San Sebastián Slider: Jose Mari cooks up a Pork Loin & Cheese with Green Peppers and Leeks
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009I was standing at the bar at Macao in Tribeca last month, enjoying a classic Manhattan cocktail with my co-workers Jasmine and Allysun, when a very pleasant young server came up to me and said, “Wait, do you have a blog on Rioja?”
“Why, yes…yes I do,” I replied, quite surprised to be recognized out of the blue like that.
“I really like it,” she said. I stood a little more erect. My chest expanded a bit.
“Thanks,” I said, half-expecting/half-hoping she’d go on about something I had written about music and wine, or how original my voice was, how funny.
“I LOVED your post about that guy in San Sebastian,” she continued, “The guy who makes those cooking videos on YouTube. He’s so amazing!”
She was of course referring to José Mari, author of the Spanish food blog, Cocinar para los amigos, and creator of what could very well be the most soothing cooking video series in the history of the medium. (Just recently, I should add, Jose Mari left a very nice comment on the blog post I wrote about about him back in November, and even offered to take me around San Sebastián next time I am there.)
Well, José Mari is back at it again with a video recipe for Minibocatas de lomo, pimiento verde y queso, posted over the weekend. It looks so damn good on my screen that I bit my right forefinger Sonny Corleone-style when I first looked at the video earlier today. And it may just happen one night in my kitchen this week.
Pair Jose Mari’s minibocatas de lomo, pimiento verde y queso with a good n’ earthy Rioja Crianza–Sierra Cantabria ($15) Marqués de Tomares ($15), Montecillo ($9), Loriñon ($12) or Viña Pomal ($10), to name just a few.
