"To know a people you must eat their food and drink their wine" Chinese Proverb

The dining room of the restaurant was bright roomy and very tastefully decorated. Wooden beams matched the tables. I didn’t look at the menu, I had learned to let our hosts order. The Spanish eat two courses every meal. The first course vegetables and the second course meat or fish. I found this a bit disconcerting at first, but after year of school dinners I had become accostomed. It is one of the healthy elements about the Mediterranean Diet as it aids the digestion.

Inevitably we had a communal salad, but this one came encased in asparagus spears, criss-crossed like wooden roof beams. They were wonderful and a local speciality of La Rioja and next door Navarra. Another local speciality was my first dish Pimientos del Piquillo. Piquillo peppers: the local red pepper, resemble a large chilli rather than a bell pepper, come to a definite point - el piquillo and were bathed in olive oil and garlic. They too were wonderful, hot enough to caress but not to burn the roof of your mouth.

- These are magnificent , I exclaimed - absolutely everything I have eaten since I arrived in La Rioja has not only tasted superb but the textures have all been right as well. I love cooking and texture is so important. How do they get the peppers like this?
- They are roasted, then peeled when cool and they are frozen or conserved in jars. Home-grown, home-made conserving is very popular here. The restaurant will probably do all their own conserves or have a contract with somebody locally.

I was amazed and to think only two weeks ago I hadn’t even known this place existed. Miniature lamb chops chuletillas were my second course. Portions were big in Spain, seemed to be bigger in La Rioja but even I did not expect a plateful of a dozen chops. They were laid out in a spiral like a wheel, each one leaning on its partner; it made a fantastic visual display. As delighted as I was with the presentation, I found myself facing a dilemma. Attractive as the dish was, there didn’t seem any room for manoeuvres with a knife and fork. I quickly looked round to see if I could work out the local approach but to my horror the only other people I could see where using their fingers. I took a deep breath, envisaging that the first chop would go flying of the plate. No sooner had I reached for my knife and fork when our students and hosts burst out in unison
- - NO, NO, NO! Chops in La Rioja MUST be eaten with your fingers.

I picked up my first chop with my fingers, definitely more practical but going against everything I had been brought up to think as good table manners. Needless to say they were perfect, enough salt, (I had already learnt in Madrid that to add free salt to your food is an insult to the cook in Spain,) mouthwatering and mouthmelting bursting with flavour. Lamb in all forms is the speciality meat in La Rioja.

- You must have MilHojas for dessert. It is a typical Riojan dessert.
- What are Mil Hojas?
- Wait and find out.

I waited and I found out. Milhojas are vanilla slices. The thousand slices refers to the puff pastry. They’re filled with vanilla cream and whipped fresh cream and can be eaten hot or cold. When hot they have an egg yolk sauce coating crisped with sugar. It was like eating a vanilla slice made with creme bruleé. I already knew I had arrived in a gastronomic heaven after everything I had eaten. This meal had just confirmed every opinion I had formed about the food in this magical place. July 1986