Casa Pascualillo, Zaragoza .... our last night in Aragon region

The regional food of Aragon was present all over Zaragoza. It was our last night before heading deep into the Basque country, so we were after some traditional fare. We head out in search of Casa Pascualillo. We stop by the bar firstly ... as we are way to early to sit down and eat - it's only 8pm.



We get 2 glasses of white wine and the house specialty of fried young garlic shoots.



We can see the one large kitchen that runs the back length of both the bar and restaurant are shared. The chef's definitely getting ready for the evening's meal service, but not appearing rushed or stressed. A condensed menu is offered at the bar, so Miga's are soon on the cards. Miga's are a dish of breadcrumbs, humble yet oh-so-satisfying. Traditionally eaten at breakfast using leftover bread, they have now turned into a gourmet addition to menu's no matter what time of day. The crumbs are fried in olive oil, seasoned generously with salt with sliced of fried chorizo and a soft cooked egg. We expected the crumbs to be crunchy, but they are disappointingly soft and kind of boring ..... A fantastic idea, although in these circumstance at least, executed badly.



There's a small door at the rear of the bar, and right on 9pm it's opened up and people start spilling over from the bar. We make our way over. Once we are seated, again getting a servers attention seemed to be quite difficult. As soon as we get someone's attention, a bottle of red was ordered along with the evenings food. First up, Habitas saltedas con jamon y virtuas de foie de canard. Baby broad beans with jamon & foie gras. A nice light starter ......



For the main event, we cannot resist an Aragon classic - Paletilla de Ternasco asado con patatas, roast suckling lamb with roast potatoes. The lamb is covered in a crackling crust, tender juicy meat caged inside. Simply served with home style roast potatoes and a light sauce of the cooking juices.



A plate of Parillada de huerta, or mix char grilled vegetables, is the perfect accompaniment. Thick slices of eggplant, zucchini, potato, aparagus, peppers & onions are grilled with a splash of herb oil.



Aragon is quite famous for the peaches it produces, coming from the fertile lower valleys of the region. When we spot a dessert simply peaches, ice-cream & red wine, we can't resist.



Farewell Aragon ... see you next time around !!

Casa Pascualillo
Calle Libertad 5 - 7
50003 Zaragoza
T: 976 397 203

4 breakfasts and still room for gelato ... Vestri, Firenze

It did take a fair bit of walking around Firenze - wandering through the leather markets and over the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) before we could even think about gelato ... but we had read about Vestri, a famous little gelato and chocolate shop tucked away in the centre of town.

We find the quaint little Cioccolato d'Autore. We squeeze on in - it appears as if they are doing some sort of chocolate appreciation course in the rear half of the room. We spot the counter with the gelatos kept in stainless steel wells, which is said to keep the gelato temperature better controlled. Today we are picking our flavors from a board on the wall, not as many touristy-places would have you pick from a giant showcase, each tub of gelato piled high and overworked with frou-frou and flowers.

I select the Pistachio de Bronte and the chocolate bianco e fagoline di bosco. The pistachio is a very promising natural green color, and not that horrible fake hulk green.. The flavor is intense, and the gelato takes on the texture of pure ground nuts, leaving a smooth coating throughout the mouth. The white chocolate and wild strawberry, divine, and the two flavors work wonderfully together.



Kim has selected the Pesca bianaca and cioccolato gianduia. The chocolate is a rich milk and super creamy. The white peach so fresh and vibrant.



This is indeed a fine example of the frozen treat, everything down to the temperature, texture and even the way in which it was served demonstrated that the crew at Vestri's are serious about 2 things, chocolate and gelato.

Amazingly we resist the temptation of stocking up on chocolate spread before we leave ...



Piazza Santa Croce
Borgo Albizi, 11r
Florence
+39 (055) 234-0374

Bloody good pavlova

Here's a pretty mean looking pavlova Kim whipped up one night for staff meal.  A pretty fine job done with a complete lack of fresh fruit.  There was whipped cream, Organic Niki cherries, some tinned peaches we found lying around and some frozen mango puree.

Bloody good!  But took us about 3 days to eat as it was bloody huge!

Staff Meal Pavlova

4 large egg whites, at room temperature

few drops of vanilla extract

1 tsp white vinegar

2 tsp cornstach

1 cup, + 2Tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

Cream

Tin of peaches found lying around

Frozen organic Niki cherries, thawed and pitted

Frozen mango puree, thawed

or any other fruits you have lying around

1. Pre-heat oven to 175C.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

2. Put egg whites and salt into kitchen aid mixer on medium and beat for a few minutes, or until light and foamy.  Increase speed and beat for a few more minutes until you have firm peaks.

3. Gradually add the sugar while still beating.  Continue mixing for another 5 minutes or so until it's nice and shiny.

4. Sprinkle the vinegar, cornstach and vanilla over the whites and gently fold in.

5.  Place the mixture onto the parchment lined tray and smooth over with some sort of flat implement.  

6. Place in oven on middle rack and then close the door.  Immediately turn down to 150C and bake for 1 hour.  Then turn off the oven, resisting the temptation to open the door.

7. Ideally, you would then like to leave the pav. in the oven for 4 hours to dry out.  We didn't quite have that luxury of time, so our pav had about 10 minutes.

8.  In the meantime, beat some cream.  Sweeten a little with sugar and vanilla.

9. Slap on the cream, then artistically decorate with your chosen fruit.