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Restaurateurs dish up taste of Barcelona

Authors say the tapas and other Spanish foods in their restaurants are easy to make at home

By Kim Davaz

At their six Barcelona Wine Bar and Restaurants in Connecticut, owners Sasa Mahr-Batuz and Andy Pforz-heimer combine the finest ingredients imported from Spain with the freshest local produce to make their Spanish-inspired dishes.

Their around-the-world life stories begin the book, touching on Mahr-Batuz’ tennis-pro days and chef Pforzheimer’s time as food editor of the fledgling “Martha Stewart Living” magazine. The magazine brought Pforzheimer back to Connecticut, where he met Mahr-Batuz and they decided to open a tapas restaurant.

Tapas are foods meant to be eaten in one or two bites while standing at a bar. Depending on where you are in the world, they might be called hors d’oeuvres, mezes or pintxos. Whatever you call them, they’re delicious little bites that can begin a meal or become a meal.

One restaurant became six, and then came “The Barcelona Cookbook: A Celebration of Food, Wine and Life.”

While aiming for a Spanish tapas bar experience for their customers, Barcelona evolved into a full-service restaurant with a definite tapas slant. Standing up at a bar to eat became optional.

Mahr-Batuz and Pforzheimer say the foods served at their Barcelona restaurants can be replicated easily at home and are perfect for entertaining.

In their cookbook, the “Cocktails and Wine” chapter has an introduction to Spanish wines, explaining how to pair wines (sherry, white wine, sparkling cava and red wines) with food. If you normally prefer a pinot noir, pinot grigio/sauvignon blanc or cabernet sauvignon, the authors suggest wines from Spain with similar characteristics.

And as for what to eat, the recipes begin with cold (or room temperature) tapas, from the very simple roasted olives to the fancier filet mignon with horseradish cream on toast. Hot tapas include clams with chorizo, roasted potatoes with a spicy red sauce, and lamb chops with romesco sauce. Main courses and party dishes follow, including paella, an enormous steak, and a wonderful assortment of fish dishes. Finally, there are desserts, if you have any room left for dessert.

The cinnamon sugar-dusted churros served with dark hot chocolate spiked with rum and hot pepper flakes is enough to make me consider deep-frying.

Between the recipes are ideas for entertaining (including menus for tapas parties), travel stories, discussions on Spanish ingredients (cured meat, olive oil) and an introduction to real Argentinian asado or barbecue.

While you might not cook a 20-pound suckling pig at home, (though you could, because it’s cut into pieces), none of the recipes are too unwieldy for a home kitchen.

Roasted olives from the “Cold Tapas” chapter are really best at room temperature. The recipe calls for two kinds of olive oil. The oil discussion in “Cold Tapas” says to use a less-expensive blended or “pure” olive oil for cooking and save the spendy extra-virgin olive oil for dressing prepared foods. The nonvirgin oils have a higher smoking point and milder flavor, making them better suited for cooking or frying.

The olives will keep for up to five days in the refrigerator, though if they do, you must not really like olives.

Roasted Olives

Serves 4 to 6.

• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups assorted olives with pits (such as kalamata, Nicoise, Arbequina, Cerignola, picholine and oil-cured black olives), drained and patted dry
• 7 sprigs fresh thyme, quartered
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, quartered
• 6 whole cloves garlic, peeled
• Julienned zest of 1 orange
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Rub the bell pepper with the tablespoon of olive oil. Lay the pepper on a baking sheet and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the side of the pepper resting on the baking sheet is wrinkled and almost black. Turn the pepper over and continue roasting for 7 or 8 minutes longer, or until the pepper is nicely charred on all sides.

Transfer the pepper to a small bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the pepper steam as it cools in the bowl for about 10 minutes. Remove from the bowl, rub off the charred skin, open the pepper and scrape out the seeds and membranes. Cut the pepper into very thin strips (about 1/8 inch thick.)

Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the olives, julienned red pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic, orange zest and pepper flakes. Toss well. Add the red wine vinegar and sherry vinegar to the olives and stir to distribute evenly.

Spread the olives on a jelly roll or shallow roasting pan. Roast for about 35 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the olives are tender. To test for doneness, taste an olive to see if the meat separates easily from the pit, If so, the olives are done.

Let the olives cool in the pan. When cool, drizzle with the extra-virgin olive oil and stir to mix. Serve right away or refrigerate in a container with a tight-fitting lid for up to 5 days.

Remove the olives from the refrigerator at least two hours before serving to let them reach room temperature. Stir well before serving.

Kim Davaz writes a biweekly cookbook review column for The Register-Guard.