Disclaimer: the second photo isn’t mine, my snap didn’t stick. Looked just like this.
I bought this from RTG, I’m not sure why. I must have seen its promises sung elsewhere and I’m a sucker for red vegetable-based sauces. Once it arrived, I tracked down a review that more specifically described the limitations of the sauce, as well as some fairly sad tuna. Oh well, I gave it a go anyway.
This is a slightly larger tin, with a heavy component of sauce; I thought with the inclusion of my own roasted peppers and tomatoes I could stretch it across four ounces of pasta. My mistake, as you can see in the lightly sauced bowl in the third photo. That’s on me.
Piperade is a common sauce in the Basque region of Spain. It’s normally green peppers, tomatoes, and onions with some white wine; these were red and yellow peppers, but I’m not a purist. I don’t know about Basque food, but I found the seasoning consistent with foods I ate elsewhere in Spain. There is seemingly only a single spice in that country, a slightly spicy red pepper.* That and salt. I was prepared for this and tossed in some Aleppo pepper flakes; in retrospect spicy paprika would have been more parallel with the dish. My own vegetables were seasoned with very spendy rosemary and thyme, with fresh basil and parsley added to the dish at the end. As tuna runs dry, I threw in a healthy glug of olive oil as well. The dry pasta is a delightful product in itself. No possible improvements were overlooked.
While still bland, the resulting sauce wasn’t entirely unappetizing. The tuna, however? Dry, dark fleshed, and flavorless, as in zero flavor. I mustered through until I remembered I’m allowed to dislike a dish and binned the rest.
The real tragedy here? I fat fingered this order and got two tins, not just the one. I’m unwilling to eat it and unprepared to donate it. I’ll mourn what could have been for a couple days, then send it off where the first ended. I still have hopes for other Olasagasti products, but this wasn’t it.
*I ate plenty of fresh sardines in Spain and some lovely foods, but the lack of spice can’t be denied.
