Las tapas y el vino plantan cara al 'fast-food' en Estados Unidos de America
Más de 90 empresas españolas participan en la Fancy Food de Nueva York, la mayor feria alimenticiaLas tapas y el vino plantan cara al 'fast-food' en EE UU. Más de 90 empresas españolas participan en la Fancy Food de Nueva York, la mayor feria alimenticia

Roberto Arnaz (Efe) - Nueva York - 13/07/2006
Calificados hace años de locos aventureros, los chefs españoles de EE UU han conseguido hacer que algunos norteamericanos sustituyan la hamburguesa por las tapas y el vino español. 'Ha llegado el momento de España. Los norteamericanos descubren nuestro país y su gastronomía gracias a que los cocineros españoles son muy bien valorados', asegura Jaime Palafox, director de promoción de la Federación Española de Industrias de la Alimentación y Bebidas.

Esta semana, miles de neoyorquinos han podido darse cuenta de lo que es un buen plato de jamón serrano o una tostada con aceite de oliva, acompañados con un vino español en la Fancy Foods, una de las mayores ferias del sector. Con 2.200 expositores, más de 90 empresas españolas han tratado de deleitar los paladares de los asistentes para que, además de las tradicionales joyas de la gastronomía española -vino y aceite-, otros productos como el caviar, el café o el jamón tengan su oportunidad.

En EE UU lo español está de moda. Primero fue la música, luego el diseño y ahora la gastronomía. El año pasado las ventas de productos alimentarios españoles creció más de un 5%. 'En los últimos cuatro o cinco años, el mercado norteamericano está evolucionando de forma muy positiva para nosotros. Además del aceite y el vino, EE UU es el principal mercado para el queso español', afirma Palafox.

Sin embargo, las estrellas de las exportaciones nacionales a EE UU son la aceituna y su saludable zumo, el aceite de oliva, que el año pasado dejaron en la cuenta de las empresas españolas 238 y 190 millones de euros, respectivamente, y un incremento respecto al año anterior del 31% y el 16%.

Este furor se debe a que 'hay una tendencia a tomar productos saludables, como el aceite de oliva', según Francisco Núñez de Prado, director de exportaciones de la empresa familiar que llegó a EE UU en 1990. Para Núñez de Prado, la labor de los cocineros españoles internacionalmente reconocidos 'ha ayudado a poner de moda el aceite de oliva español', porque hace 35 años estaba 'postergado' y era considerado 'poco saludable' por la comunidad médica.
Los consumidores norteamericanos también confían cada vez más en la calidad de los vinos españoles, como demuestra un crecimiento en la exportación del 24% el año pasado.

Gonzalo González, del grupo Yllera, apunta que 'aunque los números no lo digan todavía, EE UU va a ser el mercado más interesante, por su capacidad de consumo, porque tiene una renta per cápita muy alta y una población enorme. Hoy en día es el cuarto importador del mundo, y en dos o tres años será el primero'.

Caso aparte es el de uno de los iconos de la gastronomía española, el jamón serrano, gran desconocido hasta hace bien poco debido a las dificultades fitosanitarias e institucionales para su exportación a tierras norteamericanas, y que sólo ocupa el puesto número 11 entre las partidas aduaneras más exportadas a EE UU.

Desde el Consorcio del Jamón Serrano, Stéphanie Mazier, directora de mercadotecnia, se queja de que en España hay cerca de 1.400 empresas que producen jamón curado, 'de las que sólo cuatro tienen certificado para exportar a EE UU'.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Spain

Envy

Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 12:02:31 AM Anthony Bourdain

An interesting visual, phenomonen occurred during the editing of the Spain show. Though Albert Adria had graciously agreed to appear in a scene in the El Bulli "taller" (workshop), and another (since edited out) at a restaurant in Barcelona, like some kind of ghostly optical illusion, or a "Where's Waldo" book, he kept popping up.

The hapless, ZPZ tape-loggers, caffeine-jacked myrmidons who toil away in the filthy sub-cellar of our corporate headquarters, reviewing hour after hour of mind-numbingly repetitive and boring video tape, noticing this spectral apparition, began to lose their already tentative grips on reality. One scene after another, a glimpse here, a face in the crowd there, lurking suspiciously in the background in another scene, down the bar a few positions, pretending he doesn't know me in another -- or front and center; there he is.

It's Albert's very ubiquitousness in the raw footage, his omnipresence -- even in the scenes where the viewer won't see him, that tells you all you need to know about Spain -- and how damn good it is.

