My first visit to Spain was in 1972. A “package” holiday to Pineda de Mar on the Costa Maresme in Catalunya, with a school friend and his parents. The hotel food was unremarkable. I remember thin, bland soup with vermicelli. My friend’s father was in the furniture business and had arranged a business meeting in nearby Barcelona. His supplier took us all to a wonderful restaurant up in the hills. It had a wood fired grill. We were served Pan amb Tomaquet and Chuletas de Ternera barbecued over that wood fire. The flavours and seasoning were an epiphany. I can still see the steak sprinkled with sea salt and filling the plate- 44 years ago. The next visit to Spain was in 1974. I had taken a year out before university to travel around Europe. Northern France was unfriendly and difficult for hitchhiking. Germany was cold and snowy so I decided to head South to Spain for some warmer weather and chance to rest up and rethink my plans. I decided to revisit the same place that I had stayed in 2 years earlier. I ended up in Calella de la Costa – next door to Pineda. My intention was to stay for two weeks. In fact I stayed for five months. I lived in a pension above a “pub” which cost 100 pesetas per night. I was earning 100 pesetas per day doing cleaning jobs in local bars The bar owner also provided free evening meals and drinks. I made friends with Antonio the owner of Bar San Francisco, which was opposite my pension.
He was from Andalucia and introduced me to Spanish Food. I particularly remember Callos a la Madrileña reheated on the plancha with a splash of white wine. The red wine was icy from the fridge and poured from a refillable bottle with a plastic cap. He also introduced me to staples like Chorizo and Gazpacho . I had never tasted anything like it before. It was a revelation and the beginning of my love of Spain and its food.
Gazpacho comes in many forms from the smooth rose-pink drink of my introduction to crunchy porridge-like soup accompanied by garnish of croutons and chopped egg and jamon. I use very ripe tomatoes sold as “por gazpacho” in the market, with cucumber, green pepper, garlic and a small amount of stale bread; finished with olive oil, sherry vinegar and chilled water. I prefer coarse texture and sometimes I prepare gazpacho using a traditional Dornillo ( see below). Alternatively I use a food processor, if I am feeling lazy
What is a Dornillo? A large wooden mortar traditionally used to pound food by means of a wooden crusher.
It takes a skilled carpenter several days of work to finish one. Usually they are made from hardwoods such as oak, olive or birch. Our Dornillo above was made from birch (abedul) by Adolfo Moreno Díaz in Alcalá de los Gazules
