Category Archives: food & drink

saturday at the saffron bar

29 Saturday Dec 2007

Posted by in food & drink, holidays, photos, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 1 Comment

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And a new tapa experience…

For ages my friend and student iskenderum has been telling me that I MUST go to Taberna del Azafrán (azafrán means saffron) and today was the day. Kind of impromptu as it was around 12 o’clock and I was still in my pj’s so we decided some serious motivation was required to get me dressed and out the door. Being a gorgeous sunny day I suggested we hop on a couple of Sevici rental bikes and finally try out this place. And so that’s what we did, arriving just before 2 and getting the last free table in front of the bar.

So okay, it ended up being a lot more expensive than we’d planned on since at the tables you have to order raciones (you can only get tapas at the bar, which was jam-packed) but we decided what the heck. Especially as we didn’t go to Lisbon. And so we ended up having quite a substantial and delicious lunch. Which would have been really lovely had the waiters been even remotely friendly, which they were not (according to iskenderum this is always the case with the waiters there, but he says the owner is very friendly and pleasant). Anyhow, the food was very nice so maybe we’ll go back sometime and give the tapas a try … and hopefully the bar staff will be friendlier than the waiters.

The best part was the monogrammed plates with a stylized AZ on them. 🙂

Check it out on the Sevilla Tapas blog…

christmas open house! (2007)

25 Tuesday Dec 2007

Posted by in christmas, food & drink, friends, holidays, home

≈ 8 Comments

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For anyone who would like to drop by. . .

Nog & I will be out mid-late afternoon, having lunch at Casa Robles and then stopping by our friend Eric’s place for a drink, but other than that it’ll be a quiet day at home (famous last words – last time we stopped by Eric’s for a drink we ended up lurching home around 6am!). We were actually invited to Eric’s ‘Christmas orphan’s’ lunch out on his huge rooftop terrace, but somehow we feel more like a quiet meal together this year, and then joining in on the party ‘ambientation’ later, picking up our friend Maria Paz on the way, who will be working.

Anyhow, all the puters will be on in case anyone wants to say hello by IM or Skype:

Yahoo IM – azaharh2g2
Skype – azahar.sevilla

And look! Matt has made it possible to snow in Sevilla!  🙂

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potato salad

01 Saturday Dec 2007

Posted by in food & drink, home, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 2 Comments

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Well, it’s not just any potato salad. . .

For years now I’ve been going to Bodequita Romero and one of the very lovely things they do is give you a complementary tapa of fabulously garlicky marinated potatoes as a starter. And I have tried copying this very simple dish at home, time and time again, yet it never turns out just how Pedro Romero makes it.

And so today Nog & I stopped at Bodeguita Romero for our usual Saturday pre-shopping snack (around 1pm) and it turned out that Pedro was just about to mix up the potato salad and I asked if I could watch … you can see the pics here (photos 8-11).

It was very simple, yet also methodical … not at all how I’d tried doing it at home, which was mixing up all the marinade together first. Clearly I’d been doing it all wrong! And so, this is how you do it right. . .

First you sprinkle on some coarse sea salt and toss the potatoes. Then some more salt and toss some more. Then you add finely chopped garlic and do a bit more tossing, likewise after adding very finely chopped spring onion bit by bit. And toss, toss, toss – by toss I actually mean flipping the pot outwards and upwards. No spoons, no stirring – I reckon this is also where I was going wrong.

Then pour over some dry sherry vinegar, once, twice, three times, and after each time flip the potatoes so it’s all mixed up together. Finally pour a whole whack of very green virgin olive oil over the salad, let it sit for a few minutes and then tip the entire mixture into a large bowl. Then gently mix with a large spoon, backside of the spoon up … and then serve to extremely appreciative customers who have been watching you and taking photos. f_drool.gif

hate mondays?

26 Monday Nov 2007

Posted by in food & drink, friends, health & happiness, home, life stuff, nablopomo, retail therapy, sevilla

≈ 9 Comments

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Actually, I don’t hate Mondays at all. In fact, I have quite a nice Monday schedule these days, starting with an 8.30 yoga class, followed by a bit of food shopping and then home to do the marathon cooking thing for the week that I first talked about here (still doing it – it works great!). I don’t have any English classes on Monday morning, which makes it possible. Then after I’ve done cooking and Nog has finished his morning classes, we might go out for a pre-lunch beer or vino. After lunch Nog goes off to his afternoon classes and I have an hour or so to obsess on the internet take care of a few things before my first class of the afternoon. On Mondays I usually work from 4.45 – 9-15 pm.

Anyhow, today it turned out that two of my afternoon classes had to reschedule so I was free from 6pm, and so after obessing on the internet doing a few chores I sent a text message to Nog asking if he wanted to meet me at the half-way point between his classes and home, as I had a couple of things I felt a sudden need for (comfy slippers and a new sweater). So I hopped on a rental bike and was at the mid-way point shopping centre in about 15 minutes. Found both comfy slippers and a gorgeous Liz Claiborne 100% cotton sweater (that I couldn’t afford, but I also almost never find 100% cotton sweaters here so I decided – ah, fuck it), and then met up with Nog to do a little pre-Christmas digital camera reconnoitering.

The plan after we finished was that we’d take rental bikes back to Catalina for a glass of wine before going home for dinner, but for some reason Nog’s card wouldn’t work, so we decided to have a race (me on the bike, him taking the bus) to see who’d get there first. Nog was there about two minutes before me because a bus came straight away and I had to stop for a red light. I’m totally loving this rental bike thang, especially as the first half hour is free.

Anyhow, got back home and I went – eek! I haven’t posted anything today! And so, here I am.  🙂 Just heating up some stew I made this morning (which was inspired by this one we had at La Estrella the other day) and then we’ll curl up on the sofa with hot stew, fresh country bread and a couple of cats to watch an episode of The West Wing. Then it’ll be a nice hot shower before getting into fresh sun-dried sheets (Monday is also ‘clean sheets day’ at casa az) . . .

How was your Monday?