Now you're speaking my (food) language...

After the delay yesterday, I think everyone in Cuisines Across Culture kitchen was ready to make some tasty food and scarf it down today. That includes me because when you start throwing Italian, Greek and Spanish food my way I start drooling all over myself uncontrollably.

Don't worry-- that's why we carry side towels.

Both soups were tasty. I was the hand behind the Minestrone Genovese. What makes this version of the soup in the style of Genovese is that a basil pesto, grated parmesan cheese and extra-virgin olive oil is added as a garnish to the dish right before service. It gives what I would call a typical vegetable soup a but more pop, for sure; the garnished bring everything together for sure.

Gazpacho. Whenever I think of it I think of 'The Simpsons' episode where Lisa becomes a vegetarian and tries to peddle "tomato soup served ice cold" at Homer's BBQ. She is mocked out of the room, including a quip from Barney to, "Go back to Russia!" Well, the dish is Spanish in origin, so while the line is hilarious, it is indeed inaccurate. I can only say my first experience with it ends with the conclusion it tastes like salsa. Refreshing...but a soup? Eh...more a dip.

The Stuffed Grape Leaves...not bad. Not great. I think the filling needed a bit more...something? It tasted overwhelmingly of grape leaves, which is OK at first-- I couldn't make it through an entire one though before just getting sick of the flavor.

TAPAS! Talk about the best part of Spanish cuisine and a favorite theme of many restaurants across the United States. Go to essentially a bar, order five or so different appetizers and split them amongst your group. What's not to like about that? I know I enjoy them. We had the Garlic Shrimp (self-explanatory), Andulasian Pork Rolls (delicious) and Ham/Mushroom Brochettes (essentially meat on a stick-- the official mascot of this blog).

The Lasagna con Bolognese (BREATH!) e Mascarpone (BREATH!) e Telagio was a very different take on any Lasagna I have ever seen. We used a cheesy Bachemel sauce instead of Ricotta, and a Ragu Bolognese as the meat and sauce combo. The pasta was homemade and fresh, which always makes for a good dish. You layer that up, put some oven-roasted tomatoes and parmesan cheese on top, then bake to perfection. It's a very light Lasagna-- not overly saucy. I like that.

What's to hate about Gyros? Homemade Pita bread-- check. Roast Lamb-- always delicious. Hummus, Baba Ghanouj, Tzatziki-- I would bathe in all three. Add in some fresh veggies, combine everything into what is essentially the best street food ever? YES, PLEASE!

I've mentioned Chicken Vindaloo when I made it in a previous post. I didn't taste any of it today but will get at it tomorrow, probably. Chef keeps tweaking the recipe.

I also didn't get to the Paella today, which was probably a mistake. It will be made again throughout the week, and I'm for sure not going to pass on the smorgasbord of spiced rice, lobster, shrimp, chicken, sausage, mussels and clams twice.

PS-- When there's live lobsters in the kitchen, it's always a good time. Chef was showing up how to make them pass out (so they can be humanely killed, not just for our amusement). I have to say again, lobsters are ugly bastards. Weird, ugly, bug-like ocean bastards.

OK, as usual I will update with dishes that are supplemented into our cooking routine as the week progresses. I need to get going on a project for Spanish tomorrow though, and I've already written quite the book in this post. Hope you made it this far and enjoyed!