18 Monday Jun 2018
Posted in books, books & writing, food & drink
Tags
My old Bristol pal Kate Hawkings has just published this wonderful new book – Aperitif. Very happy to be mentioned (thanks for the photo Lizzie). Can’t wait for my copy to arrive! You can get yours on Amazon. 🙂
16 Saturday Jun 2018
Posted in casa azahar, food & drink, health & happiness
Tags
Pretty much the only fluids I drink are water and wine. Okay, I have a cup of coffee and small glass of juice each morning, but really that’s about it. During the winter I drink room temperature water, and a lot of it, at least two litres a day. And sad to say, I drink mineral water, which makes me feel guilty about ALL THAT PLASTIC (even though I do recycle). It’s just that at room temperature the tap water can taste a bit weird. But in summer I do this! And I love it. Jugs of chilled tap water filled with lemons and limes. It’s not only delicious but I can drink it guilt free. Though I still take a bottle of mineral bottle to bed with me at night…
06 Wednesday Jun 2018
Posted in food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, sherry
Tags
During Vinoble there were several tastings and cooking demos. The tastings were immediately sold out as soon as they became available online, which was frustrating because the site was down most of that morning. Tickets for the demos became available an hour before the presentation, which seemed more reasonable, though in the case of the jamĂłn demo all the tickets were gone well before the appointed time.
Anyhow… we did manage to get into this “show cooking” by a restaurant in Cádiz called CĂłdigo de Barra (which has been on my “to do” list for awhile now). Chef Leon Griffioen prepared some exceptional dishes which were paired with spectaclar wines from Bodegas Piñero, Urium and Las Botas. Next time I am in Cádiz this will be my first stop. Well, after Casa Manteca. This was the menu…
02 Saturday Jun 2018
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, twitter friends
I first met Laura @laurawburgess and Erik @thewhiskykiwi at Bodegas Urium in Jerez in September 2016, and would have met them a few months earlier in Sevilla, but I was hit with a random 24-hour bug and ended up giving them a “remote” tapas tour from bed via my iPhone.
Happily they were in town again yesterday and we were able to meet up for a fabulous lunch at Bodeguita Romero. They also joined me on last night’s Sevilla Tapas Tour with two other couples, and well, the chemistry couldn’t have been better. Right from the start everyone started talking and joking with each other. It was a great evening.
I will be seeing more of Laura & Eric at Vinoble, which starts tomorrow and is actually the reason they are here now. Can’t wait!
19 Saturday May 2018
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars
Tags
A delightful surprise visit from my friend JosĂ© Pizarro @jose_pizarro yesterday. He is on a research trip around AndalucĂa and had one day (not enough!) in Sevilla. He asked me to take him and his team to a few traditional tapas bars “con solera” and I was more than happy to oblige. It was a fun and slightly crazy afternoon, and sadly I had to opt out of going to the Cathedral with them (after which they were heading to Jerez) because I had a tapas tour in the evening and needed to rest up a bit. Still, it’s always lovely to see my lovely friend.
casa azahar 