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.
I’ve mentioned the Tunas here before, but can’t find where now. They are usually university students and each different faculty (medicine, law, engineering etc) has its own group of wandering minstrals who dress up and play traditional songs, usually to make a bit of beer money and pick up girls. Though I remember once in Salamanca seeing a group of Tunas below a balcony serenading an 80-year-old woman, which remains in my mind as one of the most endearing things I have ever seen.
For the past week or so I’ve been seeing all sorts of Tunas wandering around, and many a bit long in the tooth to be university students. So I finally stopped and asked what was going on and it turns out there is an international Tuna competition going on here. Tonight I saw a group from Mexico! But this group in the video are from nearby Granada.
It was more than five years ago that I first happened upon Norberto León’s tiny studio while out for tapas with Nog and my dear friend Craig. It was a truly magical experience to come across Norberto and his helpers working away on that hot July night in 2006 and – me being nosy – popped my head inside to ask what was going on.
Since that night I’ve become pals with Norberto and we may still become biz associates one day (if I ever get my darned online store up and running!). I love his work and have had my eye on a rather large Sevilla serigraph skyline of his that I’d love to have in my living room. Well, maybe one day.
But today was a public holiday (Todos los Santos or The Day of the Dead) and by 11am I was getting a bit stir-crazy. Gym was closed, shops weren’t open, and what the hell was I going to do all day other than sit in front of the computer? So I decided to go out for a walk and do some work-related stuff, taking photos of a bar that I hope will become my latest social media client, and also a few photos of an actual client. It was a gorgeous morning – the first of November, 25º and me still wearing sandals.
And that’s when I saw Norberto sitting outside the cathedral, working away on his craft, with several items around him for sale. So we had a chat, I took this photo, got a kiss and then he told me about this video a friend of his had made about his work. I don’t think you need to understand Spanish to “get it”.
So this is what I’ll be doing over the next three days – attending the Andalucía Sabor Fine Food Exhibition – which kicks off this morning with a jamón slicing competition. Though in fact it began yesterday evening with an interesting and entertaining round-table discussion with three of Spain’s top chefs (Juan Mari Arzak, Carme Ruscalleda and Dani Garcia) about the Mediterranean diet and why eating locally and in season is so important.
Last year I had wangled an invitation to the Best New Chef competition so I guess I was still “on file” because of that, and so I was happy to receive an email a few weeks ago inviting me to attend this year’s Andalucía Sabor as Press or, more accurately, one of the bloggers that will be not only be allowed entrance (normal admission price is 75 euros) but also will have a blogger’s area with access to tables and plugs for laptops, etc. This would be an ideal moment to use the iPad I still don’t have. So I will just be armed with my iPhone as both laptops are too heavy to lug around all day, especially as I’m still having to wear the “faja” to hold my operation incision together.
And as if attending a three-day conference wasn’t enough I also have Sevilla Tapas Tours tonight and Thursday night, plus a presentation meeting with a prospective social media client tomorrow evening (another instance where an iPad would come in handy). Meanwhile I still have my daily work with my other clients to keep up with…
Speaking of which, best get that done while I down another cup of coffee, then I’ll have to hit the shower and get out of here. The conference centre is way the hell out near the airport, about half an hour on the bus, but at least there is a direct route there with the stop just five minutes from my house. Okay – gotta run!
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.
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…”
Remember back in May when that 
