Somehow, I came across a book titled, “Catalan Cuisine” just at the right moment of my career. I was at a point where I knew it was time to dig deeper into the mother countries of where I was living, Key West. It might seem like a curious thing to the tourists that have found the island city made quite well-known post Jimmy Buffet’s monster radio hit “Margaritaville”, but when we first got to town and began to live and work there the lineage of it was clearly a mix of Caribbean and Spanish lines. The stoner and could be on a menu from pretty much anywhere food one might find in most bars had not withered the virility of what could be found in many of the restaurants and cafés yet. Cuba was the dominant influence, followed by Bahamian ones. But make no mistake that there was a strong patronage to Spain as well. Some families drew sharp distinctions in how they cooked and identified in this potpourri of humanity we’d come to live.
One of the few books available to those of wanting to learn more was, “The Foods and Wines of Spain” by Penelope Casas. I absorbed a great deal poring over it and cooking from it. Though first released in ’82 it was about 1986 when I found it … probably in the homey little Key West Bookstore with that startling backroom rich in all kinds of rare Hemingway books and memorabilia. Online shopping was yet to be born. I was working at ‘Louie’s Backyard’ and had been for a year or so by then. I had shifted the direction of the menu dramatically from a mash up of ‘continental fare’ to something not seen before. I was driving towards a way of tapping into the power of Florida and that meant the dishes that also came before the waves of newcomers, which I admittedly was one. Perhaps it was from her thoughtful book which lovingly paid attention to geography and history that I came to sense that the Catalan region should be on my ‘to study list’. And in all likelihood, it was in that same bookstore I came across the book mentioned above by Mr. Colman Andrews, an L.A. born and raised person, that got me gastro wandering along that region of earth.
As the video discusses this is not a photo rich book. It would be fantastic for a new release to come out by Mr. Andrews that added that in now! What is evident is his deep connection and respect of this time-honored way of cooking.
“The culinary dishes are derived from both Europe and the Mediterranean, rather than the Iberian interior. It has been enriched by the cooking practices of the Romans, Visigoths, Moors, Italians, and French and the dishes resemble Catalonia’s medieval roots. Many of the basic ingredients that go into Catalan dishes include onions and peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, nuts, wild mushrooms, a variety of beans, apples and pears, and herbs. Rice, eggs, pasta, wild game, chicken, veal, pork, duck are also commonly seen as staples in Catalonian dishes. Additionally cinnamon and chocolate are utilized for many dessert dishes and wine, or cava is served with almost every meal.” (1)
My business partner and great friend, Proal Perry traveled to San Francisco and then Napa Valley for a wine event in 1986 and returned with an absolute mission to change the almost vacant area upstairs in the restaurant. The venue was a former home built in the early 1900’s by a ship’s captain. It stands majestically overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. We created a ‘Café’ strongly motivated by our epic experience at ‘The Café at Chez Panisse’. The difference was that instead of Mediterranean and California melding we would do something I was beginning to dub, “New World Cuisine”.
One of my ‘bible books’ in creating my menus was, “Catalan Cuisine”. Even if Colman Andrews had decided to give up writing about food after that work he would have made a huge impression upon my way of looking at food. But he was, (and is) far from those pastures. In 1994 he along with his associates Dorothy Kalins, Christopher Hirsheimer created ‘Saveur’ Magazine. During his tenure, Andrews won six James Beard Journalism Awards, and in 2000, Saveur became the first food magazine to win the American Society of Magazine award for General Excellence.
Saveur became my favorite food magazine but in saying ‘food magazine’ we would be selling it short. It was and remains so much more. My staff became familiar to the routine I had during the arc of years those three collaborators published. I carefully extracted article after article and tacked them to the corkboards I’ve put up in every restaurant I’ve had ever since. When I had to make way for the next issues, I took them down with great care and placed the pages in sturdy notebooks with vinyl sheet protectors so I could go back and refer not only to recipes which were legion but to the texts and the beautiful photographs to be … okay I’ll say it; savored! I realized at one point about 7 or so years ago that I missed having the magazines intact. I found a seller online and now have all but a handful of every issue in my library.
Colman has written a number of other books for which he’s garnered great accolades. I love his memoir titled, “My Usual Table” and also “The Country Cooking of Ireland” for which he won a James Beard Award in 2010. Imagine the breadth of his ability to do so much justice to the cuisines of so many places!
In time my luck flowered. I came to know Colman during some food events. What really was an unexpected twist was during times out in Dallas when Chef Dean Fearing held his epic July 4th Barbecue Weekend Parties he did in partnership with ‘Gourmet Magazine’, another publication Colman had been a big hand in. Dean does nothing in half measures! When the man throws a party you can count on great food, great cooking, great wines, great spirits of all kinds and then also a complete musical throwdown that brought together superb national talent, (Richie Furay, Jim Messina, Wynona, Mickey Raphael from Willie Nelson’s band) put together with chefs that jam too. It was at one that I first heard Colman sing. He has a big blues man’s voice! Drinking and hanging out revealed that his love for music is as deep and resourceful as his love of cuisine! He can talk with great authority on musicians and songs as anyone who pushed a pen at Rolling Stone Magazine. Once I heard him sing and I got to jam along on my harp it was one of those ‘uh huh’ moments when you know you are gonna be buddies a long, long time.
- Katherine Zajkowski