Category Archives: food & drink

jaded?

12 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in food & drink, restaurants, tapas, tapas tours, work

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After five years of running the Sevilla Tapas blog and more than two years doing the Tapas Tours, I’ve been wondering lately if I might be getting a bit jaded.

Sure, a plate of perfectly sliced jamón Ibérico de bellota is still an exquisite thing of beauty to me, and I continue to enjoy trying new places and dishes, but more often than not these days I end up feeling a bit let down. Could it be me?

NAAAH! It’s them! Seriously, I am getting so sick and tired of tapas bars that open up out of nowhere and think that just because they have light fixtures made out of coat hangers or bring your cutlery to the table in a Hello Kitty pencil case that this somehow allows them to charge you outrageous prices for ordinary food (the 5€ tapa is becoming the norm in such places), and then add a mysterious “cubierto” charge that can include anything from bread to napkins to who knows what. In spite of the economic crisis here, new tapas bars seem to be opening every week and most of the new ones are trying to “out cute” each other, focusing more on style than substance.

Very glad now that I changed my reviewing policy back in January as it seems that more than ever people should be warned about these places. Frankly, there are very few (maybe two) tapas bars in Seville that can get away with charging 5€ for a tapa. The rest are just bullshit. And it’s spoiling what going out for a tapa is really all about. It’s about meeting friends, or even just going out for a quick bite on your own, knowing you’ll get a nice snack and a drink that is more often than not cheaper than what you could have whipped up at home.

Is this sort of pretentious dining trend happening where you live too?

100 food list challenge

11 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in food & drink, quizzes

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You’ve maybe seen this around. It popped up on my Twitter feed this morning and so I was annoyed when clicking on the link took me to a Facebook app that wanted access to my account. But then I found the website where you can take the test without having anything to do with Facebook (though you get this FB score page thingy at the end). Try it here…

100 food list challenge

comfort food

01 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in cooking, culture, diet & nutrition, food & drink, health & happiness, home

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Today I made this very comfort-foodie dish based on having tried it a few times elsewhere. It has some of the usual comfort food ingredients (potatoes, eggs) as well as some chorizo and spicy pimentón thrown in for good measure. And most enjoyable it was too!

Here is the recipe: huevos rotos

But as comforting (and delicious) this late Sunday lunch was, when it comes to comfort food I’d probably say my favourites would include cheese. Like, mac & cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches.

What’s your favourite comfort food?

red meat kills!

14 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by in cancer, death & dying, diet & nutrition, food & drink, health & happiness, wtf?

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First of all, read this very silly article – supposedly Health NEWS – from the BBC:

Red meat increases death, cancer and heart risk, says study

Now I ask you… who out there with even half a brain doesn’t know that eating a balanced diet is the healthiest option? Who hasn’t heard (all their lives) that it’s best to eat red meat in moderation? Same goes for fried food, rich sauces, bacon, butter, pâté, fatty cheeses … you know, all the good stuff. And so when I read that a study of over 120,000 people over almost 30 years “suggested red meat increased the risk of death from cancer and heart problems” I clutched my head in despair. In all seriousness, there is probably more “risk of death” every time you cross the street. And, although I don’t eat much red meat myself, I still ended up with colon cancer. So go figure. I honestly don’t see how articles like these are beneficial to anyone – must’ve been an especially slow news day at the BBC.

Meanwhile, that tasty looking dish up there is a divinely decadent combination of perfectly fried eggs (with slightly runny yolks), grilled spicy chorizo Ibérico and potatoes, topped with thin slices of gorgeous jamón Ibérico. But as delicious as it is, I wouldn’t dream of eating that every day. Why? Because I’m not stupid.

I still can’t believe that after years and years of going to the Vineria San Telmo I only tried that dish for the first time during my marathon tapas tours the other day. It truly is to die for. So to speak…