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Category Archives: gastronomy

beirutina birthday

10 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in birthdays, bitesize sevilla, friends, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, spain

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

beirutina, birthday, sevilla, spain

birthday beirutina

My third (and final) birthday lunch. Well, you never know, but at least this is the last one during Birthday Week. I need to take some time off celebrating to get some work done on Bitesize Sevilla, which has turned into quite a time-consuming project (with a steep learning curve!). But I love doing it and of course the hope is that it will eventually start becoming a new source of income (I actually have three paid subscribers now!!!).

Anyhow, I had mentioned Beirutina as one of my top new openings for 2024 (both here and on the Bitesize Substack) and so Fourat got in touch to thank me and said she’d love me to come over and try some of their new dishes. Great! I’ve known Fourat for about fifteen years and we are neighbours as well as good friends. I was thrilled when she opened her little Lebanese brunch-lunch spot just three months ago, literally a stones throw from my house (I can see it from my balcony).

We got there early to find a little window table reserved for us and, well, it was fabulous. Although I’ve been here several times now this was the first time I got to try both Lebanese beer and wine and I loved them both. Fourat knows I’m not keen on sweets so for a birthday treat at the end of our meal she brought us a couple of her nutty Lebanese biscuits (also new on the menu) one with pistachio and orange, the other with peanuts, with a small bag of them to take home as well.

We had…

  • Almaza pilsener 🍺
  • Muhammara
  • Ksara Blanc de Blancs 🥂
  • Fatté Berenjena (aubergine)
  • Shawerma (marinated beef)
  • Lebanese cookies: pistachio and peanut

bitesize sevilla

06 Monday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in culture, food & drink, gastronomy, music, podcasts, recipes, sevilla, spain, substack, work

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

bitesize sevilla, sevilla, substack

bitesize

So remember when I started off the New Year last week by saying goodbye to Twitter and writing my first Substack post? Well, I am just now coming up for air. I had no idea that one post was going to turn into its own publication and brand and open up all kinds of ideas and possibilities. Also Substack is the most unintuitive platform I have ever participated on, and so a lot of time this past week has been spent just trying to figure it out. I think this is because it is trying to be too many things. Aside from being a publishing platform for writers it has various other features such as the aforementioned separate publication option, plus posts, notes and chats (don’t ask). And there is also a podcast option, which I have yet to look at.

As a result of all this STUFF there, there are at least three “HOME” pages and two “SETTINGS”… plus you have to set everything up, which is tricky to do when you can’t remember which home or settings page you need, or even where you last found them on your dashboard. Anyhow, things are pretty much operational now and happily it’s not tricky to navigate simply as a reader, so please have a look if you’d like to… Bitesize Sevilla (two posts up so far!). And if you like what you see you can subscribe for free.

And so how is this different from all the other platforms I am on? Well, I’m glad you asked, because although Substack may seem like more of the same, the hope is that it will start generating some much needed income. Not only because of still being sidelined due to THE KNEE, but also just because it’s exciting to have a new project and do something a bit different. The writing for Bitesize will overlap with my other blogs, websites and social media, but the aim is to create an essential guide to all things Sevilla… all in one place.

For the moment the posts are all free to read as I am getting started by publishing a series of basic info posts, but once I start researching and writing more in depth pieces then people will be able to access those by subscribing to one of the payment options (monthly or yearly). I’m also considering a podcast for a bit later on. My feeling about most podcasts I’ve been listening to is that they’re just too long. I plan to make mine “bite sized”, maybe half an hour. And again, some will be open and others for paid subscribers only. But first things first. I have a LOT of writing to do now and so I’d better get to it!

beirutina

15 Tuesday Oct 2024

Posted by azahar in friends, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla

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Tags

beirutina, lebanese restaurant, sevilla

beirutini

My friend Fourat has just opened a restaurant literally a stones throw from my balcony. Stopped in for a first quick visit and omg it’s fabulous. Lebanese food, full of flavour and textures… as soon as you walk in you are enveloped in the fragrant aroma of all the gorgeous spices. Also beautiful décor designed by Fourat. Review coming soon on Sevilla Tapas.

orange days 2024

09 Wednesday Oct 2024

Posted by azahar in gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla

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Tags

orange days, oranges, sevilla

orange days-001

When it comes to choosing an emblematic image for Sevilla it has to be the orange. The more than 40,000 orange trees lining the streets and squares throughout the city provide both shade and beauty, and for those few glorious weeks in early spring the air is filled with the delicate scent of azahar when the trees are in blossom.

The Sevilla Hotel Association’s 23rd Jornadas Gastronómicas will take place October 10th to November 10th with 29 establishments participating with a special dish or menu paying homage to the Sevilla Orange. 

II festival de la ensaladilla y el montadito

27 Friday Sep 2024

Posted by azahar in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, gastronomy, sevilla

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Tags

festival ensaladilla montaditos, food festival, sevilla

festival ensaladilla montadito 24 (1)

I’ve become one of those old ladies who takes the bus for just two stops, but on the other hand I’m glad that I’m relatively well-connected from my house with public transport as it makes stuff like this possible (and saves on taxi fare! a bus ride is just 35 cents). Popped in to the first afternoon session of the second Festival de la Ensaladilla y el Montadito hosted by the Academia Sevilliana de Gastronomía y Turismo (of which I am a pround member) and Sevilla City Office. Some changes from last year’s event included awnings put up along the grounds and lots more tables, including low ones with chairs (!!!). After I had dutifully taken pics of all the participant’s stalls I was shown to a table and chairs magically appeared out of nowhere, which was quite a relief by then. From there Peter played waiter and brought food and drinks over from the stands. We only managed to try two of each but it was nice to get out and sit next to the river, also nice to see a lot of familiar faces.

Unfortunately I totally forgot to take photos of the grounds, which looked very pretty this year, so I swiped one from the Academia’s social media. But I did manage to get one of the riverside from out table and also the Torre del Oro across from the bus stop on the way home (see below).

festival ensaladilla montadito 24 (3)

cuttlefish and prawn ensaladilla (no potatoes!)
solomillo al whisky montadito
serranito montadito
classic potato ensaladilla with tuna

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