August 17, 2023 Lunch - Salad and cheese sandwiches. Dinner - Gloria
My pace picked up today as I rested more with my legs elevated.
Suzette made us breakfast of hot tea, pan toasted buttered bread and a bowl of yogurt with diced pear and figs.
Then around 10:00 we walked the three blocks back to the plaza in front of the grocery store, which was filled with food sellers.
We decided to make a salad for lunch and Suzette wanted to make a caramelized onion and pepper tapa, so we bought a head of bibb lettuce and a head of red leaf lettuce, plus two tomatoes, a cucumber, a bunch of parsley, a bag of onions, and three padron peppers.
I then went into the grocery store and bought another baguette campesina, a package of 8 pain au chocolate, and an orange so Suzette can have a slice of orange in her vermouth, as is the tradition in Spain.
We then walked 1/2 block to a Dos Azucar coffee shop, where we ordered a cappuccino (coffee. and steamed milk) for Suzette and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and a piece of lemon cake for me.
The barista spoke English, the bill was €7.8, I handed him a €10 note, he handed me back a €2 and a 20 centime coin, I took the €2 coin and left the 20 centime coin on the counter, he smiled and said, “Thank you.”
While we enjoyed our morning snack I looked out the window of the coffee shop and saw a delivery truck for a natural cider.
After we left the coffee shop and headed back to the apartment a few doors down was a specialty food shop that caught our eye, so we stopped there. Among the many unique cheeses was one that was red and claimed to be made from three milks called tres leches Rioja. It was expensive at €30 per kilo compared to the other cheeses, but not compared to U.S. prices for good cheese. It was $15 per lb. So we bought a .35 kilo wedge for €10.
We also bought an all natural Sidra and carried all our purchases to the apartment.
When we got home I rested until around 1:00 when we started preparing lunch. Suzette made two fabulous tapas. One was sautéed halves of chilis padron filled with an small artichoke and some chorizo. The other was sautéed whole onions. She also made a wonderful salad with bibb and red leaf lettuce plus a cut up tomato and garnished with pickled anchovies. I made a dressing by whisking olive oil, vinegar and a bit of Dijon mustard into a thickened liquid.
I cut two slices from the new loaf and slices of Iberico, goat, and the tres leches cheeses.
We feasted on salad,
onions, and sautéed padron peppers stuffed with artichokes and chorizo.
Suzette drank vermouth (see picture above. Vermouth is in Suzette’s hand) and I drank the sidra for the best lunch we have eaten in Spain, because it had virtually no salt or grease with foods we love.
We rested after lunch and then walked to the Archeology and History Museum of Asturias. It was three floors filled with the extensive relics of Asturian history from the Paleolithic beginning around 90,000 years ago, to the Neolithic period when Homo sapiens entered Spain around 36,000 to 37,000 years ago to an early possibly Celtic period 700 to 800 BCE, to Roman control, to Medieval when Asturian rebels drove out the Muslims in 722, to when the Visigoths took over, until Christianity became widespread around the 12th and 13th centuries.
I liked the Paleolithic trade/ceremonial goods the best, because they were created by skilled artisans among the people like us who lived in Spain 18,000 to 28,000 years ago.
The museum is housed in the repurposed San Vicente Monastery. The cloisters and other portions of the building have been preserved I liked the lovely gothic cloister.
We then returned to the apartment at 5:00 and dressed for dinner and left for Restaurant Gloria at 7:00. I am walking better today and attribute that to the reduction in salt and grease and increased rest.
We walked about 1/3 mile to a cab stand and took a cab to the restaurant. We arrived around 7:30 so waited and looked at an art gallery next door until 8:00.
Gloria is a Michelin starred restaurant, note the plaque outside the door, so everything is top notch starting with the fact that the interior was air conditioned.
We were seated first. We ordered wine and looked at the menu.
We finally decided upon two oysters on the half-shell, an order of four ham croquettes, a fried scorpion fish, and a Pork loin of Iberico pork with a baked eggplant covered with a foam of mayonnaise and green peppers.
The scorpion fish was also served with a anchovy mayonnaise sauce. The flash fried fish was the high point of the meal because of its presentation. We had not seen such a dramatic fried presentation since we were served soft shell crabs at K Paul’s in New Orleans standing on their legs with their long pincer claws extended upward.
The oyster was terrific garnished with a lettuce and kiwi sauce.
The croquettes were filled with mashed potatoes and little or no ham and disappointing.
The fried scorpion fish was fabulous, flash fried crispy but tender on the inside, but the anchovy Mayo overpowered the delicate flavor of the fish if applied too liberally.
The pork loin was also wonderful with its broiled eggplant covered with a green pepper foam. The loin was incredibly tender and retained the hint of the acorns on which Iberico pigs are raised.
We ordered a bottle of Genio y Figuras Albariño that had character and a pleasant fruity after taste.
All in all, except for the croquettes the meal was fabulous and cost a total of €97, so not unreasonable, especially for a Michelin restaurant and less than we paid for a dinner at Frenchish in Albuquerque two weeks ago.
The reason why prices are cheaper in this area of Spain is because of the abundance and availability of high quality ingredients and wine. For this Michelin meal, the wine was €19, the Croquettes €5, the oysters€5 each, the pork loin was €22, and the fried Scorpion fish was €30. There is TVA tax added but the tip is included. We paid $44 for a bottle of white wine from the Haute Savoie at Frenchish.
We will see if my theory that food is cheaper holds up tomorrow when we drive to World famous Casa Gerardo in Pendres for lunch.
We taxied home to where Taramariano Street meets Cimadelvilla. We walked across the street to the Helado Real shop and ordered a medium cup with 1/2 each of chocolate Fondant and a hazelnut ice cream with chocolate.
We returned to the apartment and ate the ice cream and went to bed to read and blog at about 10:30.
It is now 11:30 as I finish the blog.
This was the best day of food so far, because we were able to purchase the exact items we like and make them into exactly the style of cooking we like and still explore the unique food stuffs and wines and cider of Asturias.
Plus we ate an amazing meal at a Michelin starred restaurant.
Bon Appetit
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