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Category Archives: gastronomy

voyage en cuisine: les tapas

19 Wednesday Feb 2025

Posted by azahar in andalucia, films, gastronomy

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

andalousie les tapas, film, sevilla, spain, voyage en cuisine

Last June I was contacted by French Arte.TV and asked if I could help them organise an upcoming shoot they had planned for a short film on Tapas Culture in Sevilla. They were specifically looking for a chef to feature, but one that made traditional tapas, and they were also interested in me taking the presenter and some local foodies on a tapeo.

For me the best guys for the job were Jaime Guardiola and Pedro Ruiz-Ocejo  as they are both actually chefs (most tapas bars tend to have cooks, albeit excellent ones at times, but this was not what Arte-TV was looking for). They also run two bars that are dedicated to traditional food – Salmedina and Taberna Zurbarán. Also, Jaime’s family has their own fish market in Rota, Cádiz, so that also got included.

For my part I took them out on a tapeo and, well, OKAY. I mean, they could have really done it without me since by then it was all organised (by me) but in the end, after having contributed so much, I wanted to be there. My main stipulation was that they wouldn’t film me too much, so you may catch glimpses of me here but it was up to the others to stuff food into their mouths and talk about how great it was.

Anyhow, here it is, in French (subtitled in Spanish and German if that helps!) Gotta admit I got a bit teary eyed when I saw myself walking down the street using only a cane. Those were the days!

Andalousie: Les Tapas

calçots 2025

07 Friday Feb 2025

Posted by azahar in gastronomy, restaurants, seasons, sevilla

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

calçots, sevilla

It’s been a few years since I last went to the calçotada at La Quinta and so today while out making an appointment at the Social Security office (more on that next week) we decided to stop in as it was in the neighbourhood and scored a table out on the patio. Rather than go with the whole calçotada menu (which is way too much food) we opted for a rooftile of calçots and a couple of other dishes. This year they didn’t offer any gloves so our hands were a total black mess in no time.

This is a Catalán tradition where the calçots (similar to a large spring onion) are roasted over charcoal, then wrapped up in newspaper and served with a nutty romesco sauce. Delicious and also messy as hell. The trick is in getting the non-charred delicate centre out. First you peel away a bit of the charred bit at the end until you see the green part of the onion. Hold onto that! Then tightly grip the tip of the calçot with your other hand and pull. After that you dip the calçot into the romesco sauce and pop it into your mouth. One day I hope to attend a real calçotada out in the countryside in Catalunya but for now this is just fine.

kofi time!

06 Thursday Feb 2025

Posted by azahar in gastronomy, kofi, substack, work, writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

kofi, patreon, sevilla, sevillatapas, substack

This week I set up an account with Kofi to add to my Bitesize Sevilla Substack posts and decided to also put links to it on my websites… and the next day I got my first ☕! It was from a guy who had been all over my Sevilla Tapas website looking for inspiration for an upcoming trip and he decided to send me a little thank you. And after that he ended up booking a Sherry Tasting, so hey, bonus! It’s just another option for people who might want to support my work but don’t necessarily want to commit to a monthly subscription, a bit like leaving a tip after you’ve enjoyed a meal. So who knows, between Patreon, Substack and Kofi I might end up with a regular trickle of supporters. Given that I’ve just had to cancel all the tours I booked last November for Feb/March (little did I know back then that I still wouldn’t be able to walk!) every little bit helps.

cuchareando 2025

31 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in gastronomy, sevilla

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

gastronomy, sevilla

This weekend (Jan 31 – Feb 2) it’s food festival time again down by the river in Paseo de Colón. Another delicious collaboration between the Academia Sevillana de Gastronomía y Turismo and Hosteleros de Sevilla, with 13 bars and restaurants from Sevilla (city and province) offering their best stews and desserts, with music, cooking demos and other fun stuff. Looking forward to it!

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
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