Gwyneth Paltrow's food tour in Spain

I'm looking forward to seeing this show on PBS. Official Website @ Spain: On The Road Again .

Anything about food in Spain has got to be good. I don't care about Gwyneth - I care about the food!

I understand that the restaurants they visit over the next ten weeks will not be announced ahead of time - makes sense. I'm dying to know where they go, though. I imagine it will be in the Spanish press after the visits happen. If any of you in Spain hear about how things go, can you let us know?

Many thanks!

And I don't care anything about the food - I care about Gwyneth!!! :p hehee.. Just kidding. Knowing she studied Spanish in, where?, Toledo makes her that much more interesting.

Actually, I care equally about the food as I do about Gwyneth Paltrow. :p I LIKE IT/HER A LOT!

If I see anything in the press about her food tour I'll be sure to post it here.

And speaking of PBS, a slight digression which I already regret typing, I was interviewed (online) by PBS' Going Places: Madrid program, oh, about 6 or 7 years ago. See it here if you're bored.

Saludos, MadridMan

She is a very nice person, she is more an ordinary girl rather than a Holliwood super star.
In addition she speaks really good Spanish, her accent is very good.

Bummer, I followed the link but it says that it's no longer found. I tried to find Going Places on the website and it says that it's no longer on PBS. MM, is there another link?

Well crud! SalaChic, the link worked just a few weeks ago when I posted it. Seems now, maybe with the recent traffic to it, they've taken it down.

You can still view it archived @ http://web.archive.org/.../www.pbs.org/wnet/goingplaces3/madrid/guide2.html

Saludos, MadridMan

Hi! Try this: Spain on the road again

esperanza/Diana, your /staging/ links don't work anymore. That's a shame. Seems they've taken it down or removed direct access, anyway.

http://www.spainontheroadagain.com/ still works but simply says, "Coming Soon". When was this supposed to air?

Saludos, MadridMan

well I just googled it and this is something I came up with. It seems that it will be broadcast in Spain also! and it should be shown this year.
on another web page I read

I read this from the website esperanza posted a link to:

I enjoy eating meat. Loved how ham and pig is done in Spain. But can anyone real do a honest food show about Spanish cuisine when they are a vegetarian? :yuck:

It would like doing a food show on Italy and the person that hosts the show does not eat pasta and drinks wine.

So why bother having Paltrow host the show? :yuck:

Bill

I didnt know that her father was Spanish? I cant find that anywhere.... is that really true? I found this on Wikipidea... looks like she studied in Talavera de la Reina...


"Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Blythe Danner, an actress, and Bruce Paltrow, a late film and television director, writer, and producer. Paltrow's father was of Ashkenazi Russian Jewish descent and her mother was raised a Quaker;[2] Paltrow follows Judaism and proudly acknowledges her Jewish roots.[3][4][5] Raised in Santa Monica, she attended Crossroads School before moving and attending Spence School, a private girls' school in New York City. Later she briefly studied art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before discontinuing her degree and committing herself to acting. Paltrow has a younger brother, Jake Paltrow, and is a cousin of actress Katherine Moennig. She is an "adopted daughter" of Talavera de la Reina (Spain), where she lived as an exchange student and learned Spanish.[6][7] Paltrow was childhood friends with Saturday Night Live's Maya Rudolph[8] and attended Brown Ledge Summer Camp, an all-girl's camp in Vermont.[citation needed]"

I believe the article may have been referring to her "adopted father" from Spain. I had seen an interview with her a few years back in which she stated that her Spanish family was very close to her and she referred to them as her family.
Bruce Paltrow, her biological father, was a famous hollywood directer, etc...and by no means was a Spaniard.

Anyway, back on topic, I can't wait to see this show, not for Gweneth, but actually for Mario Batali, I love him! And he is the meat eater of the two, (he owns Babo in NYC) and regularly serves organ meats on his menus.I think he will be the food expert and Gweneth will be the tour guide.

Gwyneth's bio: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000569/bio - says her father, Bruce Paltrow, was (died) Polish-Jewish and born in Brooklyn, New York.

Her mother is actress BLYTHE DANNER
as CascaDuSel mentions above.

Just looked up Mario Batali and his website has a blog all about his adventures filming this show in Spain...mariobatali.com

Oh, laduque - what a blog!! I'm drooling!! Thank you! I can't wait to see the show!

