Abanico inspires the palate, sparks memories of Spain: City Juice with John Malik – GREENVILLE JOURNAL
Greenville, South Carolina
Charcuterie. It’s French for cured meat. It is literally translated as flesh/cooked. Spaniards would say charcutería or carne curada. Charcuterie isn’t pancakes, strawberries or pretzel sticks. To really understand charcuterie, have a slice of jamón ibérico. This is ham from the southwest of Spain and Portugal with 1,000 years of tradition, cured from the legs of the black-hooved (pata negra) iberico pig that would gladly eat 1,000 acorns a day. It’s supple, nutty, ethereal and extravagant, and it doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near that pretzel stick.
April Moro, owner of Abanico Tapas Bar & Restaurant in downtown Greenville, told me it’s worth every penny. “That ham, it’s so expensive and so, so wonderful,” Moro said. “For many years, Spain ruled the world and their food, the sauces, sangria, gazpacho, the vegetables and of course the cured hams, that Spanish influence can be found across the world.”
At Abanico, I like to share slices of iberico ham with patatas bravas. It’s a simple dish of fried potatoes tossed in a pureed sauce of onion, garlic, dried peppers, tomato and sherry vinegar. It reminds me of the salsa rojo one can find atop a beef burrito at a nice Mexican restaurant. The menu at Abanico highlights the simplicity and time-tested technique of Spain’s culinary traditions which use every part of an animal or vegetable. There are dates stuffed with Spanish almonds and wrapped in bacon, braised oxtail, marinated beef tongue, silky beef cheeks braised in beef broth, fried eggplant topped with honey and sunflower seeds, and empanadas filled with black beans.
All that great Spanish food could fall flat without an appropriate glass or two of Spanish wines and Abanico doesn’t disappoint with its legitimate selection of albarino, garnacha, tempranillo and sherry. If your timing is good, you might land a seat at one of their two tables along the street, order a glass of garnacha and let Moro guide you through tapas and charcuterie as they were meant to be enjoyed.
From those tables, you can watch Greenville’s foot traffic and marvel at the diversity of our restaurants and visitors. Moro told me one of the best things about owning Abanico is meeting people from all over the world who chose to visit Greenville, especially those that have visited Spain and love its food.
Years ago, I spent 10 days in Spain and enjoyed such simple, glorious food while a Spanish bailaora danced the flamenco with an abanico — the colorful, folding fan. Somehow, I haven’t returned. An evening meal at Greenville’s Abanico reminds me of that adventure and the next morning I was looking at flights to Madrid.
Abanico, at 21 E. Washington St., is tiny; there are maybe 45 seats in the dining room and bar upstairs. Dinner is served Wednesdays through Saturdays and reservations are a good idea.
