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Maurice Ravel wasn’t actually Spanish, but Basque, born in France (albeit within sight of the Cantabrian coast), if very interested in Spain from a musical perspective.

This is one of many ways in which the “little, little, tiny Basque man” (as Frank Sinatra’s son, Frank Jr described him) is hard to classify, but that’s quite useful when choosing Spanish wines to accompany his music, because this is one of the most varied wine countries in the world, so also somewhat tricky to pigeonhole.

Yes, there’s Rioja, which we all know (although there are different kinds, some oakier than others) but there are flinty, shellfish-friendly whites in the rainy north-west, fruity reds on the Mediterranean coast, fine fizz in Catalonia… and my beloved sherry in the south. To say nothing of exciting young producers upending expectations in the dry centre (Europe’s biggest wine region, but with most of its output used for brandy or bulk wine) as well as, really, pretty much everywhere else, including the Canary Islands, which may be Spain in political terms but are geographically closer to Africa than Europe, and geologically, like nothing on earth (see photo of the vineyards, from my pre-pandemic trip to Lanzarote).

I’ve narrowed things down with a case from José Pizarro, who is also quite hard to classify: born in Extramadura, a restaurateur in Bermondsey, south London (if you haven’t tried his croquetas, you really are missing out), he has written cookbooks on Andalusia and Catalonia…

and one on the Basque country, too, a region that is gastronomically amazing – lucky Ravel!

He (José) is also a thoroughly nice bloke – see 10% discount below, if you don’t believe me.

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To lubricate a night of Ravel on 15 May, wine writer Nina Caplan has put together a case of six wines from acclaimed restaurateur José Pizarro's online cellar.

The case benefits from a 10% discount on the individual wines.

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To lubricate a night of Ravel on 15 May, wine writer Nina Caplan has put together a case of six wines from acclaimed restaurateur José Pizarro's online cellar. The case benefits from a 10% discount on the individual wines. ¡Salud¡

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Follow the south side of London Bridge Station, with the Shard high behind you and turn off down a quirky little road called Bermondsey Street. There you will find, behind largely Georgian shop fronts, a heavenly mixture of restaurants, galleries and even a glass blower.

With all four members of the quartet hailing from SE postcodes, we were delighted to discover the Bermondsey Project Space - a long and narrow gallery, spread over three floors of an old Victorian paper factory - and to record the Ravel there last month.

Serendipitously, José's bar restaurant is almost opposite giving us full justification to include some of his wonderful Basque recipes here. I have selected a wholly vegetarian menu, but perhaps you could throw in a steak.

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José has two establishments on Bermondsey High Street - a restaurant and a tiny tapas bar.

It is to the bar that I am often drawn, hoping to perch on a window seat, with a sherry and some salted almonds.  The only thing to do is wonder which of the delicious dishes to order, all the while watching the world outside pass by. It is one of those places where you make friends with the table next door and where worries disappear.

I have chosen some recipes from José's Basque book. I hope you enjoy selecting a few to try at home.

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Serves 4             This stew is an interpretation of my mum’s recipe because, even though we overcook the chard very slightly, my mum cooks it for even longer. 

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Serves 4             This stew is an interpretation of my mum’s recipe because, even though we overcook the chard very slightly, my mum cooks it for even longer. 

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Olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and finely sliced

1 tsp pimentón

500g floury potatoes, sliced

750g Swiss chard, stalks roughly chopped and leaves shredded

750ml fresh vegetable stock

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crusty bread, to serve

1

Heat a little oil in a casserole dish and gently fry the onion for 10

minutes until softened. Add the garlic and fry for a minute, then add

the red pepper and pimentón and fry for a few more minutes.

2 Add the potatoes, Swiss chard stalks and stock, season well and

bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, adding the leaves

for the last few minutes, until you have a lovely thick stew. Serve with

lots of crusty bread to mop up the juices.

thetimes.co.uk

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Serves 4

We cook this at my little tapas bar, José, and people tell me it’s the thing they’ve most missed. Serve hot or cold, it really doesn’t matter. It’s delicious.

500ml olive oil
300g aubergines, sliced
200g waxy potatoes, sliced
8 eggs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 75g blue cheese
2-4 tbsp honey
1 Heat the oil in a large pan and very gently fry the aubergine and potatoes for 25-30 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Drain well (reserve the oil to use later). Break up the potatoes into smaller pieces with a spoon.