I actually just finished reading the blog entries from Mario Batali! Wow, the mere mention of the foods he writes about DOES make you drool!
Sounds like Mario is the true star of this show, Gweneth (gp) is only mentioned a few times out of the 2 months of blogs.
We'll just have to wait and see, won't we!

hey laduque, good thinking about reading over the Mario Batali blog. It was fun to read; I was surprised by his candid talk. I am especially looking forward to the show now seeing that he will be in Galicia and Asturias.

Looks like Gwyneth was in Valencia filming another episode of her television program. See the photo here in El Mundo on March 5.

The Made in Spain thread reminded me about this thread and wondered what was going on with Gwyneth Paltrow's food tour in Spain.

So... I went to http://www.spainontheroadagain.com/ and watched the 4.5 minute YouTube "Sneak Peak" video and found it somewhat interesting. You see some of Spain's sights as well as Gwyneth speaking just a little Spanish. There's even a short part of them speaking with Michael Stipe of R.E.M. ("STAND in the place where you are...")

Apparently the show is coming in September. Hopefully we'll find some episodes on YouTube.

Saludos, MadridMan

You should check the website again the MM posted above because now it live and the start date is September 20. The photos on thje website look great.

For those that live in the area of New York City, I checked the PBS program listing and it on Monday Sept 22 at 10:00 PM at night on Channel 21.

Bill

I just watched (again?) the video they post about their travels through Spain at http://www.spainontheroadagain.com/ and, oh, my-oh-my. I LIVE HERE and I'd LOVE to see this series!

Saludos, MadridMan

I checked out the listing for here in SD and it is going to air back to back with Jose Andres' show on Spanish food in America! A great 1 1/2 of Saturda tv.

I think this is going to be great fun to watch! Thanks for reminding us about it starting up next week. The website is also great. I bet they really enjoyed filming this series. I would LOVE to do what they did!

I am excited that this amazing cuisine will hopefully be brought to the attention of many Americans! Many "regulars" on this board are all deeply passionate about Spanish food and it may take a superstar actress and celebrity chef to finally bring the flavors to the spotlight.
I can't tell you how many people think that Spanish food is the same as Mexican food or that if a restaurant serves "tapas" they automatically think all is Spanish.
My brother in law (you know, the restauranteur) says the buzz in the business is that Spanish cuisine is the next great trend in the U.S.

Thanks for the reminder! I sent myself an email reminder so that I won't forget to watch it.

Laduque, I can certainly empathize with you when people think that Spanish food and Mexican food are the same. While I am a huge fan of Mexican food -and we have some of the best here- it's sometimes annoying that people confuse the two.

And, we have lots of "small plates" restaurants around town: Spanish small plates, Japanese small plates, Italian small plates, etc. Fortunately there are some very good and well-known Spanish restaurants so many people are familiar with Spanish food and appreciate it.

Wow - apparently Gwyneth and Mario will be on Oprah on Wednesday, 9/19, cooking and talking about Spain.

Oprah!


The official site for the program has come a long way since I first saw it. It's got great information in it. I especially like the info on restaurants... what a great resource. The recipes, too, although I don't know what to think about using pizza dough to make an empanada.

So, for those of you who watched the show, what did you think? I thought the scenery was beautiful and the food looks great. But, I'm not sure the writing was very good as I didn't exactly feel glued to the TV; it seemed a bit slow at times. I know I will continue to watch it, of course, as I can't wait to see the other places they visit. And, how great that Antonio Carmona is one of the musicians with Willie Nelson as they sing "On the Road Again" flamenco style for the theme song?

Ditto! I agree 100%. I was disappointed, but maybe because I was expecting too much. There seemed to be too much of the four hosts "bonding" and I wanted to see more of Spain. The scenery was beautiful, but that was to be expected, right? It is Spain! I hope that this first episode is when they just bonded, and now they can get on to more of Spain and Spanish cooking.

Our local PBS station is right in the middle of their membership drive, so according to the schedule, I won't be able to watch this new show until Thursday at 10pm. Worth staying up for only for the fact that it is Spain. I think I may be a bit dissapointed as well. I saw Paltrow and Batali on Oprah last week, and it felt more about the bonding and famous people, than of Spain! Paltrow did tell the Iberian-ignorant Oprah that she wanted to show Spain to Americans because all Americans know of European cuisine is French and Italian, I couldn't agree more!
Thanks for reporting on the show ladies!

