Author: azahar

Seville Orange Days

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It’s a sure sign of spring coming in Sevilla when the orange trees lining the streets and squares are harvested.

This year for the first time there will be week-long “Seville Orange Days” festival (starting Monday), sponsored by the provincial tourism board and Hosteleria Sevilla, with 38 restaurants in and around the city taking part by creating special dishes made from Sevilla’s emblematic bitter oranges.

I think it’s a great idea and some of the dishes sound terrific. Check out the PDF list of participating restaurants and their offerings here…

I Jornadas Gastronómicas de la Naranja de Sevilla

Semana Santa Practice

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Bet you don’t see this where you live! And as many times as I’ve seen it, including the guys above a couple of nights ago, I am always stopped in my tracks and, well, a little bit in awe. They are costaleros practicing for Semana Santa, when they will carry the statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on the backs of their necks throughout the processions. Here they are practicing with weights instead of statues while they perfect their moves because, as you can imagine, it’s quite difficult to manouevre these things, and taking corners is especially tricky. During the processions you never see the costaleros (other than those taking breaks and having beers at nearby bars) and I find it fascinating to see them at work like this.

Semana Santa 2012
1 – 8 April

Wabi Sabi Vintage Market

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This afternoon I stopped into Wabi Sabi Shop & Gallery to check out their Sunday Vintage Market, an exclusive one-day-only event that they were hosting with Mary Jo Torres from Mulita Couture. I was told that this is just the start of regular “every-other-Sunday” events, which will include poetry readings and wine tastings, along with fashion, furniture and art workshops.

Owner María Lopez Vergera opened her bright new space just off the Plaza Encarnación in part to help make people feel less intimidated about walking into an “Art Gallery”, which I think she mostly does by just being herself.  I love the mix of art and fashion, retro furniture and cool chachkas on display, but it’s the friendly and open welcome you get from María and Manolo that really makes you feel at home.  Seriously my kind of place.

Wabi Sabi Shop & Gallery

Viriato 9
Tel. 954 214 065

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

[click on images to enlarge]