Wine of the Week

Wine of the week | Retailer of the month | Tasting with Oz

2006 Tempranillo-Syrah, Palacio del Marqués, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

14.5% ABV

Marks & Spencer, £4.99

La Mancha used to be dismissed as an arid high plateau incapable of producing anything but drabbest plonk. But the modern wine world is transforming these high areas and, helped as here by New World gurus like the Australian Peter Bright, exciting, affordable wines are popping up. This is excellent, juicy, bright-eyed stuff, smelling as fresh as apples and pears, and tasting of ripe red plums and strawberry dust.

Marks & Spencer
head office Waterside House, 35 North Wharf Road, London W2 1NW 0845 302 1234
fax (020) 7487 2679; 600 licensed stores website www.marksandspencer.com/wine hours Variable
discounts Variable, Wine of the Month, buy any 6 and save 10% in all stores.
M&S works with top producers around the world to create its impressive list of own-label wines.

lomo adobado
Marinated pork tenderloin - The real taste of Spain page 60

Marinated pork pops up all over Spain. It is a fiesta day classic in the Canary Islands, part of the matanza (see page 57) ritual in Galicia and a common bar snack in Andalucia where the pork is served on a small piece of bread and called a montadito. The meat is marinated for anything between 12 hours and 3 days and then fried on the plancha, or griddle, or roasted in the oven. The choice is yours.

You will need to begin this recipe at least a day in advance.

serves 4
2 x medium-sized pork tenderloins
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, cut into wedges
for the marinade
6 garlic cloves
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1⁄2 tsp hot paprika
100 ml/31⁄2 fl oz white wine
2 tbsp wine vinegar
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh or 1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp fresh or 1 tsp dried oregano

Trim any excess fat or membrane from the pork.

Crush the garlic with the salt in a mortar with a pestle, then mix all the ingredients for the marinade together in a small dish, just big enough for the pork to fit snugly. Add the pork, turning to cover the meat in the marinade, cover and refrigerate overnight or keep for a few days, the flavours will only improve.

When you are ready to cook the pork, remove the tenderloin from the marinade and cut, slightly on the diagonal, into thin 1 cm/ 1⁄2 inch slices.

Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan with a little olive oil and fry the pork in batches. Do not be tempted to overcook the meat, it should still be a little pink and tender in the centre (see right).

Serve with the lemon wedges and a green salad or as montaditos on slices of bread topped with some grilled green peppers.

To roast the pork   Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

Sear the whole tenderloins on a very hot griddle or in a frying pan with a little olive oil. Once lightly browned return to the marinade and roast the pork for 20–30 minutes until just cooked through. The meat should remain a little pink in the centre.

Leave to rest for a few minutes while you boil down the marinade to a glossy sauce. Slice the pork thickly and serve as above.

Cooking pork
Many cuts of pork such as the loin or tenderloin are extremely lean and apt to dry out and turn leathery if you are not careful. Marinating, crumbing or wrapping in fat and bacon will help to protect the meat.

Pork is still often cooked to the point that it is devoid of any moisture at all. In the old days there was the fear of contracting trichinosis, whereas nowadays this risk is almost non-existent if buying pork from reliable sources. Use a meat thermometer if you feel cautious. The parasite would be killed in any case once the core temperature of your meat reaches 65°C/150°F, a far cry from the desiccated cardboard often served. In fact today the meat is served pink and juicy in many upbeat Spanish restaurants and delicious
it is too.

 

Taken from the new Oz Clarke 250 Best Wines Wine Buying Guide 2008

Printable Tasting Sheet
View the Wine of the Week Archive
Check for stockists around the world at www.wine-searcher.com

Continued...

© 2007 Anova Books