2 Beat the eggs with plenty of seasoning in a large bowl. Add the cheese and honey to the vegetables and mix well. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of beaten egg and gently mix.
3 Heat 3 tbsp of the reserved oil in a 23cm nonstick frying pan. When the oil is hot, pour in the omelette mixture. Swirl the pan over a high heat until the mixture starts to set around the edges, then reduce the heat and cook for 4-5 minutes until it just starts to set and the bottom and sides are golden, but it is still quite loose in the middle.

4 Cover the pan with a flat lid or board and turn the tortilla carefully onto it. Don’t worry that it is still quite runny – it will all come back together when you continue to cook it. Slide the tortilla back into the pan, then put the pan back on a low heat. Use a spatula to tuck the edges of the tortilla under to give it its characteristic curved look. Cook for a couple of minutes, then turn onto a board and serve. It should still be lovely and juicy in the middle when you cut into it.

cooked.com

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Maurice Ravel was, by several accounts, a vegetarian so perhaps the description of him eating an enormous, almost raw, steak was an anomaly.

There is little written about his eating habits, and what there is is contradictory -  that he liked full bodied wine and that he only ever drank Pernod.  I did find this, written by the Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes in 1938:

"Debussy and Ravel were both sybarites and devoted gourmets. Ravel distinguished himself by consuming alarming doses of pickles, pepper, mustard and other stimulating condiments which he was able to stomach".

Here is another, rather delightful, account:

"When the weather was fine, Ravel used to receive his friends on the terrace behind his house and serve aperitifs and coffee. We must not forget his cocktail period, because he was a master barman! He used to stay downstairs for an eternity concocting his secret mixtures without suspecting that his poor visitor (who might have  come from Paris to show him some music) might have preferred his presence to the cocktail."
Helen Jourdan - Morhange (Geneva 1945)

He famously had a penchant for Gauloises cigarettes.I think we can spot one in the photograph below.

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In Spain, we love to cook broad beans for a long time until they become really soft and nutty. This is my interpretation of a very tasty recipe. My mum loves to cook it when we get the first broad beans.

Serves 6 (for tapas)

INGREDIENTS
3 kg (6½ lb) broad beans
100 ml (3½ fl oz) olive oil
3 medium French shallots, finely-chopped
150 ml (5 fl oz) dry white wine
750 ml (25 fl oz) fresh vegetable stock
6 free-range eggs
150 g (5 oz) pecorino, Roncal or Idiazábal cheese, shaved
Small handful of finely-chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly-ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle

Pod the broad beans. In a saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat, add the shallots and cook for 10 minutes until lightly golden and soft. Add the broad beans and mix together well, cooking for another five minutes, then add the wine, bubbling for a minute or two to reduce the alcohol. Add two-thirds of the stock, cover and cook for a further 30 minutes, adding more stock if the broad beans start to get too dry.

Meanwhile, poach the eggs in a medium saucepan of salted simmering water for three minutes or until just cooked and ready to serve.

Spoon the beans into six warmed bowls, top with a poached egg and scatter with the cheese, parsley, black pepper and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

theindependendent.co.uk

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Typically served with coffee. Add drops of really good extra-virgin olive oil and a few flakes of salt to the chocolate pot, too. You won’t regret it.

Serves 6
dark chocolate 200g, broken into pieces
full-fat milk 75ml, warmed to blood temperature double cream 200ml, out of the fridge for 20 minutes for the tejas de Tolosa biscuits:

free-range egg white 1
caster sugar 50g
plain flour 1 tbsp
vanilla extract few drops
unsalted butter 25g, melted and cooled
flaked almonds to sprinkle (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

To make the biscuits, beat the egg white and caster sugar with a fork until frothy. Sift over the flour and fold it in. Add the vanilla extract, then lastly add the cooled melted butter.

Spoon the mixture on to the baking sheets in dollops about 8cm wide. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds, if using, and bake for 6–8 minutes until lightly golden. As soon as the biscuits are out of the oven, lay them over a rolling pin so they cool and harden in a curled shape. Place on a wire rack.

