A Taste of the Balearics: Jeff Koehler on the Spanish Mediterranean Islands Cookbook

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This week, I’m joined by Jeff Koehler, food writer, traveler, and author of The Spanish Mediterranean Islands Cookbook, out now from Phaidon. Jeff has written nine books exploring the intersection of food, culture, and place, including The North African Cookbook, Where the Wild Coffee Grows, and Morocco: A Culinary Journey with Recipes. His work has appeared in NPR, The Washington Post, and Saveur, and he's been honored with the IACP award for literary food writing.

We talk about Jeff’s journey from the Pacific Northwest to Barcelona, and how he came to split his time between the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands. Jeff shares his deep knowledge of the island's culinary traditions, from rustic pantry staples and spreadable pork sausage to fresh seafood and seasonal sweets. You'll hear about daily life in Menorca, what makes each island unique, and why Jeff believes anyone, even those without a Mediterranean market nearby, can cook from this book.

If you’ve ever been curious about island living, Mediterranean cuisine, or the power of place in shaping food culture, this is an episode for you.

 Episode Highlights

• Jeff’s move from Seattle to Spain
• The food culture of the Balearic Islands: Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera
• Seasonal eating and daily market shopping
• How necessity shaped island cuisine
• Tips for recreating Mediterranean dishes at home

JEFF KOEHLER
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Get Jeff's book The Spanish Mediterranean Islands Cookbook 

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Transcript

Chris Spear: [00:00:00] Have you ever dreamed of leaving home to live somewhere totally different? Maybe somewhere with a slower pace, a rich food culture, and daily trips to the market? That's exactly what Jeff Koehler did. He left Washington State more than 25 years ago, heading to London for graduate work. But ultimately love brought him to Barcelona and he's since made his home and his career there splitting his time between the mainland and the Balearic islands off the coast of Spain.

I really love this stuff, the culinary culture of a place that I know little about. And if you do too, stick around. This is Chris Spear and you're listening to Chefs Without Restaurants. The show where I speak with culinary entrepreneurs and people working in the food and beverage industry outside. Of a traditional restaurant setting.

I have 32 years of working in kitchens but not restaurants, and currently run a personal chef service called Perfect Little Bites, doing dinner parties in the Washington DC area. 

So Jeff is a [00:01:00] food writer, traveler and author. His new book, the Spanish Mediterranean Islands Cookbook, is out now just published nine books including the North African Cookbook, where the Wild Coffee Grows.

Morocco, a culinary journey with recipes. His works appeared in places like NPR and The Washington Post, and he's won the IACP award for literary food writing. All this to say that Jeff, uh, lives and breathes food and likes to write about it. Again, I found this really interesting because I didn't know anything about the islands off the coast of Spain.

I mean, I'd heard of Ibiza as a place that people would go to party, but from a culinary standpoint, I didn't know anything about these four islands. In fact, now he has me thinking that I might even take my family vacation there next year. So we talk about Jeff's journey from Seattle to Menorca. The vibrant food culture of Spain's Islands and how you, yes, even without a Mediterranean market nearby, can bring a taste of [00:02:00] these islands into your own kitchen.

And if you're enjoying this show, I'd love for you to check out another podcast I produce called Personal Chef Business Startup Guide. Whether you're just getting started or looking to take your personal chef business to the next level, I think it's full of actionable tips, real world advice, and the stuff that I wish I knew when I was first starting out.

As always, thanks so much for listening and have a great week. Hey, welcome to the show. Thanks so much for coming on. I'm really happy to be here. Thanks. I'm looking forward to talking to you. You've got a, a new book coming out. It looks phenomenal and um, I was just saying to you, it's something that I know nothing about, which is why I wanted to have you on the show.

So you grew up in the Pacific Northwest, is that right, Washington? 

Jeff Koehler: I did. 

Chris Spear: I grew up just north of Seattle. 

Jeff Koehler: And I went to Gonzaga and then I left the States in 1991. Uh, went up to go for a year traveling in Africa, and uh, one year became four. And then I ended up doing my graduate work in [00:03:00] London. And in London.

I met a woman from Barcelona and I followed her back home and stayed. And we got married not too long afterwards and I'd been living in Spain, uh, since 1996. That sounds 

Chris Spear: pretty fun. And you know, especially right about now, obviously I'm in the US and there is a lot of weird stuff and a lot of people talking about like, maybe I don't wanna live here anymore.

And uh, you know, maybe 25 years ago would've been a good time for me to find someplace really exciting to live. Not that I'm anti-American if anyone's listening or whatever, but you know. 

Jeff Koehler: Is a great place and I had never been here before. When I, when I first went, I just happened to end up in a absolutely phenomenal, phenomenal place.

So it was, it was quite lucky because I probably would've felt her anyway, you know? So I just happened to be Barcelona, which certainly cannot complain to that. 

Chris Spear: What do you love so much about Spain for people who've maybe never been there? And I guess that's a oversimplification because Spain is a [00:04:00] huge country and there's so many different areas.

And like I said, I've been to Madrid. I know Barcelona is very different, but like what, um, what is it about the country in particular that you loved and made you want to stay there? I. 

