Curiosa
2011 was a very special year for me in food, drink and travel. I spent the year working at Restaurante Martín Berasategui in northern Spain so naturally, I have many fond memories of the feasting I did in and around Spain. Grab a snack and enjoy the next few mouth-watering posts as my belly remembers 2011:
goat’s butter, toast, charcoal from the grill
Asador Etxebarri | Atxondo, Spain
Please excuse the irregular blogging schedule. I have been patiently awaiting my Spanish visa in order to return to Basque country. Alas it has arrived and I can confidently say, “I’ll be back” in my best Schwarzenegger impression.
La Concha
I’m sad RobinFood filming is on hiatus for the next month, but this left us all the more reason to celebrate. And celebrate we did. Martín hosted us in his sociedad gastronómica, Zubi-Gain, in Parte Vieja of San Sebastián with the camera crew, RobinFood office team, neighbors (yes, we invited our neighbor Migueltxo, also the supplier of our hen-to-table-eggs), MB kitchen crew and more amigos. . A festive frenzy it was:
Garrote!
I needed some spice in my life today and I got what I asked for: Korean food.
Rice Ball
Courtesy of Sammic, Athena and I had the rare opportunity to attend a Real Sociedad (THE fútbol team of Gipuzkoa) match against their rivals, Osasuna (Pamplona). You’d think in a small province in Basque country, a local fútbol match would draw in a decent crowd, but a full house? Note the spectators sitting on the stairs and above the nose-bleed seats. There are some hardcore fútbol fans out here, Martín included!
Locos
On tuesday, which according to our work schedule would technically be our sunday, we took the bus to Bilbao (beel-bOW), a larger nearby city home to the Guggenheim. We checked out the “Haunted” exposition but I found the architecture in both the Guggenheim and Bilbao far more interesting:
Metro
The metros are super clean. Am I in Singapore? Tokyo? Nope, Bilbao. Read more here.
Today before staff meal, we got the best visitor yet, the jamón man!
Señor Jamón y Miguel
A very legitimate, jamón man he was, indicated by his steel glove and the steel apron he’s dawning under his regular apron.
Sliced Thin
Ah, finally le weekend (monday and tuesday for me) has arrived. It’s been a long but fantastic first week at Restaurante Martín Berasatégui, now aptly dubbed “El Castillo” (The Castle). I’ve been learning so much I don’t even know where to begin. The food, the management, the people, the singing, the passion, the movements, the aromas…the more I learn, the less I know. The entire, magical experience of being here every day and spending the 80+ hours at the restaurant fuels my curiosity and tickles my mind. I can’t get over how intellectually stimulating this is. Woosh! Okay, let’s focus on these bits.
The Jefes, The Management, King Arthur and his knights:
I’m referring to the top dogs at Restaurante Martín. Did you know they congregate around a [rectangular] table in the middle of the kitchen? Genius setup. This is the hub of power, intellect, decades of experience. From here the jefes (chefs/bosses) can see and manage their teams during prep and also congregate to review details of the day’s work. It’s also their gathering place for meals, guest diners and fútbol viewing. Yes, you heard me right. There is a huge LED televisión in the kitchen and Martín puts on the fútbol action every night. iEpa! Again, genius. Another reason why he is the King.
Continue reading ‘First Impressions’
Today we hopped in the car and took a drive up and down the winding hills and valleys to the Sammic headquarters in Azkoitia, a small town and coincidentally the same one where St. Ignatius of Loyola’s mother was born, for all you BC folks reading. The facilities were impressive to say the least, from the foundry to the server room–spotless!
Surprisingly, Sammic produces a lot of their equipment from raw materials to finished goods. We toured the foundry and watched workers pour hot, melted aluminum into molds:
Cuidado
After the aluminum was allowed to cool and set, the piece would be handcrafted to perfection. Notice the attention to detail:
Dough hooks
Besides episodes of “How It’s Made“, I’ve only seen production channels like these in China, except a lot more hazardous, inefficient and plenty more waste, perhaps attributed to poor management or difficulties associated with large-scale manufacturing. The workers at Sammic appeared to execute with speed and precision. They produce in lower volume batches, allowing for more fine-tuning as well as time for the research and development team to run sample tests. iQue bueno!
For such a young company (celebrating their 50th year anniversary this year), Sammic has come a long way in a short time. Check out these modern [large scale] potato peelers:
Para las Patatas
We will soon have the opportunity to use and test some of Sammic’s equipment in Chef Martín Berasatégui’s kitchen. How exciting! Having worked in tiny kitchens no bigger than the arm-span of space around me, I am new to operating large gadgets and machinery. Ah, the wonders of technology. This shall make for interesting button-pressing and lever-pulling. But in all seriousness, this is the inner-business-woman speaking, it will be an eye-opening experience to see how a 3-star michelin restaurant operates backstage, using various technologies such as Sammic equipment to improve its operations.
Chef Martín has been using Sammic equipment for many years. In fact, Martín’s relation with the company dates back to before he was even born. His uncle used to work for Sammic. Can you pick him out?
Tío
After our Sammic visit we headed to the hills for lunch at Anota Sidrería, a nearby cider house. The view was stunning:
The Hills Are Alive
I foresee many a sidrería visit in my near future where hopefully, I will be able to document quality pictures of the sidra barrels and the glass-filling technique. For now, here is a shot of Guillermo pouring us sidra:
Guillermo
One more day of ‘vacation’…then I’m in the kitchen. Practicing my best, obedient “Si, Chef!”
