Category Archives: tapas

second birthday!

12 Saturday Jan 2008

Posted by in birthdays, food & drink, home, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 10 Comments

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It might have appeared to some of you that Nog was conspicuously absent from my birthday post the other day. That’s because he was actually absent or, to be more precise, he was being a grumpy old git. But I wasn’t about to not have a happy birthday just because I was being ignored. And you guys all really helped with that – thanks again for all the good wishes and making me feel special and cared for.f_hug.gif

So anyhow, Mr Grumpy finally came out of his slump this week and said that he wanted to make up for the ‘lost birthday’ and so I’m having a second birthday today. Started off with Nog bringing me arabic pastries in bed with hot coffee. Then he had to go out and give a class so I went to the gym and we both got home around the same time. We had a bit of shopping to do and while we were in the supermarket Nog asked me what we were going to have for lunch. I just looked at him like he’d suddenly sprouted four heads and went off to get some cava. When he caught up with me he said – “Let me rephrase that… where would you like me to take you for lunch?” Yay! 🙂

I suggested we try the dining room at Enrique Becerra (we’ve only ever had tapas at the bar there) but as it was already 2 o’clock and we didn’t have a reservation I wasn’t very hopeful about getting a table. And sure enough, when we turned up the bar was totally packed and we were told the dining room was fully booked. In desperation I said to the maître de … ” oh no! But it’s my birthday!” – and one of the waiters standing nearby stage whispered to him “but it’s her birthday!!!” – and so it was suggested that we be taken up to ‘the office’, which in fact is a small private dining room for two, and totally charming. It really couldn’t have been lovelier. We were very well taken care of by Pablo and Rafa. Pablo even said we could have one of our favourite starters from the tapa menu (the dining room menu is a bit different). And well, the meal was just fabulous!

You can see the pics here … Enrique Becerra (scroll down to photos 18-22)

Not sure if Nog has anything else planned for this second birthday, but if not I’ll happily rewatch the first episode of House (season 4) at 8.30, drink some more cava and maybe enjoy my last packet of Orville’s. Anyhow, I’m glad he’s stopped being an old grumpy boots… and it was very nice being taken out for a birthday lunch. So I guess I can take the ‘looking for a new flatmate’ ad out of the paper now. 😉

 

saturday at the saffron bar

29 Saturday Dec 2007

Posted by in food & drink, holidays, photos, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 1 Comment

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And a new tapa experience…

For ages my friend and student iskenderum has been telling me that I MUST go to Taberna del Azafrán (azafrán means saffron) and today was the day. Kind of impromptu as it was around 12 o’clock and I was still in my pj’s so we decided some serious motivation was required to get me dressed and out the door. Being a gorgeous sunny day I suggested we hop on a couple of Sevici rental bikes and finally try out this place. And so that’s what we did, arriving just before 2 and getting the last free table in front of the bar.

So okay, it ended up being a lot more expensive than we’d planned on since at the tables you have to order raciones (you can only get tapas at the bar, which was jam-packed) but we decided what the heck. Especially as we didn’t go to Lisbon. And so we ended up having quite a substantial and delicious lunch. Which would have been really lovely had the waiters been even remotely friendly, which they were not (according to iskenderum this is always the case with the waiters there, but he says the owner is very friendly and pleasant). Anyhow, the food was very nice so maybe we’ll go back sometime and give the tapas a try … and hopefully the bar staff will be friendlier than the waiters.

The best part was the monogrammed plates with a stylized AZ on them. 🙂

Check it out on the Sevilla Tapas blog…

el puente

07 Friday Dec 2007

Posted by in culture, holidays, home, life stuff, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 5 Comments

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Today is the ‘puente’, or bridge day, between two public holidays: Día de la Constitución (December 6th) and Inmaculada Concepción (December 8th). Lots of people also take today as a holiday in order to have an extra long weekend, and many businesses choose to remain closed as well (like my gym, fer instance, grrr…).

