Amy Winehouse/Three Ibizan Recipes

I. Rape a la Casolana

An Ibizan recipe for John Dory 

 

Lightly fry a small quantity of onion, tomato, garlic and parsley.  Add sufficient water to cook in it a pound of John Dory fish, cut into slices.  When cooked, drain and put to one side the broth, and let the  fish go cold.  Then lightly fry it and season with garlic and finely chopped parsley, some drops of lemon juice and a dash of olive oil.

Separately in a stewing-pan, lightly fry in a little oil a good-sized onion cut up fine, a whole clove of garlic, a bay leaf and a spoonful of red pepper.  Let fry for a little while, then add the pulp of two tomatoes and three spoonsful of flour.  Stir for a moment and then put this fry into the fish broth to cook, and when boiling, add the slices of John Dory and let cook for half an hour.

II. Cacoleta de Patates.  

 Ibizan Potato Stew.

This is one of the most unpretentious dishes of Ibizan cuisine, and very popular among country people.

In a stewing-pan with some olive oil lightly fry together onion, tomato, a clove of garlic, and parsley.  Add potatoes in the required quantity, whole if they are small and cut in half if they are of larger size.  Turn them over with the fry, season with salt, ordinary pepper, red pepper and powdered cinnamon.  Then add enough water to cover them, bring up to the boil and incorporate some beaten up eggs.  Remove as soon as the potatoes are cooked. 

 III.  Flao.   

An Ibizan Cheese Tart.

Take a pound of flour and knead with a mixture half of water and half of oil, adding a small glass of anis liquor, and a few grams of aniseed.  Knead until a firm dough is achieved, and then spread it on a flat round mold.   

Make a fancy pattern all around the edge.

Separately beat up four eggs and mix them with a pound (450 grs) of sugar, adding a few leaves of mint.  When well mixed and beaten, spread the mixture over the aforesaid dough.  Put it at once into the oven, and let it cook for half an hour in the moderate heat.

When cooked and cooled down, sprinkle with ground sugar.



Note:  We learned the sad, predictable, but still crazy-sounding news of Amy Winehouse's death last Saturday when we stopped for gas somewhere on the Mass Pike on the way home from Maine.  As is so often the case, what eventually emerges from the original fog of no details is the fog of details.  All one can say is "what a waste."  Learning that Carole King's very sad song "You're So Far Away" was Amy Winehouse's favorite was very sad.  Reading about her cremation at Golder's Green Crematorium reminded me of a Graham Greene short story I read once whose name I can't recall.  A climactic scene of regret and non-resolution occurred there also.  Thinking about Amy Winehouse, an artist I didn't really follow (except in lurid news reports), but kind of admired, made me think of Ibiza (Eivissa in Catalan) -- its lively music and rave party scene, of course, which I associate with her, but mostly because it lies in the extraordinary, wild and romantic Balaeric island chain, where I used to visit a friend a long time ago, and which seems to suit her music's mood.  To celebrate her life, I thought it would be appropriate to post several  "tipico" Ibizan recipes.  I hope you enjoy them.  They're included in Luis Ripoll's 125 Cookery Recipes of Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza, a real "find" if you can find it.  Another Ripoll entry is found HERE.   The John Dory illustration in second position above  is by William MacGillivray (1796-1852), dates from 1831-41, and is part of the Natural History Museum collections in London.