Jeff Koehler: Well, I mean, uh, food wise, because there's so much cultural, I just, I just love the Mediterranean culture really. Was, uh, I mean, growing up in the Pacific Northwest, you know, it was, it was a big change living the Mediterranean.

Uh, certainly the light was, was the first winter here was, was particularly memorable. You know, January, February, March every day, pulling up the blinds in it, blue sky and it sunny, that was amazing. But I just kind of focus on the food part. A real revelation actually. The sense of how tied the food was to the seasons and to all of the holidays, you know, every holiday, you know, has very specific dishes.

And I grew up, we, we had a couple, you know, of course we go Thanksgiving dinner and there's some very specific things that we ate in our house growing up, [00:05:00] but here it seemed to be just a lot of. You know, everything has a reason for it. I guess I put it this way, there was a, these great traditions of, of food based on times of the year, and it really often has a very practical reason, you know, why you're reading that particular item that time of year.

It's traditional for that holiday or that weekend, but there's often a, a link to that, to the season, uh, to what's kind of growing. And so for me was a big education in really learning. You know, seasonal produce. I grew up working in a, in Safeway, in a supermarket, and you know, I was all year round, a lot of things and I didn't really have the sense of, you know, that you couldn't get some coffees outside of it sometime of year.

And certainly the other thing was seeing like princess, my mother-in-law's refrigerator, which is relatively empty because she would go to the market every day. And so that was just a handful of things. And then the fresh shopping. A big change coming from, you know, Pacific Northwest, you know, the [00:06:00] extra freezer in the garage and this kind of settler mentality where we had, you know, where I grew.

So we had chicken and. Things and suddenly living in, in Barcelona was different, going shopping every day, but not one store. It was the produce store, it was the butcher, it was the fish store. It was, uh, you know, the, I have five fruit stores within a block or two of my, my apartment. So there's no reason to buy more than you need because, well, you're gonna walk by that Brit five times by tomorrow.

So you, you just by little time and that, that was a shift. So you, you really change a little bit how you think and how it kind of. How you plan for your meals, and I sense of you, you, you plan less. And this became highlighted when I started going to Menorca, and I'm gonna skip hands a little bit, but when we settled in Menorca, Menorca is an extreme version of that.

And so my cooking shifted even further in being very, very focused on what you can find in the market [00:07:00] today and. What you wanna make, but never with said recipe because you don't know what it's gonna be in the fish market. What gonna find, 

Chris Spear: but I think that's like a whole, I mean, there has to be a huge cultural shift because.

Here. It's like I get up in the morning, I take my kids to school, and then it's like I gotta walk my dog. And then I, I've got a job and you're there for like eight or nine hours and you come home and you take your kids to their sports games and you do your thing. Like, the idea of shopping every day is daunting to me.

You know? I think it's just like I. We have a busier pace of life. I, I don't wanna go, I mean, it sounds great in a sense, but like, I don't wanna go shopping every day. If it's to a regular grocery store, I want to go and get it done on Sunday and not have to go back till Thursday. So the idea that like every day you're just gonna amble along and go to three or four markets sounds nice in the romantic sense, but like, what about people who work normal, like say nine to five jobs?

I, I don't know that that would work here. 

Jeff Koehler: Yeah, it's different because when you obviously do [00:08:00] a lot of shopping on Saturday mornings and stuff, but it's very different when you go into a, a small fruit store that's selling fruit, vegetables, and a few things. You kind of pop, everything's a pop out. It's not go in with your big cart and do the whole week thing.

I see your point and yeah, I mean obviously my, my life's a little bit more flexible, but things are open later here also. So people tend to on their wing, home from work or in the morning when you walk her dog often we walk my dog in the morning, often walk her to the meat store. You just kind of clip her outside.

You go in and you get your couple of things, you know, I get your meat for that day and then walk her back. So often it's right next to the, there's a fruit store next to it and there's a baker right next to it. But you can do your three main things and you're very short morning walk with the do suck.

Well that sound amazing. I mean, so, so that's that. That's a real advantage. Um, you know, we live in the quite central, in the city in Menorca, where the house is a little different because it's the middle of a village [00:09:00] and then it's even easier, but more difficult because you tend to, things take longer because you speak a lot more to people on the street.

So, for instance, I'll go to Menorca, it just in another week or two and within a day I will have spoken on the street more than a month in Barcelona, probably in a sense of you, you, the bakery just. One minute away, but it's guaranteed. During, in the past a couple of people, you know, haven't seen you stop, you chat, you know, so you, you gotta gotta be prepared for that.

But I love that growing up in a very small place north to Seattle. I like the small town life. So for me it was actually, it's, it's, it's, it's a nice balance of between being in the city of, you know, in center of Barcelona and being the village light to kind of combining them both. 

Chris Spear: So I guess we kind of skipped over it because I, I don't even know how much people know about the geography, but there's a cluster of islands off of the coast of mainland Spain.

So when you talk about going to Menorca, that's an [00:10:00] island and that's one of what, four islands? Is that correct? 

Jeff Koehler: Exactly. Um, so you know, the be islands, it's a group of four that are not far off. The Mediterranean comes south, the, uh, east coast of Spain. Now, you know, it's a 30 minute flight or, or whatever, but it's close.

