Reservations

Two years have brought many changes.

My interests are more focused,

More and more time is spent at home,

and I find myself wanting to become 

a part the world around me

and not just an observer.

No, I'm not "signing" off blogging.

I've just decided to branch out and turn

 The Expat Table 

into it's own thing.

My local community 

loves the food,

loves the recipes,

and loves the idea of sharing a table.

It's time the project stood on its own two feet. 

 In fact, since I have a private tutor right now,

I'm using the opportunity to become proficient

at explaining the culinary arts in Korean.

Last week I spent two hours explaining

the ins-and-outs of Spanish Korean Fusion food.

Funny how I can't explain the weather, 

but can easily discuss the details of curing fish.

So, in summery I'm NOT 

giving up blogging on Chasing Tales.

I'm just refining the conversation.

If you are interested in following my food adventure,

or reserving A Chair At The Table

just join me at the

The Expat Table

we always have room for one more.

A Game of Sardines

Salt Sit

During my search for the perfect fusion tapas 

made with Korean ingredients,

I realized I needed Spanish cured sardines.

Pear Vinegar Bath

I used this recipe from The Spanish Hipster:

http://www.spanishhipster.com/2011/04/cured-sardines-recipe/

but made a few changes.

I let them cure for 6 hours

(because I needed to go to work)

Experimented with lime juice 

(because I was out of lemon)

Used Korean Pear Vinegar

(because I don't like imports)

Oil Bed

The result was just delightful

and perfect for my toasts.

Perfection with fresh cheese.

 

NOTE: You might not want to let them sit in the salt for six hours if you are planning to eat them on their own.  I like the longer salt bed because they last longer and are great with other plane ingredients.

Tapas The Morning To Ya

So begins the big adventure.

Melding together

Spanish Tapas

and

Korean Side Dishes

The first thing I needed to do 

was pick three flavors  that worked together

from each country.

These make the pallet 

for painting the recipes.

This required making lots of little toasts.

The first try.  Tastes great, but not even close to what I'm going for.

 

Total bust.  Too much soy.  Too much olive.  Too Soggy.

FLAVORS

The first toasts, 

although delicious,

were not well balanced flavor wise.

They were too "Korean".

After a few more tires I found the perfect balance.

From Spain I chose:

Lemon

Olive

Paprika

From Korea I chose:

Soy Sauce

Spicy Peppers

Fermentation

This was ugly as heck, but a lot more delicious and sent me down the right path.

TEXTURE

After that I needed to refine my textures.

"What?" you ask "Textures?"

Yes, believe it or not texture

is as a key part of fusion cuisine.

I consider it equally important to taste.

Spanish food has a lovely 

balance of crunch and smoothness 

that's critical for it to "taste" Spanish.

At first my toasts just didn't have it.

 

The perfect crunch was found in:

Toasting the bread

Making goat and soy cheese.

Using lotus root

This was where I started really picking up speed.

INGREDIENTS

Finally, I had to decided what was going in things.

The two cuisines have a great deal in common,

but I still needed to narrow it down.

So this is what 

I'll be making the tapas out of.

CROSSOVER INGREDIENTS

Chicken eggs

Quail eggs

Sardines

Eggplant

Peppers

Potato

Squid

Shrimp

Mushrooms

UNIQUE INGREDIENTS

Lotus Root

Olives

Olive Oil

Kimchi

Korean fruit wines

In the end I knew just what I needed to take it to the next level.

 WHAT'S NEXT?

After this I need to work on 

marinating my own lotus root.  

The stuff from the market is just too strong.  

It needs to be less intense.

It needs to float inside the recipe, 

not stand out on top.

If You Build It They Will Come

It's Christmas.

There has to be cookies.

Supplies: Boxes, Tinfoil, Tiny Nails, Metal Rack

Electric Meat Thermometer

Size to fit over range.

Insert items to bake.

Have neighbors over for delicious goodness.