Category Archives: andalucia

madrid fusion 2018

17 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by in andalucia, events, food & drink, gastronomy, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Madrid Fusión is an international gastronomy fair aimed particularly at chefs, but also at other industry professionals. As well as the main exhibition area, the highlights are the cooking demonstrations and master classes, wine tastings and competitions, and seminars on a wide range of topics from new cooking techniques to environmental issues.

This year’s event is the 15th edition and runs from the 22nd – 24th of January, and is extra special for Sevilla because the City Council and Tourism Board is promoting the city and its tapas, including a Tapas Jam Session “show cooking” on the opening day. This fabulous video features the four bars taking part in this presentation and I am so proud to be able to say that they are not only four of my favourite bars, chefs, owners and teams, but they are also my friends. I’d love to be there to cheer them on, but I have a previous work obligation so will be there in spirit instead.

The featured bars are: La Azotea (chef Santiago González) Cañabota (chef Marcos Nieto), El Gallinero de Sandra (chef & co-owner Nacho Dargallo) and Lalola Taberna (chef & owner Javier Abascal). Watch the video – it’s gorgeous.

[also posted on Azahar Sevilla]

a day in jerez

04 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by in andalucia, food & drink, getaways, sherry

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

Sometimes the best plans are the ones that are barely planned at all. I had started thinking about last year’s Birthday Month, when I took a short getaway trip each week of January to celebrate my big 6-OH birthday on the 7th (one day is never enough 😉 ). Anyhow, it seemed a bit much to celebrate 61 in the same way – but wait until I turn 65! – and yet I still wanted to do something special. So I decided that taking a day trip each week this month would be a fun thing to do. Then I realized that I was already in the middle of the first week and still hadn’t planned the first day trip!

Then by chance I got a “follow” on Instagram from Bodegas Fernandez Gao, an up and coming winery in Jerez I’d been interested in learning more about and, although I knew they still weren’t offering tours, I asked if I could pop by for a visit – and they said yes! So that sealed it. I decided to go to Jerez for the day. And of course I immediately got in touch with my friend Tomoko to see if she wanted to meet up. It turned out that there was already a little party planned at one of my favourite bodegas and I ended up getting an invite. But after our visit to Fernandez Gao we decided to stop off at Las Bandarillas for a quick lunch before heading over to Urium.

I can’t remember the number of impromptu fiestas I’ve stumbled upon at Bodegas Urium. At this point that place really feels like my second home in Jerez. This time expat pals Paul & Anne had arranged a little “sherry and Christmas cake” thing at the bodega, that ended up growing… and eventually included me and Peter.

It was a fabulous bodega party, with everyone (I think maybe 25 of us?) all standing around a long food-laden wooden table with sherry glasses in hand, all talking, all catching up. Some people I met for the first time, but it was mostly meeting up with old friends. Afterwards Paul, Ann and Tomoko joined us in the center of town for a “penúlitima” before we had to catch our train home. A perfect day out.

christmas lunch in málaga

16 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by in andalucia, christmas, Malaga, malaga getaway, travel, trips

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

The traditional Málaga Christmas lunch has taken place at many different locations and with different people over the years, but the one constant has always been these two, my lovely friends Arpy & Fred. This year it was just the three of us and we managed to get an early table at the fabulous Mesón Mariano, which was new to A & F. The place has been booked solid for holiday meals for over a month, but we got there right at opening time (expecting to sit at the bar) and were told we could have a table if we left before the booking came in. Which gave us an hour and a half, which was plenty of time to enjoy the following…

Garlicky clams, braised artichokes “montillana”, albondigón in almond sauce, and baby goat chops al ajillo. Because we had started lunch early I realised that I could probably comfortably catch the earlier train home, so I would arrive at 8 pm instead of 11 pm, and so that’s what I ended up doing. But we still had time for a penúlitima outside on the terrace of Mesón Cofradia. It all worked out perfectly and was a great way to finish my short-but-sweet Málaga getaway.

it didn’t rain!

15 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in andalucia, christmas, getaways, Malaga, malaga getaway, travel, trips

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

For the past week the forecast for Friday in Málaga was for RAIN. So l dutifully packed my umbrella but then faced a dilemma. Should l pack the book I’m presently reading (in case it rained) or an extra pair of shoes (in case it rained). There was only room in the suitcase for one (don’t ask) and in the end l opted to bring the book.

But then it didn’t rain. In fact it was a gloriously sunny and warm day. At first l was a bit unsure about what to do since l had nobody to go out and play with. All l knew is that l wanted my day to include a quick trip to Atarazanas market and a post-lunch drink on the terrace of the Gibralfaro Parador Hotel. And so first things first. I got to Atarazanas at 12.00, perfect for a quick beer and “brunch” snack (a grilled skewer of prawns and monkfish). Then l headed to the port with the idea of getting in a bit of a beach walk before lunch.

It’s been awhile since l actually walked along the port. Usually l either take the park or the Paseo de las Sorpresas to get to Malagueta beach. But today l also wanted to walk to the lighthouse so that meant venturing further along the quay. My god, what a mess (so no quay pics). I hear they are planning to put in a massive Hard Rock Café next to the Pompidou (guess they’re not expecting that contract to be renewed). What was initially an attempt at offering high end shopping with diverse dining options is now a sad array of cheap sunglasses and casual clothing shops along with the usual fast food suspects: Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, KFC, 100 Montaditos. So Hard Rock will fit in just fine. But really, what a sad mess.

Anyhow, l continued my walk down to the lighthouse and then along the beach until l reached the iconic Malagueta sign. By then it was time for lunch.

Luckily l had a recommendation from my friend Ania, and somewhere l had never been to – La Odisea. Unfortunately the dish l HAD to try (according to both Ania and Joanna) didn’t come as a tapa. So l ordered a media ración of the presa with peanut sauce and mushrooms, and it really was delicious. But after that l couldn’t eat anything else, so l headed out to catch the bus up to the Parador.

I was lucky to find the one table with this lovely view free, so l spent a pleasant hour enjoying a glass of wine in the sun. Then l walked back to the centre. Got there just before sunset and almost went to the Marriott AC rooftop bar to watch the sun go down but was told l had to buy an 8€ ticket to go up, which included a drink. WTF? So l headed home instead and relaxed there for a couple of hours before l took a final evening stroll to enjoy the lights. What a perfect day.