Mojo Picon with Wrinkly Potatoes, for Culinary Diplomacy Spain at Joseph Decuis
Culinary Diplomacy Spain took place at the Joseph Decuis farm on March 22, 2019. A lot has happened since then (I published a book!), but now it’s time to talk about that great evening, and share with you one of the recipes the guests enjoyed, mojo picon with wrinkly potatoes, mojo picón con patatas arrugadas.
Joseph Decuis restaurant, located in Roanoke, Indiana, is a farm to fork restaurant that has been voted for years in a row as the best restaurant in Indiana. The restaurant itself sits inside an old bank, with its huge safe serving as the wine cellar —very fittingly, its wine list holds many jewels. The restaurant comprises various dining rooms, one of them open air, in an indoor patio, another one in the conservatory, each one of them with their very own flair, all of them equally inviting. If you want to plan your special event in the Fort Wayne area, this is the place.
Joseph Decuis is particularly known for being the only restaurant in the United States raising its own Wagyu cattle with traditional Japanese husbandry practices — all natural, humane, drug-free and stress-free (Wagyu is arguably the finest tasting, healthiest beef in the world). They also raise Mangalitza pigs and Rainbow Dixie and Naked Neck chickens, and grow their own produce.
What an honor it was for me, then, when its owner, Alice, invited me to share the food of my country, Spain, through the masterful hands of its chefs.
Have you ever done something you know you want to do, but scares you? This is what I felt when I accepted Alice‘s invitation, but I’m glad I did —saying yes to what scares you is usually the best choice.
I went through many cookbooks in preparation for the event, but mostly through my blog and my mom’s recipes, and came up with a long list of Spanish dishes I thought guests would enjoy. Chefs Marcus, Eric and I met on various occasions and eventually settled on a tasting menu. It was not easy for me to leave out many of the dishes, even it the final menu included quite a few of them.
What an amazing experience the whole event was, from beginning to end! But I have to admit, the highlight for me was to cook in their professional kitchen, alongside chefs and sous chefs, to experience what it was to cook at a restaurant (and not just any restaurant) kitchen. The Joseph Decuis team was helpful and supportive in every way, and the jokes, laughs and camaraderie never deterred from professional, fully packed days of cooking.
In the meantime, reservations started to come in, and soon it was realized, as potential diners were turned away, that a new venue was needed. The event was moved to the Joseph Decuis farm —a farm with a tuxedo, as they say on their website, and once you visit it, you understand why. The venue holds large parties like weddings and fundraisers, inside the barn or outdoors, in a familiar yet sophisticated atmosphere.
On the night of the event, I dined, and partied, and danced, and got to talk to the guests about what they were eating, about the culture of my country, and a bit of its history, as it relates to its gastronomy. Meanwhile, the cooks whipped up their magic bringing out tapa after tapa, main dish after main dish, desserts, Spanish wines and cocktails, all deliciously made and gorgeously presented, while Spanish music played in the background and the many guests mingled and enjoyed the ambience.
I’ll be posting the recipes for many of the dishes we enjoyed at Culinary Diplomacy Spain, so stay tuned. For today’s post I chose one of my favorites, mojo picon with wrinkly potatoes, mojo picón con patatas arrugadas.
Mojo is the name given to different sauces made in the Canary Islands. The sauces, or mojos, accompany many dishes, and are made of raw ingredients, always including garlic, olive oil, salt and cumin. The two kinds of mojos are green mojo and red mojo, with different variations of each. Green mojos usually accompany fish, while red mojos accompany meat, potatoes or rice. The heat intensity of mojos can be adjusted by varying the amount of garlic and the kind of pepper used (sweet or hot). Since Canarian peppers are hard to find in this part of the world, I used guajillo, and the result was outstanding (ancho chiles would be another good substitute).
The recipe I’m sharing is of a red mojo, the one I grew up eating at home, most usually accompanying wrinkly potatoes (small unpeeled potatoes boiled in highly salted water, a method that makes them salty on the outside and soft on the inside) or white or saffron rice. Patatas bravas, another Spanish dish that uses potatoes and a spicy sauce, might be more popular, but I’ll choose mojo picón con patatas arrugadas any day.
Hopefully all the guests walked away from Culinary Diplomacy Spain with many sensations and new experiences, but most of all, with the knowledge that Spanish food is rich and diverse, very intimately linked to its history, climate and geography, and encompasses more than paella and sangría.
MOJO PICON WITH WRINKLY POTATOES
Ingredients
For the mojo:
- 4 garlic cloves sliced
- 2 Canarian peppers substitute with ancho or guajillo chiles if not available
- 1/2 teaspoon pimentón de la Vera or Spanish paprika sweet or hot, to taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds or ground cumin if seeds not available
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 Tbs wine or sherry vinegar
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 2 slices of baguette bread
For the wrinkly potatoes:
- 2 Lbs small potatoes
- 2 Tbs coarse sea salt
Instructions
- In a small skillet, add 1 teaspoon olive oil. When hot, add the bread and fry on both sides. Set aside.
- In a pot with hot water, add the peppers and let soften for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a mortar, pound the garlic, salt, and cumin seeds, then add the pimentón and mix until a paste forms. Add the vinegar and mix.
- Scrape the flesh from the peppers and add to the mortar, discarding the skins, seeds and stems. Pound the peppers and incorporate.
- Break the slices of toasted bread and add to the mortar. Pound everything with the pestle until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Add the olive oil in a very slow stream, stirring to incorporate to the mix. Adjust for salt.
- Alternatively, transfer the mix to a blender right before adding the oil. Blend the mixture at low speed while adding the oil in a very slow stream.
- Wash the potatoes and place them, skin on, in a pot. Add water until it covers them. Add the salt and boil the potatoes until tender, about 20 minutes.
- Pour off the water and return the pan with the potatoes to the stove so the steam evaporates until a layer of salt has formed on the dry skins. Serve promptly.
Notes
Note: some photos in this post are by Joseph Decuis