Until a few years ago the night of the Inmaculada was traditionally when the Christmas street lights were turned on but this been changing, so that anytime after December 1st you’ll see lights on (though they still all get turned off on January 5th – Epiphany – which I think is a good thing).

The madrugada of the Inmaculada (that’s tonight from midnight till dawn) is also the night when the various tunas get together and sing & play to the Virgin statue in one of the squares next to the cathedral. Tunas are groups of traditional minstrels belonging to the different university faculties and on this night there is something of a competition as they all take turns out-tuna-ing themselves for the Virgin. The last time I went out to see this spectacle was a few years ago (going out after midnight has becoming a rarity) so Nog & I had been planning to go tonight, as he has never seen them in this setting. But since we are both feeling ‘coldy’ we might not make it. It’s not a huge deal if we don’t go because there are often tunas playing at the bar across the street so we actually get to hear them a lot. But this night is actually quite special and apparently it’s also the 25th anniversary for the Biology tuna, so big things are expected . . .

Can we stay up long enough to go out tonight? Eep!

The bridge pic came from here … played with it a bit.

potato salad

01 Saturday Dec 2007

Posted by in food & drink, home, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 2 Comments

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Well, it’s not just any potato salad. . .

For years now I’ve been going to Bodequita Romero and one of the very lovely things they do is give you a complementary tapa of fabulously garlicky marinated potatoes as a starter. And I have tried copying this very simple dish at home, time and time again, yet it never turns out just how Pedro Romero makes it.

And so today Nog & I stopped at Bodeguita Romero for our usual Saturday pre-shopping snack (around 1pm) and it turned out that Pedro was just about to mix up the potato salad and I asked if I could watch … you can see the pics here (photos 8-11).

It was very simple, yet also methodical … not at all how I’d tried doing it at home, which was mixing up all the marinade together first. Clearly I’d been doing it all wrong! And so, this is how you do it right. . .

First you sprinkle on some coarse sea salt and toss the potatoes. Then some more salt and toss some more. Then you add finely chopped garlic and do a bit more tossing, likewise after adding very finely chopped spring onion bit by bit. And toss, toss, toss – by toss I actually mean flipping the pot outwards and upwards. No spoons, no stirring – I reckon this is also where I was going wrong.

Then pour over some dry sherry vinegar, once, twice, three times, and after each time flip the potatoes so it’s all mixed up together. Finally pour a whole whack of very green virgin olive oil over the salad, let it sit for a few minutes and then tip the entire mixture into a large bowl. Then gently mix with a large spoon, backside of the spoon up … and then serve to extremely appreciative customers who have been watching you and taking photos. f_drool.gif

y más tapitas!

22 Thursday Nov 2007

Posted by in food & drink, home, nablopomo, sevilla, tapas

≈ 8 Comments

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Last night Nog & I went to La Estrella.

This is the sister bar of Cervecería Giralda, which re-opened last July after being sold in May. La Estrella was also sold a couple of months later (to the same new owners of the Giralda) and re-opened sometime in September, but last night was our first visit since the change over. As with the Giralda Bar, the staff and menu have remained pretty much the same (though unlike the Giralda, La Estrella also has the same old prices).

We used to go to La Estrella quite often because it is at the end of Agustín’s street and it was part of our ‘Wednesday night tapas’ routine. Nog would pick me up at 8.30 when I finished my class with Agustín and then we would stop somewhere for a tapita and some rioja. This still happens but Agu has relocated to the Plaza Nueva for six months while his house is being renovated and so La Estrella is no longer en route.

Anyhow, last night’s outing was more of a proper meal than a tapita snack, which is good for getting tapa blog pics but not especially good for trying to get my waistline back. Ah well . . . off to pilates class soon.

Oh, and a question. What does the background yellow look like on the tapa blog? On SB it’s quite a nice pale yellow, on Nog’s laptop it’s kind of a light ochre – but on the Jaguar it’s an awful, very bright ‘Simpson’s yellow’. I’d like to do a bit of a survey to know if I should tone it down a bit. If you don’t get much background colour on your screen, it’s the same yellow that’s in the google ads on the sidebar. Thanks!