Waaayyyyy long ago, when I was about 17 years old, I heard about a brand new place called McDonald’s, which had just opened up in Winnipeg (my accidental place of birth). They were handing out coupons for a free burger and fries and so one day I cycled over to check it out. I went in, took a couple of bites, and never went back. Until today. Because my first response had been “this isn’t food!”. And for the record, I have never set foot in a Burger King, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut… as I had a pretty shrewd idea that it would just be the same non-food crap (though as a kid I did like going to A&W – do those still exist?).
Fast forward to 2015 and the very surprising announcement that 2-star Michelin chef Dani García was in cahoots with McDonald’s and producing something called the Grand McExtrem Bibo, for a limited time only. Described thusly: Between an exquisite pretzel bread, you can enjoy a double burger of 100% Extremeño beef, Batavia lettuce, crispy onions, queso Ibérico and a special “Dani sauce”.
How could I not be intrigued when Dani’s amazing bulltail burger totally won my heart back when he started his first gourmet tapas bar La Moraga in Málaga? Served on a soft brioche bun with melted havarti and au jus mayo it was heaven and even now I never feel like I’ve truly arrived in Málaga until I’ve had my first “burguer bull” and a glass of Botani, now available at Wendy Gamba. But I digress…
the splendid Dani bulltail burger at Wendy Gamba in Málaga
So there I was today at the McDonald’s closest to my house in Sevilla (yes, sadly there is more than one) and I joined the throbbing crowd of mostly parents and young children clamouring to have their orders taken. I first thought that the Bibo was a bit pricy at 7.90€ but was told that it came with large fries and a big drink. So okay, I ordered it with a Big Beer and the burger was slapped onto my tray in mere seconds. It was a bit of a wait to get the fries and beer. I finally made my way over to where my fearless companion was saving a small space at one of the little ledges that line the walls at this place (even at the beginning of the lunch service the bins were over-flowing so we just had to stack left trays wherever we could).
As you can see, the Bibo Burger in reality looks nothing like the promo pic above (surprise!). And if that is Batavia lettuce (whatever that is) then I’m the Queen of Sheba. It had obviously been sitting in the “warmer” for some time, hence the almost cooked lettuce and seriously slimy mayo (do not heat mayo guys, wtf is wrong with you?). So yeah, this did not work. On any level. Honestly Dani… why? Also, you owe me 7.90€ 😉
When I first arrived here in 1993 it was a total novelty to me, as you can imagine, and I tried to get out to see as many processions as possible during the week-long festivities. But I also lived a stone’s throw from the Cathedral, so in effect, Semana Santa came to me every year. I soon learned that all my English classes would be cancelled (without pay! – I was a private tutor in those days), and that I had to get any errands and shopping done well before 2 pm. After about 5 pm I could either dodge the processions and crowds in order to get somewhere, or just stay at home – and as the years passed I more often chose the latter. Well, except when I went out to purposely see processions, usually one or two each year.
Slippery when waxy (from the procession candles)
Our hosts: Silvia Flores (Gourmet Experience sommelier), Anabel Leirman (Neuhaus), Antonio Flores (González Byass master wine blender), Juanma Terceño (González Byass sommelier).