Soft nougat ice cream. Bullfighting, culture or murder

Nick and I were invited to the conference of the bullfighter, or maestro as he was called, Enrique Ponce in the Club Nacional. He was in Lima for the Peruvian bullfighting fair called Señor de los Milagros which goes through October and ends on the 23rd of November.

The conference was programmed to start at 7.30pm followed by a formal dinner. Since we are more anglo than Spanish - in terms of punctuality - we arrived on time at the Club Nacional, a prestigious club created in 1855 by the 24 amigos group of the Partido Civil during the Republica Aristocratica. Nowadays, it gathers the most aristocratic families of Peru, but only men are allowed. Many think it is lo mas de lo mas - the best of the best.

You notice its respected reputation as soon as you step inside. There is an elegant atmosphere all around. It was in gloomy when I went last Friday night but I could still appreciate the golden furniture and the paintings from the 19th century, the magnificent marble stairs, the crystal chandelles and the implecable staff working there, men, of course. 

I must say I felt a bit uncomfortable, maybe because I didn't belong to the Peruvian elite or perhaps because I was a woman in a men's world. I couldn't guess why until I remembered that a few hours ago I visited a Peruvian guy in Chorrillos, a suburb of Lima. Diego created a social project called Alto Peru to teach street children from one of the most troubled area of Lima to surf, paint and practice muay-thai. Through those activities the kids were slowly integrated in the academic part of the project and then, happily in the society. 

I went in the morning to Alto Peru and in the evening, there I was, in "the club", surrounded by all that expensive glamour...a sad feeling was making my party mood change for moments. I had the image of an unbalanced world in my head. I had a sip of the pisco sour that a uniformed waiter placed in front of me without asking.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the flashes from the cameras of anxious journalists, trying to get the best picture of the handsome bullfighter Enrique Ponce. People were excited, agitated, heads were moving towards the entrance and the top of the stairs. Ponce had arrived, one hour late. Finally!, I thought, I am starving. A thin men was shaking hands, shy but smiling and greeting everybody. He is such a charming torero, the Spanish woman sat next to me whispered and I agreed, but being famous also helps not only a pretty face, I replied.

I wanted to hear Ponce's opinion about the controversial of the nature of bullfighting. Is it culture, murder or torture, as some say?

The conference began with a couple of introductions by recognised figures in the tauromaquia or bullfighting world about the successful trajectory of Enrique Ponce and his twenty five years of being a torero. He had many "ears and tails" cut in important bullfighting plazas, and six  (including the one of last Sunday) Escapularios de Oro del Señor de los Milagros in Lima - Golden Scapular given as an award to the best bullfighter of the year.

And then, a video about his life on the screen projector. In my opinion, it went too long, especially because it was 9.30pm and Ponce hadn't opened his mouth yet. When he finally did at 9.45, it was worth it. 

Ponce defended eloquently that the bullfighting was part of a country's culture. I am not worried about the people making noise outside the plaza or through social media; I am worried about the politicians who can "kill" that part of the culture. If the politicians ended the bullfighting, they were also extinguishing the Lidia bulls. Those bulls live like "kings" before being taken to the plaza.

El toreo is the art of playing with life and death and the only thing that it separates them from each other is a simple piece of cloth...and mutual respect. You never know what to expect in the spectacle. It is simple la leche! (literally, milk! which means is very good)

A woman like me, daughter of an Andalucian man, who was born loving bullfighting in his blood, and the wife of an Australian man who learnt to love bullfighting, I never liked it but I wasn't against either. I eat meat and I believe the animals that end being part of my bolognese haven't been patted nicely before being slaughtered. I should go one day to a matadero or slaughterhouse to see the cruel reality and stop being hypocrite with the meat - but then I would become a vegetarian, I think.

Wether you think it is culture, murder or torture, it is a personal question.

Somehow I respect bullfighting as part of my Spanish inheritance but I know that I have changed since I left Spain and live as an expat.

I just like bullfighting because I miss it. 

Photo de Ponce from last Sunday afternoon in Acho. I downloaded from Ojo digital newspaper

Yesterday we hosted a luncheon at the residence for the Woodside group, an Australian company. This is the menu I created:

 Homemade sourdough bread rolls. They were as hard as a stone! Too long in the oven...A disaster about which I laughed when the guests were leaving. Better to recognise the mistakes in public because everybody laughs too!

 My dad's gazpacho with reserve jamon. It was excellent!

The panfried tilapia fish with sauté spinach and zucchini from my garden, over romesco sauce. Delicious.

 My homemade soft nougat ice cream with fresh figs and mint from the garden. This ice cream is a perfect dessert for a Spanish Christmas time, when turron is eaten as sweet all over Spain. 

This recipe is from the cookbook "Barrafina"

• 500ml full-fat milk
• 500ml single cream
• 150g soft turron (nougat is made with almonds, honey and eggs and it comes from Alicante)
• 6 free range egg yolks
• 130g caster sugar

1. Put the milk, cream and turron in a bowl and covered for two hours or overnight in the fridge.
2. Put the egg yolks and sugar into a large bowl and whisk together until pale and creamy.
3. Gently heat the milk mixture in a medium pan until is hot, then whisk it into the eggs. Leave to cool completely, then churn in an ice cream maker until it looks like this:
   
4. Note: if you don't have the gadget, just put the mixture into a plastic container in the freezer and stir every 15 minutes, until the ice cream is full frozen. Perhaps it won't have the same creamy consistency, but it will be good to eat, especially if it is Christmas time!