Taking the fork in the road to Spain

MANILA, Philippines - Fork in the Road, a TV show of a 10-day foodie tour, is a project of ABS-CBN through its subsidiaries, the TV Food Chefs and Lifestyle Network. The program is the brainchild of Restaurant 9501’s chef Myrna Segismundo and made possible with the cooperation and generous support of Vien Cortes of the Spain Tourism Board, Rita Dy of Singapore Airlines, and Mila Suarez of Classic Travelhaus.

Fellow chefs and foodie friends banded together for Fork in the Road’s first destination: Spain.

Here are the highlights of our trip:

Madrid

From Manila to Singapore and then Barcelona, we had our first taste of Spain on the Renfe train on our way to Madrid. We were served Spain’s traditional bread, Pan Tumaca (bread and tomato), usually eaten with fresh tomato rubbed on the surface and drizzled with olive oil. On board, it came with a tomato puree spread and a tiny bottle of olive oil. Pan Tumaca became a staple for the entire length of our trip.

Upon our arrival in Madrid, we immediately checked into Hotel Dormirdcine. The boutique hotel was a pleasant surprise, having movie-themed rooms like “The Gatsby” and “Mary Poppins,” among others.

From the hotel we took a 10-minute walk to Gourmet Iberico, where we witnessed the cutting of jamon Iberico de bellota, considered the king of hams worldwide. We were also offered a taste of the Iberico steaks and sausages by chefs Carlos Martinez and Fran Robles. Both are champions in jamon slicing and aptly titled cortador profesional and maestro cortador, respectively.

Jamon Iberico de bellota is a delight to the palate. Marbled with fat, dark red, silky and soft, it is very delicious and aromatic with mixed sweet and barely salty flavors.

Jamon Iberico is a dry-cured ham that comes from the meat of the Iberico pig. The Iberico pig is also known as pata negra (black foot) because of its dark skin and long legs. Four Denominaciones de Origen (DO) protect jamon Iberico products, ensuring that only Iberico pigs that are 100-percent purebred or at least 75 percent crossbred are used. The hogs’ feed determines the three other grades. De bellota, the ham we tasted at Gourmet Iberico, is the finest of the jamon Iberico. The pigs from which the jamon comes from are allowed to roam free and are fed acorns (bellotas) before being slaughtered after a few months. The second-grade jamon Iberico is de recebo, from pastured pigs fed on a mixture of acorns and grains. The third grade includes de pienso, cebo, and campo, which come from grain-fed pigs.

The whole group ended up buying a variety of goodies at Gourmet Iberico and the owner-hosts amiably offered to ship them to our last destination for our convenience.

Madridejos in Castilla la Mancha

On our way to the Saffron farm in Madridejos, we passed by the famous windmills that inspired the writings of Miguel Cervantes Saavedra in The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.

The farm owner welcomed us into her home and showed us the intricate and manual harvesting of the crocus flowers’ stigma consisting of only three from each flower. One needs to pick the stigma of around 150,000 crocus flowers to yield just one kilogram of the saffron spice, thus contributing to its rarity and high value. Experts consider the azafran de La Mancha (saffron of La Mancha) the best in the world. Saffron (crocus sativus L.) from La Mancha is distinguishably red.

This stop included a visit to the Museo del Azafran de Madridejos (Madridejos Saffron Museum) which houses information panels, photographs and videos on the cultivation, processing and selling of saffron, as well as its culinary and medicinal properties.

Walking back to our bus, I was captivated by the serenity of the village we left behind.

Toledo

Toledo was memorable with its Moorish architecture, historic bridges, churches and medieval buildings, illustrating the co-existing Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures.

A La Granja escalator ride through the ancient walls of the city took so long I wondered how many flights we passed before we finally arrived at the top to view most of Toledo. A short walk through its cobblestoned streets brought us to the village square, where I had my favorite gelato: the rum and Malaga raisin flavor. It was also here that we found the best-tasting, freshly fried potato chips ever! We even bought some to bring back home.

From Toledo we drove north towards Bilbao.

Bilbao

Our first stop was the olive grove and factory of the Trujal Hacienda Ortigosa, where processing of the olives is done with the use of modern equipment to replicate the artisanal way, making it more efficient and clean.

Another worthwhile visit was the Marques de Riscal, a winery whose hotel was designed by the famous architect, Frank Gehry. We toured the vineyard and went inside its centuries-old wine cellar, which was filled with rows and rows of various vintages of wines.

Chef Fernando Canales of the one-Michelin-star Etxanobe restaurant introduced us to his personal twist on the famous Bacalao al Pilpil. Chef Canales is known for his molecular take on traditional recipes.

Upon learning that our itinerary didn’t include a tour of the La Ribera market, chef Canales offered to take us on a market tour, where he taught us the Basque way of eating fresh figs. Just a few blocks from the market is the oldest bacalao shop in Spain.

We had our poteos or pintxos walk, so called because you walk and taste the pintxos, which are small bites on a toothpick in tabernas or tascas along the road. We also checked out some txakoli (a highly acidic white wine with low alcohol content) and pastry shops in the area.

We also stopped by the Guggenheim Museum, another architectural marvel of Frank Gehry.

I personally felt that there was still much of Bilbao we had yet to explore and I have decided this is one place I will visit again someday.