For the pots, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie until smooth. Very slowly add the milk, then the cream. Pour into six small pots or glasses and leave to set in a cool place (or in the fridge if your kitchen is very hot) before serving with the biscuits.

theguardian.com

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Serves 4

Olive oil
1 onion, finely-chopped
1 carrot, finely-chopped
1 celery stalk, finely-chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf
Few sprigs of oregano
300 g (10½ oz) Spanish pardina lentils
600 ml (20 fl oz) fresh vegetable stock
2 ripe vine tomatoes, skins removed and chopped
75 g (2½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
Handful of walnuts
100 g (3½ oz) soft goat’s cheese

Heat a little oil in a deep pan and gently fry the onion, carrot and celery for 15 minutes until really tender. Add the garlic and fry for a minute more, then add the bay leaf, oregano and lentils. Pour in the stock and add the tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 30–35 minutes until the lentils are starting to break down and make a lovely thick sauce.

Meanwhile, put the sugar in a pan with two tablespoons of water and dissolve over a low heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 4–5 minutes until you have a golden caramel, then add the walnuts and mix together to coat.

Tip the walnuts onto a baking sheet lined with greased baking paper and leave to cool.

Spoon the lentils into four warmed bowls, add a scoop of goat’s cheese to each bowl, then top with the caramelised walnuts.

theguardian.com

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Founded in 2015, Bermondsey Project Space is based in Bermondsey Street, London. Its not-for-profit status promotes freedom of creative expression through the visual arts.

Project Space presents art, photography and moving image from across the UK, offering a flagship venue for both emerging and established artists.

We were thrilled to be there for the day and hope that you enjoy the results.

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Case with 10% discount:

https://josepizarro.com/shop/catalogue/nina-wine-combo_161/

Wine by the bottle:

https://josepizarro.com/shop/catalogue/

2016 JOSÉ PIZARRO BRUT NATURE ‘GRAN RESERVA’, CATALUÑA

Cava gets a bad rap, which is one reason why top producers including the Gramona family, who have been making fabulous sparkling wines since 1850 and made this, have stopped using the name. Still, the wines are lovely, and this is a tropical, citrussy fizz with no dosage (the tiny bit of sugar that ordinarily helps kickstart the second, fizz-producing fermentation) and with several years of age.

2019 GOZATU TXAKOLINA, BASQUE COUNTRY

Here’s a wine from Ravel’s home country – and with a grape name, Hondarrabi Zuri, that’s as Basque as they come. Txakolina are supposed to be aerated by pouring into the glass from a great height, but don’t try that unless your aim is excellent. This is bright, green appley and with a quenching sour note of citrus.

EL ILUSIONISTA, RUEDA

Verdejo, grown in Rueda, just north-west of Madrid near the Spanish border, is probably Spain’s most popular white variety – unsurprisingly, as it’s herbaceous and mouthwatering, the Sauvignon Blanc of Spain (and sometimes blended with Sauv, in fact) but less screechy.

2017 MO SALINAS TINTO, ALICANTE

This cheerful red, soft and  juicy, is made from Monastrell – the grape the French know as Mourvèdre (what would Ravel have called it?). It’s from Alicante on the east coast, between Murcia and Valencia: cooled by the Mediterranean breezes, and within waving distance of the Balearics (Mallorca also makes surprisingly good wine).

2017 JOSÉ PIZARRO CUVÉE, CÁDIZ

The Syrah, Tintilla de Rota (another name for Graciano, if that means anything to you) and Cabernet Sauvignon for this powerful, spicy, blackberry-fragrant wine are grown the Atlantic side of Spain’s southern tip, in a part of Spain best known for sherry. (And if anyone reading this still thinks sherry is that nasty sweet stuff your grandma used to buy, please ask me for a recommendation, because dry, nutty sherry is the nectar of the gods). Made for Jose by the Huerta de Albalaá winery, this would be great with any kind of red meat.

2015 MARQUÉS DE VARGAS, RESERVA, RIOJA

We couldn’t have a Spanish case without the red, made (just south of Ravel’s Basque Country) from the Tempranillo grape, that is still the country’s most famous wine. Reserva means that, according to law, the wine must have been aged for at least three years, including a year in oak barrels, but as you can see, this has had longer. Rich, tannic red with a balsamic touch.

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Ravel's favourite