Even EFE (Spanish news agency) has picked up on the story. Read the entire article, in Spanish, HERE .

What were the producers thinking of when hiring Paltrow who doesn't eat meat !!!! I have nothing against vegetarians ( usually ) , but for a food programme surely you should have someone who's prepared to try almost anything ?
I always go back to this idea that If ever a vegetarian is invited to a dinner party then , usually , the hosts will accomodate them by providing something other than meat whilst if you go to a dinner party at a vegetarian's house the likelyhood is you will not be served a juicy ,bloody , steak hahaha !
I'm still interested as to how this Gwyneth Paltrow will be received in The States .

She was quite funny on Oprah the other day and Gweneth said she does not eat anything from four legged animals, except dairy.
She likes fowl and fish. Her Castilian accent is immpecable (I hate her even more, ha, ha) and she knows alot about Spain! I hope she can be the "ambassador" to really open up American eyes to what we on this board already know...Spain is the bomb!!!

Hey Guys, I just watched the show yesterday and I thought it was enjoyable. I don't believe that it is going to be a cooking type show with travel, rather a travel show with some food featured; similar to Anthony Bourdain's show, which BTW he did a segment on the Basque country this past season which was excellent.

I liked Gwyneth, Mario of course. I'm not familiar with Claudia Bassols except that she's an actress from Spain. That I got from the program. One thing I liked in the opening segment was when Gwyn and Mario were in Toledo and were visiting the chef that offered Mario raw (rare) partridge. I think Mario should have know better than to indulge in raw game bird, especially in a foreign country where his gastrointestinal tract is not used to the local microbes. No wonder he got a bad case of "Don Quixote's" revenge! :yuck: Gwyneth was smart not to indulge. I wouldn't have either!

I was fascinated by the chef's technique for cooking rice. I love rice and eat a lot of it. Has anyone ever cooked rice this way? Also, has anyone had any experience cooking with Bomba rice? The grains looked so tiny, they looked like couscous to me. I thought Bomba was more the size of small pearls of tapioca. I use long grain rice when I make my paella simply because I don't care for the texture of short grain rice except for a few dishes like sushi or sticky rice, or risotto. I pride myself in making great rice dishes, thanks to my Mom, she taught me her secrets!

OsoMajor

OsoMajor, I too liked that preparation of the rice dish. I'm thinking it was alot like preparing risotto, which I make often. I use bomba rice for paella, as I want to perfect my paella here in the States, the best I can. bomba is alot like arborio rice, but I think it is a bit shorter than arborio and the texture is firmer too. The thing is, in paella, you don't ever stir the rice, EVER! Or the starches will release and you get mushy or really soft texture. You should try it sometime, you can order it from latienda.com. I think there is a link from MM to their site.
Back to the show, I enjoyed it too and LOVE that they are exposing the wonderful beauty of Spain to America!

I use the bomba rice too for making paella here and it's definitely the rice that is recommended for paella . Making Risotto , I use the arborio rice and it's such a similar process to paella in that you just have to keep adding the stock ( caldo ) so that the rice absorbs it . But Italian friends told me that Risotto should be slightly gritty ( undercooked ) , whereas paella tends to be cooked through .
I wonder whether they'll show that programme on British TV ? I'll have to get someone to record it ! Steve

Ahh Laduque, you truly know how to cook rice! That is the first and greatest lesson in cooking rice, NEVER disturb the rice once is starts to simmer! I had heard some where,(don't even remember where) that Bomba was starchy like arborio and therefore didn't want to use it, as I have had sticky, mushy paella that someone made that was just terrible! :yuck: I'm gonna have to order some and give it a try. I love making risotto and yes, the Italians like it a bit al dente similar to pasta.

Are you guys across the pond getting the show?

Here is a couple of pictures of my paella I made a couple of weeks ago. I was planning on using some mussels but the store was out of fresh shellfish!

I'm gonna try making that rice dish like in the program. It seems like a simple technique, I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Osomajor-your paella looks fantastic!!! I bet it tasted great too!
We should start a thread and share our paella secrets and trials and tribulations with all

Steve you can view episodes of this show on itunes and on you tube you can see teasers.

