17 Tuesday Mar 2026
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, sevilla
A great evening at the Academia Sevillana de GastronomĂa colloquium; the topic: Sevilla, gateway for cocoa arriving to Europe (16th century) 🍫 I bet you didn’t know that! Organised by my friend MĂłnica, many thanks to everyone involved…
02 Tuesday Dec 2025
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, sevilla, wine
Every year the Academia Sevilla de GastronomĂa chooses a local product to feature and 2025 has been the Año de los Vinos de Sevilla. The closing ceremony for the year was today and it was held at the Cruzcampo Foundation. What used to be an easy half-hour trip on the 27 bus is now an hour-long trek with the bus stop twice as far from home. As it was raining I had to wait for it to let up because I can’t use an umbrella with the crutches so I arrived almost an hour late. But although I missed a large portion of the presentation I was well on time for the reception that followed. As usual it was great to meet up with everyone, something I haven’t been able to do as much lately.
I was thrilled to become a member of the Academia in 2023 and have enjoyed participating in the various events and activities held throughout each year. But being on crutches has limited my ability to join in, with some visits requiring a lot of walking or standing, and others that we are required to pay for, like special dinners which, on top of the annual fee, are just not possible for me anymore. Because I’m also not able to work. So very sadly I think I will have to (I hope temporarily) resign from the Academia until I am able to participate fully again.
Meanwhile, in case you missed it, here’s an article I wrote in honour of the Año de los Vinos de Sevilla, all about The Wines of Sevilla. Cheers! 🍷
25 Wednesday Jun 2025
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, friends, gastronomy, sevilla
Julio Moreno & Manuel Salinero
The wonderful Julio Moreno has stepped down as president of the Academia Sevillana de GastronomĂa y Turismo (of which I became a proud member in June 2023) and super-foodie Manuel Salinero is stepping up. Today the Academy held a tribute luncheon for Julio at Ispal with most of the academy members showing up (no small feat, it’s like herding cats!) as well as some special guests from the gastronomy and tourism scene here.Â
We enjoyed a fabulous sevillano meal with modern touches, the wine flowed, speeches were given, gifts relayed (my favourite was the apron we all signed for Julio)… the outpouring of honest love and respect from everyone present was truly moving to witness. Anyhow, Julio isn’t going far. He is now officially recognised as Presidente de Honor, though we are calling him the presidente eterno, and he will still be with us at activities and events. But now he has more time to enjoy his other pastimes too and only has to see us when he wants to. What a guy. Big love.Â
27 Friday Sep 2024
I’ve become one of those old ladies who takes the bus for just two stops, but on the other hand I’m glad that I’m relatively well-connected from my house with public transport as it makes stuff like this possible (and saves on taxi fare! a bus ride is just 35 cents). Popped in to the first afternoon session of the second Festival de la Ensaladilla y el Montadito hosted by the Academia Sevilliana de GastronomĂa y Turismo (of which I am a pround member) and Sevilla City Office. Some changes from last year’s event included awnings put up along the grounds and lots more tables, including low ones with chairs (!!!). After I had dutifully taken pics of all the participant’s stalls I was shown to a table and chairs magically appeared out of nowhere, which was quite a relief by then. From there Peter played waiter and brought food and drinks over from the stands. We only managed to try two of each but it was nice to get out and sit next to the river, also nice to see a lot of familiar faces.
Unfortunately I totally forgot to take photos of the grounds, which looked very pretty this year, so I swiped one from the Academia’s social media. But I did manage to get one of the riverside from out table and also the Torre del Oro across from the bus stop on the way home (see below).
cuttlefish and prawn ensaladilla (no potatoes!)
solomillo al whisky montadito
serranito montadito
classic potato ensaladilla with tuna
17 Monday Jun 2024
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, getaways, sevilla, spain
A day away in beautiful Carmona with the Academia Sevillana de GastronomĂa y Turismo for their annual Asamblea General. First up was a meeting at City Hall where we were welcomed by the mayor of Carmona, followed by a visit to an ancient hypogeum from Roman times, discovered in 1999, next to the nearby temple of San Felipe, which we also visited.
After that it was off to the Alcázar for the general assembly, which in the end I couldn’t attend (!!!) because it was AT THE TOP of the fortress wall up three long flights of stairs (nobody had thought to tell me this in advance) so I sat it out downstairs sadly watching on my phone (zoom, no sound). Not ideal to say the least.
Then we had lunch at one of my favourite places in Carmona, Casa Curro Montoya. The last time I was there (and in Carmona) was back in 2015, when I met the owners Bernardi and Germán; the latter’s grandfather was the famed flamenco singer Curro Montoya. Anyhow, it was lovely to be back even though… MORE STAIRS. But just one flight this time. And I got to catch up with a few Academia members I hadn’t seen in a while and also get to know some others. So while it was a bit of a hit and miss experience it did leave me wanting to go back to Carmona again, hopefully soon. It really is a beautiful city and residents are rightfully proud of its long and intriguing history.
owners Germán & Bernardi – Casa Curro Montoya
casa azahar 