.
The idea? Serve them as an appetizer, as one more ingredient in a vegetable cream, as a sauce to accompany meat, and even... for dessert!
What would a good sausage be without its cheese accompaniment?
And since we have put ourselves in delicatessen mode, why not introduce one more delicacy on the table? We are talking about caviar.
If after the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was the ** Petrossian brothers ** who were in charge of export precious Russian caviar to all parts of the world, It has now been when six Spanish companies (O Percebeiro, Castillo de Canena, Triticum, Klimer, Gastro Fusión Madrid and Fidalgo Vecino) have created the new signature of ** Caviar Paris 1925 **, to make this a more accessible product, taking three varieties on the market: Baeri, Oscetra and Beluga.
And since we were involved in the matter, we have asked you for a few keys to distinguish good caviar from bad and the advice to introduce it in our Christmas table.
“Bad caviar, either due to poor conservation or poor quality varieties, is usually 'anchored'. On the other hand, if it were pasteurized, where it also loses quality and flavor, the roe granulates a lot on our palate, being a bit tedious. Good caviar explodes in the mouth, it is buttery, creamy, with light notes of iodine, with a deep and intense flavor, reminiscent of almonds, hazelnuts…”, they respond to Traveler from Paris 1925.
The classic recipe for presenting caviar is to make it on a mother-of-pearl spoon, served directly on the hand or accompanied by sour cream and blinis.
But if you want to stand out this Christmas, write down these wise tips that the brand gives us: “Seafood is doing better than ever. An oyster with caviar could not be more exquisite, they are two products with a great personality without a doubt. Also the yolk It is wonderful, the unctuousness and the collagen of both products, make it enveloping in our palate. Finally, a different and surprising way of presenting it would be with Iberian bacon and a good quenelle of caviar, great to see how 'good' fat goes so well with this one.”
How to distinguish good caviar from bad?
But without a doubt, other of the undisputed protagonists of the Christmas tables are fresh seafood and fish. And inevitably the fear arises of leaving a kidney and a half when making the purchase for these days.
That is why we have contacted ** Pescaderías Coruñesas **, one of the Spanish giants in terms of marketing fish and shellfish, which started as a small company in 1911 in La Coruña.
Today they are suppliers to many of the best restaurants in the country and have a huge retail store on the street. Juan Montalvo, 14 from Madrid. So far we went to dispel any doubts that may arise to our readers.
The first thing we wanted to know, and which is not as obvious as it should be, is how to choose the perfect fish or shellfish and most importantly, fresh.
“First of all, we will make sure that both the fish and the shellfish are not damaged, but are whole . Then we will look at some signs that identify fresh fish and shellfish. For example, the skin must be shiny , without any discoloration, bright in color, which gives the feeling of being still alive and, in the case of fish, with the scales still attached," they explain.
How to choose a good fish for the Christmas table?
"Another key in fish is the eyes should be bright, transparent and curved outwards. In the case of shellfish, we differentiate two types: crustaceans and molluscs. For crustaceans (crayfish, lobster, prawn...) we will make sure that the legs are not black since it is the first thing that begins to degrade and, once at home, check that it does not smell of ammonia. For molluscs (oyster, clam, scallop, i.e. shell animals), we will check that they are alive: if their shell is open, when you touch it, it has to close.”
With these simple steps we will ensure that we do not have an upset around the Christmas table. Now, what can we do to have the best of the sea on the table without the need to spend our pockets on it? Attention, buying it now and freezing it.
“Any fish and crustacean (except barnacles) can be bought now and frozen. However, for molluscs (except cephalopods: cuttlefish, octopus, squid...) we recommend buying them on the days they are going to be consumed”, experts say.
So, what are you waiting for to hit the streets to fill your basket with everything you want to cook this Christmas?
A kilo of barnacles please!
THE MAIN COURSE ARRIVES: THE MEAT
We know that on most occasions, getting to the main course at a Christmas lunch or dinner is quite a challenge. But you know, at Christmas the stomach acquires special dimensions to leave space and be able to try all the delicacies on the table. The most coveted these days? The lamb and the birds.