We're off right now to a dinner party-my good friends (since high school) just returned from teaching a year in Barcelona and they are making fideua, not a fan,, but she is preparing an all Catalan menu tonight!!

Wow ..That does look great Osomajor ... I know where i'm eating if I ever land in your part of California haha !
Thanks Laduque .. I'll check out youtube ( I'm addicted to it anyway ! )

Steve .

Awesome photos!! I love it!

wow! that paella looks delicious! Thanks for the photos. laduque, how was your catalån dinner? Today Mario Batali and co. are off to Galicia. Can't wait!

The dinner was great, though some improvisations had to be made, as my friend could not find Rape so she went to the Asian fish market here and got another type of fish head for her caldo. She also did not get piquillo peppers and so just stuffed regular marinated roasted red peppers (once you've had piquillos, there is no substitute!)
A small Spanish food market just opened up here in town and I am patronizing it like you wouldn't believe! The other day we bought butifarra and morcilla for the grill tonight!

Please report back here Esperanza, on tonight's episode, I won't get to see the show until Thursday, local time!

I wasn't able to watch tonight, either, since I was at a family gathering, so I'll be curious to hear if you thought it was better than last week's episode. I will try to watch on iTunes later this week.

Thanks Laduque , you reminded me about Morcilla . For some reason we haven't been cooking it lately but I have some in the fridge . We're holding a party in the apartment for the Fiesta Nacional on October 12th .. Ususally we end up with between 10 and 20 people so we're having to organise the Spanish feast , as well as decorating the apartment .. I'll post some photos hopefully .
Oh , and I watched some Youtube clips of Gwyneth Paltrow & friends and was really impressed ! So I'm definitly going to keep an eye out for any potential DVD release .
Looks like they all had a blast ( and no wonder ! ) Steve

I watched two show already and will give my opinion of it until I watch all of it but ....

... Mario walking into a church wearing orange shorts and orange walking shoes, come on Mario do you have to act like a tourist.

Bill

Didn't you know orange was Batali's signature color!

For those of you who live in New York City and are fans of the show "Spain...On the Road Again" and/or fans of Mario Batali, Mario is going to be promoting the cookbook that accompanies the show. The book, called "Spain...A Culinary Road Trip" was released a few days ago. Mario will be at Barneys in New York City on Wednesday, October 29 from 6 to 8 pm signing copies of the book. Apparently Freixenet will be serving wine and Barney's in-house restaurant will be serving "Spain-inspired Mario concocted appetizers from the book."

If anyone goes, be sure to tell us about it!

la historiadora

Thanks for the info. BUT!

I went to the Barney's website to find more information about this event and when I read:

"Mario Batali is dying to show you one of his new Ernst Benz collaboration timepieces."

I not going. I not interested in this stuff nor do I think the average working person would be welcome at this event and I rather be happy person by not going.

Bill

I was going to try to watch all the shows but after last night I finished watching it. This show is not about Spain. It is about four people and their egos.

The breaking point for me was when Mark and Gwyneth are in the Alhambra. Do they walk around the Alhambra? No and spend a 10 seconds talking about the interior details of the palace. They find a window with a view and then spend most of their time talking about if Gwyneth in the future would write a cook book. Does anyone really care if Gwyneth writes a cookbook? What interests you Gwyneth’s small talk or Alhambra because it more about Gwyneth in the program.

Did someone really think is would be interesting to watch two attractive women visiting a spa? Was it because the spa was in Spain and that would make it interesting topic for this show. Did someone think it would be interesting to watch and listen to people in a moving car talking about themselves? Or walk down a street or dirt path talking about themselves? Eating a meal and talking about themselves. I guess watching Spain zipping in the background while in the car means you are seeing Spain. They drive to Compostela, pull in front of the Cathedral and do not get out of the car. Would you do that, stay in the car?

It is a joy to watch Spain as a blur in the background then this show is for you!

I will admit there are very good part of the series. But they are few and my feeling if you took all the good part of the series it would make up only one hour. The rest is just pure junk and could take place anywhere in the world.

You might say I over reacting. But it gets better than that.

Last night it was Spain night on my TV. The travel channel show again Anthony Bourdain’s Spain show, then the Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on Spain and the last hour I spent watching the Spain – the Road Again show. The hosts, Anthony and Andrew from the two show spent their time talking about Spain. Trying to convene to the viewer the pleasures of Spain and the passion they feel about this beautiful country. Does anyone feel the passion in cast of characters in Spain – On the Road Again? You even see more of Spain in their one hour shows of Anthony’s and Andrew’s shows than the hours I wasted with Spain – On the Road Again.

