Category Archives: cooking

susana perezosa

14 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in cooking, home, retail therapy, spain

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AKA Lazy Susan. A bit weird that in Spain they use a literal term (bandeja giratora = revolving tray) rather than a literal translation. In Portuguese they are known as “Susana preguiçosa”, which would be “Susana perezosa” in Spanish.

Anyhoodle, do you have any idea how hard these f*ckers are to find in Sevilla? That is, without spending the better part of a day hiking out to IKEA on the bus (which isn’t actually in Sevilla anyhow)? Well, it’s hard. I’ve been looking out for Lazy Susans ever since I moved into the latest casa az last February and have not seen them anywhere. But it turns out that a few places have started stocking them for the holiday season as they tend to be used here more for entertaining than the practicial use I’ve always thought they were made for.

Which is to be able to get at stuff in corner cupboards.

As you can see in the photo in this blog post, I’ve got a very deep corner cupboard just above the microwave. I never know what’s in there and can’t reach into it without getting up on the footstep thingy. And so yesterday I finally managed to find a couple of inexpensive Lazy Susans made of bamboo, which fit perfectly into my corner cupboards. Am now thinking of getting another one for the cupboard below. And maybe a smaller one for my spice cupboard! I’m so pathetically thrilled that I can now easily reach up for access to this cupboard after so long. But hey, simple pleasures and all that.

Anyone know why they are called Lazy Susans?

which comes first… the mortar or the pestle?

21 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by in cooking, culture, language

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This morning my friend WeeRascal asked on Twitter… Mortar and Pestle or Pestle and Mortar? and my answer was mortar and pestle as that was how I was brought up hearing it said. But my English friend Annie Bennett says she has always called it a pestle and mortar, while admitting that “we Brits have some strange habits as you know…”

I remember recently wincing when on a cooking programme – I think it was Jamie Oliver though it may have been Rick Stein – it was referred to as a pestle and mortar. It just sounded so… well, backwards!

Thinking about it logically, you first put your food item into the mortar before using the pestle; alphabetically the mortar wins out too.

What do you say?

rick stein’s spain

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in cooking, culture, sevilla, spain, video

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Remember back in May when that rascally Del sent me a surprise package containing the DVD of Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes? Well, he did it again with the latest series that features Spain.

As it was recently shown on tv in the UK, I’d been hearing various opinions about it on Twitter and couldn’t wait to see it for myself. And then it arrived today, which also happens to be WeeRascal’s birthday, so after getting home from an amazing lunchtime gourmet tapas tour, I just had to sit down and watch some of it.

Against Del’s and Ian’s advice I went straight to the fourth (and final) episode, which featured Sevilla. I was told that this was the best of the four and that it would be better to watch them “in order”, but how could I resist seeing my Sevilla on film? And… hmmm. I liked it, and will watch it again, but my first impression was that it didn’t really capture Sevilla very well. Which made me wonder if everyone who sees their “home town” represented in series like these feels the same. But it’s still great fun to watch and I am now wanting to travel more around Spain, especially the north.

Who wants to come with me?

the haggis

01 Sunday May 2011

Posted by in cooking, food & drink, friends, home

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When my friend Del (aka @WeeRascal) came for his third visit to Sevilla last month he brought me not just a haggis but The McSween Haggis, which I was assured was the very best haggis in Scotland. The proper accompaniment to a haggis dinner is tatties & neeps and luckily I was able to find some small turnips at the market. And so last night was the night! I had been waiting for flatmate Jessica to be in town long enough to join Nog and me for dinner and so, although I’d spent a pleasant afternoon tapearing with Rebecca from Jaén and wasn’t sure if I was up for another meal, there was nothing for it. The time had come to finally cook The Haggis.

A traditional haggis consists of lamb, beef, oatmeal and onions, plus a special blend of spices and seasoning, which are all cooked together in a natural casing, so all that is needed is to wrap it in foil and heat it through in the oven for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, the potatoes and turnips were put on to boil and afterwards were mashed with a bit of butter (didn’t know at the time that I was supposed to mash them together but they ended up being mixed on the plate anyhow). I had been “warned” by Del that I may want some ketchup or HP sauce as haggis tends to be a bit dry so, as I had no HP and can’t stand ketchup, I made up a batch of salsa az. Turns out it wasn’t necessary and most of it was left on my plate because the flavour and texture of The Haggis was simply wonderful and went perfectly with the mashed veg (and also with the excellent Ribera del Duero that Jessica had picked up that afternoon).

We all loved it and were reminded of Morcilla de Burgos, which is a delicious black pudding & rice Spanish sausage. And a big part of the fun was being able to share our first haggis experience with Del on Twitter, with other joining in too.

Thanks again Del – it was fabby!