But they're quite distinct and they're, they're quite connected. This is what makes them interesting, I think, is that you have these four islands. That have their own traditions, their own linguistic dialects or version of, of Catalan, their own cooking traditions separate from the mainland Spain. Although there is some influence, some overlap, it's that a hundred percent different.

But there's certainly quite unique, and even within the islands there's some. Distinction between them. Okay, so you have, Mayorca is the biggest one, and this is about the side of Rhode Island [00:11:00] maybe. And this is kind of the center of the four, and it's got about a million people. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's a big island, a big mountain range around across the north.

And then to the north of that is Menorca, which is smaller. So this Menorca is about, uh, I wanna say 25 miles by 10 miles kind of being shaped. We've got a hundred thousand people. And then Iita is to the south of Majorca, and Iita is about the same size. And next to Iha, almost connected is a very small one called Ferment.

Well, these are the four. And you know the, the weather's quite different. The geography is quite different. And the reason that they're different from one to the other really is, I mean, culinary speaking. Is these islands are relatively isolated until surprisingly late. You know, these are in the Mediterranean, they're part of the Mediterranean Pathways.

You know, the Ians were there in the Romans, and there's a lot of [00:12:00] this, but still they're quite isolated. And so they developed kind of on their own, out of necessity, and that means that these islands developed. They're culinary traditions with the food that could be caught or grown or forage or captured or, or found.

And so there, there, there's quite a close connection of the food to the land itself, much more than elsewhere because again, you're an island so you're automatically isolated. You know, if you think that Majorca was what, 19th century until I was. Ferry service. Iita, I don't think had regular boat service to the mainland until the 1930s.

Of course now, I mean now with the population of Summerwell to a million and it's very global and itself, but if you think back, I mean until tourism salt was I a's main source of revenue, and the salt was, was these big salt pans are planted by the Ians, and for thousands of years, [00:13:00] salt was the main source of revenue for the island.

I mean, this. I, it's hard to kind of sometimes remember when you go to Eita and with the discos and all the famous jet set, just how distinct and different and isolated the island really was. 

Chris Spear: How did that get that reputation? Because you know, I only know you hear about is like this party place that people go and it's so close.

Yet it seems so culturally different than the other three islands. So how did that island become that kind of party place? 

Jeff Koehler: Well, one, it has the best weather because it's protected. It sits. Southwest of the other. So it's quite protected from the Northern Montana winds. Little lower, a bit more southern. So for instance, compared to Menorca, it, it has, I mean, it's, it's much nicer weather for more months.

Um, it, it was closer to start with. I mean it's is really, it's so far up there, right. And in the fifties you started getting these, [00:14:00] these famous, uh, Hollywood people going, you know, Truman Capote, I mean, I don't know, kinds of famous Hollywood actors are going and kind of started this, and it just kind of grew from there.

And now it continues to certainly be, you know, one of the most, arguably the most famous summer spot in our, you know. It's amazing because you, you go off season, I, I tend to go off season deta and everything is, so many things are closed. It's just beautiful and sunny. And you go in the springtime, in the almond and there's a lot of almond trees on the island.

Almond trees are, are blooming and it's just, just beautiful and it's pink and the white flowers and just half the things are closed and it's like nobody around and you're on loan and then you go in August. You can't believe it at the same place. 

Chris Spear: I mean, it's not quite the same, but like I grew up in Massachusetts and I still have family on Cape Cod and it's the same thing.

Like my dad hated going during the, the high season because like the traffic and the tourists and it was like crazy expensive. So we would only go in like the fall and the winter. But again, you go and it's like [00:15:00] there's one restaurant in town that's open and everyone is left the island, you know, except for the people who live there.

But it's like just the local pizza shop because the tourism is so, you know, they're only there to go to the beaches and that kind of summer stuff. So it's nice to. Get a from that, but also there's not as much to do. 

Jeff Koehler: Yeah. The only thing that I would say about Iita that I think is, was a surprise to me the first time I went again.

So maybe a backup. Explain it. Because I, I started going to Myorca the first time was back in maybe 1999, and then we started going for the summer in 2010. By then I was going, we were going for the summer with, uh, with our kids, and we bought a years. I knew Myorca very well before I started traveling to the other islands, so that was a prism that I saw.

And so I had that same kind of viewpoint is I always thought, well, it must be crazy full, but actually the island, if you get away from like few of the main kind of urban areas. Yang is surprisingly rural [00:16:00] and the whole north of Iita is stunning, full of pine trees. And you know, I think that we tend to hear about Iita and, you know, pacha and clubs and it's, you know, especially here in Europe and it's, it's, it's legendary that, that even in that, even in that August when you go, you can still find a surprising amount of, of, of green space you now, so one the.

Has the worst weather, which is all relative because compared most places, the sky red weather and it, it, it, it was the last to kind of develop in It's much more rural and surprising rule actually. You have a city on each end, uh, the ma on one end today, on the other, and then you have kind of this road that runs across the center and then you have these almost like fishbone and you have the side roads running to the coast.

