I love living in Sevilla. This evening was just one example of why.
Nog was out teaching so I went out to do a bit of shopping, then met him after his class. We decided it was such a lovely evening that we didn’t want to go home yet and convinced each other that we should go out for tapas (even though we should be saving money right now).
So off to one of our favourite local places, Modesto, for a ‘fritura’ – a kind of tempura-style dish of breaded and fried onion, red & green pepper with several fat fried prawns on top. After that we ordered some sizzling garlic prawns, just cos we’d never tried them there before (we usually have those at Bar Las Teresas).
Meanwhile, a guy came in who looked like he was perhaps a lottery ticket seller – also obviously a regular though we’d never seen him before. And after a bit of bantering the barmen brought him a huge plate of various fried things – clearly a special order – and I asked Manolo (who I call Cheyanne, but that’s another story) what the big round things were, cos I’d never seen them before either. And Sebastian the chef called out from the kitchen – nice open kitchen in front of the bar where we usually sit – that they were battered lettuce. I said ‘get outta here’. He said ‘hang on a sec’.
Five minutes later we were handed a complementary dish of battered & fried lettuce (the long thick crispy stuff, similar to romaine lettuce) as well as some delicately breaded aubergine with alioli on top. 😯
And it was wonderful!!! I asked Sebastian if it was on the menu and he said no – that sometimes they make up the lettuce thing to serve as a garnish with certain dishes . . .
It was just ever-so-slightly unfortunate that we were already quite stuffed after the fritura and garlic prawns to finish off the lettuce fritters . . . but it was just one of the many, many lovely and really human and really nice things that keep happening here.
Not sure how well I managed to get that feeling across. Also, after three glasses of rioja I’m feeling a bit squiffy and so should probably toddle off to bed. Might edit this a bit mañana . . .
rev.paperboy said:
Hey Az,
Tag, you’re it!
8 random things
LikeLike
azahar said:
Oh no! You waskely wabbit, I oughtta . . . 😉
az
LikeLike
Angelswithfur said:
Shawn,
Love your blog, or whatever these are called (I am such an internet virgin…I just email really). I am stressing out right now because I have a few deadlines coming up, but after reading your thing about why you love Sevilla, it just transported me back to that lovely city…we can’t wait to be in Sevilla again!!! By the way…it’s Sofia in New York…angels with fur refers to our animals. Only 39 days to go until we are back in Spain!!!
LikeLike
azahar said:
I knew it was you as soon as I saw ‘angels with fur’ 🙂
Well, it won’t be long now. Not sure if you’ve ever been to Modesto but it’s worth checking out. And you guys can meet P. Really looking forward to seeing you both again (well, you three, including the little angel).
Glad you like the blog – just a bit of fun and kind of an extension of the h2g2 forum I’m on. This place gets less ‘traffic’ but there are fewer restrictions.
Anyhow, it’s a lovely sunny Saturday morning so going to have some coffee now before we go out to do our usual Saturday morning errands.
az
LikeLike
Ivan said:
Battered lettuce? Blimey.
LikeLike
azahar said:
I know – sounds totally weird. But it was gorgeous. And who’da thunk it?
az
LikeLike
azahar said:
Sofia (angelswithfur) and Lorelei are now here and so last night we took them out to Modesto – no fried lettuce but a wonderful time was somewhat squiffily had by all.
Here we are sitting in our ‘usual spot’ – at the bar in front of the open kitchen. 🙂
Sofia, Lorelei & Peter
Manolo the barman
All of us
LikeLike
dragonqueen said:
Aww, looks delicious! I bought a small bucket of seafood tapas at my grocery store yesterday. That and garlic bread will be my treat Friday evening… hopefully it will be warm enough to sit out at the balcony..
LikeLike
azahar said:
Was it warm enough?
These days it’s too damn hot to sit outside – much more comfortable inside with air conditioning.
One of the great things about going out for tapas is that it can be either a full meal or just a light snack. Often Nog and I just share two or three tapas, have a glass of wine each and it’s a lovely snack out for about 12 euros.
LikeLike
azahar said:
Back to Modesto tonight for the famous fritura *waves to Teuchter!* 😛
If you click on the link and then ‘especialidades’ you’ll get a good look at the fritura Modesto and if you click on ‘carta’ you’ll see even more gorgeous stuff.
It was quite lively there this evening – and the food was incredible as always. Now the tunas are playing outside, just below my balcony … I must be living in Spain.
🙂
LikeLike
azahar said:
I know these are London prices but 42 pounds for 5 tapas, 2 glasses of wine, 1 dessert and 1 coffee seems a bit much. That’s about 60 euros. 😯
El Parador, London
Also, none of the ‘tapas’ sounded like anything I’ve ever seen here.
LikeLike