I like to think that when it comes to Mediterranean bites, I know my onions. The influence of my part Turkish-Cypriot heritage means I’ve snacked on a good few olives, caperberries and cloves of pickled garlic in my time.
So when I heard that the recent collaboration between Spanish chef Omar Allibhoy (author of Tapas Revolution) and Spanish olive and Mediterranean food brand Fragata, was to be celebrated with a dinner hosted by the man himself at his restaurant in Westfield Shopping Centre, I needed little convincing to pop over and check it out.
The partnership makes a lot of sense. Fragata is a long-standing family-run business based in Seville and established in 1897, a brand well-loved by the Spanish. Spanish olives (a vast range of them too) are their main offering but they’ve also branched into other antipasti-type products.
Omar has been on a mission to make traditional Spanish cuisine accessible and bring it to the masses for some time through his recipe book (very good, by the way) and many TV appearances. He also told me on the night “I’ve tried all the olives on the market and these are the best”. The two together are a fitting marriage.
I’ve visited Tapas Revolution in Westfield and met Omar before at a separate event launching his book of the same name. The consistency in the quality of the food has remained; I sampled many plates of solid, reliable and very agreeable tapas. Each menu item that evening involved something from the Fragata product range to demonstrate the many ways in which it be used.
Endless jugs of sangria and small bowls of Halkidiki and Kalamata olives marinated in rosemary, garlic and chilli entertained our fingers and palates in the spaces between the more substantial plates.
Pan con tomate - demonstrating the power of well executed simplicity - is just toasted bread rubbed with garlic, dressed with tomato, salt and olive oil. But it’s great. Mackerel escabeche (poached fish marinated in an acidic mix) came with guindillas hot yellow peppers (like the ones you get with kebabs and who doesn’t love these) and Ajo encurtido garlic cloves, the piquant chillies playing very nicely with the oily fish.
A clay pot of pimiento piquillo peppers stuffed with wild mushrooms and concealed by a piquillo pepper and bechamel sauce imparted all the pleasure of a light pasta-free lasagne.
The rounds of morcilla (Spanish black pudding) were great; sitting on sweet apple they sported a hat of vibrant green olive, caper and pistachio paté with a little flourish of finely sliced hot piri-piri peppers. I do prefer my morcilla more pungent, but they still went down barely touching the sides.
Handsome pork cheeks, lacquered with a dark jus, braised with olives and capers provided pleasure beyond it’s compact size; deep and flaky and delightful. Then there was the chocolate fondant laced with the flavour from Seville oranges and punctuated with bitter rind from the La Vieja Fabrica marmalade (currently available in Waitrose). Dastardly decadent.
When your feet are weary from traipsing after new season pieces at Westfield, stop and eat at Tapas Revolution because the menu there is good, authentic and devised by Omar who knows his stuff. Lucky for all of us, many of the dishes I had that night are resident on the menu.
And if you’re after titbits for your own tapas feast recreation at home, make like a Spanish chef and try out Fragata - they seem to be a very safe bet.
My rating: 4/5
Afiyet olsun.
This weekend has been most pleasant. Partly because of the sunshine, partly because I've been able to fully indulge in my hobbies. A combination of it being the weekend, spring (optimal planting time) and the sun donning its hat has meant an inevitable trip to my local nursery in Merton. I once again spent too much time and money on plants, but few things give me more satisfaction than putting something in the ground and watching it live and transform, attract wildlife, die back into the earth, and return next year. I can, and do, spend hours just observing my garden. There is always something going on, especially at this time of year. Watching fat furry bees heavy and drunk on pollen meandering from one petal platform to the next; pulsating peristaltic worms burrowing into the dark and cool depths of the borders; watching a male robin 'courtship feed' his mate from the sunflower seed feeder, getting her ready for imminent egg-laying. The list goes on. I don't have a large garden, but the life within it and the immense pleasure it gives me is deeply comforting.
So I got to do a lot of digging, lifting, planting, sitting, watching, listening in it today. The wonderful weather called for sustenance to match, and so in between admiring my anemones and pandering over my passionflower, I decided to rustle up a foccacia to have with dinner, thus allowing me to satisfy another slightly more obvious hobby of mine, cooking (and subsequently, eating). A focaccia is a flat oven baked Italian bread, wonderfully savoury and full with the flavour of good olive oil. It can be topped with a variety of typically Mediterranean toppings of your choice and is one of the easiest breads to make. It's also made from ingredients you're likely to already have in stock - a perfect impulse bake.
Rosemary and garlic focaccia
Makes one large focaccia, serves 8-10
500g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1½ tsp salt
Pinch of caster sugar
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 x 7g sachets fast-action dried yeast
Olives (whatever colour you like)
Small handful fresh rosemary leaves
A bulb of garlic
Put the flour into a large bowl, tip the sugar and yeast on one side, and the salt on the opposite side. Make a well in the centre and pour in one tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil. Add 300ml of lukewarm water into the well and combine with your hand until it all comes together.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for around 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Shape into a round and drag across the surface with your hands cupped around it to make the skin of the dough ball taught. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave in warm place until the dough has at least doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Tip You can incorporate other ingredients into the dough when you knead it if you wish, such as chopped up sun dried tomatoes.
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| before first prove |
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| doubled in size |
Once the dough has risen, tip it out into an oiled large sandwich tin or a shallow baking tray (the former will give you a smaller and thicker focaccia, the latter will make it larger and thinner - I did the latter). Push the dough flat and right into the corners with your fingertips so it fills the space. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for its second prove, until it's doubled in size again.
Preheat your oven to 250°C/Gas Mark 10, or as high as it will go. When the bread looks puffed up and airy, use your thumb to poke deep holes across the whole surface, almost to the bottom. Fill these holes with olives and garlic cloves. Drizzle the top generously (but not swimmingly) with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Pierce the dough all over with rosemary leaves.
Tip Tilt the tray so the oil covers the whole surface. Also use the back of a teaspoon to ensure the oil has coated the rosemary too.
Bake for about 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to about 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and bake for a further 10 minutes until golden brown.
Focaccia is best eaten warm, but not hot; leave to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before serving, or leave to cool completely.
I also managed to fulfil a third hobby today - blog writing. All in, quite a productive and satisfying weekend.
Alfiyet olsun.
