montaditos

Roasted red pepper, eggplant, cod salad, Mama ía blog

Roasted Red Pepper, Eggplant and Cod —or Esgarraet

Roasted red pepper, eggplant, cod salad, Mama ía blogI don’t know in which category exactly to place esgarraet, salads or appetizers/tapas. Esgarraet is a dish typical of the Valencian community, and very often it is served as a tapa, on top of a slice of crusty bread, or grilled or toasted bread. It consists of roasted red peppers, salt cod, garlic and olive oil, and in some areas of (more…)

Piquillo pepper and eggplant toasts, Mama ía

Piquillo Pepper and Eggplant Toasts —and hiking to Santa Lucía in Alcocebre, Spain

Piquillo pepper and eggplant toasts, Mama íaI’m writing this as I’ve just sat down, trying to catch my breath after the hike to la ermita de Santa Lucía, Saint Lucia chapel in Alcocebre, Spain. The breathlessness is real, as the hike is a steep one, trying to navigate rocks, some of them part of a glacier plateau, and bushes of wild rosemary and the many other varieties of wild herbs and low Mediterranean pine trees (more…)

Olivada and Smoked Salmon Spread

Olivada and Smoked Salmon Spread, Spain and Canada on toast

Olivada and Smoked Salmon SpreadAppetizers are a wonderful invention. So much so that, in Spain, we have created a new category of dish called tapa, or pincho, or montadito (the name changes depending on the region of Spain you’re in) based on small plates, equivalent to what in America we would call appetizers. Tapas can be so flavorful that we like to (more…)