Tag Archives: sevilla

irish beef!

21 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by in food & drink, friends, tapas, tapas tours

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beef book
Every now and then on one of my Sevilla Tapas Tours I not only have a great time showing people around the best tapas bars in town, but I also make a friend. And in this case I actually made two friends! I met Kyran and Claire at the end of October when I picked them up at their hotel … nice touch was when they invited me for a glass of cava at the lovely patio bar. And from there it was a fun night out with two very adventurous eaters who also love cooking and drinking sherry. So I was delighted when they stayed in touch later on via Twitter and Instagram, and I was totally floored the other day when they sent me this amazing Christmas pressie! The Irish Beef Book. Well.

I like to think I’m a good cook (because I am!) but I have never really mastered the art of cooking meat at home, other than slow-cooked recipes. And indeed this fabulous book by Pat Whelan and Katy McGuinness has an entire chapter entitled “long & slow” but it also goes beyond meat dishes and includes great side dishes including an amazing looking recipe for individual Yorksire puddings, which I can’t wait to try. I think Mr Anchovy and WeeRascal would also do well with this book. It also turns out that most recipes are adaptable (not a lotta beef here in Spain) so I won’t have to ask Kyran and Claire to send me an Irish cow…

Thank you lovelies! See you again in the spring!

claire kyranClaire & Kyran

sparkly orange wine

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by in welcome

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orange wineI love connections like this.

My friend Saray had helped me organise some orange-themed product info for my friend José Pizarro’s visiting friend Sarah last month. Since then the general director of BurNarj, whose family makes this lovely orange sparkling wine, has been in touch with me, asking if I’d like to have a private tasting. And as special as that sounded, I thought it would actually be more fun with other people to share the experience with. So I invited a couple of friends and yesterday we spent a very pleasant couple of hours trying this unique wine.

Most orange wines are simply grape wines that are somehow flavoured/infused with orange, but this is the very first sparkling wine in the world that is actually made from 100% orange juice from orchards growing along the banks of the Guadalquivir River. It doesn’t get much more Andaluz than that!

Have a look at my blog post on Azahar’s Sevilla for more info…

BurNarj Sparkling Orange Wines

más málaga!

09 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in cats, Malaga, spain, travel, trips

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malaga 2013-001Here I go again! After a crazy three months of work-work-work it’s looking like December (and probably January) are going to be a bit slow. So I’m going to “sign off” for two months and work on setting up my other projects, which I hope will be ready to go by the time the spring season arrives.

And so of course now I have to go to Málaga! One: because I’m not working much other than on my projects (and I will take my laptop with me). Two: because I want to visit my friends there. Three: because I really really really *miss* Málaga like an ache in my heart. So what the heck.

I’m also going to have a totally new Málaga experience this time by staying in a hotel (!!!). Which means I can’t take Morcilla with me, but even my friend Victor said that three nights wasn’t worth disrupting her life for. Which of course is true. I know that Morcilla will be fine now hanging out with Loki and Luna, with Peter to look after them all. But what about ME??? So far I’ve only spent two nights away from my little girl, which was hard enough…

But yes, it’s exciting to think that tomorrow I’ll be getting on the train to Málaga yet again. Gosh I love that place. And kind of on the heels of my weekend getaway to Cádiz, I think this mid-week jaunt will be just what I need right now. A bit of a “disconnect”, but also some just hang around with myself time. I’ll have a book or two with me, laptop and iPad (so no, won’t be “disconnected” in that way). I guess I mean just having a change from my usual routine to see how I feel doing something completely different in a different place. Which is why the hotel option will also be interesting, though that was just chance as I got a great deal from a very cool hotel in the new hip part of town. I think it’s gonna be great! My Christmas Holiday.