Katriel's Life Steps Part 6
"I always say that I am a traveler and not a tourist"
A phrase coined by Katriel Menendez on his trip to Europe.
How did the trip to Europe come about?
Visiting the old continent was a trip that I had promised to do since I was 15 years old. The place I was most interested in was France, because I was in love with its gastronomy. But fortunately, we were able to make the tour of Europe with my wife, Devyn, and visit France, Spain and Italy.
What was the first country you visited? What was your favorite moment there?
The first country we went to was France. The rain was the protagonist of the ten days we were there, and as we walked through the streets of Paris, it added that melancholy of its essence, which was mixed with the romanticism of the Parisian corners. The most incredible moment was one day when we bought baguette bread and a good cheese and sat down to have a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower. And as if by magic, a man passed by selling rosé wine, and we bought it. Seeing the lights of the tower, with my wife and that picnic, was a moment I knew I would never forget
What can you say about the French gastronomy, was it what you expected?
Yes, totally, it was what I expected and more. The gastronomy, as I thought it would, blew our minds. It's the quality that makes it so special. When you got off a train, the aromas of the food were all over you. You could smell the strawberries, the peaches, and every fruit you can imagine, fresh and intense.
What I love about this gastronomic culture is the way they do things, with love and dedication. It's not that they have better raw material, but that they prioritize quality. They prefer to have less production, but an excellent product. And that is what you find. To observe this as a chef is a blessing. Because the products have so much natural flavor, all you have to do is add some seasoning.
How did you follow the itinerary of the trip?
After ten days we went to Barcelona, Spain, where we went from bar to bar eating tapas and drinking cañitas, which are sugar cane liquors. We ate a lot of things, like canned clams, smoked clams, Galician octopus, with vinaigrette. We ate white asparagus in olive oil, olives, cheese, small peppers stuffed with goat cheese, fried fish, razor clams sautéed with lots of garlic and green onion. Snails sautéed with garlic and herb butter. The truth is that we punished ourselves. Each meal was better than the last.
Then, we went to Valencia with the goal of learning Valencian paella. My family in Mendoza had taught it to me, but the one originally made in Valencia had fewer ingredients: Artichokes, onion, garlic and seared rabbit and rice and broth.
So why do we know paella with seafood as the original?
That's because paella started in Valencia because that's where the roots are, and therefore the abundance of rice, then it moved to the rest of Spain. The secret technique of Valencian paella is that you make a sofrito, caramelize the ingredients in it, then cover it with the paella and you can eat the base after lunch.
I imagine that now it is time for Italy, did you eat a lot of pizza and pasta?
You can imagine well, from Spain we went to Italy. Everywhere we went, we ate pizza by the kilo, that's how they sell it and not by portions, we also ate pasta but later on.
We went to Rome, and visited the Colosseum. I found it a mind-blowing experience because of its imposing structure. It was very powerful to realize that people used to be killed in this place and now we were buying a ticket to visit it as tourists.
In Italy we rented a car, a mini cooper, and went to Venice, this city is charming, you get lost like in a labyrinth. The streets are made of water, and it is very interesting to see how they have adapted to that lifestyle. They use motorized and non-motorized water transport to get around. In addition, the concrete of the houses is touching the water, and they are submerged. One day to do something different, we went to a Italian Salsa Music festival. There were a lot of people, dances, food stalls and it was a very entertaining plan. At one point, we split up with Devyn in different lines, she in one to buy the drink and I in another to buy the food. It was a lot of fun because we both made friends with people while waiting to be served. So, we spent the whole festival with our new friends, laughing, dancing and eating together. It was an unforgettable experience.
And after two or three days in Venice we went to Pollenza and Macerata, where my family was from. Here we were welcomed by my grandmother's cousin, her name is Clara Sicioli, and she treated us with love and kindness, she made her own bondiola and it is a memory that marked us very much because of how delicious it was
And what have you learned about cooking in Italy?
I learnt that pasta is so delicious because of the quality of the flour and the combination of eggs, which makes it different and rich. In Pollenza and Macerata we ate all kinds of pasta until we were satiated; sorrentinos, ravioli, tagliatelle, etc. Here they don't use semolina, which is one of the differences. It is an ingredient that helps the pasta to dry faster and is used for shaped pasta, for example, and in the United States they use it.
Do you use any of the techniques you learned on that trip in your current cooking?
Today, at Tango Pastry, we use the techniques from Italy for pizzas. And for the pastas we also use the secrets of Italy when we do events, cooking classes, etc.
If you had to summarize this trip in a few words, what would you say?
In a few words I would say it was an opportunity for expansion. Every experience in life is an opportunity for me. Even the bad ones, because I see them as learning experiences; and expansion, because this trip, like every trip I have done, has expanded my knowledge in the kitchen and in life. As I always say, I consider myself a traveller, not a tourist. I like to visit parts of the world to see how people live, what their routines are, what foods they eat and what is important in each culture. I like to meet new people and become a part of them. I think that to go back to the word I used, every trip is an opportunity to be better and to understand the way of life of every human being. I will always keep this trip in my heart.
