Re: [Leica] RE:Re: food (WAS: Nathan's PAW 45: Spanish hams)

[Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca>]

jf offered an opinion:
>>> >Equate Spain with food? I shared the thread with my Italian and Greek
> >dinner guest last night and we all had a good laugh. Can anyone recall
> >eating at a 'Spanish' restaurant in America?...jf <<<<<<

However he was answered with "experience!" :-)

Félix López de Maturana answered with real life experince as a rebuttal! ;-)

Way to go Felix mon ami! Love it when the hand of doing it is the answer to
those who think they know it! ;-)

Read on guys and gals if yer in doubt!
ted

> I feel myself involved in this thread as I'm a Spaniard. I have no
prejudice
> against any country or any people habits or culture, as far as I include
> gastronomy in the culture of a people. Having being a high responsibility
> employee in a very big company, before retiring, I travelled very often
> including, of course, USA. My approach to the American people is highly
> positive as one of our partners was the United Steel Company and had many
> occasions for knowing American people in a deep way. I still have some
good
> friends there. That said for avoiding any bias mistrust I must confess
that
> I don't share the opinion about the good quality of American cooking.
Please
> distinguish splendid materials, America have them, an the skill of working
> with them for reaching those magnificent masterworks of the "chefs".
>
> My experience? Rather extended. I used to go France once a year and I
> shamefully have to confess I know every three star establishments of
> Michelin guide (The bible of the gourmets with the Gault et Millaud
> magazine). I remember specially the prematurely retired Joel Robuchon in
the
> Jamin, you had to book a table months before, the Tour d'Argent where you
> have the celebrated "caneton" a very fine duck, the Maxims, Le Divelec
where
> you had whale filets, le Lasserre where if the weather helped the ceiling
> opened while the luch, the Lucas Carton near La Madeleine excellent, and
so
> on (I can bore you). In another places I've been, several times in the
Paul
> Bocuse restaurant in Lyon the Nouvelle Cuisine creator.
>
> Italy! Another excellent cooks country. Just remembering the Gualtiero
> Marchese where I had extraordinary Spaghetti with caviar. Brussels where I
> remember Comme chez sois and the very nice in La Grand Place Le Cygne (The
> swan) with an outstanding rabbit with butter. I like very much The Simpson
> on the strand in London where the carver gives you bigger piece of the
> extraordinary rostbeef if you put a sterling for him on the table.
>
> In America? I asked the clerk when I was in the Waldorf Astoria for
booking
> in the restaurant Le Cirque and he (actually she, being a lady) and she
> thought we need some weeks for booking but indeed there was a table for
two
> in minutes! Good place however the tables were too close, in the manner of
a
> Cafeteria. They hadn't got a sommelier as the owner, a nice Italian, told
me
> he could impress the customers. Very good lunch with Californian wine,
> excellent, at the similar level of medium class Medoc wines.
>
> In New Orleans I went to the restaurants suggested by some good American
> friend. I cannot remember the name but was, if not extraordinary, very
good
> indeed.
>
> Last but not least: Spain. We have here some of the best chefs in Europe
> (may I say therefore in the world without hurting anybody?) Ferrán Adriá
in
> El Bulli in Cataluña has a booking list of nine months! You call him right
> now and may visit him in nine months. Several restaurants here have three
> star of the Michelin Guide (You may smile but never leave home without the
> destination country in my luggage. Pity there is none for America). My
> friend Juan Mari Arzak is well known all over the world and very often he
> prepares some new "platos" and ask some of his friends, may be wrongly
> supposed to know something about..., for tasting them. The Basque Country,
> just a little country in Spain has three restaurants with 2 stars Michelin
> Guide!
>
> So, yes Sir, I'll ask humbly your Italian and Greek friend just to come
here
> and go with me to some Spanish restaurants.
>
> In the some way nobody not using a Leica (to be OT) can comment about his
> extraordinary virtues, nobody having visited the best restaurants of a
> country can make fun of his quality.
>
> Felix



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