In the hands of chef James Martin, a simple sandwich is transformed into a fine dining experience. In his jewel box of an eatery located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, guests at Bocadillo Market enjoy dishes that merge the flavors of Martin’s South Carolina roots with that of Spanish cuisine.
“Bocadillo is the Spanish word for sandwich,” he explains. “When my wife Jessica and I got married, our honeymoon was in Spain. We’ve been there a few times now. Anytime we travel, we love great food. But we also look for the most humble ingredients.”
When it came time for the couple to visualize a restaurant concept, they turned to the popular Spanish sandwich as the backbone of their menu. The result is a dining experience where everyone feels invited.
The South Carolina and Spain Connection
“My mother and I went to a farmers market in Washington, D.C. We generally went to Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. In South Carolina, my mother’s side of the family lived practically on a farm,” recalls Martin, who was born in D.C. and raised in Landover, Maryland.
The chef’s roots to South Carolina food culture and hospitality came via parents who were both native Carolinians. “I grew up traveling to South Carolina quite a bit, whether for summer trips or holidays,” he shares. It was during these family gatherings that the budding culinary pro grew to love dishes like lima beans and ham hocks, greens and rice, lots of rice.
Then, during his professional culinary training, Martin took note of the similarities between the ingredients and techniques used in South Carolina and Spanish cuisines.
“I’ve been cooking in restaurants since I was 15 from fast food—like Checkers and Five Guys Domino’s—to working at Michelin Star restaurants. I saw a lot of connections with the ingredients that we cooked with in the South like paprika, which is a very important ingredient in South Carolina but also in Spain,” he notes.
Martin also points out the impact of North Africa on southern Spanish cooking, particularly the use of spices like saffron, cumin, coriander and bay leaves. “That’s a really important piece of how I cook today,” he says. “For our smoked lamb bocadillo, I get the lamb from a local farm I’ve been working with for six to seven years now, Slagel Family Farm. We smoke that [lamb] in-house with our signature Andalusian spice, which is inspired by southern Spain and by north Africa.”
By Jocelyn Amador
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Cuisine Noir Magazine is the country’s first Black food publication, launched in 2009 and dedicated to connecting the African diaspora through food, drink and travel. To read the rest of this article and more, visit www.cuisinenoirmag.com.
