Ahh, to be in a kitchen again for 10 hours. I love it! The morning started off slowly, but then the afternoon picked up. I tried to stave off eating as much as possible as I knew my stomach was going to be a grouch if Quim fed me seafood again, but then he brought in sashimi and he followed it up by making me this beautiful seafood plate after work for lunch/dinner. He cooks every piece of seafood perfectly. Of course, he has been doing it a long time, but I aspire to do that one day.
My plate is pictured above. Here’s its contents: gambas (shrimp); a seared ahi steak topped with cuttlefish, bocarones (anchovies), and calamari – all delightful; clams and muscles; and a chipirones tortilla (baby fish in an egg soufflé/omelette). He topped it with a light soy-balsamic reduction. Of course, it was accompanied by a nice white wine. If you look at the picture in the picture, above the plate to the left, you can see Quim second from the left in the picture of 4 people.
Yuri, Quim’s son, had a pasta negra dish, pictured below. Quim toasts the small, dry pasta in the oven until dark brown before he cooks and adds the ink sauce, so that it stays al dente and has a good texture to it. I had a small bite of that, of course, and it was also delicious. It’s a pretty cool looking dish; it reminds me of wild rice, seaweed, or small sticks upon first blush.
Quim is still spoiling me. Today, was the Barca-Madrid futbol game, so it was pretty rowdy in the kitchen, with lots of singing the Barca anthem. All the guys wore their Barca team-Quim shirts. Joan gave me his to wear, but I was swimming in it, so Quim slipped away and came back with a little boys shirt, size 8. I pulled it out of the package and everyone laughed. I think they thought it was too small. But, thanks to my boy-upper body, it was a perfect fit! And, I received lots of compliments from people in the market since I was wearing Messi’s jersey 🙂
Pictures of my first ever futbol jersey:
Front:
Back:
Secretly, Antonio and I were rooting for Real Madrid, and it just so happens they won 1-0. Poor Barca. Here’s Barca schedule of play, if you want to follow, and you can see “my” jersey in action 😉 http://www.fcbarcelona.es/ Good luck playing Chelsea on Tuesday, boys!
Tomorrow is Sunday and I’m looking forward to trying to sleep. This jet lag is goin’ down! Then, Monday at 8 a.m., I go back to Quim’s to learn to make their desserts from Ricardo. Hopefully, I’ll have time to make some Lebanese food in the afternoon, as I want to feed the guys kibbe and fatyre on Tuesday. I’m sure they’ve never had either. Then, it’s another fun week, full week, Tues-Sat. there!
Salty Apron 
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