REPÚBLICA BANANERA

 Hola a todos,

Después de un tiempo sin escribir quería volver al blog. No obstante, en esta ocasión no hablaré de vinos ni tampoco de gastronomía.

Quería presentaros un nuevo juego super divertido que se ha lanzado en el mercado: República Bananera. Es un juego de cartas de humor negro para jugar con amigos que consiste en hacer combinaciones de frases que sean muy graciosas. 

El juego se puede comprar ya en www.republicabananera.es. La cuenta de Instagram por si queréis seguirla es https://www.instagram.com/repbananera/. 

¡A divertirse!

CATALONIA HAS POTENTIAL

Catalonia has potential, and a lot! In many sectors…

We all know that we have good products in Catalonia, but probably we do not take advantage of all the knowledge and quality that we have in our country. In general, we, including me, should learn how to sell them. Why a simple prosecco or a champagne abroad is more popular in terms of sales than cava? Why value for money is cava cheaper than champagne and sales of this sparkling wine from France are higher? The conclusion that I have ended up is that we should improve the positioning of our products. Actually, we should learn how to sell our products. Now just in the wine sector, also in the industrial, technological and science sectors.

With all these previous affirmations, I am not meaning that Italian  or French wines are worse than Catalan. Just I am saying that in general, Italians and French know how to sell them better.

A great example of quality applied to the food industry is that a Catalan cava was awarded in 2013 as the second best wine in the world. The cava Gran Reserva 2008 from Muscàndia’s cellar (http://www.muscandia.com) has been awarded with the silver medal at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (http://concoursmondial.com/en), which is one of the most prestigious wine competition in Europe. In that year’s edition, 8,200 wines were presented. So, they were good news for the cava’s sector. 

Muscàndia is a small cellar located in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (in Alt Penedés, Catalunya), which is a region with a long tradition in the wine industry. Obviously cava have international presence but still is in the queue compared to other sparkling wines.

Another example of quality is when the wine Clos Abella from Priorat was awarded as the best wine in the world by the specialised wine magazine Wine in China Magazine. 

To sum up, cava and wine, like it happens in other sectors in Catalonia, have a huge potential. Now let’s make the world understand our potential! Meanwhile, I am really looking forward to tasting Muscàndia’s cava and Clos Abella's wine! What about you?

Cheers! 

EL PRIMER RECEPTARI EN CATALÀ

Sabíeu que el llibre de cuina catalana més antic de la historia és el Llibre de Sant Soví? El Llibre de Sant Soví o El Llibre de totes maneres de potatges de menjar és un receptari medieval en català del segle XIV (any 1323). És el primer receptari conegut en llengua catalana i un dels receptaris més antics d’Europa en una llengua diferent al llatí. Doncs, tal i com es pot comprovar, la tradició culinària catalana ve de lluny.

Aquest llibre no només ha influenciat la cuina catalana actual, sinó que també la cuina italiana del segle XV, ja que moltes de les seves receptes van ser traduïdes a l'italià. A més a més, també va ser un llibre influent en la cuina europea.

El llibre descriu 200 receptes de la cuina mediterrània amb una clara influencia de la cuina àrab de l’època. En aquest llibre ja hi podem trobar la recepta del típic sofregit (tot i fer-se sense tomàquet) i els bunyols de quaresma, però també hi ha receptes menys usuals actualment o que s’han perdut com l’os o les guatlles, a més de moltes altres carns, peixos, postres i sopes. El que no trobem en aquest llibre és la presència del salmó i la taronja dolça. I un ingredient que s’utilitzava molt a l’època com espècie en la majoria de plats era el gingebre.

Si voleu portar a la pràctica algunes receptes, el llibre original el trobareu a la Universitat de València i a la Universitat de Barcelona.

Tenim, teníem i tindrem bons cuiners a Catalunya. Catalunya era pionera en la cuina I Catalunya molts segles més tard, segueix al capdavant.

Bon profit! 

WHITE, RED OR ROSÉ WINE, BUT BLUE???

Did you know that blue wine already exists? It may seem unbelievable or an April Fool’s Day joke, but the truth is that it exists and comes from Spain. I have not tasted it yet, but I do have the curiosity and I am looking forward to drinking it.

It all started when six young entrepreneurs who did not have any experience in the wine industry wanted to innovate and created Gïk  https://gik.blue/, which is, according to them, the world’s first blue wine.

Gïk is a bright blue base wine created from red and white grapes, then anthocyanin and indigo pigments are added to turn it blue and the wine is softened with sweeteners. It has 12 degree of alcohol and can be purchased for € 9.92 per bottle.  

This company is an example of entrepreneurship and innovation and teaches us that things can be done in different ways or products can be different compared to the traditional ones. Moreover, it is an example of learning and achieving challenges because the six entrepreneurs had absolutely zero past experience of traditional winemaking. In addition, more challenges related to the wine industries could be (also for Gïk): commercialize any other wine colours, export this blue wine and other coloured wines around the world and put it in the wine menu from most of the restaurants.

Will the taste be different from the other wines? Will we be able in the future to go a restaurant and order a blue wine? Who knows… For the moment I just wish them luck and I am sure that I will try it in the nearest future.

Cheers!

PAELLA, WHO SAID THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO MAKE?

Dear all, my apologies for not having written for a long time, I have been busy with my job, finishing my master’s degree and applying for Jobs. But, as you can here, here I am, back again! Today I would like to share a simple recipe that I made yesterday here in London: paella. People might say that it is difficult or that in the UK it will be difficult to find the right ingredients. It might not be the best paella, but at least it is a good one. By the way, this is for the Brits: there is no chorizo in the paella!!!

The recipe it is for 6 people and I have to say that it was cooked with a wok instead of a proper pan (paella pan, which is flatter).

Ingredients:

600gr of rice (not basmati rice!)

12 prawns (they were already peeled)

2 cuttlefishes

200gr of mussels (without the shell)

1 chopped red pepper

½ a glass of white wine

2 chopped tomatoes

1 Chopped onion

1 Chopped garlic (optional)

Fishes for the stock (the once you find)

Oil

Salt

2 Fish Stock cubes

Water (twice more than rice)

4 pork sausages

Some peas (according to the quantity that you prefer)

First of all, for the fish stock you should boil water in a pot with the fish stocks cubes and the fishes. Meanwhile you could fry with oil, the tomatoes, the onions, the garlic and the pepper in a pan. Then, add some salt and the glass of white wine. When the wine is reduced, cut the sausages into small pieces and add them to the pan. After that, add the prawns, the mussels and the cuttlefishes. 

Once are cook, add the rice to the pan, mixing up all the ingredients and cooking the rice a little bit. Now it is time to add the fish stock to the pan once the water has been strained from the fishes. Then cook slowly and continue adding the fish stock. When it is almost cooked, add the peas. After that when all the water is reduced, the paella will be ready to be served. 

To drink with the paella I would recommend you any young soft red wine or the varieties of albariño, verdejo or chardonnay.  

So, are you ready to make a paella? If I did it, you can also do it! Don’t be scared of cooking!

Enjoy it!