JUAN ALTAMIRAS FOOD FESTIVAL II
In March 2019 La Almunia held a second edition of its Certamen Gastronómico. For this I was asked to design a menu of escudillas – friary bowl food – to be served at a press lunch in Zaragoza. Working from Madrid by phone with Carlos Martínez of El Patio, who cooked the lunch, I suggested a free flow of tasting dishes evoking friary simplicity. Carlos picked half a dozen ideas from my candidate recipes, opening his menu with Altamiras’s fish soup aromatised with candied fruit. The lunch also reflected this year’s festival actitivities chosen by consultant Arturo Gastón: fine wine pairings with local Garnachas from Cariñena’s bodegas, and cooking in earthenware cazuelas, highlighted by Eduardo Comín in a showcooking session in San Lorenzo convent. I was given one of the festival’s first Premios Juan Altamiras, presented by mayoress Marta Gracía. The award, a suitably humble, handpainted escudilla made in Valdejalón, now sits on my bookshelves. Thankyou, La Almunia!
Go to La Almunia
Go to El Patio
Go to San Lorenzo Convento
(Photo below, courtesy of Arturo Gastón.)
