The White Ibiza Blogs

Photography by Annie Peel

Whilst the weather ain’t exactly wintry just yet, it certainly is the time of year to start getting into soups and one pot wonders. The idea of eating a hot soup in summer is positively frightening so being able to cook and eat them again now must be one of the consolations for the sun going down earlier and earlier.

I love soups. I love thinking about them, I love making them and I love eating them. If I can I’m gonna get me cremated in a golden soup tureen instead of a walnut veneer coffin.

Stock is of course an important part of soup making. Purists will tell you that you should use no stock in vegetable soups as it takes away from the essential flavour. Be that as it may I almost invariably use stock in soups because I think it adds depth of flavour. Continue reading Fish… my favourite dish

Photography by Annie Peel

Tiny mauve buds open into white petals with just the vaguest hint of violet. Because it is new growth the leaves are a light green and their texture has not become too dry yet. The stalk is all soft too. At this time (thyme, ha ha, how hilarious) of year I add it to sauces such as salsa verde and mix into salads. As the season goes on I find it dries out too much so ain’t that nice, just raw. It ain’t bad, don’t get me wrong, its just not so nice.

Women make infusions with it and say it tastes nice. It is distinctly good for you. You could add it to (the) lemonade (you have been conscientiously making since my last entry). You can add it to just about everything you eat at the moment and it has a particular affinity with white fish, chicken and tomatoes. In fact, it goes jolly nice with goats cheese salad.

Thyme grows wild  here so you if you wanted some for free you could go for a walk and dig some up. Alternatively you could just drive to a garden centre and buy some. Or get someone else to.

Beyond my pots and flower beds the field opposite has now become baked sand colour and will stay that way till September/October of next year. Until now it has been a kaleidoscope of colour. It seems to change from week to week from that bright yellow citrusy stuff to the bluey purple of the borage and the blood red of the poppies. There are also white rocket flowers and my favourite of all, the pink garlic flowers – of which more another thyme.

Photography by Annie Peel

Goats Cheese Salad

• Half a tomato per person roasted with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Maldon salt, black pepper and thyme (do this slowly so the tomato dehydrates intensifying the flavour and sweetness)
• The nicest leaves you can get hold of (there are some superb mixes of organic leaves at the moment, many of them coming from Farmer Rene ‘s Organic Garden Can Riera)
• Toasted pinenuts
• A vinaigrette made with sherry vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, garlic and olive oil

Toss all these together and add on top:

• 1 slice of goats cheese per person, grilled till golden and bubbling
• 1 slice of Juanito’s white bread toasted and rubbed with garlic (not optional)

Photography by Annie Peel

This is an Andalucian dish – or more like it is the Andalucian name for it. It is served all over Spain and here in Ibiza it is the typical accompaniment when you have baked fish. God, what a delight. Fried potatoes that are then baked alongside really big, ugly, firm fleshed rock fish like rotxa or John Dory. Why is it I wonder that the more ugly the fish, the tastier it is?

The better fish restaurants take these fish and do almost nothing to them but bake them with a bit of wine and these potatoes. The potatoes are prepared first because despite these big boned mothers being able to handle a some fairly hot baking, potatoes need a head start to avoid overcooking the fish.

You can also eat patatas a lo pobre deliciously next to chicken, rabbit, pork chops etc. Think unctuous potatoes next to golden meat.

To make them you need to heat up some olive oil and put in half a baker’s dozen of unpeeled whole garlic cloves. As they are gently sautéing, peel and slice half a kilo of red Ibiza potatoes. DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESS – IBIZA RED POTATOES OR NOTHING (unless of course you cant get them, in which case get the best waxy potatoes you can get and don’t settle for less the next time). Put them into the oil with the garlic. Peel an onion and slice it into fingernail moons and add to the pan. Rip up the pepper, discarding the seeds and stalk then add to the pan. Once everything is in, turn the heat up to medium and stir occasionally till it is cooked.

This is one of those dishes that can be prepared as you are cooking it – ie, whilst the garlic is frying, you be peeling the potatoes and whilst the potatoes are frying you can peel the onion and so on. You can also prepare this ahead of time and reheat later.

If you are doing it with a rock fish, get your monger to gut that mother, season it with salt and pepper, splash him with wine, add the cooked potatoes and bake it all in a hot oven (180 degrees with fan, 210 without) until it’s done. (Sorry, timing’s impossible – simply when skin breaks and flesh comes away from the bone, it is done. You may have to take it out, look at it and put it back a couple of times. Its head should look like something from a horror film with all the flesh coming away and its eyes popping out.)

When deciding how much oil to put in always veer on the side of recklessness and know that with olive oil, more is best…

Ingredients
Olive oil
Salt
1 head of garlic
½ kilo potatoes
1 onion
1 super crisp long Italian green pepper

Method
Fry unpeeled garlic
Fry peeled, sliced potatoes
Season
Fry peeled chopped garlic
Fry sliced onion
Fry deseeded ripped up green peppers