COCINA
Bountiful Murcia coming into its own
Posted on Thu, Jun. 26, 2008
By MARICEL E. PRESILLA
MARICEL E. PRESILLA / FOR THE MIAMI HERALD
Memories of Murcia come alive with dishes such as fava beans and chorizo.
I first went to Murcia, the capital of the autonomous Spanish region of the same name, looking for the heart of King Alfonso X of Castile (Alfonso El Sabio).
I had spent years working on a doctoral dissertation about this great 13th century Castilian king, a patron of science and the arts, and knew he had requested that his body be laid to rest in Seville but his heart in Murcia.
The gesture revealed not only the king's affection for this beautiful place but his gratitude for the town's steadfast loyalty as he faced a rebellious nobility and a treasonous heir. After paying homage to him in the chapel of the cathedral that holds Alfonso's heart, I set about exploring the place he had so loved.
Like the king, I was seduced, not just by the generosity of the people but by the region's food: gorgeous fruits and vegetables, marine delicacies, crusty arroces made with short-grain rice from Calasparra (my all-time favorite) and wines so full of regional character I had to reconsider my exclusive passion for those of La Rioja and Ribera del Duero.
Wedged between Valencia and Andalusia, Murcia faces the Mediterranean. The sea is the source of excellent bluefin tuna, and the Mar Menor, a large saltwater lagoon separated from the Mediterranean by sand banks, offers succulent langoustines, sea bream (dorada) and gray mullet (mújol). Brined, air-dried and pressed, its roe (huevas de mújol) is more delicious than -- and nearly as expensive as -- the finest caviar.
Founded by the emir Abd al-Rahman in 835 A.D., Murcia (Mursiya) remained in Muslim hands until 1243, when it was conquered by Alfonso X's father-in-law, King Jaume I of Aragon. He later ceded it to Alfonso and the crown of Castile.
Murcia's dry, mountainous interior is well-suited to viticulture, while vegetable gardens and orchards flourish along the Segura River (la vega murciana) thanks to irrigation systems that date to Islamic times. Modern waterworks have replaced some of those ancient canals (acequias) and chained pump wells (norias) as agriculture has become the pillar of the region's economy.
With its peppers, tomatoes, artichokes, fava beans, melons, apricots, lemons and figs, Murcia is Spain's largest exporter of produce. Francisco Moreno, the general secretary of Murcia's Department of Agriculture, spoke eloquently on the subject at a luncheon organized by the Spanish food magazine Viandar in New York last month.
Memories of Murcia came alive for me as I savored dishes like fava beans with chorizo (michirones con chorizo) and Segura lamb with Murcian dumplings (cordero segureño with gurullos), all paired with wines from Yecla, Bulla and Jumilla, Murcia's main winemaking areas.
Murcia's wines have come of age, and tasting them with some of the region's traditional dishes was illuminating. Its export-quality wines are the work of about 50 wineries, a minuscule number when compared to regions like La Rioja.
What makes them unique is monastrell, a robust grape known as mourvedre in France. It makes powerful monovarietal wines that linger on the palate -- fruity, spicy and aromatic, with a distinct mineral quality. This workhorse grape also gives personality to blends with varietals including cabernet sauvignon, syrah, tempranillo and petit verdot -- grapes that benefit from Murcia's dry, warm conditions.
Alfonso X, who grasped the concept of a unified Spain more keenly than any Iberian king before him, would have enjoyed the fact that it was a Basque chef, Viandar publisher Mikel Ziberio, who translated Murcia's hearty cuisine for us, and a Castilian wine expert, master sommelier Fernando Gurucharri, who directed the comprehensive tasting of its wines. Such cooperation speaks of the shared values and common goals that makes the idea of Spain (la España profunda) a reality for those of us who adore its foods and wines.
Maricel E. Presilla is the chef/co-owner of Cucharamama and Zafra in Hoboken, N.J. Her latest book is The New Taste of Chocolate.
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