17 Tuesday Mar 2026
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, sevilla
A great evening at the Academia Sevillana de GastronomĂa colloquium; the topic: Sevilla, gateway for cocoa arriving to Europe (16th century) 🍫 I bet you didn’t know that! Organised by my friend MĂłnica, many thanks to everyone involved…
02 Tuesday Dec 2025
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, sevilla, wine
Every year the Academia Sevilla de GastronomĂa chooses a local product to feature and 2025 has been the Año de los Vinos de Sevilla. The closing ceremony for the year was today and it was held at the Cruzcampo Foundation. What used to be an easy half-hour trip on the 27 bus is now an hour-long trek with the bus stop twice as far from home. As it was raining I had to wait for it to let up because I can’t use an umbrella with the crutches so I arrived almost an hour late. But although I missed a large portion of the presentation I was well on time for the reception that followed. As usual it was great to meet up with everyone, something I haven’t been able to do as much lately.
I was thrilled to become a member of the Academia in 2023 and have enjoyed participating in the various events and activities held throughout each year. But being on crutches has limited my ability to join in, with some visits requiring a lot of walking or standing, and others that we are required to pay for, like special dinners which, on top of the annual fee, are just not possible for me anymore. Because I’m also not able to work. So very sadly I think I will have to (I hope temporarily) resign from the Academia until I am able to participate fully again.
Meanwhile, in case you missed it, here’s an article I wrote in honour of the Año de los Vinos de Sevilla, all about The Wines of Sevilla. Cheers! 🍷
25 Wednesday Jun 2025
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, friends, gastronomy, sevilla
Julio Moreno & Manuel Salinero
The wonderful Julio Moreno has stepped down as president of the Academia Sevillana de GastronomĂa y Turismo (of which I became a proud member in June 2023) and super-foodie Manuel Salinero is stepping up. Today the Academy held a tribute luncheon for Julio at Ispal with most of the academy members showing up (no small feat, it’s like herding cats!) as well as some special guests from the gastronomy and tourism scene here.Â
We enjoyed a fabulous sevillano meal with modern touches, the wine flowed, speeches were given, gifts relayed (my favourite was the apron we all signed for Julio)… the outpouring of honest love and respect from everyone present was truly moving to witness. Anyhow, Julio isn’t going far. He is now officially recognised as Presidente de Honor, though we are calling him the presidente eterno, and he will still be with us at activities and events. But now he has more time to enjoy his other pastimes too and only has to see us when he wants to. What a guy. Big love.Â
17 Monday Jun 2024
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, getaways, sevilla, spain
A day away in beautiful Carmona with the Academia Sevillana de GastronomĂa y Turismo for their annual Asamblea General. First up was a meeting at City Hall where we were welcomed by the mayor of Carmona, followed by a visit to an ancient hypogeum from Roman times, discovered in 1999, next to the nearby temple of San Felipe, which we also visited.
After that it was off to the Alcázar for the general assembly, which in the end I couldn’t attend (!!!) because it was AT THE TOP of the fortress wall up three long flights of stairs (nobody had thought to tell me this in advance) so I sat it out downstairs sadly watching on my phone (zoom, no sound). Not ideal to say the least.
Then we had lunch at one of my favourite places in Carmona, Casa Curro Montoya. The last time I was there (and in Carmona) was back in 2015, when I met the owners Bernardi and Germán; the latter’s grandfather was the famed flamenco singer Curro Montoya. Anyhow, it was lovely to be back even though… MORE STAIRS. But just one flight this time. And I got to catch up with a few Academia members I hadn’t seen in a while and also get to know some others. So while it was a bit of a hit and miss experience it did leave me wanting to go back to Carmona again, hopefully soon. It really is a beautiful city and residents are rightfully proud of its long and intriguing history.
owners Germán & Bernardi – Casa Curro Montoya
18 Monday Mar 2024
Posted in academia sevillana gastronomy turismo, events, olive oil, sevilla, spain
With my fellow academicos (Academia Sevillano GastronomĂa y Turismo) at the first colloquium for Year of EVOO held at the Caja Rural del Sur Foundation. “EL AOVE DE SEVILLA, HOY” was a timely topic given the challenges the industry is facing at the moment.
Participating in the event (photo) were Isabel SolĂs, territorial delegate of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development; MoisĂ©s Caballero, general secretary of the Governing Council of the DOP Estepa, Manuel FĂ©lix Moreno, president of Opracol, and Eduardo MartĂn JimĂ©nez, general secretary of ASAJA Sevilla. Our academica Begoña Amurrio moderated the colloquium with a introduction by our president Julio Moreno.
The session ended with several questions from the public, among them local experts and also producers from the province. As always, it was a very interesting and educational event.
casa azahar 