Understand: Albert, along with his brother, Ferran, is a chef/owner of the three Michelin starred El Bulli, the hardest to reserve, restaurant table in the world. He's a national hero, an international superstar in the world of chefs and restaurants. Suffice to say that just about anywhere in the world of fine dining, from Shanghai to San Francisco; when Albert walks in the door, the whole place goes on Red Alert. He's used to the very best. If there's a downside to his life in the culinary firmament, it's that too much foie gras, truffles and expensive wine come his way.

As a chef at El Bulli, hugely respected pastry chef -- and as the owner of a casual eatery in Barcelona, he can surely have the very best Spanish ingredients delivered anywhere he wants, quickly, with a phone call. You'd think, he'd be a bit .....jaded by it all.

Yet, there he was at Espinaler, gobbling up those supernaturally delicious, canned cockles and razor clams and mussels like he'd never had them before. Tagging along at Quimet and Quimet, shoveling in the tapas with a big smile on his face. Out in the country, with a silly red bib, a blissed-out expression, sucking down the calcots and the red wine like it was his last meal on earth. I've never seen anyone so happy to be in Spain -- and (this is my point here) HE FREAKIN' LIVES THERE!!!

All that magnificent food -- all those cool little tapas bars, they're right down the street--and yet, it was like he just landed in Barcelona from Mars. His enthusiasm for his own country, his own heritage, the everyday places and things of Spain was something to see.
Naturally this made me misanthropic and deeply envious.

Why can't I have that? How come I gotta go halfway across the earth -- to like, Singapore, or Hong Kong (or Spain), for instance, to really get MY culinary jollies these days? He's on a magic carpet ride in his own town and I'm like a full-bloom junkie, the honeymoon period over, needing a higher and higher dosage to get off in MY home town of New York!. Why?

The sad fact is, we'll never -- and I mean NEVER have it so good as in Spain. It's not like we don't have great restaurants in Manhattan - -and will surely have many more. And certainly, we can get many of the same ingredients jetted over (more or les s-- if at a steep price). No. It's attitudinal. You can faithfully reproduce the look of a Spanish tapas bar in New York City. You can stock it with all the best, most authentic ingredients, just-jerked from the rivers, streams, soil and seas of Spain. You can staff the joint with the best cooks, dragooned off the streets of the parta vieja. And you'll still never be close to the real thing. Because what your tapas bar needs -- really needs -- is three or four or eight OTHER tapas bars (or casual Spanish eateries within walking distance).

You can't really enjoy this kind of food in a vacuum. You need to graze -- or at least know that you can graze (should the urge arise), bouncing from one place to another, a mouthful or two of what's good here, a glass of tinto, a few mouthfuls of what they do well over there -- another glass of tinto and so on. In fact, the whole customer base has to re-groove to accommodate this notion. They'll have to accept the idea that a small can of tuna -- or clams -- can actually be better than fresh stuff. And worth about $150 bucks.

That the fat of Spanish acorn fed pigs is the stuff of which dreams are made. That there's nothing unusual about growing up with Goya, Dali, Bunuel, and Gaudi. That midnite is a normal time to sit down to dinner.

The best example of What They Do In Spain that We Can and Never Will Do is to be found in the Extebarri scene near the end of the show. Here, at a rustic pub in the mountains near St. Sebastian, grilling has been raised to unthinkable zen-like heights. Hand made charcoals. A separate fire for each individual order. Separate grills -- and custom designed and crafted pans and implements to best achieve perfection.

Ingredients of a quality undreamed of by most mortals. This, in a simple, neighborhood-looking joint with a smoky bar and a self-taught chef who grew up in the village. It's where the Adrias, Arzaks and Aduriz's go for their own pleasure -- high end comfort food.

Back before cable, if you took a baseball bat and smacked it upside a television set in the middle of a show, there'd be a black and white sputter, a flash -- and then white noise and static. That was what my first bite of grilled elvers was like there. And the grilled gambas. And just about everything else in that chilly, wood-smoke smelling kitchen. A jarring, flood of endorphins, then brain overload, and for a second, a blinding light. Momentarily, the synapses shorted out. Sensation returned in a warm, intensely pleasurable afterglow of flavor. It was a sensation that related directly to the experience of a few weeks before -- in Tokyo. At Sukibayashi Jiro. Two seemingly simple things done well -- as well as they can be done. In Tokyo: old school sushi.In Spain, grilled stuff with a little salt and a light spritz of oil.Nothing, as it turns out, could be better

Tapas de España

Eating Tapas in Seville, Spain

Find the Best Tapas in Seville, Spain

by Manuel Calderon and Richard Casallas

- adapted from Emma Fox

When it comes to food, wine and conviviality, the Spanish seem to have it all figured out. Increased attention to Spanish grape varietals such as Albariño, Garanacha and Tempranillo have put more and more Spanish wine producers on the global map. Celebrity chef José Andrés' popular PBS television show "Made in Spain" has tempted the palates of curious foodies from coast to coast.