And who was the idiot to pick the theme song “On the Road Again” for the show. The song is not about Spain and it is not even Spanish. I even feel the visual quality of the program is not there. I find a little fuzzy, not sharp and or colorful, like Anthony’s show. I thought it was the station I was watching it was the problem. But have watch on three different stations, and this show was filmed a little fuzzy and the quality is like a Rick Steves show film a decade ago. They should have spent money on some have high definition cameras to film this some instead of spending money hyping it.

I was I could have the hours back in my life wasted watching one of the biggest let downs I have seen in a while. If there was a bull fight and the matador was “Spain – On the Road Again, I would be cheering for the bull to put this show to death and would paint a bull eye on the back of the matador before the fight starts.

Bill

So you didn't like it then .

you know, I happen to agree TOTALLY with Bill! When they were at the Alhambra I was thinking the exact same thing.
Instead of continuing this thread talking about how much this series is more about the 4 people and not Spain, let me mention that the PBS series José Andrés Made In Spain is truly wonderful! I just bought the DVD of the first season and it is spectacular. According to Wikipedia: José Ramón Andrés Puerta (b. 1969, Mieres, Asturias, Spain), known as José Andrés, is a Spanish chef often credited for bringing the small-plates concept to America. Early in his career, he trained under Ferran Adria at the famous El Bulli restaurant in Spain. From 2005 to 2007, Andrés produced and hosted "Vamos a cocinar," a popular food program on Television Española (TVE) Spanish national television. In 2008, Andrés launched his first American TV show, Made in Spain, a 26-part series for public television. Produced by Full Plate Media and sponsored by KQED-TV San Francisco. A companion book, Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen, will be published by Clarkson Potter in November 2008. Andrés is also a resident culinary expert for MSN Lifestyle.

José Andrés loves Spain, loves Spanish food and in my opinion, is a great ambassador for Spain. His enthusiasm is so refreshing. I love the show! Now the new season is on PBS, so I recommend you watch whenever you can. Skip On the Road Again and check out José Andrés if you want to SEE Spain!

I hate to admit it, but I too am sorely disappointed in this long anticipated show! It is on at 10pm on Thursdays, and EVERY single time I fall asleep. This show is all about the egos and the road trip and less about the true culinary and cultural corners of Spain that they touted to explore. Another thing that bugs is that Batali and Paltrow claim to have wanted to bring Spain to America and i'm sorry, but Paltrow's Spanish bugs me!
Bourdain and even Zimmern did a much better job!
While I have eaten at Casa Mono and the place around the corner (both Batali's Spanish joints in NYC), I was aching for more substance from the show!

I have seen most of the chapters of this travel program, and find it to be less than I would enjoy. Not much of the country of Spain, but lots of the actors. A disappointment at best.

"Another thing that bugs is that Batali and Paltrow claim to have wanted to bring Spain to America and i'm sorry, but Paltrow's Spanish bugs me!"

Rick Steves did that for me. The first travel show I saw on Spain was his half hour on Sevilla and the Hill towns. I also became interested in Barcelona watching a show of Rick too.

Bill

I have been watching the show regularly, too and while it may not be what everyone here was expecting, it is a PLEASURE to just watch the sights and sounds of Spain while I am stuck here in the USA. I like to try and recognize if I have been to any of the restaurants or neighborhoods they have been in.

Plus... I have a total girl crush on Claudia!

I have the same feelings about the show.

Definitely makes me want to have a ¨foodie¨ road trip to Spain.

Joe

The shows on here in the uk now . I agree the show isnt the best but If your away from Spain it just makes you want to return asap . Just seeing some decent jamon was enough for me and seeing the Marques de Riscal hotel brought back fond memories .

I just read in one of yesterday's Spanish newspapers that this series/program will broadcast IN SPAIN on the "VIAJAR" channel of Digital+ (satellite) starting this coming Tuesday at 7:30pm local time. If you CAN watch it in Spain, there's a good chance you can switch over to the Original Version (English) through your Digital+ remote control.



I'm not sure why the article says she's a British actress when she - and both of her parents - were born in the USA.

Saludos, MadridMan