Monday was our 1 day off in 14, and as usual, it was spent doing all the things we cannot do on the other 13.... There isn't a lot we can do anyway, as we drop Harrison off at school at 9am and collect him at 4.30pm. Calpe doesn't have much in the way of shopping facilities, so we either have to go to Benidorm, (which is a 30 minute drive), Alicante, ( an hours drive), or Murcia (an hour and 45 mins). The nearest 'Ikea' is in Murcia, and we have only been there once in 3 1/2 years! I used to go to the one in Brent Cross once a week! So you can see how not much in the way of shopping ever gets done. I bought a bean bag (on Monday)for a fiver off one of those local Facebook selling sites, as I've always wanted one for playing games on the TV etc. I am yet to sit in it yet, (it's Friday night as I type this), as Harrison has accosted it and it's now his....(little shit!)
Tuesday was a pretty slow day in the cafe, and by about 10.30am I was really bored, so I started 'playing' with food in the kitchen. I had been thinking about doing some sort of sushi type thing, a) because I like it, and b) because on the whole, it's pretty healthy, but as I didn't have ANY of the necessary things to make some, i.e nori roll, wasabi, sticky rice etc, I decided to improvise! Here's what I made...
Wednesday was a slightly better day financially, but nothing of any excitement to report, unless you count the 94th minute winner from Moses for Chelsea in the Champions league! Another game that I don't think we deserved to win, but happy with the result!
Thursday was prep day, and as always, at about 11am, I left the hustle and bustle of the cafe for the relative tranquility of my upstairs kitchen. My music choice this week was predominantly Jaime Cullum, with a little bit of 'The Script' thrown in for good measure.
Here's the menu, so I don't have to keep explaining what I was doing...
I had seen some sweet potatoes in 'Aldi' of all places and, as I hadn't cooked with them since moving to Spain 3 1/2 years ago, I thought this was the perfect opportunity. I am trying more and more to not think about what I am going to put on the menu, but instead, let the produce guide me. I know that sounds a bit poncey, but I think it's far better to see an ingredient and be inspired by it into coming up with a recipe, rather than composing a menu and then trying to look for the ingredients. Surely that's what being a chef is all about? I know some restaurants here in Calpe, (and probably everywhere else), that have had the same menu for years and never changed it. How can they call themselves 'chef's', when they are just content to churn out the same boring old food every night for 20 years? It shows a complete lack of passion, invention or care. So many take the easy option and just stick a load of starters on their menu that they can just chuck in a deep fat fryer. Okay, so it's easy to deal with several tables at once when you are just chucking everything in the fryer, but it's not cooking. It's not creating anything, it's just putting frozen produce into a fryer to be cooked and served on a plate. What does that tell the person reading the menu? I grant you that 90 percent of the population of Calpe couldn't give a toss, but I personally, wouldn't want to eat in a restaurant that never changed its menu. Do these places not use the seasons to determine which produce they will buy? What they are saying to their customers is that they are not using seasonal produce, they have no inspiration to come up with different and interesting recipes, so therefore they are not in it for the love of cooking, they are just there to earn a crust. As I said, I would not want to eat food made by a chef who didn't give a shit....
So, with the sweet potatoes staring me in the face, I wondered off into a moment of thought and decided to put them with some belly pork and a little sauce made from the pork juices, a few bacon lardons, a little of chicken stock and a touch of cream. The picture is a terrible one, as I didn't present it particularly well, but believe me when I say it's one of the tastiest things I've EVER cooked. Firstly, a picture of the mash, and then the completed dish...
I really believe that I would not have come up with that dish if I had not seen the sweet potatoes. That's why I believe that the produce should dictate some of the choices on the menu. Not every choice can be made that way, but there has to be some inspiration somewhere, or menus become boring. Maybe some people would look at my menu and find it boring, but at least I try to change it around and come up with new ideas, and most importantly, serve food that no other restaurant anywhere near here is serving. It wont be everybody's cup of tea, but in my view it's better than just eating the same food over and over again....
There, it's off my chest now!
On to today... Another really busy Friday in the cafe today and we managed 38 covers for Fish and chips, which isn't bad for this time of year.
Thought I'd give you an update on the state of the pavement outside. Instead of explaining, I'll just upload these pictures and they will tell you all you need to know.... The first is right outside our door, and the second is a view of the rest of the street. You will see that the road is STILL closed and the pavement is STILL not finished outside our door...
It's weigh day tomorrow and although I have only been on the bike twice this week as I have been a little under the weather, I still managed to cycle 20km and I feel that a loss of weight is on the cards! I feel lighter and thinner, so I'm hopeful. I will of course fill you in with the result tomorrow. If you can't wait for the blog, just have a look at my Facebook page... www.facebook.com/groups/185455448234743/
I'm off now to suck on a Halls mentholyptus and watch Eastenders!
Nite nite
Jimbo :0)
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