A hearty thank you for shopping online or in-person at Paris-Madrid Grocery during this uneasy time. We are working hard to bring in great new products to enhance your meal options while protecting the health of our staff, vendors, and customers. The home page on our website details how we maintain cleaning and sanitation in the shop. For those who are uncomfortable about coming inside, please order online for curbside delivery (click the Order & Pick Up button). You may also call the store if you have questions or can’t find a product listed. Signs are posted at check-out to help customers navigate the new protocol, or feel free to ask us about it. We remain open regular hours 7 days per week (10 AM – 6 PM Monday through Saturday, and 11 AM – 5 PM on Sunday).
Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday, May 10 and the shop will be open. The weather is predicted to be sunny and warm, perfect for making Mom a paella on the deck or back yard with a ringed gas burner. We are well stocked with paella ingredients, pans, Spanish chorizo, broth, seasonings, and rice, with more arriving Friday. Or, if Mom is a carnivore, serve her uncured Fermin Iberico de Bellota solomillo (acorn-fed Iberico pork tenderloin) seared on the barbeque. Cook it medium rare and savor the amazing flavor and tenderness! If a picnic is on the agenda, we’ve got a huge assortment of cured meats and cheeses for a charcuterie board. Add some olives, roasted Marcona almonds, dried dates or apricots and make a bean salad to go with it (see recipe below). Don’t forget the bottle of rosé!
New cheeses:
Saint Andre triple creme – The world’s most famous triple cream cow’s milk cheese from Normandy, France. Enhanced with heavy cream, this 75% fat cheese is buttery, rich, and dense. Smooth and spreadable, its delicate flavor is a sublime pairing with dried fruit.
El Rulo fresh goat cheese – A tangy-sweet fresh goat cheese without a rind. The crumbly texture is similar to Feta cheese. Excellent in a fresh green salad or just drizzle honey over it and enjoy.
Valrhona baking chocolate – We now carry Valrhona 70% dark chocolate Guanaja Fevres for baking. Used by top pastry chefs and chocolatiers the world over, Valrhona is considered to be one of the best for baking. Guanaja is bittersweet chocolate with flowery notes and intense, lingering flavors. Use it to make the best chocolate cookies, tarts, or cakes you’ve ever had. It can also be made into chocolate spreads.
New shipment of dried beans: Dried beans are getting harder to come by, so we’re happy to report that we received a new shipment this week. We’ve now got these new varieties in stock: Flageolet, Spanish Pardina lentils, black lentils, and French green lentils. Also in stock are Fabes de Asturias (Spanish D.O.beans for Asturian fabada stew), dry garbanzo beans, baby lima, large lima, cannellini, french navy, yellow split peas, green split peas, and Paris Bistro bean soup mix.
Natural dates – We discovered these Mazafati fresh dates, with no sugar added. All-natural with no sulfites, non-GMO. Soft and tangy cheeses are fantastic with these less sweet dates. Serve them on your next cheese board!
Giant tin of Serpis whole Manzanilla olives, 93.48 oz drained weight $29.99 We received 6 of these extra-large cans of manzanilla olives by mistake, and they are a bargain! If there are olive lovers in the house, pick up a can for them. It will keep them happy for several months or less, depending on their olive eating habits.
Lustau sherries are back in stock – A distributor change meant the popular East India and Los Arcos Amontillado sherries weren’t available for a few weeks. Now they are back on the shelf!
NEW WINES:
Triennes Rosé, Provence 2019 ($14.99) is the best vintage of Triennes rosé we have ever carried. Intensely aromatic, it shows traces of flint on the nose. On the palate, notes of melon and white pepper are rich and weighty. Very fresh, dry, and lengthy, the finish has subtle flavors of cantaloupe. Two of Burgundy’s greatest names – Jacques Seysses, founder of Domaine Dujac, and Aubert de Villaine, co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – are the partners behind this pioneering property in Provence. The 2019 rosé is mostly Cinsault, blended with a bit of Grenache, Syrah, and Merlot. Delicious!
Elicio Rosé, Ventoux 2019 ($13.99) Another favorite rosado, Elicio is 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah from a vineyard in the south of France. A nose packed with fresh red raspberry notes, the palate confirms the aromas revealed by the creamy nose. It offers up delightful fruit flavors with a crisp and refreshing finish.
Vinsobres Les Cornuds Rhône 2017 ($15.99) The Perrin family, who produces the legendary Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape, also make other wines from the Rhône valley, including Les Cornuds which is a stunning value. “The 2017 Vinsobres les Cornuds is a 50-50 blend of Grenache and Syrah, grown in one of the northern and higher appellations of the Southern Rhône. This medium to full-bodied wine combines the positive attributes of its varietal components, offering cherry and blueberry fruit, ample concentration, supple tannins and a finish that boasts hints of violets and dried spices.” 90-92 points Wine Spectator
WHITE BEAN AND PASTA SALAD From the Spanish Table Cookbook by Steve Winston
Beans should show up at the table as often as possible. Not just because they are filled with nutrition but because they taste great. Adding the tuna makes this a hearty main-dish salad, but you can omit it if you want to keep it lighter. The pasta complicates the texture but it is a mere fillip. The egg, which may seem extraneous, binds the dressing. Serves 2-4
2 cups Cooked White beans
1 cup Cooked small shell shaped pasta
2 Scallions trimmed and chopped, green tops and all
1 Red Pepper, finely diced
2 tablespoons Minced Cilantro or Parsley
2 tablespoons Lemon juice
¼ cup Alioli
1 Hard boiled egg, finely chopped
1 tin North Atlantic Bonito Tuna packed in olive oil (optional)
pinch Salt
grind Black Pepper
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste.
ALIOLI
In Catalonia this garlic version “mayonnaise” is made from olive oil and purple skinned garlic, without eggs but elsewhere in Spain, eggs are included. Alioli adds healthy, rich flavor wherever you might have been tempted to use a dab of mayonnaise.
A quick way to make garlic mayonnaise is to mash up some chopped garlic, adding a little Spanish extra virgin olive oil until a rich paste is formed, then stir in commercial mayonnaise. How much garlic you use is a judgment call. You can also use Matiz or Ferrer brand Spanish Alioli sauce from a jar.