So they're not like a, a road that just encircles the whole coastline. Beaches la many have to wtu and our house is in a very center of the island in a, in, in a, in [00:17:00] a marked city, but literally the center of the island. So what I love in Menorca is that kind of ruralness and it's just, just gorgeous. So exploring the other islands, even if they're bigger, I, I was, I'm still quite captured by how rural they all are.

You tend to think about parts of Major York and coast is very parts of the coast packed. I mean, it's, it's just built up, but the whole center of the island. And of course Majorca has this incredible mountain range. I mean, the mountain is phenomenal mountain range that you can really get out and, and it still follows quite ancient traditions.

Chris Spear: Now, is it reasonable to bounce from one to another? Like if you went there for vacation, how easy is it to go from island to island? Is that a ferry thing? Do you have to take little hopper planes? How does that work? 

Jeff Koehler: Sometimes it can be easier to fly, but for instance, the west coast of Menorca Soga, it's an hour fast forward to the east coast of Mayorca.

I mean, you can see it, it's, it, it's there. That's only now with [00:18:00] it. That's pretty easy. Um, realistically, it's can be easier to fly between some of the islands. Depends where you are. What, what? Um, I always take the ferry. It's, it's a night ferry. You can get a fast ferry that I think is three and a half or four hours.

Uh, but I always usually go by the night. Sarat, I love it, leaves like 11:00 PM and you, you just kind of slip away and you, you pull into the port of Mao and it, it, dawn. It's just, just a magical way to travel. Um, and it's kind of the easiest, you know, growing up in Washington, we, we took a lot of the, but they were very short.

You know, ferry's, I've always had, um, a great love for, for traveling on the sea, 

Chris Spear: for ferry. Well, you wrote a cookbook about these islands that you love so much. How did that come about? And previously, how many books have you written at this point? Because this is not your first rodeo. 

Jeff Koehler: No, no. This is the night night book, um, that's being published.

Most of those are narrative nonfiction books in. [00:19:00] It's kind of interesting because manca in the island is something I never really wanted to write about too much. But then suddenly that's all I wanted to write about and part of it came from the thing I I explaining earlier that the more I traveled around the island, all four of 'em, the more fascinated I became in those similarities, in those differences.

That's when I really wanted to to, to do a book about the islands and looking at those links because it was an interesting combination I think from my. Lighten, Menorca kind of, you know, in the middle of a, you know, art town is named, is literally the place of the market. There was a market that was established in our town in about 1301.

That's a long time ago. Um, it was a king who was ruling down the time David, the official commission to be a market town. So, so my town was newly established. It is literally a market town and it has this Thursday market. Every in, uh, in, uh, mostly in the morning and then in the summer in the [00:20:00] afternoons.

And it is, it's the most famous market in the whole island. And so I literally live in the middle of the islands marketplace. And so that, there's that element of, you know, being say four months, a year or, or more in this place and then the other islands with, and so over the years, as I've, you know, spent more and more time there, I started, became extremely fascinated looking at, you know, difference with.

Part of it is, is, you know, geography and landscape or, or ter you, you'd call it the weather. Um, some other traditions in Menorca, for instance, we had English ruled the island for the 18th century. So there's a couple of English traditions that came in that you don't really find elsewhere. The tradition of gin, for instance, they were, they started producing gin for the sailor because it's considered my own, the capital of the island is considered the finest.

Pour basically in the Mediterranean. And so the British Navy was there for a century, and so they started making gin for them, the [00:21:00] sailors. And then when they sailed away, they just continued making it. But it's a very different gin. It's a, it's a wine-based gin. Very, very, very popular. I mean, it's, it's, it.

Actually fundamental tie to island life. It's in all that, it's in other fiesta. Um, and so you, you get some interesting tradition like that, that are really specific to the island. And so it was, it was trying to capture in, in, in a book kind of that what, what makes each place special, but also what makes the islands together special.

Chris Spear: And it sounds like that's maybe your favorite of the four Islands, uh, as far as cuisine goes. Is that fair to say? The one that you chose to live on? 

Jeff Koehler: Yeah, I'm gonna say yes. Although instance, Majorca, which is much bigger and Majorca truly is, you can't imagine a place more fertile than parts of Myorca.

It's truly amazing. I mean, you go to ment and you can't imagine a place less fertile, you know? So ment is only like 10 or 12 miles long, and in [00:22:00] some places just a mile kind of zha. Not much has grown there, but what they do have is just phenomenal. So I'd love to go to Ella because I know you're gonna get the most amazing figs, and if the figs are in season, you can't believe it.

But outside of that, they dry it and they have this great tradition of, of they, they open 'em up and they dry in the sun and they pack him in. These kind of. Ceramic pots layered with bay leaves and with anis and spices, and then they open 'em up like at Christmas time. And you eat these for dessert with say, almonds, absolutely stunning.

And because the idea of the pantry is fundamental to these islands, but specifically in the places that you had to be quite self-sufficient. So things like these dried seeds are absolutely fundamental to the data from data. Along with the goat and with chi cheese and various versions of that. And then dried fish.

So they have a thing there called pe, which literally means [00:23:00] dried dish. And this is a classic mented thing where you take usually like a a, a type of array or maybe like a sand shark. They salt them and they dry them like you would kind of a ham and elsewhere in Spain, kind shred 'em up. So is it like a salt cod kind of thing?

