The number of times Don Day’s mother warned him. Don’t talk to strangers on the street. But Don Day never listened. And still doesn’t.
The latest stranger I started talking to was on a street called Hernandez Macias in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He was unloading groceries out of the trunk of a cab and there were some things in his shopping bags that you don’t see in everybody’s shopping bags, exotic things like a jar of squid ink.
The stranger introduced himself as Jorgé Sala. He told me he was a Spaniard. And he told me he was a chef. You see why you should talk to strangers.
Next thing I know I’m in the man’s kitchen (another thing my mother warned me about) and we’re planning a private meal for Don Day’s little sewing circle, The Gentlemen Who Lunch and, for the main course, Jorgé is telling me he`s going to create the very rare paella negra.
Don Day was one of the last to arrive at La Casa de las Conservas, the bed and breakfast run by Jorge and his mother. Most of the guys were already seated in the shade of a more than beautiful Bahinia tree, at a table Jorge had set up in the garden. The backyard of the casa is an idyllic piece of real estate and real estate was the topic of the day for the gentlemen. We concluded two things: Real estate in San Miguel is the world’s worst possible investment and real estate in San Miguel is the world’s best possible investment. If the guys at the table who were looking for a home to buy had just made deals with the guys who had a home to sell, we could have ordered a bottle of cava to celebrate but, of course, they didn’t so we started with something else to whet our appetite.
The chef had selected Altozano, a Verdejo/Sauvignon Blanc from Castilla/La Mancha in Central Spain. It was light and crisp with nice hints of citrus, apple and grass. It was an excellent choice to accompany the first course, the great Spanish summer soup, gazpacho.
There are a number of variations on this refreshingly cool dish from Andalusia with some versions being dominated by tomato, others dominated by cucumber. Jorgé’s fit perfectly into the middle ground and was a creamy orange, a shade that is often seen on San Miguel walls. Some gazpachos are chunky. Don Day likes his smooth. Jorgé’s gazpacho was silky smooth and, following the Spanish tradition, bowls of all of the chopped up ingredients along with some perfectly toasted croutons were placed on the table for us to add.
Harry, who seldom uses words with less than three syllables, called the soup, “absolutely wonderful”. The more to the point Cliff said it was “possibly the best I’ve had”. Richard, whose diet is now being guided by a naturalist said that, “this might even be good for me.”
Next up (and very soon downed) was the paella. Jorgé Sala is from Valencia and Valencia, on the east coast of Spain, is the world capital of paella. There are many types of paella; the three best known to Don Day are paella Valencia, paella de mariscos and paella mixta and Jorgé Sala makes all of these as well as one not known to Don Day, a rare paella de bacalao y coliflor. Jorgé Sala also makes an extremely obscure paella, a paella that, until last week, was still on Don Day`s 100 things to eat before you die list. Jorgé Sala makes paella negra, the black paella, a dish not made, as you might have guessed, with black rice but with white rice stained and flavored by the blue/black of squid ink.
Cephalopod ink, as those more academically inclined than Don Day call it, is released by cuttlefish, octopi and squid to help confuse their prey. There was no confusing the gentlemen’s tastes, however. The release of the tinta de calamar added an unusual but delightful flavor to the paella negra. It wasn’t the prettiest sight on the plate but when mixed with the seafood broth, paprika, garlic, red peppers, squid, mussels, shrimp and a generous portion of blue crabs, it was one perfect paella.
With the paella, Jorgé chose a wine that’s often befriended Don Day’s fridge, Marques de Caceres Rioja Blanco. Made from the Viura grape, it had hints of apple and pear but unfortunately the fruit tasted a little sour after the Altozano.
The third and last act was dessert. It was a crema that Jorgé called mousse con queso y chipotle. There was a lot more happening in the glass than that though. Once you got through the frothy cream which proved again that sweet and heat go so well together there was a surprise. At the bottom lay a pool of raspberry and tomato jams. The combination may sound strange (it did to Don Day) but it worked, really worked.
The dessert glasses were big and most of the gentlemen who lunch are big but they aren’t all big dessert eaters. I wasn’t surprised though as I watched as the level of every one of their glasses reached rock bottom. As you may have guessed by the name of the place we were at, La Casa de Las Conservas, Jorgé Sala and his mother are also in the jam and marmalade business and raspberry and tomato are just two of the many flavors that they sell in their shop. Later, I sampled strawberry, lemon, blackberry, sweet potato and one of Don Day’s favorite local fruits, mamey.
We left La Casa de las Conservas, all with the telltale fingernails that come with paella negra, all vowing not to become strangers with Jorgé Sala, and vowing to arrange a dinner sometime very soon that would include Don Day`s Wife and the other gentlemen’s much more than significant others.
My mother used to sing a little rhyme to Don Day. I can’t remember the exact words but do recall that the line “Don’t talk to strangers” was followed by one that ended in “dangers”. It’s a shame my mother didn’t talk to more people on the street. I think she left this world without ever tasting black paella.
Jorge Sala requires at least one day`s notice to prepare his paellas or his other Spanish specialties. You can contact him at 415 121 1799 or lacasadelasconservas@gmail.com. La Casa de las Conservas is located at Calle Hernandez Macias 29, Colonia Centro, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
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