May Meals
In which I do my monthly look back at favorite dishes from our own Casa SaltShaker.
We’re fully into fall now, and even heading towards winter. The days have turned chilly, and there’s been a whole lot of rain. We had a three day period earlier in the month where it rained non-stop - the local meteorological reports put our rainfall over that roughly 72 hour period at a whopping fourteen inches! Our wooden floors started to buckle as the water seeped into the concrete below.
But things are… one hopes… back to more or less normal weather for the time of year. And, our annual slowdown. Normally we go away from late May until around the end of June because there’s so little tourism here that we often go for weeks with few or no reservations. We’re upping our quantity of cooking classes - something that often attracts locals, either Argentine or expat, as well as some of our classes can be offered via video chat!
On to a select few dishes… and some baking.
This, I think, was my favorite dish of the entire month. It’s one that came together with a lot of experimentation until I got it to just where I wanted it. Semolina raviolones, i.e., big ravioli, filled with cuartirolo and fontina cheese, orange zest, and a splash of grappa - similar to the filling of Sardinian dessert ravioli, seadas. It’s served over a mix of mushrooms and chicory sauteed in butter, and topped with an orange and rocoto chili caramel, and pickled mustard seeds. The play of the sweet, bitter, and spicy came out… pretty much perfectly, in my view.
Served with La Liga de Enologos “El Bautismo” Rosado 2023, a blend of Criolla Grande, Cereza, and Aconcagua grapes.
I made a big pot of goat ragú - I had a haunch of goat sitting in the freezer from one of my Bread & Soup Project ventures last year and it was time to use it. The goat was simmered with aromatics for a couple of hours until tender, then cooled and the meat shredded. It was added to a ragú of tomato passata, celery, onion, carrot, garlic, limo chilies, oregano, rosemary, white wine, and the strained and reduced simmering liquid. We tried it over both handrolled cavatelli and a risotto made with the same broth, and then finished with pecorino cheese. I vote for the risotto, but both were delicious!
The pasta was served as a lunch main course with the Finca Las Moras “Los Intocables” Bourbon Barrel Blend 2022, a Syrah, Bonarda, and Merlot blend aged for a year in used bourbon casks; the risotto was served as part of our dinner tasting menu, with the Escorihuela Gascón Gran Rosé 2023, a Sangiovese rosé.
A deceptively simple salad with a lot going on. Homemade gravlax - sea trout cured in salt, sugar, parsley, garlic, and pisco for 24 hours. Sliced and served with lightly brined radishes and cucumbers, quickly blanched snowpeas, grapefruit suprêmes, and an avocado mousse made with avocado, jalapeño, cilantro, lemon, marsalsa, garlic, and yogurt.
Served with Luigi Bosca’s “La Linda” Extra Brut sparkling, a blend of Chardonnay and Semillon. Loved this “salad”!
I spent a bit of time experimenting with different breads this month…
An espresso infused focaccia.
A semolina and sesame loaf.
Semolina focaccia formed into loaves.
And, I think, our favorite, an Abruzzese style potato bread.
Also, for our lunches, I’ve been trying out different types of cookies… generally leaning towards biscotti-ish styles.
Biscotti squisiti, a Sicilian specialty. Addictive!
And a version of Pepetelli from Abruzzo, a crisp outside and chewy inside ground almond, orange zest, and white pepper cookie that’s spicy and sweet at the same time.
And that’s the month of May. Fingers-crossed that June will pick up and we’ll have more to share at the end of next month!