Category Archives: food & drink

back in the kitchen

12 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in azahars kitchen, casa azahar, food & drink

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Some of you may know that one of my (too many?) websites is azahar’s kitchen, a recipe blog that I started back in 2009. It’s “moved house” a couple of times over the years, from WP.com to my own hosted sites.

Some of you may also be aware of a recent flutter of activity on that blog, which started after I published a new recipe (requested by my friend Ann when she saw a pic of my albóndigas al oloroso on social media). Then I found a bunch of photos that I had filed away for “later”, so I have added text to those and put them up too. There are still a couple to go.

This is totally a “hobby blog” just because I enjoy cooking, and also sharing the recipes I come up with (sometimes on my own, more usually a combination of several recipes I’ve found online or in books, which then get edited into one I prefer. So drop by and have a look. You can also subscribe to be notified when new recipes go up.  🙂

tim is back!

03 Monday Jun 2019

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla

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This is Tim’s @biltawulf third time in Sevilla. We first met (in person, before that we were Twitter pals) in 2016 when he came here with his friend Ed and took a tapas tour with me. The next year he was back with a group of friends to celebrate a Special Birthday. I also saw him a couple of weeks ago in London when I revisted Maltby Street Market.

This time Tim was supposed to be here with our mutual friend John @cityjohn, who I also saw in London during the last getaway, but sadly John had to be elsewhere this week. So Tim and I are doing our best to make him jealous with lots of sunny Sevilla pics while he shivers in the Scottish rain. It’s going to be a busy few days with Tim, which started off with a couple of cold beers followed by a nice evening tapeo. On Tuesday I’ll be taking him out on a sherry & tapas tour, after which he’s going to do a cooking class. And on his final day… who knows? Nice having him back in town.  🙂

the finca buenvino cookbook

01 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by in books, cooking, food & drink

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While I was at Finca Buenvino I also picked up my very own (signed!!) copy of their wonderful cookbook. An unpretentious gem of a book, you will fall in love not only with the homespun recipes, but also with the history behind this beautiful guest house and its charming and welcoming hosts.

You can get yours here…

The Buenvino Cookbook: Recipes from our farmhouse in Spain

finca buenvino

31 Friday May 2019

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

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Sam & Jeannie Chesterton

I’ve been virtual friends with Jeannie @jeanniechesterton and Sam @samchesterton on social media for years and have been wanting to visit their Finca Buenvino ever since  I first heard of it. So when Alexis @evoo_workshop said she was heading up there to do an olive oil tasting, and J & S invited me for lunch, I naturally jumped at the chance.

It turned out that the people who were to be Alexis’s olive oil clients were also doing a photo shoot at Finca Buenvino, and the photographer was none other than Tim Clinch @clinchpics, who I had met here in Sevilla a couple of years ago, and who is also a close friend of Jeannie & Sam.

Aside from being the Chesterton’s family home for more than 35 years, Finca Buenvino is also a peaceful mountain retreat, nestled in the hills in Huelva, just a short drive from Sevilla. There are two self-catering cottages on the grounds, as well as six B&B rooms in the main house, with various activities available, including cooking classes run by Jeannie.

While Alexis did her tasting I wandered around the gorgeous sprawling house and grounds, including a trip over to the spectacular salt water infinity pool, followed by the Buenvino dogs, until it was time for lunch. Which was fabulous. Along with the house guests, we were joined by the Chesterton sons, Sam, who shares cooking duties with his mother, and Jago, who works at nearby Cinco Jotas, producer of exquisite Jamón Ibérico de Bellota.

It was a spendid day in the country, and one that I hope I can repeat again soon. Thanks for the wonderful hospitality Los Chestertons, and thanks to Alexis for taking me there and back again. Photos below…

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roma & john & jane

22 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in food & drink, friends, tapas, tapas bars

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Roma, John & Jane

So Jane & John were back in town this past week. They’d told me of their plans for a return visit quite awhile ago and I was looking forward to spending time with them, but then the London trip suddenly came up and I ended up being away for most of their visit. But we had a lovely lunch at Vida Loca yesterday, and today met up one more time at La Barra de Inchausti for a last meal together.

With Roma! Who just arrived in Sevilla yesterday. I first met Roma on a tapas tour in 2014 and she has been back to Spain a few times since then. We last saw each other in Córdoba a couple of years ago when Peter & I went to “do feria” with her there. It’s very seldom (if ever?) that my various friends from around the globe end up meeting, so this was fun. Also looking forward to a quick trip to Cádiz with Roma over the weekend.