Food is an event in Spain. It's the perfect way to pass an afternoon. If invited for lunch, you really can't make plans for about 6-8 hours after it begins, if at all.We were eight in total...
With me as the general director of the meal, we made a salad (lettuce, fresh goat's cheese campesino style, walnuts, mandarins with a dressing of olive oil, lime juice, cracked pepper, mountain honey and soya sauce)
roasted vegetables
(eggplants, apples, mushrooms, tomatoes, red peppers, small peppers de padron, pre-roasted red peppers, walnuts, garlic, with about a cup and a half of olive oil with Arabic spices, a dash of balsamic, a hint of sun dried tomato, cracked pepper, sea salt and mountain honey and finally a goodly amount of whiskey)
and artichokes so flavourful that they don't need to be dipped (boiled with sea salt, garlic, lemons, carrots and their stems and a healthy amount of whiskey).
To these we just added some Turkish bread and some country style bread warmed in the oven and assorted bottles of beer and wine.
When everything was nearly ready, some put together as many tables as needed in the salon and dressed the tables in blue and white cloths, and assorted Japanese plates while others of us tidied the kitchen. We laughed and talked and enjoyed the light from the afternoon sun. For dessert we ate sun ripened strawberries and a little bit of chocolate cake.
Six hours after we began, we headed out the door in a leisurely fashion to visit the art exhibit down the street. Walking was like a dance, with hand and arm holding, laughter and jokes as we changed walking partners to walk and talk with someone new. We said goodnight at the exhibit with me heading off to a concert, another heading off to meet his sister and the others...who knows? They were still enjoying the exhibit. Perhaps they continued together? I shall have to ask.
posted by Willow at 5:11 p. m.
