Category Archives: food & drink

pat’s tapas tour revisited

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in cancer, food & drink, friends, tapas, tapas tours, video

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ellen and hilaryJust over a month ago I got an email from a woman called Ellen who said she was an acquaintance of Pat’s from the Colon Club forum. Ellen had seen the video I’d made for Pat and, as she was going to be in Spain soon with her partner Hilary, asked about the possibility of doing Pat’s Tapas Tour. And well, I was delighted to do this.

So on Tuesday I met them at the Cathedral and we headed off to the first stop. It was quite an emotional experience talking to someone who had known Pat, even a little (Ellen had only had contact with Pat on the CC forum, looking for advice about her then partner, who has since died of cancer). But it was also fun to see how both Ellen and Hilary recognised the places we went to, as well as the food, and also some of the waiters and owners. And of course we talked about Pat… brought back so many feelings and memories.

Still miss you, Pat. And I always will. xx

a day off

13 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by in food & drink, retail therapy, sevilla, spain, tapas, twitter, wine

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tio pepe en rama
So this is what I did on Friday! It was supposed to be a day off but my friend Fiona (aka Scribbler in Seville) asked if I was going to this very cool wine tasting event, which led to us both going there and then going for tapas afterwards, followed by a visit to a pop-up store that was taking place in a lovely boutique hotel, which included having rooftop drinks. After that I met up with Peter and as it was such a beautiful warm evening we just strolled around, eventually stopping for more tapas. I think I do less on working days! How do you like to spend days off?

For more info about this limited edition wine have a look here: Tío Pepe en Rama 2013

a lot of bull

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by in food & drink, sevilla, tapas

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toro de lidia jornadaI went to this press conference last week that announced a promotion of “bull meat products” by way of a competition by about 30 bars and restaurants in town, the challenge being to create a special tapa using the meat of the Toro Bravo (aka Toro de Lidia), which are the bulls raised to fight in the ring. Thing is, a lot of these bulls never make it to the ring and, as they are all free range and healthy as heck, they are a very good source of animal protein.

So I wrote up a blog post on Azahar’s Sevilla and thought that was it until I got a call from the Sevilla Tourism office asking me to be one of the judges. I was given a list of four tapas bars to visit and a form to fill out for each one, rating the tapa. I need to have this done by Sunday and hand in my results on Monday and then, if I want to, attend the awards presentation on Tuesday that will take place on the Feria grounds (the famous Feria de Abril starts at midnight on Monday).

Now I just need to find the time! Honestly so busy these days I barely have time to turn around. Not complaining though. I think this is the life I’ve always wanted! 🙂

gourmet food tours

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in food & drink, sevilla, spain, tapas tours, trips, wine, work

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lujo
My latest project! I’ve been asked by a luxury tour group to plan a few new “products” for them, based around gourmet food and wine tours in various cities in Andalucía. Excited? You bet! The main problem I’m having at the moment is narrowing the focus to keep the tours intimate and very special. It’ll definitely be a new experience for me, travelling with clients for a few days and keeping them well-fed and happy. Somehow I think I’ll be very good at that. Anyhow, watch this space!

rainy day bbq

18 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in food & drink, friends, home

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rainy day bbq
Yes, it’s those Jets Like Taxis guys again, Ang & Ryan, this time enjoying a rainy day BBQ on my rooftop. This BBQ had been “in the making” for weeks and was originally going to include two other couples, but in the end I had to cancel twice because of The Rain. Then we got to talking about it during our Macarena day trip and, as this was Ang & Ryan’s last weekend in town, decided that we could sort of half-organise a BBQ for just four people (including Peter) so if we had to cancel last minute then no big deal. Basically it would be burgers & dogs, with Ang in charge of making her famous flavour-packed burgers and me getting some nice chorizo criollo to fill in as hotdogs. Of course – you know me – I had to be sure there was “enough food”, so I also made a nice spinach tortilla and some bacon & cheese croquettes as starters. Next to nothing was left over.

Everything was looking great until Peter lit the charcoal. Suddenly large black clouds swooped in and threatened to, well, threaten our BBQ. But we decided WTF and went ahead with it anyway. And it was fabulous! We sat under one of the large awnings in the rain (the BBQ was under the other one) listening to Paco de Lucía, drinking beer and wine, and seriously eating. There was something quite cosy about sitting out in the rain but being all dry and comfy and warm. How was your Sunday?