Recap of Tastes of Spain, La Ruta PDX 2017

The past 4 days were La Ruta PDX: A Gastronomic Festival celebrating the culinary culture of Spain. It included chefs from Spain and chefs from Portland collaborating together, as well as industry and trade focused events for Spanish and Portland purveyers to share their craft. The 4 days included a film premiere, some private seated dinners, seminars on sidra, sherry, and wine, and the final event was a food festival featuring bites from 19 local and Spanish chefs and artisans and 75-90 (I lost count) beverage tastings from winemakers, brewers, and sidra makers of Spain and Oregon. Here is my photo recap of Tastes of Spain, La Ruta PDX 2017.

I also have a few short videos I had taken for my Stories which are embedded here, though because they were for Stories they will be vertical videos, sorry!

Multnomah Athletic Club Philippe Boulot worked with PDX Ice for an impressive display for his Mussels Remoulade with Chorizo Chimichurri
 
 

Kasey Mills of Mediterranean Exploration Company brought some Sephardic Lamb Hand Pie.

Kachka‘s Bonnie Morales offered Salt Cod Croqueta Rusa with marinated peppers, pea tendrils, and saffron sunflower mayonnaise

Rocky Maselli of Marche presented a bright bite with Anchovy Crudo with tomatoes and fennel.

How fun! Chef Javier Canteras of Urdaneta presented Txistorra Corn Dog with Kalimotxo ketchup, corn crema, sour corn, idazabl cheese. Urdaneta is such a great restaurant with intense bites of deliciousness!

And I always make a beeline for any booth by Chef Rick Gencarelli of Grassa and Lardo PDX when he’s at an event as he always puts together really creative small dishes. For La Ruta PDX 2017 it was Whole Roasted Pig with sherried corn and pickled peaches for La Ruta PDX 2017

Pork was also on the menu from Twisted Filipino Carlo LaMagna with Pork Collar Adobo with marinated garbanzo and preserved lemon

Of course there’s giant paella!! Chef Scott Ketterman of Crown Paella kept the crowds well satisfied with aromas and plates of Paella Mixta Royale with Rabbit, Dungeness, Mussels, Clams, Prawns, Piquillo Peppers and Nora Aioli. My dream is to have an excuse of a party big enough to be able to have these at my own event!

More seafood was on the menu courtesy of Ox’s Greg Denton and Kyle Burgess who offered Wood Fire Grilled Whole Halibut with toasted garlic lemon oil, cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs

You could find Octopus of course – Membrillo Latin Kitchen Corey Wisun offered Octopus and Confit Potato with Vegetables Escabeche, Black Garlic-Olive Aioli and Smoked Padron

And then there’s Toro Bravo Pat Manning’s Octopus Mollete with aiolo, peppers and tomatoes and the snowflake branding on their buns, which I learned is a unique detail of each of the John Gorham restaurants because each branch has its own branding iron for their bread!

Sausage was also a huge highlight during the festival: for instance, Pollo Bravo Josh Scofield grilled sausages for Butifarra Bocadillo with romesco and queso de cabras

And then there was Chop Butchery highlighting the meat and a cool presentation at their booth.

Olympia Provisions Eric Joppe offered a Chilled Cucumber and Almond Soup topped with a bit of Chorizo Andalucia, Preserved Lime, and Yogurt

Not everything was about meat though: for instance Farm Spirit presented a vegan take on chorizo with their Grilled Padron Skewer with sprouted farro, onion, and potato.

And there was so much to drink – I think there might have been 75 wines, and 20 more additional beverages including beer, Spanish ciders, sangria and more! Here’s a glimpse of just one of the areas of tables with wine line-ups

Dessert was courtesy Fifty Licks Chad Draizin withthe Fifty Licks truck and Kalimotxo, a coke sorbet with red wine spritz.

And there was Alma Chocolate Sarah Hart who offered Smoked Paprika Caramels and Cheese and Marcona Stuffed Figs.

It wasn’t all just food and drink either. There was Face Painting and Barcelona Street Art and bird puppets from NW Children’s Theater and Kelsey The Face Painting Lady and her balloon artist, Jan.  The bird friends gave a sticker of a little green splat souvenir, ha ha.

And here are photos from one of the flamenco performances by Espacio Flamenco

When I chatted briefly with Mr. John Gorham, he was happy with how the entire 4 days turned out, and seemed to think he would repeat this next year so it isn’t just a one time special festival. I didn’t capture everything via photo – there was another wine area, Spanish ciders, Estrella beer, Forever Cheese, sangria and more!

Which of these bites would you want to try, what do you think of the offerings of the Tastes of Spain event for La Ruta PDX 2017?