Hot and cold at the tapas table

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ensalada de pimientos rojos con atun (Grilled Peppers and Tuna Salad)

To make this cold tapas Chef Migel Fernandes from Melia La Caleta, Cadiz, Spain, uses whole red peppers, finely chopped onion, tuna in oil, olive oil, salt and vinegar.

1. Fernandes grills red peppers in an oven at medium heat until soft and the skin wrinkles and turns slightly charcoal-black. He removes them from oven and lets them cool on a rack before cutting them into long, thin slices. 2. He soaks them in olive oil, adds a dash of vinegar, a pinch of salt to taste and lets them soak for 2 to 3 hours and drains them. 3. Fernandes transfers the grilled peppers on to a serving dish and sprinkles chopped onions and tuna in olive oil. For a final touch, he garnishes it with chopped olives and/or chopped hard- boiled egg.

Albondigas de ternera en salsa (Saucy Meatballs)

To make this hot tapas, Fernandes uses 1kg of minced beef, 4 eggs, 100g bread crumbs, 1tbsp chopped garlic, 1tbsp chopped parsley, half of a glass of white wine, a dash of ground black pepper and nutmeg powder, flour, olive oil and salt.

For the sauce: 2 carrots (sliced round), 150g coarsely chopped white mushrooms, 1 onion (coarsely chopped), 1 green pepper (coarsely chopped), 1/2tbsp finely chopped garlic, half of a glass of tomato sauce, half of a glass of white wine, olive oil and salt. (Optional: green peas and chopped red bell pepper in the sauce.)

1. Fernandes mixes the minced beef, eggs, bread crumbs, garlic and parsley in a big mixing bowl. He adds in salt, black pepper and nutmeg powder to taste and kneads the meat mixture into a dough-like consistency. 2. He takes a teaspoon of the mixture and rolls it into a ball with his hands. He repeats this procedure for the remainder of the mixture. 3. He then dips the meatballs in flour until well covered and deep-fries them in olive oil until they turn golden brown. He then removes them from the oil and drains them. 4. To make the sauce: Fernandes lightly sautes the sliced carrots, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and garlic in olive oil and adds a pinch of salt. 5. When the sauce is half cooked, he adds in the white wine and tomato sauce and lets it simmer. He adds in the fried meatballs, covers them with water and boils them for one hour. He adds salt to taste before transferring the meatballs into a serving dish. Serve warm.