Gonzalo Baro shares his passion for fresh family food.
There was always something cooking at home. My mother would have to devise a menu for eight people every day, because there were six children. As a child I would often hang about the kitchen and watch the skilful way she held things, always with such coordination. I still recall my first attempts at making gazpacho, even then one of my favourite foods. Our phone conversation would go: “You only have to blend tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, vinegar and garlic together with plenty of olive oil.” “Yes, Mama, but how much?” “I don’t know how much! Just do it. Use your intuition!” So I had to train my intuition for a whole month until I managed to make something that resembled gazpacho.
Discovering the vegetarian and later the vegan dietary culture opened up another world for me. I also added different spices and cooking methods to my repertoire, and with my broader knowledge came other interesting combinations. This is how many of the recipes in my book have evolved.
Because a country’s diet is often based on meat and fish dishes, it can be difficult to reflect it in vegan cuisine. Nevertheless, Spanish cuisine is versatile and open to innovation.
Pomegranate Granizado
Granizados are served in many coffee shops and ice-cream parlours in Spain.
500ml pomegranate juice
mint leaves
Pour the juice into a shallow container in the freezer and stir with a fork every hour. After stirring about seven times, the juice will have crystallised. Serve in glasses garnished with mint.
Edited extract from Vegan Recipes from Spain by Gonzalo Baro, Grub Street.
Originally published in JUNO Late Summer 2019
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