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Crumbs: Not just for birds anymore |
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Written by asap
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Friday, 23 March 2007 |
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In Spain, as PAUL LOGOTHETIS found out, bits of bread are a meal unto themselves.
“The whole world knows that in Urda there are Migas!”
For 26 years, the hordes have walked through the front gates of Urda’s soccer stadium to find their allotted space, set down their supplies and light the tiny fires that will cook their versions of “migas,” the area’s famed farmer’s fodder.
This small pueblo of 3,000 makes a fitting scene for the cook-off, since it was on these very same plains that Miguel Cervantes’ creations — Don Quixote and his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza — counted on local fodder like migas for sustenance in their adventures. Though Cervantes’ tale didn’t make migas an Urda specialty, it was another academic — the dean of the local university — who was responsible for bringing the festival here in a bid to put small provincial towns on the map.
There isn’t much surrounding Urda, but what does envelop it are essential elements to the Spanish diet. Herds of cattle roam alongside crops of vegetables such as carrots, while vineyards and olive groves scatter the lower plains, slowly leading into the hills that dot the landscape, which are capped by the antique windmills that Don Quijote attempted to overrun. The fierce wind that whips across these plains is enough to wake the dead, as Pedro Almodovar suggested in his film “Volver,” which is set within in a neighbouring, but all too similar province.
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MIGAS ARE AN ART
“It’s all about savour, appearance, and the ingredients you use,” said Manuel Seller Grove, a restaurant owner involved in his sixth straight migas-judging contest. “Migas are an art, and you can’t rush art.”
The art starts at 10:30 a.m. when teams arrive, usually with family and friends in tow to tend to the “necessities” while the cooks get busy. The necessities: popping the tops off bottles of beer, squeezing the leather satchel of red wine into the chef’s mouth, and making general comments about the cooking, the day’s weather, and the how their soccer team will fare later in the afternoon. It’s a family affair.
“I’ve been coming since I was a kid, so probably about 15 years now,” local resident Jose Luis Romero said. “We don’t come here to compete; it’s all about eating with the friends, and enjoying it all over a few drinks. And more eating.”
Romero’s own recipe is the popular migas manchegas, a recipe that recognizes its local roots.
He arrives with his chorizo sausages and panceta (pork fat) already fried alongside some garlic, with two to three-day-old bread cut into french-fry size strips. After heating up the oil, two handfuls of breadcrumbs are pitched into the frying pan to absorb the oil so that water can be added and brought to a boil. Then the rest of the bread is thrown in and fried until it turns golden brown, when the meat is added.
Romero dishes it out to his cousin, friends, parents and grandmother before two teenagers dressed like Goths from the neighborhood stop by for a chat and to sample the migas.
All around are the old mixing with the young, the outrageous (some contestants dressed as cowboys and Quijote-era knights) mixing with the timid (which are very few, and mostly those who have had a plate and drink too many).
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AND THE WINNER IS
By noon, the field’s grass has turned to mud, and a large number has gathered around the huge wok-style frying pan set in the middle of the field for a complimentary ladle of migas, courtesy of the mayor’s office. For the equivalent of about $3.30, not only can you eat as many plates as you can stomach, but also wash it down with a glass of wine, a separate bowl of fabada (a warming bean and meat stew) and a plate of sweets. Paying isn’t obligatory though; bring your own bowl and plastic cup and most are more than willing to pour you a glass or offer a beer to go with a taste of their own migas.
La Pena del Pilar, a team from the town of Ciudad Real in neighboring Castille-La Mancha, won its sixth straight title, with first prize being a leg of cured ham, a block of Manchego cheese, and a commemorative clay figure. “If I told you our secret, it wouldn’t be such a secret,” head chef Manolo said. “Let’s just say there’s a lot of love in our migas. And a lot of work. But it’s all worth it.”
They say fried breadcrumbs make a great New Year’s snack after a heavy night out. Manolo and her crew will be serving them out to the public on New Year’s eve in Ciudad Real’s town square — road trip anyone?
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asap contributor Paul Logothetis is an AP reporter based in London. | Only registered users can write comments.
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