Sevilla’s Gastronomic Heritage

seville gastronomic heritageWell this came as a pleasant surprise! I have been chosen to be one of the five gastronomy experts to do the final judging for an ambitious new project headed by the Sevilla Tourism Board to promote Sevilla’s Gastronomic Heritage, AKA the tapa, as a tourist attraction.

From today until September 5th, locals and visitors to Sevilla can vote on both their favourite tapa and favourite establishment. The list of tapas on the Visit Sevilla Facebook Page starts with around 18 dishes but voters can also add their choices. After the judging has taken place this will become a list of the top 14 tapas in the city and the best places to try them, which will then be included in a guide book.

The other expert judges chosen are:

  • Julio Fernández, chef of Sevilla’s only Michelin star restaurant Abantal
  • Fernando Huidobro, president of the Acacademy of Gastronomy and Tourism
  • Javier Compass, culinary and tourism specialist
  • Paco Sanchez, hospitality professional and former owner of the Cervecería Giralda and Bar Estrella

So as you can see I am in excellent company. And as you can also see in the photo below taken at this morning’s presentation at City Hall (photo courtesy of Raúl Doblado ABC Sevilla) I’m not only the only non-Spaniard, but also the only woman. One step at a time…

patrimonio gastronomico

Sevilla’s Gastronomic Heritage

Feria de la Manzanilla (in Sevilla)

feria de la manzanilla
The plan for yesterday was to take the bus to Sanlúcar de Barrameda to visit their Feria de la Manzanilla for the first time. Unfortunately the bus service to Sanlúcar was less than feriante friendly with one bus at 10 am and the next not until 2 pm and when I mentioned this on Twitter my friend and sherry expert Annie Manson said that, knowing me, I’d end up creating my own Feria de la Manzanilla here. So that’s what I did.  🙂

Sanlúcar de Barrameda is located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river where it meets the Altantic and, along with Jerez and El Puerto de Santa María, forms the famous Sherry Triangle in the Cádiz province. It is also home to the oldest horse races in Spain, which take place just before sunset along the beach during the month of August. Another Sanlúcar event I have yet to witness. But I digress…

My companion yesterday was Peter Tatford Seville Concierge and at one stop Eduardo Blanco Different Spain also briefly joined us. Since my idea was to recreate being in Sanlúcar the obvious place to start was Restaurante Barbiana which not only features wines and seafood from there but also makes the best tortillitas de camarones I’ve ever had outside Sanlúcar. We started with a nice plate of jamón Ibérico de Bellota paired with a manzanilla fina from Bodegas Barbiana, served at a perfectly chilled 1ºC. For our tortillita I chose an amontillado to go with it which worked very nicely.

Then we went on to La Moneda, which was where we ment up with Eduardo. There we tried two different manzanillas (Solear and La Gitana) with fried salmonetes (which I was told came from Sanlúcar) and a very nice soupy rice with gambas, clams and monkfish.

For our third stop we taxied over to Taberna Chani in Nervión to try their manzanilla en rama from Bodegas Baron, which we paired with fabulous fried boquerones (also from Sanlúcar) and some grilled Almadraba tuna cheeks.

And then we were done. I have to say that although the food and wine were all very pleasant the whole Feria de la Manzanilla in Sevilla thing didn’t feel as successful as my recent impromptu World Sherry Day event because I didn’t feel like I’d actually learned anything new. Although I asked lots of questions about the different wines, and about which foods they would go best with, the response at these bars wasn’t as friendly or enthusiastic as I found last week. I mean, I know you can get palo cortado from Sanlúcar, and also some good dessert wines, but these weren’t suggested to me even though I’d told everyone I was trying to learn more about Sanlúcar wines. Bit of a shame, but ah well…

World Sherry Day 2013

world sherry day[click on image to enlarge]

I had big plans for World Sherry Day! I was going to meet up with friends in Jerez including good buddy and qualified Sherry Educator Annie Manson. Plans went adrift when I realised that I’d missed my train and that, being a Sunday, the next one would get me to Jerez far too late in the day. So damn. There I was thinking I’d be at home feeling all envious as I read all those tweets from Jerez and then I thought… hey, why don’t I create my own World Sherry Day event? And so off I went with friend/colleague/flatmate Peter (aka Seville Concierge) to discover the world of sherry in Sevilla.

