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~ my life in sevilla

casa azahar

Category Archives: spain

the rainy rain

22 Wednesday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in seasons, sevilla, spain, weather

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sevilla, slpain, weather, winter

It’s a week of non-stop rain and I’m totally okey-dokey with that. I mean, sure it makes it difficult to get the laundry dried and I’m basically housebound as I can’t manage an umbrella with the crutches. But looking on the bright side, I have lots of time to catch up on writing. Bitesize is taking a LOT of my time and energy and so there’s quite backlog of new reviews and updates to get up on Sevilla Tapas. And of course, after the last three dry winters and ensuing drought this really is a blessing. Only tourists complain about the rain in Sevilla.

takeaway!

17 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in homecooking, restaurants, sevilla, spain, substack

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restaurants, sevilla

The other day I was invited to try out a new restaurant here by María, who I’ve known forever. She has a new job as front of house at brand new Luz y Brasa and she told the owners about me. And so, I went with Peter and it really was a great experience. BUT… there were only two of us and, aside from a few small starters, most of the dishes were mahoosive. So we on purpose over ordered because we didn’t want to have to decide between the sea bass or the Ibérico pork, and so we had both and then half of this baby came home with us.

People visiting Sevilla are never sure whether it’s okay to ask for a “doggie bag”. But I say hell yeah. It’s not really so much a Spanish custom but during Covid lockdown and with many places doing takeaway it became more usual, and then in 2023 there was a law passed (La Ley de Prevención de Pérdidas y Desperdicio Alimentario) requiring restaurants to offer a takeaway/leftover service.

And so Thursday’s takeaway leftovers have ended up being a delicious Friday lunch. Wild sea bass in a quick garlicky amontillado sauce, buttery mash and peas. Win-win.

beirutina birthday

10 Friday Jan 2025

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

≈ 1 Comment

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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

lunch with reyes

08 Wednesday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in birthdays, food & drink, friends, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birthday, casa morales, la barra de inchausti, sevilla

birthday reyes (1)

It’s always a great time with Reyes. It’s become a bit of a tradition for us to meet up sometime during Birthday Week so today we met at her iconic bar Casa Morales, founded by her great grandfather in 1850. We started things off with a glass of Codorníu rosé cava and a bit of exquisite jamón Ibérico de Bellota from renowned producers Sierra Mayor before heading out to our lunch destination.

birthday reyes

This was to be La Barra de Inchausti just around the corner. Another family-owned spot, now run by siblings Isidro, Concha and Jorge Inchausti.  MORE fish and seafood and that was totally fine by me. We got there early enough to get “my” table next to the window and it was perfect. Afterwards Reyes suggested we have a penúltima at Morales as that was also on my way home.  So a little more cava rosé, a bit more jamón and I think I got home from lunch about 8.00 pm. One more birthday lunch planned this week. Stay tuned!

birthday reyes (2)

We had…

  • Codorníu Ars Collecta Blanc de Noirs Cava 🥂
  • Tortillita de camarones
  • Bodegas Santa Marta Godello Viñaredo 🥂
  • Albóndigas de choco
  • Alubias with prawns
  • Breaded monkfish liver
  • Garlicky grilled monkfish
  • Torelló Special Edition Costa Brava Corpinnat 🥂

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!

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