End of the wedding season...

Last weekend we were at the last of the weddings this year down in Tortosa.. The last of five.. Joana & Paco, a cousin of E's dad... (there was 7 brothers and sisters in his granmother's family so there was a big difference between the oldest and the youngest - Joana's my age).

Regrettably, what was looking to be a fun event (was really looking forward to it - the reception was at Les Moles in Ulledecona), turned into One Wedding and a Funeral. E's granny fell into a coma on Friday night (passing away in the early hours of Sunday morning) so we were no more in the humour for going to a wedding the next day..

That being said, it was a wedding to remember - the food lived up to be everything that everyone said it would be..

Catering for large numbers tends to be a recipe for disaster - sorry folks, cooking fillet steak with foie gras for 200 people is just not possible. The steak most probably has been cooked at 9am that morning, so the probability that it will be as tough as boots is extremely high!

Joana & Paco got it 100% right - apart from the appertif hors d'oeuve, which were select and good quality, but pounced upon the moment the waiters loomed into view (it WAS 3pm, so obviously people were hungry), the rest of the meal made up for it..

Simplicity was the key, taking good ingredients and presenting them simply. It was certainly an example of a traditional Spanish wedding fair - the sign of a good wedding is the number of prawns/langoustines etc. that you get presented with! And this one, certainly turned up trumps..

Here you can see the Pumpkin soup, served separately (plated poached egg and langoustine, and then the pumpkin soup poured over the top)..

Dinner was topped off with a visit from Quico el Célio, el Mut i el Noi de Ferreries, a traditional band from the Terres de l'Ebre region, whose speciality is the traditional Jota originating from Tortosa. Joana's mother joined in to give her own ad-lib version dedicated to the couple (one of the features of the Jota is that people make up the lyrics as they go along, adapting them for the occasion).

They even played my favourite De Roquetes Vinc which has a special meaning for E's family, as it's a song that his Alzheimer-inflicted grandmother (Joana's aunt) still sings to this day on her more lucid days..

En fin.. a new beginning for some, a ending for others.. And so the circle of life goes on...

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Here's the full line up:

Aperitif

Star-anise scented crisps

Iberian ham

Marinated anchovy and herring toast

Vegetable and foie gras coca pastry

Red pepper and courgette mousse cone

Langoustine and bacon brochette

Iberian ham croquettes

Griddled prawn brochette

Dinner

Grilled langoustines

Pumpkin soup with langoustines and poached egg

Sea bass with calamar 'eel' and calamar ink 'caviar'

Blood orange and strawberry sorbet

Duck confit with muscatel and cinnamon scented apple purée

Textured rice pudding (with rice crispies!)

Wedding cake - Individual chocolate mousse cakes

Food and celebrations

There's something about celebrations that brings the need to share it over food. Food and celebrations are so interlaced that it's like the event didn't even happen, if some bread hasn't been broken. Take Christmas, part of the thrill for me is the food that I associate with it..
The same goes for weddings. Although most people won't have clue what they ate on the day, part of the feeling that they take home from the wedding is created by the food they ate. Even to this day, we've had people commenting with mixed opinions about the dessert at our wedding (Blue cheese ice cream with figs) - foodies absolutely loving every minute, and the rest noting the wedding for strange contrasts - the Catalans thinking it was an Irish tradition, and the Irish thinking that it must another one of those strange napkin-swinging Catalan traditions..

This weekend we went to the wedding of our best friends, Raül and Carmen in Sant Vicenç de Moltalt. E has known Raül all through college (he was the year ahead in Hotel Management), had worked with him in his first job after college (the Hotel Campus in UAB where E worked as Receptionist and Raül as Maitre D) and ran into him again when they both went to work as consultants in CCS for a hotel ERP software program (without even knowing that the other was applying). Since then, their friendship has been constant - always finding a companion to comment Barça's latest trials and tribulations, and an accomplice to try out the latest restaurant or other culinary experience.

So as you can imagine, Raül finding a suitable girlfriend was going to be subject for scrutiny..

When we met Carmen, we both breathed a sigh of relief.. No one could be more perfect, more fitting than Carmen, with her instantly fitting in and becoming part of the group as if we'd know her for decades..

As you can imagine, when they announced that they were taking the plunge we were all over the moon, and started rubbing our hands just thinking about the wedding banquet. Knowing Raül & Carmen, friends after our own hearts, the outlook was promising!

And boy did it fulfill! The couple chose Turó del Sol, a restaurant about 20 minutes outside Barcelona for the location of their civil wedding. It was the most appropriate and well-organised setup we've seen in a while, which made everything run to plan..

The food was simple but extremely well executed. But the excitement of the day - seeing how much our two best friends beamed (Carmen must had a sore face the next day from so much smiling), that I only remembered half way through that I hadn't taken any photos to document the event..

So you'll just have to imagine that the food was brilliant (a massive chunk of hake, cooked to perfection; followed by a sirloin of pork with a wine jus; and a plate of Leches (milk pudding, milk custard, rice pudding), and I'll leave you with the happy face of the novios!

P.S. Will try and root out the menu, it's around here somewhere - I never throw anything away from the weddings I've been at..

P.P.S. Found the menu.. Here it is:

Centre of hake in a garlic shoot cream

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Fillet of Iberian Pork with a red wine jus

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Milk puddings platter

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Wedding Cake (Strawberry mousse tart)