SPANISH vermouth the next big fling? Maybe – on the evidence of a palate cleansing Casa Mariol vermut from Barcelona at the launch of Lunya’s summer menu.
Gin, a relationship consummated big time in the Barton Arcade deli/eaterie’s bar, is a love affair that has mutated into quiet affection while, despite its myriad attractions, sherry remains a mere flirtation for most of us. So the field is open for our new fortified friend. Who imagined the Spanish could do it so well?
Iberica down in Spinningfields has also been trumpeting vermouth’s virtues, but Lunya’s ebullient co-owner and champion of all things Catalan, Peter Kinsella, clinches the deal for me. “When you’re in Barcelona make the pilgrimage to Casa Mariol’s bar. It’s not far from Sagrada Familia but you’ll find few tourists there. It’s a gem of a place to try their vermouths and the wines that we also stock.”
What do Peter and wife Elaine not stock? The downstairs deli makes Aladdin look a declutterer. But back to the tate of summer that was the vermut, herbily concentrated yet fresh with its orange garnish, a perfect harbinger of food that’s rarely complex but big on rustic flavour.
Surprises? Not many save garlicky, Gordal olives from Andalucia, stuffed with Iberico cheese and deep-fried in Estrella Damm batter. They’d apparently experimented with and abandoned a similar treatment for Haribo sweets. Deepr-fried Mars bar bizarre!
The olives precede a lavish cheese offering, hard and soft that’s a bit early in a meal for me, but I go with the flow. The good news is you can find the likes of Santa Gadea Camembert-like organic goat cheeses from Burgos or the Cadiz speciality, Pajaraete, again goat’s but Manchego style in the chill counter downstairs.
Empanadas, those Spanish cousins of our pasties, can be equally dreary but a filling of crab and bonito in an intense sofrito gave Lunya’s version some oomph. Much more to my taste were plancha grilled mackerel with an pimento-intense salmorejo sauce and pickled cucumber and a quite lovely Pollo al Moro, chicken pieces slow-cooked in a Moroccan spiced broth, heavy on the preserved lemon.
I relished the acorn-fed provenance of the minced Iberico pork in my mini-burger, but it was still a burger. The hot dog in a mini brioche bun was a playful take on the Catalan signature dish of sausage and beans with a Barcelona back story to its ‘BBQ sauce’ (tamarind!) but also didn’t amount to much for me.
A much, much cuter ancient meets modern take was the Kinsellas’ use of morcilla in a dish inspired by a visit to Ronda. The moist and toothsome black pudding was rolled in cornflakes, deep-fried and served with an orange and honey syrup with pomegranate molasses.
Hit or miss the array of dishes represented the adventuresome, almost scholarly approach to a cuisine not their own that the Kinsellas bring. As with, say, Aussie David Thompson’s definitive mastery of Thai cuisine, it sometimes takes an outsider to gauge the true qualities of a ‘foreign cuisine’. The cooking doesn’t have to be totally authentic, ‘fusion’ can be good but the raw materials do, as Lunya proves.
It’s a busy food and drink focus, too, with a range of events ahead, including regular gin tastings, cheese tastings and gourmet nights, even a jamon carving masterclass, More details available on their website.
Lunya, Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2BB. 0161 413 3317.