“My focus while curating the festival was to give people an idea about the Spanish cuisine. But, the dishes on the menu also reflect where I come from,” says chef Jordi Gimeno, adding the spread is “more Catalan than Spanish”. For the uninitiated, Catalonia is one of 50 provinces in Spain and includes the municipalities of Girona, Tarragona, Lleida and Barcelona. Located in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula between the Mediterranean coast and the Pyrenees, the gastronomy of Catalonia is subtly different from that of Madrid.
The Catalonia region is wedged between the sea and mountains and this is the reason why the concept, ‘Mar i Muntanya’ — mixing meat and seafood is quite popular here. Chef Gimeno is from Barcelona and unsurprisingly then, the “sea and mountain” combination makes its way into the chef’s special menu. “I believe the only other country where you can try the meat and seafood combo is China,” he says.
No matter how unappealing the concept sounded to us, when chicken and fresh water prawns in Romesco sauce was served hot on our table, the flavoursome sauce helped us to shed our inhibitions and dig in. The pieces of chicken were juicy and prawns well-cooked. Considering that prawns take only a few seconds to be cooked whereas chicken takes much longer, the delectable preparation exemplified the detailed cooking process.
The festival menu is elaborate, as chef Jordi has chosen highlights from different regions. He has also curated the menu in such a way that one doesn’t feel full by gorging on sumptuous Tapas. A mindful portion size ensures that one enjoys the main course. One should definitely try the ‘croquettes of the day’. We tasted the ham croquettes and croquettes with coconut and mushrooms, which had a melt-in-the-mouth effect. But it was the octopus with potato and paprika that stole our hearts. The smoky flavour on the baby octopuses had married the juices of the grilled paprika to give a lip-smacking flavour.
The food in Spain is also known for its freshness and inventive cooking. A simple preparation of prawns tossed in garlic and butter, which according to the chef is a local street staple shouldn’t be given a miss. If you are not averse to tuna then tuna with avocado should be your best bet. The cured tuna sits on a mountain of rich guacamole (avocado dip) and when eaten together, they offer a heavenly experience.
Another dish that stood out was cold cannelloni of vegetables with mustard and honey. A thinly-peeled zucchini over a mash of sliced veggies served with aioli redefined the meaning of freshness for us. For the main course, the chef served ‘paella sea and mountain with meat and seafood’ which was slightly piqued — but not by the Indian standards. It was spicier than the dishes we had tasted so far, and the signature dish of Spain didn’t disappoint us either. A combination of rice and seafood, it is sumptuous and ideal for Indian palate. “This is exactly how you will get an authentic paella in Spain – rich sauce with generous spices,” says the chef.
Chef Jordi had first curated a festival in India in 2001 in Mumbai and Bengaluru as part of ‘friendship initiatives with executive chefs’. He remembers how he had to tailor his dishes to suit the requirements of the Indian palate. “I was asked to add more spices.” But things have significantly changed and he credits the never-ending wanderlust of Indians for the shift. “This exposure has made my life easy. People who visit high-end restaurants expect the food to be authentic, if it specalises in a cuisine,” he observes.
The chef basically organises ‘Spanish and Catalan Food Festivals’ across the globe and at Sevilla in The Claridges, he has curated an exclusive menu to offer an exotic spread from the Mediterranean regions. Elaborating on his curation process, he says, “Technology has made things easy for chefs. I communicated with the in-house chefs to understand the preferences of the Indian palate and designed the menu accordingly. Also, unlike the times when I started, chefs are more open about sharing their ‘magic recipe’ with others.”
He likes to call himself a traditionalist who is adapting modern techniques to showcase the expansive cuisine, which has influences from the Roman, Greeks and the Moorish cuisines. “To make food people should know their tradition, only then we can reinterpret and reinvent. It is important to know where one is coming from,” he says.
We end the conversation and our food by dipping our crispy ‘churros’ in a sinful chocolate sauce.
(The festival is on until July 29 at Sevilla, The Claridges)