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XX 212

A couple of years ago I spent the summer on the Costa Brava, in a town called Tossa de Mar. As the name suggests, the town is on the sea, with a beautiful broad beach. The highlight for me was high on the cliff overlooking the ocean, flanking the medieval castle: a bronze almost-lifesize statue of Ava Gardner, in honor of the film she made in the sleepy fishing village in 1951. (She was married to Frank Sinatra at the time, and he was crazy jealous of her affair with a Spanish bullfighter, so he followed her to Spain.) Kooky.

My goal for the sojourn in Catalonia was to find and eat wonderful food, which I did, again and again. Of course, the Spanish serve paella constantly in restaurants, especially in those serving tourists, so we couldn’t avoid it. It was hardly ever bad, but when it was good it was very very good. So, of course I had to develop a recipe for the perfect paella when I came home. I decided to make the Catalonian version, a dish called fideuà, or paella made with noodles instead of rice. I was taught the technique by one of the best chefs in Barcelona, Toni Martin (pronounced mar-teen).

It’s a great dish for this season because you can make it outside, on the grill. I highly recommend getting a paella pan, though, because the dish cooks better and looks magnificent when it comes to the table.

Summer hit full force this week (“Where are my shorts? Where did I hang that cute dress I bought at the end of August?”). It’s time to think about eating outside, dusting off the grill, cocktails with umbrellas and, of course, summer wine.

I called my friend Roberta Morrell, of the perennially chic MORRELL WINE in Rockefeller Center to ask for her advice on what wines to stock up on for summer entertaining. She came up with a brilliant selection, heavy on rosé, which is exactly right. Rosé wine has become hyper trendy in the last few years, because it’s light and delicious for summer. As a result, winemakers have been producing more and more interesting types of rosé.

After I received Roberta’s suggestions, I realized that the mixed case of wine would be a fabulous gift for a weekend host (“so much better than a piece of china” said Roberta).

Be sure to sign up for the email NEWSLETTER of Morrell Wine; Roberta has free tastings all the time, usually from 3 to 6PM, and always featuring dynamic winemakers themselves.