Kind of. But then they, then they cut 'em up into small pieces and then they storm an olive oil. And then you take it out of the olive oil and then they tend to eat it on salads. So it's, it's kind of a combination between anchovy and tuna flavor. And it's kind of this, it's kind of stringy because of these kind of long pieces.

So they, they, they're put in these jars and you come up and then they, you kind of pull it out. And so you can have 'em with just tomatoes on the salad. But the, the, the classic salad is a bit more elaborate, maybe some roasted pepper, some potatoes, some kind of these giant kind of. Type of bread things, again, bread that is like double bake to kind of be able to cure and it's almost like an ancient version of bread and they kind of toss it with [00:24:00] some other boy, maybe some vinegar, and with some of the shredded fish on top, these kind of things, like many, many dishes are based on necessity.

How can we make or preserve enough things to survive the year? The, the, the whole tradition of the, of the butchering of the pig, specifically at Menorca is absolutely fundamental to the cuisine because that you, you, you preserve pork, uh, your salve salad, which is like a, a kind of a, a spreadable pork sausage, these kind of things.

You preserve them and this is what you ate during the year when you didn't have that fresh pork. And it's, it's just, and it's, it's everywhere in the cuisine. So you get in ferment, this version from the sea. Or because there really very, very few pigs, if any, growing and certainly no cows. Where in Majorca you have in Menorca, in the Iita you have Ada, which is the fundamental flavor of the islands.

One of the [00:25:00] defining characteristics of the cuisine of these islands is this spreadable pork sausage Cho from Spain is quite firm. This is, this is quite spreadable. 

Chris Spear: Is it like Nya? Do you know the Nya sausage? That's like the spicy calabrian chilies in there. And that's a spreadable fermented. Uh, 

Jeff Koehler: yeah, I think it's kind of similar.

This is not spicy, so this has a lot of paprika, but it's a sweet paprika and other spices and all kinds of different shapes, and they use it in just like everything. I'm talking literally anything, and I'm talking even pastries. So one of the great pastries in the islands is the sai, which is this coiled pastry made with kind of a fermented dough, and you can get it with so saga kind of on top of it.

I mean, you get baked apples, so desa inside and it, it just, it's mixing the meatballs, it's stuffed in the squid, it's, you know, spread on bread. Honey put in the oven. I mean, it's, it's [00:26:00] 50 ways. And that was a challenge in this book not to have three fourths of the recipes calling for so asada because you almost could, because it was a way, you know, the joke about baking gives everything flavor.

You know, you often hear in the states, well this is, this is, this is, this is like that. But this is a, this is a very interesting sausage and it, it's very common. And even when we bought our house. In the attic. We, we, we have a, a, a classic 19th century kind of three story village townhouse, and that, that, that the top floor is this big attic and there were just hundreds and hundreds, hundreds of nails, these kind of hooks in the, in the beams because the family, they, which were their, their pig every year and they prepared the family silver asada and they hung them in the attic.

And they added, you know, a little bit of this to the shape, you know, to, to the rice, to, to the dishes throughout the year to give it a [00:27:00] little bit of flavor, to give it some fat, to give a color, because it's quite beautiful. Orange can give a protein and, and it's, it's just shocking how frequent it can be in traditional cooking and how good it is.

I mean, it's just phenomenally tasty. 

Chris Spear: Now, is there a culture of other cured, like charcuterie? Like a chaon or something like a firmer, like a chorizo type sausage? Do you see that there as well? 

Jeff Koehler: For sure. I mean, a lot of it goes into the saada, but there's a whole host of blood sausages. They're all different kind of names, but these kind of chop, you know, some cured, some not.

Some are boiled. Certainly a lot of these go back to the, you know, it was Roman, the Romans had, you know, the Romans were there. Um, a lot of these started back in the days of the Romans, you know, 'cause that language tradit editions began, you know, with the, an issue, the Romans and, and then, and then it was controlled by the mos or the kind of the, the, the Muslim coming from Spain, the ruled for [00:28:00] say, 300 years.

And then in Especi you get these layers of culture that.

Some of the developing more you. Maybe olives were introduced by the Venetians, the Romans, you know, a bit more planting. And then when the, when the Moors came in, or the Arabs, they, you know, perfected olive oil production, for instance, some of the planting. So you, you, you'll see this kind of throughout and this charcuterie tradition, certainly, uh, dates way back and is.

Absolutely fundamental. And that's why it's interesting to see, for instance, this dried fish in po. And then of course you have the cheese tradition. Menorca has one of the oldest because Menorca is really the only island that has a tradition of TAs. Um, and so you, you get along with the sheep cheese and the goat cheese, you have a lot of cow cheese.

Um, with that. And that that's something that you find in the market. So the market, the weekly market, the weekly markets. But in our, you see lots of the, [00:29:00] the producers come down and they sell themselves. 

Chris Spear: Now, how much, um, exchange of products is there within the islands? I mean, obviously they're somewhat isolated, but you know, with modern transportation, it seems like it would be easier now than it was.

