Water From Lourdes In Cooking - What Is It And How To Prepare It?

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

The famous water from Lourdes is ordinary water, which is believed to have miraculous healing properties. It springs in Santuario De Lourdes in France, a complex of religious buildings with several basilicas dedicated to the cult of the Virgin Mary. The Catholic Church believes that in this place the saint appeared to eyewitnesses and hence the miraculous power of the water that springs from this place.

In this article, however, we will talk about another liquid of the same name and we will pay more attention to it. Whether it is as miraculous as the one of the same name, judge for yourself.

It all started in the 60's, when in the Basque town of Getaria a man named Pedro Arreghi created the Cathedral of the Fish. At that time, the villages and towns there were mainly devoted to fishing and this was a religion and art for them - from catching to cooking the fish itself.

After some reforms of the so-called The cathedral, in the year 88, opened the Elcano restaurant, as it exists today.

It is rapidly gaining popularity and is visited and praised by customers and critics of all types - from the most ordinary to the most sophisticated and demanding.

The restaurant soon won its first Michelin star. His grilled fish, and especially turbot, had something unique and different that was not found anywhere else, and it wasn't just the quality of the fresh fish.

Pedro Arregui did not betray the old tradition of cooking fish in this area in the Orio style, but together with his wife they invented and applied a secret ingredient to mark their own individuality. When asked what his secret was, he mysteriously replied - Water from Lourdeslooking at his wife complicitly.

They did not disclose what the water in question contained until his death.

Pedro's son, Aitor, took over the business after his father's death, and together with his wonderful team, they continue to cook according to the tradition imposed by his parents.

However, Aitor reveals the long-kept secret of such a famous mysterious ingredient and in an interview explains that in fact the water from Lourdes in their kitchen it is a kind of marinade, a dressing with which, in addition to hydrating the fish while baking, it is finally poured when served.

For example, turbot is really magical, because the gelatin in this fish and its juices mix with the dressing and something fabulous happens. In fact, the fish itself, properly cooked, does the magic, not so much the "secret ingredient."

In the Orio style known to the area, acid is used for flooding and this is vinegar, but Pedro Arreghi used a mixture of citrus instead of traditional vinegar. Lime, lemon, orange and grapefruit juices enveloped the fish with additional flavor.

Sometimes ingenious things are actually very simple.

Here we can easily at home to prepare water from Lourdes and cook turbot or other white fish with it. It doesn't even have to be grilled, it can be in a pan or in the oven.

Mix freshly squeezed citrus juices with olive oil and salt and grease the fish while baking. Then fry in a little olive oil slices of garlic together with dry hot peppers. Pour more citrus juice and as soon as it boils, water the finished fish.

Try it yourself and feel the magic of this long-kept secret.