Here are Clotilde and Mark, proud creators of the tortilla de patatas they’re holding in their hands.
Clotilde wanted to surprise Mark with a special present, and was he surprised!
No fish was allowed, so we stuck to a simple Andalusian lunch: Ajoblanco (Almond soup), Garbanzos con espinacas (Chickpeas with spinach) and Tortilla de patata (Potato Omelette).
I’m waiting to hear how the dinner they wanted to cook, back home in London2012, went!
Until recently, beer in Seville meant Cruzcampo. But the Craft Beer Movement seems to have taken on in the city, and new shops are opening, dedicated exclusively to beers.
An evergreen is the Cervecería Internacional, where you can taste all sorts of (of course) international beers.
Two new spots I recently discovered are The Great Power of Beer & Wine - a literal translation of the street’s name, if you’re wondering about the funny name – with a few Spanish craft beers and also some interesting Italian wine. The other is Cervezas Taifa, which is a microbrewery that sells its beers in the Triana Market.
Interesting small projects which definitely deserve a visit!
Cervecería Internacional
www.cerveceriainternacional.com
calle Gamazo, 3
41001 Seville
954 211 717
XXXII The Great Power of Beer & Wine
Jesús del Gran Poder, 32
41003 Seville
955 191 461
Cervezas Taifa
Mercado de Triana
Seville
This is the great surprise I found in the mailbox last Tuesday! Caroline and Birdget were at Panepanna’s last June for a two-day class on Andalusian cooking. We got so involved talking about fish – which as you know is quite different depending on the sea you fish from – that when they saw that I was lacking this book (despite Hugh being one of my favourite food writers) they promised me a little something… and here it is! Thank you SO much, it really made me (and Jorge) very happy.
Offal is common in all of Spain: pork but you can find also lamb, chicken or beef. From pig’s ears to lamb’s intestines, you can find all sort of weird dishes all over the paeninsula. Beef tripe is traditional in many regions – the dish you can see in the picture is Callos y Morros, Tripes and Snouts, one of my favourite tapas at Tapas 2.0, an excellent tapas bar off the main Rua in Salamanca (Castilla León). Tasty, rich and a little hot, the texture is soft (but not yucky-soft).
As a curiosity, check out The Guardian’s A to Z guide to offal, and this quite instructive post at Serious Eats about Pig Snout.
Tapas 2.0
Calle de Felipe Espino, 10
Salamanca
closed on Tuesdays
[In my Spanish blogs: in panepanna a simple way to make Greek yoghurt (and more) at home and in annalibera a look at Spanish microbreweries]
These shrimp fritters (forget the fact that it’s called ‘tortillita‘, there’s no egg involved) are the most well-know tapa from the Cádiz area, in Southwestern Spain. You can get them in Seville too, but most of the times they’re quite different and though tasty just not the same as the proper ones. A few Sevillian bars, whose owners are from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, do them properly!
The one in the picture is from Casa Balbino, in Sanlúcar. Together with a glass of cold Manzanilla is definitely something going on a trip for!
Casa Balbino
Plaza del Cabildo 14
Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz)
[In my Spanish blogs: in annalibera a great tiny place for coffee in Santiago de Compostela, Café Venecia, and in panepanna a look at September's first cooking workshop, Pasta 102]
Life wouldn’t be the same, in Spain, without chickpeas. Chickpeas are the staple bean in Southern Spain: in soups, such as Andalusian puchero, or with vegetables, such as Espinacas con garbanzos (Spinach with chickpeas), or even as a crunchy snack, fried.
[In my Spanish blogs: in annalibera I recommend a nice new spot in Santiago de Compostela, Kunsthalle, and in panepanna how to make milk foam at home without a special gadget!]
