Carobs, Benno The Artist And My Recipe For “Mullaor De Bolet”

Wandering around the countryside at this time of year, you’ll often get a whiff of the carob tree flowers and carob beans. It’s a smell that reminds me that autumn is just around the corner and I’ll soon be curled up in front of the fire with my pyjamas and thick wooly socks on, feeling all cosy and loving everything to do with the winter (until January arrives, that is, and I’m sick of the cold and longing for the spring).

I’m not moaning though. I really do adore the heat of the summer but also relish the changes in the seasons. Each one has it’s good points and I always make the most of them as much as I possibly can. This time of year is great for going on long hikes through the mountains, something that is only possible at 3am in the summer. Unless you’re some mad tourist who wants to be rescued by a helicopter from the crest of the Sierra Bernia at 4 in the afternoon!

Right, back to the carobs, I have a tendency to deviate from the subject at hand as you’ve no doubt gathered by now. Once the almond harvest is over there’s hardly time to rest before the carobs need collecting. Pep has quite a few trees scattered around all his land which he collects every year. This year they’re fetching a very good price so it’s certainly worth the effort.

A couple of weeks ago Pep told me that some acquaintances from Pinos had asked him if he’d like to collect the carob beans at their casita, obviously they don’t pay him but what he collects are his to do with as he pleases. He asked if I’d like to tag along. Of course I accepted, any excuse to get away from the housework while the weather’s still glorious.

*Our first day collecting the carobs. Not a bad spot to spend a few hours. I admit I look rather pooped in that photo, holding myself up on a few sacks of beans*.

We spent two afternoon’s gathering these funny looking brown beans, enjoying the peace and quiet in Pinos. It’s not a bad job at all, I can think of worse ways to earn a few euros. Bring on the carobs, I say. I had my first attempt at knocking the carobs off the trees (“varear” in Spanish). As I said in my last post, it’s easier said than done!! It’s incredible how heavy the long cane feels when you’re holding it above your head. I must have looked like a right wally trying to control it!

Second day. There was one tree that still had most of the beans attached, hence why we used a “vela” before knocking them down. Also, the weeds were pretty high so it’s much more practical for the beans to land on the “vela” rather than on the ground. The last photo is me trying to control my cane with one hand while taking a pic. In the background, Pep begins climbing the tree to be able to “varear” the carobs at the top of the tree. Sooner him than me, there was a drop of a few metres the other side.

Ira and Benno Treiber own the land where the carob trees are, a German couple who have lived in Spain for quite some time now. Benno is an artist and works from his studio in Pinos. Once we’d collected all the carobs, Ira wanted to show us around their house and also the studio which is in the square, next to the Ermita.

The house is wonderful, it sits in a beautiful setting with views of the Sierra Bernia. If you check out his webpage here and scroll down to the bottom of the page I have attached, you can see videos of the house and also Benno at work in the studio. The studio is just around the corner and is brimming with paintings. They were both very kind and gave us a t-shirt for Pep with a sketch of one of the cave paintings in Pinos and also a painting of olive trees, one of Benno’s specialities. It’s now hanging in our lounge.

He has a gallery in Altea where he sells his work, although I think you can buy from the studio too, as long as they’re there of course. The gallery is called “La Casa Del Pájaro”. After our visit to their house and studio I googled it. To my amazement, the gallery I took the photo of for my post on our outing to Altea, is his (link here). Now that’s a coincidence!

After our tour we unloaded the sacks at the casita. As you can see in the pic below, between Pep and his brother they have accumulated a few kilos of carob beans this year. They’ll sell them shortly, if they keep them too long there’ll be bugs everywhere.

*Pep and I collected 16 large sacks in 2 afternoons. The rest belong to Pep and his brother.*

Pep’s brother (Juan) had also been collecting carobs that afternoon. Whilst he was working he noticed that one of the trees had a “bolet” on it that was ready for picking. A “bolet” (Laetiporus sulphureus) is a type of edible wild mushroom that grows on the trunk of the carob tree (amongst others) after abundant rainfall in August, September and sometimes October. It has a definite mushroomy smell and is yellow with orange on it. The more orange it is, the more tender it will be to eat.

"Bolet" from the carob trees — *The tender “bolet”*

The one Juan had been lucky enough to find was quite big and very tender. If it hadn’t have been, it would have needed soaking in water for an hour or so before cooking to soften it. Pep’s mum just gave it a quick fry with some garlic, tomatoes and salt and we devoured it for tea, along with various other delicious dishes she’d made. A perfect way to spend an evening after picking carobs.

Because of the “bolet’s” size, Elena gave us half (marvellous!!). Often when she cooks it, she does it in a type of veggie “stew” (not quite the word I’m looking for) called “mullaor”.

“Mullaor” is made by frying aubergine, tomatoes, red and green peppers and sometimes onions until they’re nice and soft and the liquid from the tomatoes has cooked down. It’s used as a topping for “cocas”, the flat yeast bread similar to a thick based pizza. You can also eat it by itself or as an accompaniment to a variety of dishes (tortilla, meat, fish, etc).

A typical “mullaor” might have “sangatxo” in (a cheap part of the tuna fish, salted), salt cod, sometimes pork, amongst other things. Pep and I prefer it with just the vegetables and, in this case, the bolet. It’s also delicious with the local wild mushrooms “esclatasangs” (robellones or níscalos in Castillian Spanish), more on them later on in the year (with a bit of luck!)

My recipe for “mullaor” gets altered depending on what’s in my kitchen at the time (nothing new there) but I mainly use onion, garlic, courgette, aubergine, red and green pepper and tomatoes. It’s probably more like “pisto manchego” than “mullaor”, although they’re very similar.

It’s super easy to make, the most time consuming part is chopping all the veg, especially when you’re making a lot. But once you’ve got that part out of the way all it consists of is slowly frying the veg and in this case, the “bolet”, until they’re soft and the liquid from the tomatoes has reduced considerably. Personally I think it’s a dish that tastes better the following day, it gives it the opportunity for all the flavours to meld together.

soaking the bolet — *I soaked the chopped “bolet” for 20 mins just in case but it didn’t really need it*

To make it, get all your veg chopped first. I used roughly one large onion, two whole heads of garlic, 4 aubergines, 1 large courgette, 3 red peppers, 3 Italian green peppers and about 400 grams of grated tomato. But this really is personal preference.

*The amount of garlic I used this time. Because it’s left whole it doesn’t make the dish taste overly garlicky.*

Fry the onion in a good drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt over a lowish heat. After a few minutes, add the peeled whole garlic cloves and let these slowly sizzle along with the onion, stirring every so often. Then in goes the courgette, the aubergine and the peppers with more oil and salt if necessary.

Keep giving it a stir every so often until the veg is starting to soften and cook. Then add the chopped “bolet” and continue to cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. In goes the chopped or grated tomatoes, bring to a simmer and continue to cook, stirring frequently until everything is cooked and no liquid is left. Test for salt and serve.

It’s such a simple recipe but is sooo tasty. Another great way to use up a surplus of summer veggies. It’s super healthy too and you can use as little or as much olive oil as you like so it doesn’t have to be too calorific. Sometimes it might be necessary to add about a tablespoon of sugar to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes, I often add it about 5 minutes before I turn the gas off.

Right, it’s getting late so I best be off, we’ve got a busy day tomorrow. Thanks for reading. As always, any suggestions or questions or you fancy a chinwag feel free to get in touch, either in the comment section below or on our contact us page here. See you soon. Take care. Love Georgie and Pep xxx