One of Spain's favorite culinary pastimes, eating tapas -- or small, saucer-sized portions of food, usually accompanied by sherry, aperitifs or cocktails -- has slowly made its way into mainstream American culinary circles.

To experience tapas at its best, tour the streets of Seville, which boast more than 4,000 tapas bars -- roughly one for every 200 locals.

To keep logistics simple, this tapas-bar-hopping itinerary is limited to the Barrio Santa Cruz, or the areas surrounding the centrally located Catedral de Sevilla, Giralda and Alcázar.
Please keep in mind the spirit of tapas-bar-hopping is rather impromptu and revolves around walking, talking, eating and drinking, so serendipitous straying from Travel Channel's plan of attack is encouraged.

Bar Modesto (c/Cano y Cueto, 5)
Located just north of Santa Cruz and across from the Murillo Gardens, Bar Modesto is widely regarded as one of the city's best tapas bars. The terrace is a bit touristy; cozy up to the counter inside for bite-sized delights. The emphasis is on seafood; try the fritadura modesto -- tempura-style fried strips of onions, green and red peppers, topped with plump, breaded prawns.

Mesón Cinco Jotas (c/Albareda 15)
Brought to you by Grupo Osborne, Spain's largest family-owned wine producer, Mesón Cinco Jotas is renowned for its pricey Iberian jamón (ham). The free-range pigs are fed a diet primarily of acorns, then cured for an extended period of time, resulting in melt-in-your-mouth, fat-flecked meat. Paired with Manchego cheese, it's pure nirvana.

Bar Giralda (c/Mateus Gagos 1)
Originally a Moorish bathhouse, this is one of Seville's most famous bars. The selection of tapas is expansive; be sure to try the espinacas con garbanzos (spinach with chickpeas) or patatas a la importancia (fried potatoes stuffed with ham and cheese). Soak up cathedral views from the in-demand outdoor seating area.

Entrecárceles (Callejón del Agua, 6)
On the site of a former prison and west of the cathedral, this teeny tiny bar holds no more than 20 people. Its tapas are more elaborate than most -- try the eggplant layered with salmon, cod and langoustine or the foie gras mousse. They also serve an excellent selection of sherries.

Casa Román (Plaza de los Venerables 1)
For a low-key and very local experience, swing by Casa Román. One of the city's older establishments, this tapas bar is famed for its tostadas rubbed with tomato with cured jamón, caña de lomo (cured pork tenderloin) and delicious fried bacalao (salt cod).

Tapas glossary:
Aceitunas: olives
Albóndigas: meatballs
Atún: tuna
Bacalao: cod
Boquerones: anchovies
Caracoles: snails
Chorizo: smoked pork sausage
Frituras: fried dishes
Gambas: prawns
Jamón Iberico: prized ham made from acorn-fed, black-footed pigs
Jamón: Spanish cured ham
Lomo: air-dried loin of pork
Migas: fried breadcrumbs
Navajas: razor clams
Pan con tomate: crusty bread, rubbed with tomato and garlic, then drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt

Patatas bravas: crispy wedges of potato, topped with aioli
Pisto: stew of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and zucchini
Pulpo: octopus
Revuelta: scrambled eggs
Salchichon: cured pork sausage
Tortilla Español: Spanish omelette with potato and onion
Txpirones: baby squid

Tapas etiquette 101:
--Tapas are typically displayed under glass or on top of the bar and cost $2-6 USD.
--Most bars push larger portions called raciones (dinner-plate-sized); ask for the smaller tapas portions.
--Eating and drinking is usually cheapest at the counter (barra).
--You may pay a little more to eat sitting at a table (mesa) and still more for an outdoor table (terraza).
--Speak up or you'll never be served. Por favor (please) grabs the guy's attention.
--Don't worry about settling up until you're ready to leave. To get the bill, ask: "¿La cuenta?"

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