fruit

December 15, 2022

Pears poached in red wine, the link to the Spice Islands and Miami 2022

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Events & Travel Christmas dessert, festive dessert, First voyage around the world, fruit, I Was the First, Juan Sebastián Elcano, peras al vino, postre, Spanish cuisine, spices, yo fui el primero

If there was a dessert that my mom made very often when I was a young girl, that was peras al vino, pears poached in red wine. And I know what you’re thinking, and yes, drinking age is lower in Spain that it is in the US, but no, these pears have essentially no alcohol because all of it is evaporated in the making.

Phew! Now that we have cleared that up, let’s move forward.

Pears poached in red wine are one of the easiest desserts to make, and now that I mention it, maybe that’s why (more…)

August 16, 2017

Sangría, a Harvest, and a Summer Break

Natacha Sanz Caballero Drinks fruit, harvest, red wine, sangría, Spanish beverage, summer

You’ve probably had sangría before, maybe even one of the modern versions of it. Sangría is considered Spain’s un-official national beverage. Since it can be made ahead of time, it’s usually served when entertaining. Traditional sangría in Spain includes red wine, soda, some hard liquor, citrus and other fruit, usually stonefruit like peaches, in season in the summer, when sangría is most consumed.

In the last few years I’ve been seeing all sorts of drinks labelled “sangría” that may include alcohol or not, and different fruits not seen in a traditional Spanish sangría. I wouldn’t say those mixes are not sangría. Rather, what I like to think, is that the word sangría has become a generalized term for any drink that includes chunks of fruit —much like paella, which nowadays (and only outside of Spain), many people refer to as any rice dish cooked in a shallow pan and that includes a lot of fish and shellfish. Those dishes, or rather, their names, have become commonplace.

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