Do you see a lot of, you know, the figs going from one island to another or the, you know, the cow cheese going to one of the other islands? Or are they still kind of keeping four very distinct cuisines using just products on their own islands? 

Jeff Koehler: Things like cheeses you, you can certainly get, but the Menorca Menorca prince has such a great tradition of cheese that, yeah, I mean it's, it's one of the domination of origin cheeses, so you can get the menorca cheese all around Spain.

We tend to shop quite local. I mean, we kind of know person who's making the cheese and so you're getting that fresh cheese that she made the day before she comes on, you know? But it's. Kind of small town kind of throughout. So you know that [00:30:00] the neighbor across the street is her aunt, is the aunt of the cheese lady that we like who sells in the market.

And so, you know, I just know everybody and you just know when it come down and, and she's also doing something on side. And so things, so we like her cheese in particular, but at the market there's probably six or eight local producers selling their own particular cheese and often themselves and. How that same product changes throughout the year.

So her cheese is not the same all year round because of course what they eat is different in the winter, the island is very green in the winter it's quite dry in the summer, so the milk is different, different percentages of fat. Um, so there are nuances of differences, taste in her products, and that's one of the pleasures of buying from the same producer throughout the year is kind of seeing that change.

That kind of makes sense. Yeah, 

Chris Spear: it, it does. And again, that's something that I feel like we've lost a little bit here in the states. Like again, you go to the store and you buy this stuff and [00:31:00] you don't really know where it comes from and, and I don't think people even necessarily like variety. You know, I think we got accustomed to things being the way they are.

And if you went and you got a cheese today and it tasted differently than that same cheese was six months ago, I don't know that everyone would even like that. 

Jeff Koehler: You have, you know, two main kinds of cows on the island. The traditional native breed, which is kind of a, and they call 'em a lily, a red cow, because it's kind of a tanish color and the sun of, its kind of reddish brown.

And then you have the black and white cows that were introduced, I think by the English. And then, so these tend to produce more milk, but it's a different milk than the native. Cows produce, so native cows, like a higher fat percentage for instance, and they tend to be more agile, so they tend to kind of climb the slopes, mow, where the other ones are a little bit more in the farm.

And so you, these admits become more popular to kind of bring these back. You know, like I know what kind of cow is [00:32:00] actually producing or cheese, which is rare, and that's, that's a treat and that's not being, you know, overly presenting it. You just, you just kind of know that because that's, you know, she's only, she produces less cheese, but it's a different kind of milk and it's, it's a little bit richer in that.

And that's one of the pleasures for me of that kind of islandy, villagey lives that I totally fell in love with. Because it's this, it's great pleasure in knowing that because like just, there's so many things that we buy and we don't know where they come from. It's, it's impossible. And some people take it obviously much further than that.

And maybe part of that is because when I was growing up, we had chickens. You know, we had eggs and said, butcher em. We had for many years that, you know, we'd raise a cow, we had a couple of pigs. You kind of knew where the eggs came from. And for me, going back after, you know, some years to getting a little bit of sense of that felt.

Quite natural and, and certainly it's different as you know, when you, you know, you, you have the tell her in advance or the, [00:33:00] the, the eggs for instance, it's already fast. So if you go, you gotta go to a meat retailer, her save me a dozen eggs. And as you know, I mean the eggs from these kind of farms are very different than the ones you're gonna buy.

Even very different, even in the Brit store. You know, it's just, and so you tap to your own little, you know, egg carton or else they put them in a. Piece a newspaper and they kind of coil them up. And market day for instance, I always know what we're gonna have usually to eat. You know, like we kind of the same thing because it's the same, you know, it's gonna be based on what you buy, you know.

So maybe in the spring, so when I go here in a couple weeks, um, the wildest, far guests will be out. And so if we're lucky, you can gather up some other asparagus. And if you're particularly lucky, they'll be selling some in the market. 

Chris Spear: So you've written a cookbook that is, you know, representing a cuisine that's very of time and place and seasonal and special, so.

How does that translate to someone like say, [00:34:00] me who fucked up this book? You know, it's, it's great reading, but am I going to be able to have some success creating some of these recipes? I mean, I'm sure there's gonna have to be some modifications based on what I can find, but do you find that this is a book that people who don't live in your area will still be able to do some of these recipes?

Jeff Koehler: Oh, absolutely. All of them. I mean, these are, these are, these are not obscure. These are one part of the recipes again, I mean at home. We eat my work. I mean, I can say, I mean, um, just these are things, uh, that we eat over and over again at home that my kids love, that my kids eat and ask for or don't ask for things that I make people that come over and, you know, obviously I have for lots of ideas for substitutions, but I wanted to include so, because you can get a lot of these ingredients now and so, you know.

In, in my first cookbook, say 12, five years ago is very different because you couldn't get lots of these things, so you were much more aware [00:35:00] of, of what you use as main ingredients. But now I said, well, you, you actually can if you order online. Lots of those things. So I wanted to have the authentic, I mean, you want somebody who's in the island to be able to open that book, recognize it, make it, and say, yeah, that's exactly like, I remember growing up as well as you being able to make it at home.

