A bit of Spain in Barcroft and all for the price of a ticket

 

By Allan Cromley

Barcroft News Staff

 

              When it comes to Spanish cooking, Adolfo and Sarah Pfeiffer really know their cebollas.*

              Three lucky couples win an extraordinary Spanish dinner at the Pfeiffer home on Half Moon Circle. The drawing will be part of the Lake Barcroft Woman's Club Spring Fling.

The Pfeiffers enjoy a back-and-forth life between Lake Barcroft and a house (once rented to the British embassy) in Madrid, where Sarah finds many of the ingredients for their Spanish meals. "We can get a lot of ingredients, here through special people," says Sarah, but she adds there are some ingredients that aren't available here -- such as a special kind of chick pea, saffron and traditional Spanish sweets made with almonds.

The winners of the drawing will be treated to Spanish wine from their well-stocked cellar.

A sample menu (varies according to season):

Entremeses (hors d'oeuvres): jamon serano, patatas alioli (serano ham, potatoes with a garlic-flavored sauce).

Cocido Madrileno with Spanish sausages, chicken, beef shank, carrots, potatoes, chick peas. Served with cabbage and an egg noodle).

For dessert, flan and turron (candied almonds).

Sarah's affinity for Spanish cooking really began 25 years ago in Madrid when she met Adolfo. Sarah, a Tennessee native, was on a spring break from a year at Oxford and he was from Madrid. "It was one of those things. We just sat down and started talking, I had had no Spanish."

This will be the first time The Pfeiffers have opened their home for a fund raiser.

Sarah's other pursuits days include raising and training two dogs, a toy King Charles Cavalier spaniel (Sadie), and a toy Alaskan Kleekai (Puck), which looks like a cuddly wolf. The dogs will be used for social therapy for hospital patients and the homebound.

*Oh yes, cebolla, pronounced ceboya, means onion.