GOMIZTEGI

The trip on the way to the Shepherd’s School of Gomiztegi was breathtaking. The busload of foodie friends and delegates kept erupting in “oohs” and “ahs” as we gazed at the awesome landscapes and views.

The school is the only remaining training school for shepherds in Spain. It also boasts a cheese-making program to preserve the methods and traditions of Basque-style cheeses, including the traditional Idiazabal, a hard cheese made from unpasteurized sheep’s milk.

A side trip brought us to the Sanctuario de Arantzazu, a Franciscan sanctuary in Oñati where the Virgin of Arantzazu presumably appeared in 1468 to Rodrigo de Balanzategui, a shepherd.

San Sebastian

San Sebastian is home to the Basque Culinary Center, the mecca of gastronomic research, training and food innovation. Its impressive advisory council includes a who’s who of international cuisine headed by Ferran Adrian of El Bulli, considered the world’s best chef. The center’s exceptional equipment and facilities would make every chef drool.

La Cofradia Vasca de Gastronomia reminded me of my first visit to San Sebastian and my first taste of jamon bellota. Our late lunch of kokotxas (the part just under the mouth of the fish, Merluza or hake) with clams, and zarzuela de mariscos (Spanish seafood stew) were super-delicious! 

I was more appreciative of my second visit to San Sebastian and was determined to come back for Arzak, a restaurant owned by Juan Mari Arzak, a Universal Basque awardee as the world’s most innovative chef, and Mugaritz, considered one of the world’s best restaurants under the management of chef Andoni Luis Aduriz.

Barcelona

One of the best meals we had in Barcelona was at Taperia Lolita, one of the best tapas bars in Spain. The tapas here are just great!

Instead of a lazy afternoon of shopping, chef Myrna and a few of us stopped by Bodega 1900, a restaurant owned by chef Albert Adria, brother of chef Ferran, which offers a range of tapas and dishes including tiny bocadillo sandwiches, cured meats, pickled foods and cheeses.

Ciutat Comtal, another tapas bar, was impressive. The place was filled to the brim when we arrived. The bar’s wide array of tapas is huge and varied. A few servers at the bar are “kababayans.”

A tour of Barcelona would not be complete without a visit to La Rambla’s Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, or La Boqueria, known as one of the best markets in the world. It has every type of Spanish delicacy one can imagine. We enjoyed the turrones, the shopping, the mime shows and the Crema Catalana at Pasteleria Escriba.

The paella at Xiringuito, also by the Escribas, was by far the best paella I’ve tasted.

The Barcelona leg of our trip was made more enjoyable because we had the privilege of meeting world-renowned yet most genial and humble chefs and fellow foodies on the road.

Mey Hofmann, owner of Hofmann Pastisseria, was a gracious, gracious host. Ferran Adria referred to her as “one of the great protagonists of the huge momentum that cuisine has experienced.”

Señor Miguel Torres, patriarch of the famous Bodega Torres, took a break from a family weekend activity to meet us. My aunt, Mayen Garcia-Ordoveza, whom I invited to join us on the trip, reminisced on her family’s long history with Torres wines, the same having been introduced to the family long before it was distributed in the Philippines. The group also toured Torres’ eco-friendly and sustainable vineyards in the Peñedes region. The blind tasting and pairing of food and wine was another memorable experience at the winery. Before we left, we were each given a brandy uniquely blended as our own.

Another feature of the trip was the flamenco show, a colorful myriad of snappy dance movements and sexy dancers we enjoyed watching while sipping a glass of sangria.

Chef Oriol Ivern of one-Michelin-star restaurant Hisop delighted us with his version of foie gras “After Eight” with dark chocolate shavings. The marriage of the two is seemingly inconceivable but we were greatly surprised at how their texture and taste complement one another.

At Sagrada Familia church, we prayed that Oriol Braso, our charming and efficient tour guide who went out of his way for our foodie group, be given a special blessing during the Mass at the crypt.  Did you know that the Philippines donated the giant clamshell that serves as a repository for holy water in the same crypt?

Members of the Filipino staff of Restaurante Barceloneta at the port area took their brand of Filipino hospitality with them.

Rita Dy of Singapore Airlines joined us in Singapore and ensured our comfort on our flight back to Manila, where we enjoyed the inflight meals of the airline.

We have to thank Vien Cortes of the Spain Tourism Board and Mila Suarez of Classic Travelhaus for putting this trip together.  For more details about this tour, call Mila at 819-0746, 818-5410 or 818-5647.

From start to finish, our first Fork in the Road adventure was literally that – a fork present in every road we traveled. Our stomachs were so full at every sleeping and waking moment that we didn’t think we could eat more mouthfuls the following day. But the food offered to us on our delectable journey was so tasty that a few nibbles were all we needed to tickle our salivary glands again and again.

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Catch Fork in the Road: Spain on the Lifestyle Network, channel 52 on SKYCable. Part I will be aired today at 11 p.m., Feb. 21 at 2 p.m., and Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. Part 2 will be aired on Feb. 23 at 9:30 p.m., with replays on Feb. 24 at 6 p.m., Feb. 27 at 11 p.m., Feb. 28 at 2 p.m., and March 1 at 10 a.m.