13 Saturday Oct 2018
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Today I am heading to Jerez to attend the 3rd Sherry Túnel, organised by sommelier and fellow sherry educator Maria Carmen Martinez (aka Miss Catas). It’s my first time going to this event, and it seemed like a great way to finish off Sherry Week (which ends tomorrow). Will report back later.
How’s your Saturday going?
08 Monday Oct 2018
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The first day of Sherry Week (October 8 – 14) began and ended with, well, sherry. Went out for a pre-lunch manzanilla at Taberna Manolo Cateca and Manolo recommended that we try these two, chosen by Armando Guerra from two different sections of Bodegas Barbadillo, one with the windows open facing the cool east wind (Poniente), the other facing the hot dry west wind (Levante). My favourite was the Poniente, which tasted a bit fresher to me. But they were both lovely.
In the evening we stopped by the Premier Sherry Cocktail Bar for a sherry mixology masterclass. José prepared 4 cocktails, using different sherries, and also different techniques: Sobrebotas, Bloody Sherry, Silencio, Shegroni. And we got to taste them too! You can see the recipes below.
26 Wednesday Sep 2018
This week (September 24), I was invited to the presentation of the new look La Goya manzanilla by Bodegas Delgado Zuleta, marking the brand’s centenary year. Organized by the boys at Probando Probando, the event was held on the terrace of the Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience in Sevilla, looking out over the city. It was a nicely low key event, with not too many speeches or too much marketing razzle.
A brief introduction of the new label was given by Jorge Pascual (general director of Delgado Zuleta) and José Federico Carvajal (commercial director of Delgado Zuleta) to some 150 people including bodega shareholders, wine distributors, hoteliers and specialised media.
The result was a very pleasant evening meeting up with old friends, enjoying some tasty snacks of jamón, cheese, oysters and mojama (cured tuna) provided by @MANCHENIETO @PanaderiaObando @OstreasurSG @QuesosPajarete @HerpacBarbate. And of course, sampling plenty of perfectly chilled La Goya (which hasn’t changed – still the same excellent sherry it’s always been).
Thanks as always to the organisers and hosts for a great evening.
10 Friday Aug 2018
Every year Ramón and Mari Carmen of the Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo host their San Lorenzo day celebration on August 10th, in honour of the patron saint of cooks and chefs, and namesake of both their barrio and bar. The first time I attended this event was five years ago and I’ve gone every year since then.
The martyr San Lorenzo was put to a slow and painful death on top of a large gridiron with live coals beneath it and, the legend concludes that, after enduring the pain for a very long time he made his famous cheerful remark, “I’m well done. Turn me over!”. And so, as always, different varieties of grilled flesh were on offer during the day at the Abacería, along with a typical white wine punch from Huelva called ponche alosnero. We also got to try cured pork tongue and tiny nécora crabs. Good times.
13 Friday Jul 2018
Posted in food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars
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abc sevilla, cañabota, gastronomika, gastronomy, la azotea, madrid fusion, sevilla, tourism, tradevo
On Thursday (July 12) I was fortunate enough to be one of the invitees to the Hi Southern Tourism Meeting session on Tourism and Gastronomy (quite an honour, as I was, as far as I know, the only non-Spanish person present), a recognition of the growing importance of food tourism to both these sectors.
The venue was in what is now the Carriage Museum (since 1999), which was built during the 16-17th centuries as a Carmelite convent, and later served as the seat of the Spanish-Cuban Institute of History. Once a landmark, it was overshadowed by the apartment blocks of Los Remedios in the 1940s.
The event was hosted by local newspaper, the ABC, and introductions were made by editor Javier Rubio. The first presentation was given by Marcos Tarancón, of the Fundación Cruzcampo, showing their project to convert the old Cruzcampo factory in Nervión into a new tourist attraction for the city with cafés, restaurants and a large open garden space. The second was by Irene de Castro for Gonzalez Byass and the V Tio Pepe Festival, coming up in August at their bodega in Jerez.
This was followed by two round table discussions chaired by Isabel Aguilar of GURME.es, the first featuring local restauranteurs Juanlu Dorado (Cañabota), Juan Gómez (La Azotea), and Gonzalo Jurado (Tradevo) on the challenges of operating in a city with large numbers of tourists, and the second with Benjamin Lana of Madrid Fusión and Iñigo Iribarnegaray of San Sebastián Gastronómika, two cities that have become well known for food tourism.
Afterwards there was an opportunity to meet some of the participants, and other friends in the hospitality industry, over snacks and coffee.
Thanks as always to ABC Sevilla and sponsors of the event (CaixaBank, City Expert, CitySightseeing, Fundación Cruzcampo, MA Abogados) for a useful and interesting morning.
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