Vicky Christina Barcelona

I mentioned Woody Allen in my last post and happened to be we were in Barcelona for a few days. We had a really good time there. Lovely spring, beautiful walks, delicious food, good friends, Miro, Picasso and my favorites were Gaudi’s anything.

One evening when we were going home through the narrow streets of Bari I was thinking (and I even said it out loud), that I want to watch Vicky Christina Barcelona again. A few minutes later I saw a little greengrocer and I always have to buy some fruits even when I am on holiday, specially when I can have 2 kilos of juicy, sweet strawberries for 4 euro. And there was the sign! A big picture with Woody Allen and the owner of the greengrocer just above the checkout counter. So here we are: Vicky Christina Barcelona.

This movie is the perfect marriage of the American and European movie making. We have seen lots of movies about love triangles but I do not remember any with a love square.

The trailer of the movie gives the essence of the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-RdUcXAKiw

If you watched this, please do not forget the link at the end.

Is out there anyone who did not dreamed or thought about sitting in an pleasant, little restaurant somewhere in the Mediterranean and  a handsome or pretty stranger come to your table and ask you out? I certainly did but I have never thought it further. Maybe because I wouldn’t have the courage to say yes?

On the other hand I know very well what would I eat. No question it is always part of my scene.

Seafood paella
I found a very good recipe in Claudia Roden’s the Food of Spain.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

5 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 tomatoes (about 200g), peeled and chopped

½ tsp sugar

salt

1 tsp pimenton dulce or sweet paprika

a good pinch of saffron threads

4 small squid, cleaned (ask your fishmonger), bodies sliced and tentacles left whole

400g medium-grain Spanish rice or risotto rice

750ml fish or chicken stock (plus more if needed)

250ml dry white wine

12 large king prawns in their shells

16 or more mussels or clams cleaned

Fry the onion in the oil in a 40cm paella pan (big frying pan) over a low heat until soft, stirring often. Stir in the garlic, and before it begins to color add the tomatoes. Add the sugar, salt, pimenton dulce or sweet paprika and saffron, stir well, an cook over medium heat until a the tomatoes are reduced to a jammy sauce and the oil sizzles. Add the squid and cook, stirring for a minute or so, then add the rice and stir until all the grains are coated. (You can do all this up to 2 hours in advance – no longer, because of the squid.)

Bring the wine and the stock to the boil and pour on the rice, then add the salt (the broth can taste a bit salty but it will not be salty when it is absorbed by the rice). Stir well and make sure the rice is evenly distributed in the pan, then do not stir it again. Cook the rice over a low heat for 18 to 20 minutes, moving the paella around on the hob so that it cooks evenly. Lay the prawns on top of the rice after 10 minutes and turn them over when they turn pink on the bottom side. Add a little more hot stock towards the end if the rice seems too dry and you hear crackly frying noises from the bottom of the pan before it is done, and cover the pan with a large piece of foil. Steam the mussels in a pan with  a tight-fitting lid with a finger depth of water. As soon as they open they are cooked. Throw away any that have not opened and arrange the ones that have on the top of the rice.

Variations

Add 4 small, quartered artichoke hearts or bottoms, a good handful of peas or board beans – fresh or frozen and defrosted

Parody with Jude Law? Yes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTIqEEo-L4g

Casablanca

 

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There is a scene in When Harry met Sally when they are talking on the phone and both of them watching TV and it is Casablanca. Is it because Casablanca is one of the most romantic movie ever or it is a movie which is easily recognizable from a few seconds? Anyway is there anyone who hasn’t seen it and older than 25? 

It is a must! Sometimes I found the old movies boring but not Casablanca. 

 

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Casablanca contains one of the most often misquoted lines of all time. Most people are surprised to find out that nobody ever says "Play it again, Sam." in Casablanca. Ilsa says "Play it Sam. Play as Time Goes By. Probably this confusion is coming from Woody Allen as always.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo2Lof_5dy4

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My favorite facts:

When Julius and Philip Epstein along with Howard Koch won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay they became the only pair of twins to ever win an Oscar. I have a feeling this is a record which just might never be broken.

Casablanca takes top honors for having the most "best movie quotes" in the AFI 100 best movie line list.

·       Here's looking at you kid

·       Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship

·       Play it Sam, Play As Time Goes By

·       Round up the usual suspects

·       We'll always have Paris

·       Of all the gin joint in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

The good news is that Rick’s Cafe reopened a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxl9LyOSmvk

I am sure they can mix amazing gin tonic, but you can try mine. I can absolutely imagine myself mixing one to Humphrey Bogart. Were there woman bartenders in the forties?

A good gin and tonic is usually made with a dry gin; however, the key is balance between the sweetness of the gin's flavors with the bitterness of the tonic. As for the proportion of gin to tonic in the drink, it's a matter of taste: equal parts or 2-to-1 or somewhere in between.

The best tonic to use is that which is closest to true quinine water. Quinine is extracted from cinchona bark and is quite bitter; a quinine tonic contains carbonated water with lemon or lime flavoring. Freshness is key: Use a single serving bottled tonic that you crack open just as you're mixing it up. Chill your glasses and fill them with ice before adding in the cocktail. Garnish with lime, lemon and a sprig of mint. If you want a little twist add 1 tbsp. of raspberry coulis.