Print'1,080 Recipes': Brandade
Simone and Ines Ortega's 1,080 Recipes is being positioned as the Spanish Joy of Cooking and has been published by Phaidon Press, which brought you The Silver Spoon, a similarly comprehensive compendium of Italian recipes.
In her thoughtful review of 1,080 Recipes on Slate, Lisa Abend observed that this useful book will disappoint anyone hoping to capture the Iberian romance of travel brochures or who dreams of dining at El Bulli. This collection doesn't fetishize Spanish food.
It instead presents the food a Spanish person might make at home. In this, it is genuinely similar to Joy. This is largely straightforward food. The authors don't hide the influence of French cuisine and aren't shy about calling for shortcuts such as bouillon cubes and precooked pasta, and the translated version even suggests Smithfield ham in a few recipes—creating presimplified shopping lists for an American audience.
But for all its basic housewifery, there are some interesting dishes that may be unfamiliar to the American palate. With a terrific section on offal (here referred to as "variety meats") and several recipes for salt cod, there is a level of exoticism that will satisfy the armchair culinary tourist.
Brandade
Ingredients
5 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
Salt
11 ounces salt cod fillet, soaked 12 hours (change your soaking water at least 4 times and rinse both the fish and the bowl when changing)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Triangles of toasted bread
Procedure
1. Make olive oil-based Bechamel sauce: Heat the oil in a pan and stir in the flour. Gradually stir in the milk, a little at a time, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add salt to taste and simmer constantly over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Drain the cod and remove any skin and bones and flake the flesh. Put it into a pan, pour in water to cover, and bring just to a boil. Remove pan from the heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain the cod and process to a puree in a food processor or blender. Stir the cod into the bechamel sauce and then stir in the cream, and heat through gently. Serve immediately, garnished with toasted bread triangles.
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3 Comments:
I did not like the silver spoon it was way to pedestrian for me. I am too cool for it. I sent it back. I think for beginners might be a good purchase.
Hoping this one is better than silver spoon.
JerzeeTomato at 7:39PM on 12/03/07
I received my copy of 1,080 recipes last week. It's a handsome book with lovely color photographs and drawings. I also own the Silver Spoon cookbook. Both are the same size and weight (about a ton each) but I'm finding 1,080 Recipes a little more inspiring than it's Italian cousin. I actually may try a few of the recipes in 1,080. I felt much of the Siver Spoon book lost something in the translation, even so it was a good read and an even better flower press. I can think of many other Italian books I'd recommend first but 1,080 Recipes is an inspiring addition to the Spanish section on my cookbook shelf. I recommend Amazon.com for the best price on the 1,080 tome.
kathyvegas at 10:41PM on 12/03/07
We bought the book, and made three recipes from it the other night. They were exactly as they should be, simple, and delicious.
I didn't find the book to be too pedestrian at all.
The recipes we prepared were the Albondigas, Tortilla, and Mushrooms in garlic.
They tasted like Spain. It was exactly like the food you would eat in someone's home.
I really agree with the comparison to the Joy Of Cooking, the recipes really offer a sense of place. There is nothing fancy here at all.
It's more of a way to take the basics of Spanish cooking and inspire your own creativity with it.
We are having a lot of fun with it.
Silvia at 12:40AM on 12/05/07