Upon walking in, we decided on starting with some delicious red wine; him, the malbec from Argentina, me, the pinot noir from Chile (Apologies in advance for the poor quality of the photos; we were sitting outside so there wasn't as much light as I would have liked) The malbec was pretty heavy, but the pinot... oh the joy! the fruit! I don't think I will ever find another red as much as I enjoy the pinot for an everyman, everyday nectar.
For our starters. we decided to get the classic tapas favorite (Gambas el
Ajillo) and something a little different (Salmon Fresco). You can't ever go
wrong with gambas.. basically it's a ton of garlic, butter and oil with shrimp delicately placed on top and then promptly smothered by the mixture. We also had the luck of having this paired with some fantastic flatbread that could be dipped into aforementioned mixture. Fantastic. The salmon fresco paired really nicely with the gambas, because while the gambas reminds me of a honeycomb; sticky and saturated, the salmon was the light queen bee flitting around, tantalizing your tongue. I usually have tuna tartare, but this salmon one was just the right Watson to the Gambas Holmes. Whoo!
Next up... our paella. Shrimp, mussels, and clams with some yellow rice to boot. Made for a good meal, but I would have loved some calamari in the dish. Also, the rice could have been cooked just like 2 minutes crispier.. (but maybe that's the Korean in me kicking in.. mmm... nooran-jee)
As I finish my first week of fooding without meat, it occurred to me that I have been not consuming meat (yes, captain obvious strikes). BUT.. I have been using seafood as a serious crutch during these times.. almost none of these meals are without some aspect of shrimp, salmon, or other type of tasty morsel from the sea. That is kind of breaking the point of me trying to discover new things and opening myself up to great foods.
Hence.. I've made the decision. For the last week of this sojourn, I will be excluding all meat from my diet. This will include all fish - sushi - smoked salmon - i'm crying as i'm writing this... but I think i'll emerge stronger.
My next post will discuss my first brush with temptation... that's right. Jen versus the BBQ party. Stay tuned!
Hence.. I've made the decision. For the last week of this sojourn, I will be excluding all meat from my diet. This will include all fish - sushi - smoked salmon - i'm crying as i'm writing this... but I think i'll emerge stronger.
My next post will discuss my first brush with temptation... that's right. Jen versus the BBQ party. Stay tuned!
May I make a suggestion? Even while you do eat seafood try eating only wild-raised seafood. Hence, this would exclude farm-raised (aka "Atlantic") salmon from your options list. "Why would you do that?!" you may ask. Well, because farm raised fish contains so many harmful hormones and chemicals that, not only does it taste bland, but what's even worse it has been linked to some cancers so much so that it may only be safe to eat 1-5 times a year (no kidding). I'm currently banning all farm-raised fish from my diet and have realized how many sushi places (except for the high quality ones) offer only farm-raised fish. Gasp.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_iPhone.aspx
ReplyDeleteGet that iPhone app for help making selections. Not all farmed fish is bad and some of it is better for you. It's important to know where it's farmed as different regions have different laws regulating their practices and this obviously affects the safety/quality of the fish. It should also tell you the sustainability fo the fish and any environmental impact eating it will have along with safe and green alternatives :)