Just Desserts and Old Cheese

We went out last night with Teré and Miguel to Eslava, another great tapas bar a few blocks away, for a belated birthday dinner for Teré. It was another perfect evening (as is any evening spent with these two interesting, kind, intelligent, warm, loving, and excruciatingly patient friends). Excruciatingly patient with most things, but particularly with our communication skills. San Geraldo is using more and more Spanish in his conversation. It's wonderful, requires a lot of concentration, and some interpretation skills from me. (For example, he still regularly wishes people "happy complementary anus" — feliz compleanos — instead of "happy birthday" — feliz cumpleaños.) My interpretations quite often leave something to be desired, and Miguel and Teré have never once made me or us feel like they're thinking, "Get on with it!" We're amazed at the depth of conversation we're able to have with them. And Teré is an exceptional teacher.

LA CARTA (THE MENU).

The food at Eslava is unusual and delicious and surprisingly inexpensive. For our meal, we shared huevos sobre bizcocho, boletus, y vino dulce (egg over biscuit, porcino mushrooms, and sweet wine), pudding de berenjenas (eggplant pudding), solomillo salsa eneldo (steak in dill sauce), and charlota de calabacin (zucchini charlotte)... Don't ask me for recipes or ingredients. Just trust me. It was all good. Photos follow, but this post is really all about the desserts.

HUEVOS SOBRE BIZCOCHO, BOLETUS, Y VINO DULCE.
(EGG OVER BISCUIT, PORCINO MUSHROOMS, AND SWEET WINE.)  MY FAVORITE DISH.

PUDDING DE BERENJENAS.
(EGGPLANT PUDDING.)  ON SECOND THOUGHT, MY FAVORITE.

SOLOMILLO SALSA ENELDO.
(STEAK WITH DILL SAUCE.)  COME TO THINK OF IT, THIS WAS MY FAVORITE.

CHARLOTA DE CALABACÍN.
(ZUCCHINI CHARLOTTE.)  WITHOUT A DOUBT, MY FAVORITE!

The waiter suggested a sampler of all the desserts. But there are a number of those that San Geraldo doesn't like (because they have nuts). And, he really wanted the dessert he had last time, a chocolate "tarta" that is really more like a slab of fudge. Exquisite.

SAN GERALDO'S TARTA DE CHOCOLATE (CHOCOLATE "CAKE")

I had to have the one I had last time we were at Eslava, just so I could take a picture and write about it. It's called helado queso viejo (old-cheese ice cream) and that's exactly what it is, ice cream made from aged cheese. It's adorned with what looks like crystallized sugar, but is actually cheese. It sounds strange, I know. But it's served on a layer of  dulce de membrio (quince marmalade) with a large dollop of tomato marmalade on the side. It's important to take a bit of each on the spoon for the perfect experience. Just the ice cream, a little cheesy. Just the crystallized cheese, a little cheesy. All flavors together, the absolutely perfect dessert.

MIGUEL'S TARTA DE QUESO (CHEESE CAKE)

TERE'S TIRAMISU (TIRAMISU)

CAUGHT STEALING A BELATED BIRTHDAY BESO.

MY HELADO QUESO VIEJO (OLD-CHEESE ICE CREAM).
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT COULD BE SO GOOD?!?

Tomorrow, I'm off to New York to visit The Dowager Duchess, The Kid Brother, and some wonderful friends and family. I'll only be there a week and hope to post regularly while I'm gone. Watch for photos of hot dogs, New York delis, and more! If I find any old-cheese ice cream, I'll be sure to let you know.