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Arros Negre comes to Guerneville

8:25 PM Monday, August 29, 2005

[Catalans have maintained respect for vegetables]

Guerneville, California is a little town on the Russian River, in Sonoma County, a county better known for its vineyards and the historic Plaza of the county seat, Sonoma. The river has been home for generations to summer visitors who enjoy the resort lifestyle, the sandy beaches and cool flowing water, and the shopping for kitsch. In more recent times, Gay and Lesbian tourists have made an annual summer pilgrimage to Guerneville. Down the river near the coast the filtered golden sunlight and dramatic encounters between fog and rolling hills, harbor seals and hikers have attracted artists and outdoor recreation enthusiasts.

We (my significant other and I) are fortunate to have friends with a cabin in Guerneville, who have recently returned from a visit to Cadaqués, the former fishing village on the Costa Brava where the great Spanish Catalan surrealist painter Salvador Dalí made his home. My friends raved about the seafood specialty arròs negre, "black rice," a specialty of the Costa Brava. We decided to try a Sonoma County version. (I say try because the most fundamental ingredient, cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), does not inhabit California waters. We decided to prepare the dish with the local Monterey Bay squid Loligo opalescens, and two species of local rockfish, using a pristine, minimalist recipe from the Internet.

Like their Basque neighbors to the north, the Catalans, whose traditional capital is Barcelona, have had a love-hate relationship with the Castilian-speaking rulers of Spain in Madrid. (The "love" part refers to the fact that they have played a major role in Spanish history in both the Old and New Worlds.) Their distinct culture includes a language and literature related to that of the French Provençal troubadors, and a marvelous cuisine (cuina in Catalan), which is the focus of this Coffeeblog item. Though prodigious eaters of meat and seafood, the Catalans have maintained respect for vegetables, especially the red bell peppers and eggplants beloved by Italians, southern French, and other Mediterraneans, and an onion of their own creation, the calçot.

As a starter course for our Guerneville black rice dish, seasoned with cuttlefish ink imported from Spain in plastic packets, we decide to make escalivada, a dish that seems to have a role in Catalan culture equivalent only to the Passover matzah, the Santa Fe green chili, and the Scottish haggis in their respective traditions. Escalivada is made from eggplant and red bell peppers charred over embers, peeled, shredded and served with generous quantities of minced garlic, the oil of arbequina olives, toasted artisanal bread rubbed with garlic and fresh tomatoes, and a garnish of anchovies. If it's not labor-intensive, it's not escalivada.

The meal was washed down wine from Geyserville, Meursault, Gascoyne, and La Mancha, and was a spectacular success. Not one shred of escalivada or one grain of black rice remained uneaten. As for Loligo opalescens, it's a cephalopod second to none on the planet.

| Technorati Tags: Food and Drink Catalunya Dali Squid

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