First stop was Flores Jamones y Vinos for our starter course. I was happy to see the fabulous Catalina was working and she helped me select our wines while I chatted with master jamón cutter Federico about our snacks. First we had a half-ración of two types of jamón Ibérico de bellota, and a tapita of two types of cheese (from Zamora and Cádiz) with perfectly chilled La Ina fino from Bodegas Lustau. Next up was a serving of caña de lomo Ibérico paired with another fino, this time from Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla. I think this fino & jamón thing could become a serious habit.

Hoping to find some interesting pairings with traditional tapas we headed off to one of my favourite bars in the centre, family-run Bar Las Teresas. There we were in luck because it was just after the lunch rush and Rafael, who is usually busy manning the jamón cutting station, was available to chat and give us some suggestions. We started off with a “safe” choice to go with our bacalao frito – a nice Canasta from Bodegas Williams Humbert. But then Rafael asked if I’d ever tried palo cortado from Bodegas Tradición. I had to ‘fess up that I’d never tried any palo cortado (outside a sherry tasting, which doesn’t count) and so he poured me a glass. And BAM – I was transported to another level. Not only was this an elegant and complex wine, it also went perfectly with the fried cod (surprise!). By now Rafael was getting into educating me and suggested I order a meat tapa and he’d pour me something special. So we opted for a nicely grilled solomillo Ibérica and enjoyed that with Botaina Amontillado, another gorgeous wine from Bodegas Lustau.

Next up – dessert! And since THE place to go for dessert in Sevilla is Vineria San Telmo (with fab confections by Gollerías) that’s what we did. It turned out to be the perfect ending to a rather wonderful afternoon. First Vanna poured us a lovely creamSauci from Huelva but then we remembered that this was a generoso not a sherry (oops!) so we also had a Nectar PX from Bodegas Gonzalez-Byass. With a slice of creamy cheese cake and another of chocolate ambrosia with butter cream. Oh yes.

And thus ended my impromptu World Sherry Day event. What struck me most about this outing was that although I know all of these tapas bars very well it became clear that there is still a lot to discover at each of them, especially with regards to the world of sherry. Many thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and passion for these amazing wines. I realise now that this is the way to learn about sherry. Poco á poco, with friends and with a few tapas.

Blogosur Award

1-TDS award
Best individual Twitter account about Gastronomy in Sevilla

So this is it… my first ever award! I tell you, nobody was more surprised than me when I found out I had been nominated for this (by whom??). And then I won! Well, that really blew me away. This is so meaningful to me for many reasons, not least of which is that I was the only non-Spanish person to win (and possibly to be nominated). As most of you know, my Sevilla Tapas blog (which is now more of a listing or guide than a blog) began by accident about six years ago. Then I started with the @SevillaTapas Twitter account in 2009 and since then what began as a hobby eventually evolved into me doing the Sevilla Tapas Tours, and of course, becoming the Queen of Tapas. 😉 But seriously, being recognised like this by my adopted city and True Home in this world really means a lot to me. I am thrilled to pieces.

This year the 3rd @Blogosur Gala (#3GalaBlogosur) took place at the splendiferously elegant Lope de Vega Theatre. Journalists, designers, entrepreneurs, politicians, and of course bloggers and social network enthusiasts, gathered there on Monday for the event. I wasn’t able to attend because – natch! – I had a tapas tour booked that evening. And so my friend @SarayPineda who works for the Sevilla Tourism Board @CiudadSevilla and specialises in promoting gastronomy as a tourist attraction, very kindly agreed to go to the gala in my place. Which really was a blessing because although I was so happy to be nominated and would have loved to be at the Gala, I probably would have had a nervous breakdown having to go up on stage and look out over a full theatre of people looking back at me. Eep! Much better to have a poised and articulate person up there representing me! And one who shares the same goals.

The categories for best Blogs and Twitter accounts were: News, Fiestas, Culture, Technology, Personal, Fashion, Sport and Gastronomy (that last one was just added this year!). For a list of all the winners have a look at the Blogosur Blog.

Many thanks to everyone at the Blogosur Group and Twitteros de Sevilla – and Saray! – and also to D.O. Estepa for the lovely prize. And of course my heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful tapas bars and restaurants that have made me feel so welcome over the years and have allowed me to become a part of their world. Together we are showing the rest of the world that the gastronomy of Sevilla is not only diverse and delicious but is even a reason in itself for visiting this beautiful city.

Below is the prize that came with my award. I’m not sure whether to sprinkle it over my salad or dab it behind my ears. Isn’t it fab?  🙂

olive oil perfume

Extra Virgin Olive Oil from D.O. Estepa @doestepa