And saying this is what it is. So it's trying to capture kind of both of that. Um, I mean, absolutely. I think you can get a great sense of the islands and the first thing you're gonna see is how Mediterranean it is. This is the one in the world's purest Mediterranean diets. So apart from one century of English in Manor, there's really.

Not in the other influences coming outside. I mean, of course you have the products like tomatoes and those things, you know, in the Great Columbia Exchange, but it's very, very Mediterranean. It's a very Mediterranean diet with the fish and the, and the pulses and the, the vegetables [00:36:00] and the, it's, it's just Mediterranean, you know?

And I kept it very traditional, you know, nothing. Um, as I said, you, you can find. You can find a lot of modern things. Obviously now, you know, avocado toast is inescapable mm-hmm. Um, in restaurants, but those I see are additions to the local food as opposed to substitutions. That makes sense. People still love, you know, my American friends and my eat their friends, they, they can imagine food that's better.

Uh, my, my wife was, was from cata, mean she can't imagine the cuisine is better. And, and I still find that true here, that people on the islands, they love their food and they're normalcy proud of it. And you go to the house. I mean, this is what we eat. You, you know, and I think that you won't have any problems feeling your.

Yeah. Wiggly [00:37:00] menu with interesting seasonal ingredients. But, 

Chris Spear: you know, we are in the age where chefs and food writers all over the world are writing books, and I think we're buying them and looking at them. And your publisher that this book is with is great, but they are also known for releasing books that I think are from some of the most obscure restaurants in the world.

I have the NOMA cookbook. I don't have access to Ants. I have the Faviken book. I, I can't get reindeer. You know, I have the, the DOM cookbook. I have none of the Amazon. And fish. It's just one of these things chefs do is they buy these books of these great restaurants and places and then it's like, I don't have access to 400 types of Peruvian potatoes.

You know? So it's something that you read from a educational, historical, uh, sense, but not necessarily something where you're gonna break the book out and make the dinner for your friends and family. 

Jeff Koehler: Yeah, no, I mean, I didn't, I didn't wanna do that. And my, my nice book is is for FI and also the North African Cookbook, um, which is a little bit the same [00:38:00] different approach, but same idea of looking at a region, you know, almost what, four 50 some recipes, but the same idea that they didn't wanna make a too obscure, you know.

It's important that people can both recognize it, that live there, but also be able to make it at home. Because the point is that you can make these recipes. And so, yeah, I, I think that because I'm not, I don't have a three star, you know, restaurant with two stars. I, I have, you know, an extremely small kitchen.

I mean, you can almost touch off for a wall with your arms. I mean two, but, um, very small kitchen. Girls and, and the white that have grown up eating my work, and it's what I can get here. And when I'm home with, you know, and my mom's in Seattle. For me, it's very important that, that you can make these and they're gonna come out like you're gonna find here, [00:39:00] that, that, that they're still authentic enough.

They're doable, but they're authentic. I mean, there is a recipe for the wild asparagus. We're making a tortilla. You can do it with normal asparagus, you know, and we do it. But it's such a wonderful spring treat because eggs are the one thing that truly absorb the flavors of the season. And eggs are enormously, enormously important here in, in Spain and in islands, you know, for every meal except for breakfast, you know, lunch, dinner, snack, you know, your, your tortilla, your kind of scrambled version.

Bringing in the savory ingredients, bringing in seafood. You know, they're just, they're enormously complex. Eggs are one of the staples and you can do all kinds of great things. 'em, I don't know how many, 

Chris Spear: you know, one of, well, we can't, can't, we can't talk about that right now 'cause eggs are pushing $9 a dozen here in the US right now.

It's, we're looking at, you know, all the food writers are writing articles about how to replace eggs in all of your recipes and what are restaurants doing to take egg [00:40:00] dishes off the menu, 

Jeff Koehler: the. Is that you can create a whole meal with just two eggs or three because you're, you're sauteing, you know, some maybe asparagus and if you wanna put some shrimp in there or some garlic, or you, you know, you, you're making a base and then you, you stir in a couple of wished eggs and you let them kind of sit for a minute, I minute know a couple of seconds, and then you give them a couple of very.

Gentle kind of sweeps of the pan, and you give her a co, what they call an in Spanish Oro, which is not, you know, like scrambling it up, but you the, the eggs and are taking all those flavors of the pan. So we, we do this all the time with, you know, mushrooms or with whatever kind of vegetables. You kind of using that egg as kind of a binder, but it completely soaks up all the flavors.

A little bit different than the classic, you know, Spanish, uh, egg tortilla. Which is [00:41:00] also popular. And in the, in the book. I have one I think interesting one that you'll find there sometimes, which we love, is with So, and fresh mint leaves and it's very simple and it's just, it's just, you know, you, you make what they, here they call like a French to you just kind of folded over like a couple times.

You make a fancy tortilla, but you get that so asana and then that mint and the, the combination of flavors is, is surprising. 

Chris Spear: So what are your favorite recipes from this book For someone who maybe picks it up and haven't made anything, where's a good starting point for people? Do you have a few things you like?

Jeff Koehler: Yeah, um, if you can get fresh sardines type that these is, now I know someplace on the East coast in West Coast, so our deans are one of the great summer treats for us. You just, you can grill them, you know, whatever. But we really love. Which is this kind of marinade, this olive oil and vinegar kind of marinade.

