Category Archives: food & drink

I have a bbq!

02 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by in food & drink, home, retail therapy, summer

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The deed is done … I have bought a BBQ.

I had wanted one with a lid, as friends told me that I would then be able to BBQ things like legs of lamb and whole chickens, but the store I went to this morning (long bus ride out to the burbs) mostly had the typical open style ones. At first I had my eye on this covered one, but not only was it expensive (110€) it seemed more like a BBQ oven, was kind of small, and you couldn’t adjust the grill height. Then I thought I wanted this one for 50€ because it had a nice cart attached to it, a grease catcher and air vent, and was on wheels. But no lid. In the end I went for the cheapest one on offer. It cost 15€, is basically a large metal bowl on a tripod, and will probably not last the summer. Or it may last ten years.

The reason for going with this very basic “starter model” was because it occurred to me that I have no idea if I’m going to end up even using the thing much. I mean, I love food cooked on the BBQ and I love the concept of cooking outdoors and enjoying meals up on the terraza. But how often will I actually do this? What with having to lug everything upstairs, then deal with all that messy charcoal and the even messier cleanup.

So I think it makes sense to spend this first summer with a terraza using a cheap basic model to discover what my BBQ habits will end up like. I mean, it’s going to do the job for simple things like meat, burgers, ribs, sausages, kebabs, etc. If I find it lacking then I’ll look for something better either next year or during the summer sales.

Also, because it only cost 15€ I could also get a new microwave (49€) and an extra fan (needed for the small bedroom), all of which will be delivered tomorrow morning. Along with a big bag of charcoal. I’m thinking the first BBQ will be on Sunday – join me?

tapas galore!

30 Monday May 2011

Posted by in cats, food & drink, friends, restaurants, sevilla, tapas, twitter, work

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It was a very full day, in every sense of the word. First twitter friends @annalibera and @jorgeguitian came over to see the new place and we had a cold Galician beer and a tortilla snack up on the rooftop. As you can see, Loki was being his usual shy self (ha). Then we went out to a neighbourhood favourite – Casa Antonio – for some lunch…


Then after a quick late afternoon meeting with Victoria about her new website and store I was off on another tapas tour. This time we went over the bridge to Triana, which I think is going to become a nice option, especially in the summer as it’s always a bit cooler down by the river. Rick and Michelle were very happy with their tapas …

It was great fun but I’ll have to do a double session at the gym mañana!

rick stein

11 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by in food & drink, friends, television, travel, video

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So there I was watching an episode of Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey the other night, and the Sri Lankan curries looked so amazing I just had to tweet about them, which started up a twitter conversation between myself, @WeeRascal and @Seville_Writer, both of whom have met Rick Stein and used words like passionate, honest, charming and genuine to describe him.

I had to admit that I’d never heard of Rick Stein before watching this series, which is a wonderful combination of glorious travelogue images and amazing food porn, along with lots of good information about  the local dishes, geography and history.

So imagine my complete surprise yesterday when the doorbell rang and I received an Amazon delivery of Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes, courtesy of that rascally friend of mine. I shall have to find a way of “getting him back” when he next visits (possibly in June) but meanwhile I have just finished watching the first segment of the first episode, which took place in Corsica. Next up … Sardinia. I am totally loving this!

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!