A show cooking very typical of Jerez

Every Wednesday in Jerez de la Frontera, anyone can join in with a novel gastronomic experience which will not only test your palate with typical local products marinated in sherry, but you will be amazed by the know-how of Javier Muñoz, chef of the La Carboná restaurant, who will delight you with haute cuisine recipes that he masterly prepares in front of you.

The day begins at the Diez Merito bodega, where we will discover the wonderful sherry first hand during a guided visit, glass in hand, which ends with a wonderful tasting of local wines. We will then be taken to the wholesale local market in Jerez.

Here they will show you all kinds of tricks that you need to know when buying in a market like this, and where we will see the wonderful ingredients that our land gives us in the form of vegetables, fish and meat which we will buy with Javier, our chef, to later cook and enjoy in a menu combined with local wines.

Let the show begin!

Once at the restaurant, located in an old Jerez wine cellar, we take a seat opposite our chef's portable kitchen and... amazing!

The experience of seeing professionals such as Javier, chef of La Carboná, cook, is something that will astound you. It's a delight to see how "the step-by-step of the recipes” flows alongside the rhythm of Javier's words, with spectacular moments like this.

Recipes with sherry

The basic ingredients of Jerez cuisine and cooking come from gardens and fields, game and products from coastal areas, such as fish and shellfish, which combine beautifully with sherry, resulting in adelicious cuisine as rich and tasty as the recipes we are shown during  the show and then enjoy at the table, and which we have listed below asso you can copy them at home:

Artichokes sautéed with prawns and fino sherry

There are dishes that you only have to look at and your mouth starts to water, and in the case of this recipe, take a look at the photo below and see if we're right!

It makes your mouth water... don't you think? Well the recipe is nice and simple! You will need: 2 artichokes, 1 spoon of olive oil, 1 spoon of soy sauce, 1 clove of garlic, parsley, 4 prawns, fino sherry, water and 1 spoon of flour. Preheat a frying pan with olive oil and add the artichokes. Once golden, add the garlic. A few seconds later, add the flour and when it has toasted, add the prawns, finishing off with the soy sauce, fino sherry, water and parsley. Once the sauce has reduced, plate it in a bowl.

Salmon Tartar with avocado and amontillado and dill mayonnaise

To make this spectacular Salmon tartar with sherry you will need: 4 gherkins, 100 gr. capers, 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 avocado ½ lemon, olive oil, mayonnaise and 50 gr. onion.

Meanwhile, for the salmon marinade you will need 500 gr. salmon, 1 kg. salt, ½ kg. sugar and dill, and for the amontillado and dill mayonnaise, 1 egg, 1spoon amotillado wine, 1 pinch of dill, 100 gr. sunflower oil, 100 gr. olive oil and 1 pinch of salt.

With all the ingredients at hand, we can begin. Firstly mix the salt, sugar and dill and cover the salmon with it for 24 hours. For the mayonnaise, place the egg, dill, salt and amontillado wine in a bowl and whisk as you add the oils. For the salmon tartar, dice the salmon, onion, gherkins and capers and mix them together. Then dice the avocado, add the lemon juice to stop any oxidation and add to the previous mixture. To finish, add the mayonnaise and oil.

Dogfish in saffron sauce with peas and fino wine

The next dish is a delicious recipe with sherry. Get ready to lick your fingers and lets begin with the ingredients. You need: 1 glass of water, 1 kg. peas, 4 slices of monkfish, sliced bread, 4 cloves of garlic, saffron, 2 cloves, 3 peppers, 1 glass of fino, 1 glass of oil and salt.

Firstly place the peas and water in a pan and place over a low heat. Put the oil in a frying pan and boil the bread. Remove the bread and put it in a glass to whisk and fry the garlic. Add the saffron, cloves, pepper, salt, fino and the hot oil from the garlic to the peas. Crush the bread and garlic with a little water and add to the rest of the ingredients. Finally, add the fish, cover and simmer.

Quail breasts stuffed with rose petals and foie

Have you ever seen a more original recipe? I bet you didn't know that flowers are edible! Below are a list of the ingredients in case you want to have a go at this delicious recipe marinated with Brandy. You will need 8 quails, oil, 100 g. foie, 18 rose petals, Jerez brandy, 1 onion, 1 bottle of red wine, cornstarch, pepper and salt.

Firstly de-bone the quails and then stuff the breasts with the rose petals and foie and place to one side. For the quail legs, preheat a little olive oil in a frying pan, add the legs and brown them. Then add the onion and once golden cover with the wine, salt and pepper and cookfor 5 minutes. Once cooked, strain the sauce in a pan and thicken it with the cornstarch and a little wine. Once it thickens, add the legs place to one side. Finally, brown the breasts in a frying pan and flambé with the Brandy.

Sabayón with coffee and Pedro Ximénez jelly

Get ready to make an amazing dessert with Pedro Ximenez. The touch of this wine in the Sabayón is spectacular Ingredients? For this dessert you will need: 250 gr. of sugar, 250 gr. of ground almonds, 150 gr. of flour, 110 gr. of powdered cocoa, 50 gr. coffee, 1 spoon of salt scales, 177 gr. butter, 6 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 6 spoonfuls of sugar, 1 glass of fino and a good slug of dry oloroso sherry.

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter and spread it on an oven tray at 175ºC for 5 to 10 minutes. Then whisk the yolks until they turn into a foam with the sugar and vanilla and add the wines gradually. Heat up a large pan with water, pour the mix you've already prepared into another smaller pan and place it in the large pan, making a bain-marie, and cook the cream, continually whisking, until it rises and thickens.

For the Pedro Ximénez jelly, preheat 100 cl of wine and add 2 gelatine cubes, then spread it out and leave to cool on a plate.

An experience not to be missed

Having read this article, we expect that for many of you, sherry is not just another wine. Its importance in cooking is extraordinary and being able to see live how chefs like Javier make these wines interact with the wonderful ingredients from our land, makes lunch at La Carboná a wonderful experience that we invite you to discover, but above all... enjoy!