Final August we had a fiftieth birthday celebration for one in every of my dearest mates in Granada. It was very particular on many ranges. We celebrated her 50 years on earth and likewise celebrated being collectively for the primary time in so lengthy! Darn Covid . My shut mates, Javier and Charo, made the journey from Reus in Catalunya to be right here for the event! Javier greeted me along with his large smile and hug as all the time and he additionally held two bottles of golden Vermouth in his fingers! He had introduced one of the best of one of the best. Vermouth from the city of Reus, the place this beverage was launched by the Italians within the nineteenth century. Reus is simply two hours south of Barcelona and at one level it held at the very least 30 Vermouth distilleries. With time, the beverage started to unfold additional into Spain and has change into an essential aperitif in lots of cities and cities.
Once we really feel like having fun with a vermouth right here in Granada, we now have a number of locations that we head to right away. Our favorite is Bar Albergue. It’s a basic within the heart of Granada, simply completely positioned outdoors of the principle vacationer space. I went to this bar for the primary time over 26 years in the past as an harmless and possibly clueless pupil. On the time, in my thoughts, vermouth was an ingredient within the many martinis that I served working in eating places and bars within the US. Who knew that I might be taught to get pleasure from vermouth as an aperitif in so many various bars and cities?
Many individuals go the Bar Albergue for the vermouth and their fried salt cod. Bacalao frito. As I’ve written earlier than, my Italian Nana would use the phrase bacalao when she joked about giving us a “spanking”. I’m going to present you a “bacalao” she would laughingly say as we imagined an enormous dried fish in her hand. In Granada, neither of those phrases are a laughing matter. We take our vermouth and fried cod very critically and in Bar Albergue you may get pleasure from one of the best. Luis is all the time behind the bar able to serve you. Every tapa right here is completely different. You is perhaps served fried hake or fried cod, recent fried anchovies, or “callos”, a standard tripe stew. Additionally they serve a number of the greatest “fritura mixtas” in Granada simply in case the tapas aren’t sufficient for you!
Enjoyable truth. The phrase vermouth comes from the German phrase wermut which suggests wormwood, the essential ingredient that provides vermouth its bitterness. Salud!
