Category Archives: tapas

emeterio

11 Tuesday May 2021

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eme

Well this made my day! Yesterday I met up with Peter after running a couple of errands as we wanted to visit the new location of a fabulous local cheese shop. We started going down Sierpes and Peter said, “let’s take Cuna”, so that’s what we did. And a good thing too because when we almost reached the end of the street I suddenly I heard someone say: “¡Mira! Es la más bonita y más buena de Sevilla!”

And this masked man walks up to me, saying, “you don’t recognise me, do you?”. And I kind of did, but I also didn’t and struggled to recall until he finally said, “It’s me, Eme!”. And oh, how stupid did I feel for not recognising him. Because I adore Eme, but to be fair, he had the mask on and – most importantly – wasn’t standing behind his bar.

In March 2020 I wrote a sad update on Bar Casa Eme’s page on Sevilla Tapas announcing that after 25 years Eme had closed the doors on his bar for good. And I haven’t seen him since, though I had been trying to get in touch with him for his famous solomillo al whisky recipe (hands down the best in Sevilla). Turned out the phone number I had for him wasn’t actually his.

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adiós bodega san josé

27 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

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I wish this would stop. I mean, I know nothing lasts forever but there are just too many wonderful tapas bars shutting down. The latest tragic loss is the amazing Bodega San José, which I really only got to know a few years ago. This time it’s a combination of landlord greed and Covid that made the Bueno family decide to shut its doors after almost 80 years, though the bar itself is much older. When the family first came to Sevilla from Santander they opened a few locations, the first one being El Punto in Puerto Osario, which closed in 2007. Bodega San José was the last one standing.

Anyhow, I just found out about this today after that lovely photo of Nicolás Bueno and his mother Rosario (who worked in the bar until the final day, making her amazing boquerones en vinagre) popped up this morning in my Instagram memories and so I put it up in my Stories. Then I got a message from someone telling me the bar was about to close. In fact, the final day of the lease is April 30th but then I found out the bar stopped functioning on the 18th. I had just been there a couple of days before and was happy to see Rosario there, but nobody mentioned anything about closing. So this has come as quite a shock today. I went over to see for myself and saw the doors shuttered and everything gone from the outside, the signs, everything. So much loss this past year.

food ADD

09 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in food & drink, home, homecooking, tapas

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food add

Over the years I have come to realise that, as much as I love good food, I can only take so much of it. First of all it’s a physical thing. I mean, aside from when I eat the wrong food (for me), I honestly cannot eat very much at one sitting, which I think is due to the post-op adhesions. I’ve never really been a big eater, but now I can fill up after just a few bites (yes I know, I am massively FAT, and much of that is to do post-chemo and other health issues, but I’m not here to talk about that today).

And so! It’s become important for me to get in as much flavour and variety within those few bites. Which is why tapas are so perfect for me. You can order as many (or few) of these small dishes as you want, and it’s even better when I can share the tapas. In fact, I almost never eat a whole tapa on my own. And this, aside from the physical factor, leads to my belief that I have developed a kind of  “food ADD” over the years. By which I mean that I can only concentrate on one dish for maybe one or two bites before I want to move on to something else. It’s always like “okay, that was great, what’s next?”.
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día internacional de la croqueta 2021

16 Saturday Jan 2021

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dia croqueta

It’s International Croquette Day! These are just a few of the delicious croquetas I’ve enjoyed over the past year. And yes, there were a few duds too (not pictured). For me croquetas are a litmus test for the quality of a tapas bar. Which reminds me that I haven’t made any for quite some time. That ought to keep me busy for a couple of afternoons. What’s your favourite filling?

accidental lunch

09 Saturday Jan 2021

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accidental lunch (1)

I was supposed to have a perfectly on purpose lunch with my friend Lucy, since our birthdays are a day apart and we haven’t seen each other in ages. But when we arrived at the bar I’d chosen (a new place being run by my friend chef Javi Abascal) it was fully booked. Should have known as it was the first Saturday since the January sales started, and also the first non-rainy day all week. After checking out a couple of other places (all fully booked) Lucy and I decided to postpone our birthday lunch for another day, preferably mid-week. To be honest, I have only been going out to eat during the week and at an early hour so I get to places before they get busy.

Anyhow, since I was already dressed and outside I decided to take a river walk, something I haven’t done in far too long. And it was lovely. Meanwhile, my friend Peter had been in touch so I told him I’d be in the Alameda in about half an hour if he wanted to meet for a beer. Then, while I was waiting for Peter (by chance I’d stopped to check my phone in front of Al Aljibe) I saw a couple of women at a table in the terrace paying up (it was 3 pm by this time) and so I took possession of the table and told Peter where I was.

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