The Roman Fish Factories of Claudia Baelo, a Sensational Lunch at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Famous for its Almadraba, Tuna Round-up. Boquerones en Vinagre, Mojama de la Almadraba, Carpaccio of Zucchini, Seafood Rice and Black Rice with Basil All-i-oli, Plus 85€ per Person Almadraba-caught Tuna Tasting Menu Explained. Persistence of Memory* (Salvador Dalí) Fiver Melting Watch Awards

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A superb lunch on Feb. 7, 2019 at one of the best restaurants in southern Spain, Restaurante Campero, Barbate, a town famous for its almadraba, tuna round-up, and a return lunch on Oct. 19, 2019.

(Barbate and neighboring Zahara de los Atunes are famous for the almadraba, the ancient annual tuna round-up, from which some of the world's finest tuna comes.)

Almadraba tiles (depicting the ancient tuna slaughter in the Strait of Gibraltar near Barbate and Zahara de los Atunes, in a bar in el Mercado de Triana, Sevilla, April 13, 2016.  Photo by Gerry Dawes©2016, Canon EOS M3.

For openers at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Feb. 7, 2019, a comped tapa of boquerones en vinagre, fresh anchovies marinated in vinegar and served with Spanish extra virgen olive oil and Raf tomatoes.

Kay with her carpaccio de tapín (zucchini), with guacamole, pine nuts, Raf tomatoes, soy vinaigrette and truffles at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Feb. 7, 2019.

Carpaccio de tapín (zucchini), with guacamole, pine nuts, Raf tomatoes, soy vinaigrette and truffles at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Feb. 7, 2019.

Carpaccio de tapín (zucchini), with guacamole, pine nuts, Raf tomatoes, soy vinaigrette and truffles at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Feb. 7, 2019.

Mojama, salt-and-air cured tuna in a style that goes back to the Phoenicians and Romans, with Marcona almonds, with Spanish Extra Virgen Olive Oil at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Feb. 7, 2019.

 

Vicente Leal, the great maestro de salazones, (salt-and-air cured fish, a craft as old as civilization in the Mediterrean). at his stand in el Mercado de Abastos de Alicante, where he sliced us samples of his exceptional mojama de atún and hueva de atún. 

 The rice dishes we had at Restaurante Campero.

 Arroz marinero (pescado y marisco pelado), rice with fish and peeled shellfish, at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Feb. 7, 2019.

 Arroz negro de atún con ali oil de albahaca, squid ink-colored black rice with basil all-i-oli at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Feb. 7, 2019.

 Arroz negro de atún con ali oil de albahaca, squid ink-colored black rice with basil all-i-oli at Restaurante Campero, Barbate (Cádiz), Feb. 7, 2019.

 Guímaro, a Godello-based white wine from Ribeira Sacra, our luncheon wine at Restaurante Campaero, Barbate. 

Kay and Salvador Cardoso, Jefe de Sala, at Restaurante Campero who took such good care of us at this memorable luncheon.

Claudia Baelo, near the village of Bolonia, some 15 miles (25 miles by car) down the coast from Barbate, was an important Roman fishing processing center, where salt-and-air cured mojama and garum, a prized fermented fish sauce, were made.

 Claudia Baelo, down the coast from Barbate, was an important Roman fishing processing center, where salt-and-air cured mojama and garum, a prized fermented fish sauce, were made.

 Important Roman fish processing works at Claudia Baelo near Barbate.

Restaurante Campero

Avenida Constitución, Local 5 C

11160 Barbate, Cádiz, Spain

Phone: +34 650 42 07 92

www.restaurantecampero.es 

Gerry Dawes's Persistence of Memory* (Salvador Dalí)  Melting Watch Awards.

The Whispering of the Tuna 

Restaurante Campero Menú de Atún Rojo Salvaje de Almadraba 2019

(We did not opt for this 85€ per person almadraba-caught tuna tasting menu--without vino--because neither of us was up to either that much tuna, nor had the appetite or the time nor wanted to pay the price, but it sure looks terrific--at least to me (Kay can do without the exotica!)

   

Chart showing different parts of wild almadraba tuna (chart not from Restaurante Campero).

Ijar, olivada y piparra

 Bluefin tuna Ijar (tuna belly), olivada and piparra.  

 
Tuna ijar o ijada, a ham-like cut of ventresca, or tuna belly (video).

Niguiri de ventresca

Sushi Niguiri rice with raw tuna belly

 Carpaccio de paladar 
 Carpaccio of palate of tuna

Paladar of tuna, photo Restaurante Campero, Chef Julio Vázquez.

 Tosta, lomo y trufa

Tuna loin and truffle toast

 Tartar de toro

Toro tuna tartare

Dados de tarantelo con ajo blanco

Cubes of Tarantelo (the slender end piece of the white loin of tuna) with ajo blanco white garlic cream

  Tarantelo (the slender end piece of the white loin of tuna) 

Usuzukuri
 Tuna sliced very thin

 Parrillada (morrillo y corazón)

Grilled loin piece just behind head and slices of tuna heart

Chart showing the location of different cuts of tuna served on the Campero menu, including Morrillo, Ventresca or Ijar, Tarantelo, Galeta, Mormo and Solomillo.  (Courtesy of cheffuri.com)

 
Ventresca con miso y mostaza
Tuna belly with miso and mustard

Galete
Tuna piece from the head (see 'galeta' photo above.)
 
Contramormo

Delicacy from the front of the tuna head

 
Drawing of tuna head, showing different delicacy sections.
 

Solomillo

Loin of tuna (See photo of whole tuna with parts labeled above.)

PREPOSTRE Té verde, cítricos y frutos rojos

POSTRE  Chocolate, yuzu y sésamo negro

Bebidas no incluídas

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  Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?

Poem by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington,

in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York City.

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About Gerry Dawes

My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

Gerry Dawes is the Producer and Program Host of Gerry Dawes & Friends, a weekly radio progam on Pawling Public Radio in Pawling, New York (streaming live and archived at www.pawlingpublicradio.org and at www.beatofthevalley.com.)

Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. 

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 

Pilot for a reality television series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain  

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@gmail.com