The first is presented as one of the main Christmas dishes. For this reason, ** INTEROVIC ** have launched a special Christmas campaign called 'Closer is better'.
One more time producers bet on the consumption of national meat. For this reason, during this month of December, many Spanish butcher shops will help the consumer to identify ** the lamb of national origin compared to that of other countries **.
Lamb, kid and suckling pig. Whoever comes to your table, you have to know a few things. First, it is about a fresher product, which has a longer expiration date, which allows you to buy it before and reserve it for Christmas dates.
Second, Spain has more than 50 native breeds and its meat is a great source of protein, vitamins B6 and B12 and also contains potassium, phosphorus and zinc, among others.
Third and most importantly, at a time when climate change and natural disasters are already a reality, you have to know that grazing contributes to maintaining biodiversity and preventing forest fires. Not to mention that it is the livelihood of more than 150,000 livestock families, an important engine of the Spanish economy.
To the classic leg of lamb, new cuts are added to give more versatility to your recipes, such as suckling pig medallions, tournedó, carillon fillets or lamb churrasco. So why not innovate this Christmas?
If there is someone who knows about birds –and hunting– in Spain, that is Higinio Gómez Ortiz, also known as 'the pollero of the Michelin stars'.
From his position at the ** Mercado de Vallehermoso ** –formerly in the Magallanes gallery–, he has reached the tables of the best restaurants in the country and has become a benchmark when it comes to buying the best specimens for these dates. And so far we ran to get a little of his immense wisdom and to tell us what cannot be missing from our festive table.
“For those who want to buy their birds now and keep them fresh, right now we have something very special. Is about the birds of Xavier Abadie, a small French producer, an unusual craftsman, who does very good things and has spectacular poulardas that hold up very well over time, they are even meats that can be matured like veal", explains Higinio.
And he continues: "But precisely regarding this, to buy the ingredients for the Christmas basket in advance, I think it is not done because of a logistics problem. No refrigerator at home can hold a 5-kilo capon. That is why birds are usually bought when the date of preparing them approaches. A large part of my clients place an order and pick it up a few days before”, says Higinio.
Nevertheless, there are other products that can be purchased earlier, such as foie gras. “The vast majority of people eat foie-gras or country pâtés at Christmas. So if you want to make a homemade terrine at home, it would be very good to take the fresh liver now to let it rest and make it as compact as possible, ”he says.
What is the queen of Christmas birds? "In the tradition commands the turkey, In fact, we have turkeys and free-range turkeys of great quality. But for me, without a doubt, the queen of the birds, of a few years here, is the poulard . It is what is sold the most, reaching more than double what is sold in capons or guinea fowl and their different breeds.”
National or abroad? “Our line of work goes for something more special and the vast majority of these special birds come from France. If in Spain we are key in the consumption and export of Iberian products and fish, the French give us a beating when it comes to poultry”, concludes Higinio.
AND THE DESSERT?
At this point you will have had to undo a button on your pants, for sure. For this reason, the best way to end a Christmas dinner is to make it based on the most typical sweets of this time. Marzipans, Polvorones, Nevaditos... and also nougats.
If a few months ago we told you about the first pop-up of Ricardo Vélez, the cocoa chef, today we tell you that for these dates, they have launched a new project at ** The Pâtissier, a pop-up of nougats, Christmas sweets and champagne .**
Cut nougat of stracciatella and yuzu, pistachio or praline and hazelnut from Piedmont, among others, guirlache, Cádiz bread, yuzu yolks or Polvorones, are just some of the delicacies that await you at their counter, ready to be part of your Christmas table.
What if we are chocolatiers? From ** Trapa **, a Spanish chocolate company, they recommend us finish meals with some chocolates, ideal for the end of those long after-meals. Or do it by trying new products like your cocoa gourmet can. 350 grams of chocolate powder to prepare a warm cup while you wait for Santa Claus. oh! And all this without palm oil.
The delicious gourmet can of Trapa