It's very [00:42:00] typical in across Spain. The islands also, but with the sardines is probably the easiest. You just kind of, um, once they're clean, you just kind of can fry the sardines for a moment and you kind of lay 'em in a dish. Then you make this kind of olive oil, mayon, all of our little vinegar, some spices, onions and stuff.

And then you kind of pour that hot mayon over that. And fish and then you let him sit for a couple of days before you kind of take him out. It's one of those things if you do in advance that are better than an advance, I should say. Yeah. Um, one of the fun things to me beat that, that is become very popular.

That is interesting kind of modern version that is, can be quite. Spectacular because I think it's an interesting combination of decadent and simplicity, which for me defines it. Beta is now you get this kind of lobster with kind of fried potatoes and green peppers and fried eggs, and so basically you're just kind of cooking very fast, kind of the lobster, [00:43:00] and then you fry up some potatoes and then you make a couple of fried eggs, and it's all kind of served together on kind of a platter.

It's quite special because you have. But it's with some fried potatoes and fried eggs, which makes it seem, you know, is an interesting kind of combination and it's really good, you know, and it's fun. Um, those are two kind of fun summary things. I, I'm a big fan of the meatballs and one of the meatballs that I was talking about.

So salad, you can sneak some so into your normal meatballs and give them a really interesting. Kind of savoriness and the typical meatballs. There's different ones. They do sauces in Menorca. It's a real sweet tomato kind of sauce, a real kind of thick one. And if you, if you can get this over the salad, it makes a really interesting combination.

Sprinkle some pins on top again. Perfect. To 

Chris Spear: make an advance. I think meatballs would be more popular than sardines with my kids as well. [00:44:00] 

Jeff Koehler: Yeah. And the meatballs, I mean, again, that's a. To, uh, help kinda roll 'em up. One of the most popular things, or the most famous thing, like to say in Menorca is a tough egg plant.

For instance, a lot of egg plants in the islands and in menorca, the stuck version. So you're basically steaming it or you're boiling the egg plant. You kind cutting it in half and you're emptying it out and then you, you're kind of sauteing up some vegetables along with that inside part of the eggplant and you kind of fill it and then you put it back in the oven.

Maybe some breadcrumbs on top though. It's a, it's a vegetarian dish, but in Maka it's typical with some ground meat also. So it's the same first steps. Mm-hmm. You, you make yourself Frito with your onions and your tomatoes, but then you add some ground meat into it and some other things, and so you're stuffing the eggplant.

Then again, it goes back in the oven and in Majorca it's also typical to kind of spread it with a [00:45:00] tomato sauce. So again, here's a dish that is very, very popular. I mean, one of the most iconic dishes in, in the islands, two very different versions, you know, the classic Manan, one of which is his pure vegetables, and the the typical, which is a richer version.

With the meat and with the tomato sauce. Very doable at home. That's extremely popular. Um, and let's not forget the, the nutrition of sweets because one of the things I've signed in these cuisines that tend to be at times kind of rustic, you have these elaborate traditions of sweetss, endless cookies, endless versions of, you know, pastries connected to every holiday.

So for All Saints Day, on November 1st, you have your Marza pen cookies rolled in, pine nets. You know you have in Menorca, you have the typical one that's got a Basa set, which is kind of lardin flour and sugar. Basically kind of a petal shaped cookie. In the summer, you get this cookie [00:46:00] with practice set made with egg yolks, and then you're gonna have one with egg whites.

You know, nothing is wasted. And, and I find that, as I said, I, I love the traditions that have a real practical base to them. 

Chris Spear: Well, I need to find that recipe for the egg whites because I do a lot of desserts that have egg yolks. I do a lot of custards, I do a lot of creme bruts, and I always have a container of like eight to 12 egg whites in my fridge, and I'm tired of doing like meringues and pavlos.

So that one sounds like I'm gonna have to make that. Then. 

Jeff Koehler: Well, Margo, which is an almond cookie, and it's. Because it's, you know, ground almonds, sugar, some lemon zest and egg whites. I have everything. That's it. They, they're, they're magical. You just come, they're very, very easy. They disappear enormously fast.

You have versions around in parts of Italy and in parts of Libya. Uh, also it's very digital. They call them Margo's because they used to be made with bitter [00:47:00] almonds. Mm-hmm. Or with, uh, some s but now, no, it is very, very easy. Um, and it's one of the classic favorites. It's something for me in the summer.

You see 'em all around. You see a really popular Christmas time like everybody has in a Christmas. But in the summer when everybody's making pasta sets, because in the summer in the Fiesta you have this gin, lemon kind of slushy drink. That is, that is, I mean, it's, it's, it is, Pada is everything. Every house has it, it, you know, you, you make this pada and with Pada, traditionally you serve it with these past, these kind of floral shape cookies.

Yeah. 

Chris Spear: And that goes back to the, the using everything thing. Right. You know, if you're butchering hogs, you're gonna have pork fat. Well, I've had such a great time talking to you today and to all of our listeners, this has been Chris as always with Chefs about restaurants. Thanks so much for listening and have a great week.

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