Category: cooking

Supper Club

azahar2 Comments

I blame my iPhone. Used to be that I would polish off at least a book a week, but ever since I got Pippin that number has dwindled to an embarrassing handful a year (!). Which is why it’s taken me a couple of weeks to get around to enjoying Kerstin Rodger’s Supper Club.

You may recall that Kerstin (aka @MsMarmitelover) visited Sevilla awhile back and was my houseguest for a fun & food filled weekend. Well, she also very generously risked going over her RyanAir baggage weight allowance and brought me a copy her fabulous book Supper Club – my own signed copy!

And it is truly a delightful read.

Sandwiched between an extremely useful step-by-step section on how to start up your own underground restaurant and a fun collection of themed dinner ideas are lots and lots of scrumptious recipes with beautiful photos. Being pretty much vegetarian (the occasional bit of fish is becoming even more occasional) Kerstin invited other “secret supper” chefs to share their favourite meat dishes. It’s a book full of heart and humour and I can’t wait to try out some of the recipes. I am also now extremely envious of all those people on Twitter talking about what an amazing time they had at this or that Supper Club evening…

For more foodie fabulousness check out Kerstin’s blogs:
The English Can Cook
The English Can Eat

Supper Club by Kerstin Rodgers

Telva Cooking Classes at La Raza

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Yesterday evening I was invited to an inauguration class given by the Telva Cooking School that was being hosted at the Hostería del Prado. We were a group of press, photographers and bloggers who were also all foodies at heart. During the hands-on participation class we were shown how to make a three-course meal consisting of: crispy seed crackers with aubergine pâté, breaded turkey breast rolls filled with smoked cheeses and served with dried fruit compote and raisin sauce, and a light bizcocho and cream for dessert. All of which were delicious, but I was personally partial to the oatmeal crackers with sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds.

And we all got an apron to take home too!

The classes are to become a regular feature at the Hostería del Prado. Check with Marta Galán for details:

Grupo Hostelero La Raza
Tel. 954 232 024
comunicacion@grupolaraza

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#AS11

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From the opening night round table with super-chefs Juan Mari Arzak, Dani Garcia and Carme Ruscalleda to the closing cooking demonstrations by Juan Roca and Dani Garcia, this year’s Andalucía Sabor had something for everyone. It was great being able to meet and chat with Andalusian food and wine producers, as well as sample their wares, and take in the various activities scheduled on the exhibition floor (two of my favourites were the jamón slicing and best new chef of the year competitions). In the conference area you could sit comfortably and watch presentations, round table discussions and fabulous cooking demos by some of the best chefs in Spain.

Best New Chef 2011 - Rafael Arroyo Martinez

One of the real treats for me was meeting up with fellow bloggers, such as @Seville_Writer @annalibera @jorgeguitian @hollycocina @rafaprades @GuiaRepsol @elcocinerofiel @Gastronomiaycia @anaentreolivos @FerrerPepe (to name a few), many for the first time after having “known” them on Twitter for the past couple of years. It was great being able to put faces to the names. I also really appreciated having access to the Zona Blogger as a place to recharge both myself and my iPhone. Many thanks to Norma for running that.

My only complaint about the exhibition was that, especially for a food and foodie related event, the tapas on offer were both expensive and uninteresting, and after the first day we took to having our lunch break at nearby tapas bars. But overall it was a well-organised, informative and entertaining three days and I look forward to being a part of the next Andalucía Sabor in 2013.

Below are some pics taken at Dani Garcia’s closing demonstration during which he invited fellow Twitterers (seen furiously at work in the front row) up on stage to taste the various dishes he was making. Given the prominence of social media coverage this year it was a fitting way to close the show.

Other blog posts on Andalucía Sabor:
Gastronomía & Cía
Tubal
Cocina.es
Andalucia.com
Cocinando Entre Olivos

Mejor Cocinero Novel 2010

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Francisco Javier Rivas

On November 15th the Best New Chef competition took place at CEA in the Cartuja, with six young chefs competing in this Iron Chef event. And while they were busy trying to impress the judges by creating a unique dish with surprise Andalusian ingredients, we were treated to several cooking demonstrations by top Spanish chefs Dani Garcia, Francis Paniego, Quique Dacosta and Angel Leon, as well as local restauranteurs including Puratasca, Zurrutraque, Gorki, Simun and Sur (Gastromium).

Just before lunch break (which was much later than planned due to technical difficulties getting started) the Best Chef award was presented to Grenadian Francisco Javier Rivas for his “Ibéric ‘dam’ of Sierra Mayor filled with false risotto, potatoes, pear and herbal air”. He also received 3.000 euros, a training course and a trip to next year’s Andalucía Sabor conference.

Congratulations Francisco!

After the cocktail lunch featuring tapas made from regional products, the book Andalucía destapa Andalucía was presented, followed by the final ponencias of the day.

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