(roughly translated – ‘my house is your house’ cocktail party with Spanish Chef Alex Mugica)

If you are in Toronto on Friday September 30^th we invite you to an exclusive engagement to meet Chef Alex Múgica from our Basque Food Adventure culinary vacation.  Celebrate Spanish cuisine – savour pinchos (tapas from the immensely popular Navarre culinary region of northern Spain), sip specially selected wines and rub elbows with one of the great Chefs of Spain.

When: Friday September 30, 2005 5pm-7pm.

Where: Mi Casa, 40 Langmuir Crescent, Toronto, Canada (Bloor West Village).

Please RSVP before Monday September 26, 2005 if you’d love to experience the best that Spain has to offer at jackie@gourmetsafari.com or 416.238.9987 (and we’ll provide directions).  For those of you who can’t make it - there is always another option - you can always travel to Spain to personally meet Chef Alex Mugica!

Food Artist, Cooking Instructor and Restaurant Consultant

 

The bio of Chef Alex Múgica reads like a travel brochure.  He belongs to the generation of young chefs who have changed forever the culinary landscape of Spain. 

 

At an early age, Alex developed his own cuisine and soon brought his culinary style to some of the best restaurants in Madrid, Seville and Barcelona.  Alex was also selected to cook for Their Majesties, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, during their visit to his beloved Navarra.  His prestige soon lead him to showcase his talent throughout the world in countries such as Italy, Portugal and Peru, and in North America in San Francisco, New York and Toronto, where he was responsible for introducing the delicacies of the new Basque cuisine.  Praised by his peers, Alex has been elected to the highest postings in the most prestigious gastronomic organizations of Spain. Currently he divides his time between the cooking school of Luis Irizar, “Grand Chef of Europe”, in San Sebastian, instructing cooking lessons and attending to his own restaurant, “Baza Kabi”.

This month we bring you – Spanish Smoked Paprika (in keeping with the Spanish theme)!  This artisan paprika is one of the year’s hottest products and it comes in sweet, bittersweet and hot flavours.  The smokiness of the paprika is obtained from smoking red peppers, typically using oak for about two weeks and then milling them into powder in traditional stone mills.  It has natural smoky aroma, excellent bouquet and comes in a stunning red colour.  It’s an essential ingredient in Spanish paellas and chorizo sausages…and for the corn below.     

 

I could smell the smokiness even before I opened the tin.  The flavour of the paprika did not disappoint at all, it’s delicious…and what a unique flavour.  It’s also easy enough to find at specialty food shops.  I don’t think I’ll be using your standard paprika any time soon. 

 

Market Tip.
Smoked paprika, a traditional Spanish ingredient.  Look for it at most gourmet stores throughout the world and from Epicureal.com (in Canada) and Tienda.com (in the US).  At Epicureal you’ll find a complete range of gourmet products at the click of a mouse, and delivered right to your doorstep (good old-fashioned service).

Here is a savoury recipe that incorporates Smoked Paprika:

 

GRILLED CORN-ON-THE-COB WITH SPANISH SMOKED PAPRIKA BUTTER

 

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons smoked paprika (hot paprika if you prefer)

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Pinch of salt

20 ears of fresh corn, shucked

 

Blend butter, paprika, garlic, sugar, and salt in a food processor until smooth. Wrap paprika butter in plastic, forming 1 1/2-inch-diameter log. Refrigerate butter until very cold, about 2 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Prepare your barbecue and cook the corn in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well. Grill corn until lightly browned in spots, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes. Serve corn hot with thick slices of paprika butter.  Makes 10 servings.