To revamp the menu at Candela Tapas Lounge in Hanover, owner James Van Kirk looked to his native Puerto Rico.
There, he found Executive Chef Angel del Ruiz, who has more than 20 years of experience in U.S. and Caribbean kitchens, a degree from the Florida Culinary Institute, with additional training from the Culinary Institute of America.
Ruiz arrived at Candela on Jan. 24 and will be visiting for three weeks. He said he’s up for an adventure: It’s his first time seeing snow. And, so far, “very polite people” in Hanover have made him feel at home.
During his visit, Ruiz is working with Van Kirk’s employees to develop new menu items. It’s difficult to find chefs in the Upper Valley with experience in Caribbean, Spanish and Latin American cooking, Van Kirk said.
“This is a great learning experience for the staff,” he said.
Chef Darin Perry, who has been at Candela for about a year, has worked at several Upper Valley eateries over the years, including the Ivy Grill, a Hanover Inn-based precursor to Pine; Fire Stones, a Quechee eatery which is now closed, and Mojo’s Bistro, which once occupied the space where the Canoe Club is now. Most recently, Perry offered catering services on his own.
“I’ve been doing a lot of different foods,” said Perry, as he worked with Ruiz one afternoon last week. “Now, this is something new.”
In Candela’s cozy, dimly lit kitchen last week, Ruiz and Perry put together several dishes not yet on the restaurant’s menu. They aim to combine flavors of the Caribbean, Spain and Latin America, such as peppers, starches, pineapple, avocado and olives, with local meats and New England-caught fish, when available, Ruiz said.
Ruiz, dressed in a white button-up chef’s shirt and apron, chopped plantains into pieces, fried them once, then pressed them into small pancakes, before frying them again to make tostones.
He topped the tostones with previously-prepared ropa vieja, which literally translated means “old clothes.” The Cuban dish is made from shredded beef marinated in sofrito — a combination of peppers, onions, garlic and cilantro that forms the basis of many Latin dishes (see recipe below).
“If you don’t have Grandma’s sofrito, you’re done,” Van Kirk said, as he watched.
Ruiz completed the dish by topping the meat with manchego cheese, capers and slices of house-roasted red pepper.
Next, Perry prepared a tempura batter for bang bang shrimp. Ruiz poured club soda into the flour mixture as Perry stirred. After coating the shrimp in the batter, Perry then placed them into the fryer. Once crisp, he moved them to soft taco shells, topping them with spicy Asian mayonnaise and slaw.
Also new to the menu, thanks to Ruiz, are crab cakes with papaya-mango coulis, avocado crema and fried plantain strips.
Candela will have been open in the former Rosey Jeke’s Cafe space for four years in May. It’s time to freshen up the restaurant’s offerings, Van Kirk said.
Van Kirk sold his share in Melaza Bistro, in Woodstock, to make the move to Hanover when the space became available in 2013. His past experience includes marketing for Kellogg’s and Anheuser-Busch, as well as a stint in sports management. He came to Quechee after his father, who owned a vacation home there, died in 2009. He teamed up with fellow Puerto Rican native David Diaz, a former chef at the Quechee Club, to open Melaza in 2010.
The restaurant business suits Van Kirk’s exuberant personality.
“I’m hyper a little bit,” he said.
When Candela first opened, Van Kirk said he found that the concept of tapas, small dishes which are meant to be shared, was new to some customers, who were accustomed to appetizer and entree combinations, Van Kirk said.
But many have made the adjustment, he said. Favorite dishes on Candela’s current menu include arroz mamposteao, a blend of Puerto Rican red beans and rice, butternut squash, plantains and sofrito, Perry said. The combination of the crunch of the rice and the soft vegetables helps make this a staple, he said.
Customers also like Candela’s Sancho Panza, braised pork belly on a bed of sweet potato mash, topped with an apple cider demi glace and red cabbage and carrot slaw, Perry said. The dish is named for Don Quixote’s portly, comical sidekick in Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s novel. Panza means “belly” in Spanish.
Also likely to stay on the menu alongside the new additions are meatballs, although the chefs may change up the meat and spices, Van Kirk said.
Desserts such as churros, a Spanish fried donut, tossed in cinnamon and sugar, accompanied by a caramel sauce, will also remain.
Though Van Kirk came to the restaurant business without a background in the industry, his wife and Candela co-owner Natalia Karaulova, grew up helping in her parents’ restaurant in the Ukraine. Getting over a cold, Karaulova, a 2015 graduate of Colby-Sawyer College, stayed out of the kitchen as the chefs cooked last week. Normally, she does a little bit of everything at the restaurant, she said.
She most enjoys building relationships with the restaurant’s customers, she said.
“It’s rewarding to make at least a little change in our customers’ lives,” she said.
For more information about Candela call 603-277-9094 or go to candelatapas.com.
Sofrito
A traditional Puerto Rican and Spanish cooking base, sofrito is an ingredient in many of Candela’s dishes.
Makes: 1 gallon
10 bunches of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup garlic
1 cup green olives
1 roasted red bell pepper, cut in half
2 jumbo yellow onions, quartered
5 green bell peppers, seeded and cut in half
1 tablespoon salt
1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped
5 large tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup water
Clean all of the produce. Combine in a food processor. Store in a lidded glass container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. It can also be frozen.
Puerto Rican Mofongo, Mashed Plantains
Makes: 2 servings
3 cups canola oil for frying
3 cloves garlic, or to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 cup crushed fried pork skins
2 green plantains, peeled and sliced into ½-inch rounds
salt to taste
1 tablespoon sofrito
Heat canola oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees. Mash the garlic with the olive oil with a mortar and pestle.
Fry the plantain chunks until they become golden and crisp, but not brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer the fried plantains into the bowl with the garlic mixture. Toss to coat. Mash the coated plantains with the mortar and pestle until smooth. Season with salt.
Roll the plantain mixture into two large balls or several small balls before serving.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
