Spring has come with its symphony of fruits, vegetables, meats and fishes. It is a time of renewal, and we have renovated our menu and our set menus accordingly, combining the warmth of the spring sun with some warm wintry dishes, surf and turf, wild and domestic produce, local tastes with exotic flavours, with a touch of spring-time joy.
Shiny green peas herald the end of winter. These delicious vegetables – especially those of the garrofal variety from Llavaneres, Barcelona – have a distinctive sweetness that one can seldom find in frozen peas. They can be cooked in a thousand ways – sautéed, stewed, pureed, boiled or just in an omelette.
The chill of early spring brought us artichokes, a vegetable I have a soft spot for: I love artichokes raw, cut into thin slices with the mandolin, baked or fried in chips or fritters. There can be few artichokes as tasty as those from the Vega Baja, near Alicante, or those from El Prat de Llobregat – you would never tell they are grown in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
April showers bring May flowers… as well as one of the most highly-valued mushrooms: black morels, with their unmistakable looks. A morel omelette is a delicacy, but the classic morel recipe is à la crème, sautéed with a chopped shallot, some vegetable stock and a little (just a little!) cream. To find morels in the woods, my father told me to look for old charcoal clamps, because morel mycelia have a predilection for such an environment. But don’t get any high hopes – they have never been plentiful.
With the sacrifice of the Easter lamb, the symbolism of this wonderful meat becomes especially potent at this time of the year, while we can also enjoy a splendid suckling pig.
The lusty month of May is flaming red with cherries from the Jerte Valley in Extremadura or the Baix Llobregat near Barcelona. A handful of sweet cherries, simply rinsed, make for an excellent dessert, but they are also a perfect match for greasy meats like pork or duck.
Spring comes to an end with the arrival of sardines, mackerels, tuna and bonito, swimming along the Mediterranean coast in shoals in their yearly migration from June. They provide the final coda of colour and taste to the spring symphony we offer you every year at Can Fabes.
