12 Saturday Oct 2019
Posted in casa azahar, home, seasons, sevilla
Tags
I’ve been enjoying the lovely weather this week with still quite warm daytime temperatures (30º) but with cool breezes, and overnight temps requiring the light duvet for the first time. Next week will be a whole other story as the forecast in Galicia is for RAIN all week and daytime highs of just 16-17º, which is like January in Sevilla. It also means that I will have to wear (gasp!) TIGHTS & SHOES. Let’s hope there are still at least a couple more weeks of sandal weather when I get back…
11 Friday Oct 2019
Posted in friends, instagram, social media, tapas, tapas bars, twitter, twitter friends
Tags
Yet another Twitter/Instagram Pal, Paul @pauljwhite is from Newcastle but he spends a lot of time travelling, especially to Spain. We first met in person earlier this year when he was in Sevilla and he’s been back a couple of times since. And guess what? He loves doing Tapas Research!
He was also very helpful this time because one of our dishes arrived way overcooked. As I had already *ahem* mentioned a couple of other things to the waiter I asked Paul if he could send back the offending tapa. Well, Paul speaks next to no Spanish, and the waiter spoke no English, so I called the waiter over and just pointed to Paul, who picked up a piece of the dried out solomillo with such a perfect scowly face and kind of shook the dead meat around… that plate was removed SO FAST and was quickly replaced with a perfectly cooked version. Ha.
Looking forward to Paul’s next visit in January, and to meeting his daughter Molly. 🙂
10 Thursday Oct 2019
Posted in casa azahar, sevilla
Tags
About last night…
09 Wednesday Oct 2019
Tags
Pretty exciting to get this in the mail today! My latest article in Decanter Magazine, this one on Galicia. It’s actually part of an 82 page supplement with the November issue, all about Spanish wines. I had a bit of a struggle with this one, not just because it was twice as long as the previous one, but it took awhile for me to feel good enough about it to send it in. Apparently Decanter was pleased with it though as they asked me to stay in touch and send them some pitches on different Spanish wine regions. So I think I can now add “Decanter Mag contributor” to my social media profiles 😉
08 Tuesday Oct 2019
Posted in galicia, gastronomy, getaways, spain
Tags
Next week I’ll be back in Galicia attending ENBHIGA in the province of Ourense, roughly in the south east of Galicia. You may recall that I spent a day in and around Ourense last July when I went up to do research for a Decanter article. This time I will be part of an international and national group of 40 journalists and 10 tour operators (not sure which category I fall into… both?) who have been invited by the Ourense tourist board to get to know this lesser known part of Galicia through its gastronomy.
Last summer I visited three of the five DO wine regions in Galicia – Rías Baixas, Ribeiro, and Ribeira Sacra – so I was very excited to learn that this week-long event would be taking in the other two – Valdorras and Monterrei (whose wines have actually become the new “house wines” at Casa Azahar).
My friends and Super Fixers Anna & Jorge @guitianmayer have organised the itinerary, which is so full-on I fear for, well, something. Hopefully not my life. Perhaps my sanity? We shall see. I actually almost backed out because of the ABDOMINAL PAIN, lest I explode somewhere in the northern countryside and die of sepsis. But last time this went on for over two months without incident, so I will be popping paracetamol and hoping for the best.
Including travel days to Madrid and back the whole trip will be from Monday to Sunday. Full day itineraries Tuesday to Friday, and a half day on Saturday before being taken back to Madrid. Ufff… wish me luck!
casa azahar 