Author: azahar

Churros & Chocolate

azahar

Churros are a fried dough snack that is made throughout Spain and much of Latin America. The dough is squeezed through a nozzle and deep fried in a special vat of hot oil. There are two basic types, a fat round spiral, usually known as “porra” but commonly known as “masas” in Seville, and a thinner, ridged version called “papas” (for years I thought these were made from potatoes, but no). In Seville they are normally eaten with a thick hot chocolate drink as a breakfast or mid-morning snack, and are also served in the early evening for “merienda”. They are also a popular as a “hangover cure” and some churrerías (also known as calenterías) open as early as 6am weekend mornings to catch all-night revellers on their way home.

Below is a short list of some great places to find churros in the centre of Sevilla. Do you know of any others that you’d like to recommend?

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No Photos Allowed

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Last night I was out with my friend Eduardo from Different Spain for a short tapeo. I got to our first stop a bit early so, while I was waiting for Edu, I took some photos of the place in case I liked it enough to put in my Sevilla Tapas blog. No problem. Got a few outside and interior shots and, though the waitress looked at me with curiosity, she didn’t say anything. When Edu arrived he took his iPhone inside to take a few pictures and the cook told him that the manager didn’t allow people to take photos. Huh?

Then I remembered one time I was in El Corte Inglés and saw somebody taking a photo of something on a shelf, presumably to remember a price or show someone at home, and the security guard came up and told him he wasn’t allowed to take photos.

So this morning I asked on Twitter if it is actually legal for a place that is open to the public to ban photo taking and the general response was that it was at the discretion of owner/manager, regardless of the location being open to the public. Someone also pointed out that many museums and monuments don’t allow photos, but in those places you are clearly warned with signs when you walk in. Somone else mentioned that once they were in a London bar and were told they could take photos of the bar but not of the bottles on the shelves (eh?). It was also mentioned that in many railway stations they don’t like people taking photos.

What’s been your experience? I’ve never thought twice about taking photos of the restaurants and tapas bars I visit, and to date have never had anyone tell me I couldn’t. I can’t imagine why they would.

360º Setas

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[click on image to enlarge]

This morning I took another trip up to the top of the Metropol Parasol to try out my new iPhone app that allows me to take 360º photos… I think I need more practice but this was the best of the few I tried out.

I also saw that they have finally put up info boards that explain what you are looking at from the main outlook points. They also now have pay-per-view telescopes that warn you not to look directly into the sun (duh).

A tip – do try to get there just after opening time (10 am) as it is lovely and cool and there is nobody else around.

All in a Morning’s Work…

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I was invited to an ice cream tasting this morning by my friend Eduardo who runs Different Spain, a fabulous private travel and concierge service. You may recall that a couple of months ago Edu and I went to an olive oil tasting together at the Basilippo Hacienda just outside Sevilla, and it turns out that this ice cream tasting, held at Mascarpone as a part of their new “Flavour Sensations” range, was going to include three flavours made from Basilippo’s exquisite extra virgin olive oil.

Have to admit I’m not much of an ice cream person. Or maybe I’m a purist? I only eat ice cream once or twice a year and my favourite flavour has always been vanilla. But it was fun to try a few very different flavours, such as:

  • vanilla olive oil
  • gazpacho topped with balsamic vinegar
  • chocolate with hot chilis
  • vanilla bonbon filled with wine and covered in dark chocolate
  • chocolate bonbon filled with olive oil and covered in white chocolate
  • mascarpone with salted sunflower & pumpkin seeds, mixed with dulce de leche

The surprise hit for me was gazpacho – it really worked! I also quite liked the mascarpone ice cream and the wine-filled bonbon. Later Eduardo and I were given some frozen fruit pops to try. They are not on the menu yet but I quite enjoyed my strawberry one, which was made from 45% fresh fruit. As for the rest, it was all very interesting and some of the flavours were quite nice, but I think I’ll stick with vanilla…

 

Nights at the Royal Alcazar Gardens

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Tonight was the first in the summer-long series of night-time concerts in the magical  Royal Alcázar Gardens.

The music ranges from medieval, renaissance and baroque to classical, jazz, cuban and blues and the setting is exquisite.

Make sure to buy your tickets in advance as they tend to sell out quickly. Tickets are 4 euros or 5 euros by internet.

Programmacion
Noches en los Jardines del Real Alcázar