For me this photo by twitter pal Raúl Díaz really sums up today (and probably the rest of the week). It’s the best of both worlds when you know the land around you is getting a much needed drink yet you are all cosy inside watching it come down from a warm and dry comfortable distance. Raúl took this photo today in the centre of Sevilla.
You can see more of his work here: Fotografiando
A few images from last night’s performance at the Museo del Baile Flamenco.
Jesse and Luisa – Hardcore!
This was without a doubt the most spontaneous and “extreme” Gourmet Tapas Tour I’ve done so far. Just over a week ago, in fact on the night before my 20 years in Spain party, I picked up Jesse & Luisa at their hotel not expecting too much out of the ordinary, though in fact, as the gourmet tours are more flexible than the all-inclusive ones in terms of locations and food, they tend to be quite individual. We started off with some great seafood and then at our second stop, while having some gorgeous jamón Ibérico, Jesse expressed a passion for chorizo and I knew we’d have to hit an extra bar along the way so he could try their venison chorizo speciality. This led to a quick pringá pit stop afterwards and, as Jesse & Luisa were still hungry, we then headed over to our next (fifth!) stop. Up until then we’d been sticking to pretty traditional places and so it was time to go somewhere modern and upmarket to try a bit of innovative cooking, where J & L got to enjoy some fabulous squid and grilled Iberian pork. By this time I realised that we had set a record for the number of tapas bars visited during one tour and so – of course – I suggested we go for one more.
At the sixth and final tapas bar we ordered some beautifully grilled fish (urta), and also desserts. But we weren’t done yet as the gourmet tour includes a round of cocktails. By this time Peter had joined us because it was getting pretty late and so he came to walk me home. Looking back it probably wasn’t the most sensible thing to do on the eve of my party day, but it just “kind of happened” and so we went with the flow and we all had a great time. The Gourmet Tapas Tour usually lasts about four hours and we visit three different bars and then go for cocktails. On this record breaking occasion we went to six tapas bars and then a special members-only cocktail bar and I didn’t get to bed until well after 2 am. I blame the Harvest Moon…
The new Centro de Interpretación de la Judería de Sevilla, which opened yesterday, is the city’s first museum of the history and achievements of Sevilla’s Jews, telling their story in words (both in Spanish and English) and pictures along with other exhibits. It is the latest project of the Casa de la Memoria, one of Sevilla’s best known flamenco cultural centres.
It is a very moving exhibit and you can lose yourself in the stories of some of Sevilla’s most important historical figures, such as Pablo de Olavide, José María Blanco White and the mysterious Susona Ben Susón. You can also see the original 19th century painting “The Expulsion of the Jews from Sevilla” by Joaquín Turina y Areal.
I also liked the map of the old Jewish Quarter, which was created especially for the Centre. New exhibits and events are being planned for the future.
Ximenez de Enciso, 22
Daily 10.30-14.00 and 17.30 – 20.00
entrance €6.50
Tel: 954 047 089
Website
El Aljarafe is Arabic for “knoll”, and is the name for the cluster of villages dotting the hills just outside Sevilla. I rarely venture out there other than to go to IKEA (in Castilleja de la Cuesta), mostly because it’s a pain to get to by bus. It would actually be fun to do a day trip to some of the little villages out there some time if I can convince someone with a car to do this with me. But I digress…
I’ve only been to Salteras once, about 12 years ago, when I was invited to a special lunch at one of the “parrilla” restaurants there. About thirty years ago the first one – La Bodega – opened in Salteras and was such a great success that soon other places started copying its “formula” of offering a simple menu based on BBQ grilled meats served with “papas arrugás” and “mojo picón”. These are small potatoes boiled in a small amount of very salty water leaving the skins wrinkled and sparkling with salt, which are then dipped in a spicy Canarian sauce. Soon Salteras was full of these establishments and became THE place to go for fabulous meat & potato meals. Since then the menus have become more extensive while the number of restaurants has diminished. Now there are about five left and on Sunday I decided to go out there and try one out.
After a bit of online research I chose La Resolana because I liked the look of their website and I especially liked that they had a “tapas corner”, which meant that my friend Peter (aka Seville Concierge) and I could try more dishes. So we trekked down to the bus station just in time to catch the 1pm to Salteras and when the bus driver pulled out of the station and put on some rock-a-billy music it started to feel like a proper Road Trip. We got held up for awhile in a village just outside of Camas when the main road became blocked by a funeral procession. I’d never seen this before and got one of those odd “I’m living in Spain” moments as I watched a crowd of at least fifty people walking slowly behind a hearse, with half a dozen pallbearers in the lead. It was a sad and beautiful sight.
If you go to Salteras from Sevilla by car it will take you about ten minutes. The bus takes about 25 minutes (or 35 with funeral) and we stopped in places I didn’t even know existed. Luckily we had been told which stop in Salteras to get off at, which ended up being just a few minutes walk to La Resolana. And well, we had a wonderful lunch. As it was a hot afternoon in August the place was pretty quiet, though I’m told it’s always packed out during the rest of the year. I can see why. The service was great, the food excellent, and at one point when a Twitter friend asked me exactly which part of the pig “pluma” comes from (yes, I tweeted the whole lunch) one of the chefs brought me out a book showing me the different pork cuts. After that we were given some boozy sorbet drinks on the house and I got to take photos of everyone for Sevilla Tapas. If you want to see all the great stuff we had to eat then have a look here:
La Resolana
It was only after I got home that I realised this had actually been another of my 20th anniversary day trips! And I’m now keen to explore El Aljarafe a bit more.
If I can find someone to take me…