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Our adaptation of a classic montadito, the blissful pairing of white anchovy (boqueron) and dark (anchoa). Our tale begins, as many do, with bread. In this instance, toasted. Then we see freshly grated tomato pulp with garlic and black pepper come into the picture, the always welcome pan tumaca-type topping. Roasted green peppers now join the assemblage, after a brief cooldown period.
Then... the glory.
A plump, juicy, tangy, delicious boqueron marinated in wine vinegar and olive oil is laid across the top, quickly joined by its perfect complement, the salt-cured anchoa. Finally, fresh parsley completes the ceremony. The best of both styles of Cantabrian anchovy, together forever* in one pintxo.
Total Time: 10-15 minutes.
1. Warm a little olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Throw in slices of the green bell pepper. Keep an eye on this until you've reached your desired level of roasted pepper.
2. While your doing the above, or after if you'd prefer to focus on each step singularly, cut a fresh tomato in two and grate the pulp into a bowl. Add some minced garlic and black pepper.
3. Toast your tiny toasts.
4. Once the green peppers are out of the pan and cooled for a few minutes, layer on top the tomato mix, green pepper, white anchovy, dark anchovy, and fresh parsley.
5. You just made something delicious. Well done, you.
*Until you eat them.
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Will you find this exact montadito piled high on the bar of the finest pintxo bar in San Sebastián? Yes. That's where it was discovered and an attempted recreation is below. Perhaps not identical, but continued experimentation and sampling of the results is something we can all enjoy.
Total Time: You tell me.
1. Mix all the ingredients except for the boquerones in proportions of your choosing in a bowl. As the Bonito is so good, our humble recommendation is to go light on everything. You're going for a subtle crunch with the celery. Just a hint of garlic. The suggestion of lemon. Something like this.
2. Chill the mix for several hours. Or don't.
3. Scoop and situate atop your slices of crusty bread, then crown with a boqueron fillet.
4. Eat them all yourself or share with friends and family. The choice is yours.
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Everything is more fun when made tiny. This is part of the appeal of these small sliders, inspired by one of our customers mentioning their go-to combination of cod and white beans for an easy yet delicious meal. Mini brioche rolls contain the complementary ingredients to make the suitable for handheld consumption. And adorable.
Total Time: If you're making the white bean purée just before the sliders, maybe 15 minutes. If you did that last night, the time it takes to toast the brioche.
1. For the white bean purée, heat the garlic and white onion in a pan while at the same time draining that can of northern white beans and putting them in a food processor. You are good at multitasking.
2. Once the garlic and onion is nice and aromatic, add both to the food processor and use the tool for its designed purpose, slowly pouring in olive oil until you achieve your desired consistency. During this time you can also be toasting the tiny brioche rolls. An important step, but not one that warrants its own numbered sentence in these directions.
3. Open a tin or two of the cod fish in Biscayne sauce and make the sandwiches in the usual way sandwiches are made.
4. Enjoy with a cold beer. You deserve it.
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That's right. Not much to see here. Just some plump little sardines marinating, waiting for that perfect moment to be devoured. Simply a tin of sardines in olive oil, some of the oil from that tin, sherry vinegar, parsley, black pepper, and lemon zest.
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Three ingredients atop the toasted bread of your choosing, that's all you need for this tantalizing tapa.
Total Time: toasting, warming... that's it.
1. Warm the razor clams lightly in a pan if you'd like. Is it required? No. But, why not, right? A little warmth with the heat makes it all the better.
2. A razor clam per small slice of toast will do.
3. Drizzle the chili crisp as you desire. It's got a good amount of heat, so gauge the tolerance of those you serve.
4. Sesame seeds to finish.
There you have it. A tongue-tingling tapa in no time at all.
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Provisions running low means making the most of what you have on hand. In this instance, that means lunch is a tin of sardinillas with piquillo pepper on a proper Chicago-style, poppyseed coated hot dog bun, with wasabi mayo, sesame seeds, and a crispy seaweed snack chip type thing.
Total Time: 3 minutes.
1. Put all of the things above together. Add whatever else you'd like. Make it your own.
2. Enjoy.
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Dare we attempt a variation of arguably the most famous pintxo? Yes. It's not that much of a risk. Worst case, we have all the ingredients to scrap it and simply make the classic. No harm done.
The Gilda pintxo is well known, and the ingredients are featured here: Cantabrian anchovies, guindilla peppers, manzanilla olives. Where we've gone mad with experimentation? Instead of skewering the three with a toothpick we piled them atop olive oil drenched toast slathered with a lemon-garlic sauce and topped it all with a pinch of sweet smoked paprika. Worth it.
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Regular ground black pepper is great. An old standby. But... is it the preeminent pepper of Basque Country? Does it add a pop of color to your morning? Is it hung from the facades of a quaint French village then dried in wood-burning ovens? No.
This is why, at least on occasion, you should use piment d'Espelette. Add some pizazz to your breakfast plate.
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We like to keep things simple here, and this is no exception. When you have superb ingredients sometimes it's best just to let them complement each other and enjoy the tapa that you've created in seconds. What's included here?: Bonito del Norte tuna, Turtle Rock Farm Garlic Scape Relish, piment d'Espelette. And bread. Toasted. Obviously.
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Breakfast doesn't need to be difficult to be delicious. Slices of a freshly baked loaf of challah, a generous lathering of Confiture Parisienne Fig Jam, a Cantabrian anchovy fillet or two. Fin.
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Eggs on the Plate without the Plate.1932. ©Salvador Dalí Museum, Inc.
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The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida is worth a visit whenever it's safe to travel. Home to the largest collection of the artist's work outside of Europe, you'll find yourself enthralled with his mind-bending work. And hungry. Luckily, Café Gala, named for Salvador's wife, is there to provide a menu of light, delectable fare made all the more flavorful by the surrounding feast for the eyes.
Until we can travel more freely, you can visit virtually; see the museum's collection, download activities and lesson plans for kids (and non-kids), and even enter Dreams of Dalí, a virtual reality experience, where you can immerse yourself in Dali’s painting Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet’s “Angelus” .
With all that other-worldly exploration you'll undoubtedly be famished upon your return to this mortal realm. Try your own version of the lightly charred Caesar salad with our cantabrian anchovies and extra virgin olive oil from the cafe, shown below. Refortified, you'll be ready to return once again to the surreal and boundless dreams of Dalí.
photo and recipe by Chuck Bandel
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To support the museum please donate or become a sponsor while planning your future visit.
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There's a tower of mystery tinned fish in the cupboard, the boxes with necessary description of contents discarded, for whatever reason. So... mystery lunch time with whatever else happens to be on hand.
The mystery tin selected today turned out to be: Sardines in Spiced Sauce (Sardinas Picantonas). Said sauce is a blend of tomato, olive oil, carrot, cucumber, red pepper, onion, and secret spice, quite suitable for a myriad of lunchtime complements. Available as complements? A nice, perfectly ripe avocado and a baguette. Thus, lunch turned out to be what you see: toasted baguette, avocado smash (with a touch of sherry vinegar), and sardinas picantonas. Mystery solved quite satisfactorily.
