HERALD ON SUNDAY RATING: 4.5/5
KEY POINTS:
If there is a heaven, it's a place where you can eat jamon iberico de bellota any time you like. This delicacy (the word seems inadequate) is the emperor of hams.
It takes its name - as does Peter Gordon's tapas bar in SkyCity - from the Spanish word for acorn, because the pigs in question eat a lot of acorns, particularly during the last few months before they make the transition from animal to foodstuff.
The ham from these classic free-range pigs is cured for one to two years, and, when you eat it, you don't want the experience to end. The taste is mouth-filling, like that of a good red wine, and as dense and layered as a Bach fugue.
You realise why your mother insisted you chew properly: the longer you hold it in your mouth, the more it yields.
The only reason you don't wait for it to dissolve completely before swallowing is that there's a danger your tablemates will get stuck in and devour the rest, including your precious share.
At Bellota, they know how to serve jamon iberico de bellota: not paper-thin like prosciutto, but in succulent 5mm-thick pieces, marbled with the white fat in which lurks the densest of the flavour. I enjoyed 50g of it with four others (do the maths), and we all showed commendable self-restraint.
Perhaps if we had ordered it after a few more glasses of rioja, it would have been a different matter. There might have been a scuffle. And the man sitting next to me was quite a lot bigger than I am.
That ham is $760 a kilogram. I don't think I've ever bought anything legal that cost that much.
But not everything at Bellota is so dear.
Gordon may be associated with the gastronomic neologism called fusion cuisine, but, at Bellota, which has just celebrated its first birthday, the take on tapas is vigorously traditional - to the point that the menu and wine list are labelled "para comer" (to eat) and "para beber" (to drink) respectively.
I am relieved to notice that we did slightly more eating than drinking; the split was about 55-45, but that's okay.
Tapas, after all, are made for eating while drinking.
The very word "tapa" is Spanish for lid, and tapas derive from the custom of placing a round of bread on the tippler's glass to stop flies (or cigar ash) from falling in.
The toppings came later.
Apart from the aforementioned jamon, and its less patrician cousin jamón serrano, we enjoyed olives - especially the small violet-brown and peppery arbequina; the Basque-style tapas on rounds of baguette (marinated mushrooms on chickpea puree; beetroot and red onion relish with goat's cheese); and the more substantial servings such as the classic patatas bravas (chips were never this good), tubular fritters, like the Italian arancini, of rice, cheese and spinach, and some meaty choices (a slightly unmanageable stuffed marrow bone and some sensational sauteed kidneys with a cumin yoghurt).
Bellota tapas grandes are a sort of main course (they call it a three-quarter meal), but the best choice is to be like the Spanish: eat little and often.
A glass of wine (better still sherry) and a couple of what the Spaniards call "bocaditos" (little bites) will set you back barely $25. You can always come back - or just stay - for more.
Bellota
Address: 91 Federal St
Phone: 363 6301
www.bellota.co.nz
Open Tuesday-Saturday 5pm to late; Friday from midday
Wine list: Extensive, mainly Spanish. Try a sherry.
Vegetarians: Many choices.
Watch Out For: The jamon iberico - dangerously habit-forming.
Bottom line: Terrific tapas.
THE BILL
$343 for five
Tapas $187.50; Wine $155.50
- Detours, HoS
