BACK TO REALITY

Its back to normal.Back to school lunches.Back to routine.

At least that is what I am trying to do.Why does the 5 week holiday seem to very far away?

We ate ,we drank,we had fun in the heat.

World cup has also ended.

So really,we now need to find something else to focus on to cheer us all up.

Food always helps cheer one up and with this freezing cold winter we are having here in Cape town what a better way to go.

Whats in season?

I always find winter fruit a bit boring as I really am a summer girl but lets try and make the most of what is available without touching those ridiculously expensive imported fruit.

Today sees the start of a new "cookery club".A new term and some brand new recipes that should get you are wanting to get into the kitchen and be creative.

Its a sunny day here in the mother city and I thought a bit of Italian influence was necessary so we will start with a garlic and parsley bread to accompany a bit of baked pasta filled with grana padana and mozzerella cheeses and to round it off,since the fruit is a bit "boring ",some delicious spicy baked apples.

Children I think enjoy food much more if they have been an active part in preparing it.So roll up the sleeves,wash hands and put your heart and soul into a bit of bread kneading.

LAST FEW SLEEPS

We are now down to our last few sleeps in Europe.Its always sad to leave, as there are dear family and friends here but ..................

I want to go on eating all the wonderful food and visiting the markets but life has to return to normal at some stage.

Todays lunch was pigs cheeks.Now I can hear alot of you going,what is she on about but believe me,this is so delicious.

For years I have tried to buy pigs and cows cheeks back home in Cape Town but to no avail.This part of the animal is very lean and filled with gelatine.It requires slow cooking .Today the dish started off with a sofrito which is diced carrot,onion and garlic which is then fried slowly in a good amount of olive oil until it is soft.This is then removed from the pan

The cheeks are then seasoned with salt and pepper and coated in flour and seared in the same pan with olive oil.The sofrito is then returned to the pan together with a bottle of good red wine,about 25gr dark chocolate (nothing less than 70 %),bay leaf or 2 and all of this is left to simmer for at least 4 hours or until the meat is tender.Stir from time to time to prevent sticking.It is best to prepare this dish a day or 2 before so that the flavours can mingle.Served with some creamy mashed potato and you are in heaven.

I do so love the simple foods of old.They wasted nothing and every part of the animal was used.The other day at the market I even found a dried pigs head.Not sure what it would be used for but believe me ,it would be consumed in some form.

And so I will enjoy the last few days but am looking forward to returning to the most amazing city in the world,CAPE TOWN.

FROM BILBAO TO TORRES DE MEDINA

And so we spend our last week inMedina de Pomar with the other half of the family.Weather has been so typical of this region with sunshine in the morning then huge electrical storms around 6 o clock.

Medina is a small village.Lots of small farms where you can find lots of potato fields,beans ,tomatoes and onions.The amount of walnut trees is amazing.At the moment they are all green and the thought did cross my mind to make some pickled green walnuts but................

Also lots of cherries around here and at the moment the market place is filled with loads of these delicious berries.

Like I have said before ,each family has their own recipe for paella and my brother in law cooked us a delicious one.He prefers to keep it simple and not mix the flavours too much so it consisted of prawns,calamari,mussels and clams.Cooked this over a low heat together with lots of garlic then added the rice and sauteed it until all the rice grains were coated in oil.Finally fish stock was added together with saffron ,the most expensive spice in the world.It was really simple but oh so moreish.

Life is rather slow around here.Something I am not used to.However with the long days dinner is late,around 10pm and bedtime way after midnight.Going to find it quite hard to get back into the swing of things once we are home.

Visited a market yesterday morn where there were lots of cured meats,olive oils,bacalao (salted cod ) and many othere delicasies to buy.

Saturday night ofcourse was a big night here in spain with the world cup.We had some friends around and I made pizzas for all.Finding fresh yeast here is like looking for a needle in a haystack but after many stops,we finally found some.

Some of the "panaderia's" here dont make their bread anymore but instead buy in the ready prepared baguette and just pop it into their ovens unlike before where everyone used to make their own bread and you would have your favorite baker.I find this very sad as bread making is so close to my heart and I really think that it is one of the simplest and most enjoyable items of food to produce from ones kitchen.

Simple ingredients flour,yeast,salt and water is transformed into something magical.Where are all the old traditions going?

Anyway we will enjoy our last few days here before we head back down south.Will enjoy the last of the wonderful food and wine.

FURTHER SOUTH

Went to a little restaurant to eat my "little fish".Started off with the sweetest prawns which came to the table in abundance.Next followed fresh clams which were steamed open and served with a simple sauce of garlic and wine.Am not so fortunate to eat fresh clams back home so these were a real treat.

Next came a plate of what looked like little soles and something else which looked like baby,baby hake but these are not the babies they are a species of fish found in these parts of the world.They are coated in a special type of flour which apparently is sold as "flour for fish "then deep friend in olive oil.

Next was a plate of calamari fingers and lastly a plate of a type of shark.All so very delicious.The little hake like fish, you eat the whole thing from the head to the tail.Just love it.

And so we travel further south.From Jerez de la frontera we run for a bus and managed to get there just in time.( I am getting rather tired of running for buses ).

We arrive in San Antonio Vila Real just over 2 hours later and I got the times muddled up.Thought we were still on spanish time only to discover that Portugal was an hour behind so had to hang around the bus station to wait for our friends.

Its so good to see dear friends after so many years.My dear friend Vikki, I say, was the reason I finally had children.

I looked after her daughter just for one night when she was only a few months old and realised then that I was able to face a new adventure in my life.

We arrived to a wonderful dinner of "braaied "fish which looked like hottentot but was far more tasty.Absolutely delicious.A simple meal of the fish ,salad and potatoes in extra virgen olive oil.Heaven for me.

Spent the next day on one of the many beaches here in the Algarve and for the first time I felt like I was on holiday.

The weather has been wonderful and because it was so, we spent alot longer on the beach than we thought we would, so had to make a plan re food.Found my way to the local market and bought wonderful seasonal fruit together with olives stuffed with pimento,a traditonal portuguese snack which I cant seem to remember the name but it looks like a legume of some sort, trenosos maybe?Has a tough skin and you pop it out of its skin and enjoy.We feasted on these lovely fresh products.Headed home and had a very traditional dinner of "bacalao " which is salted cod.

Now years ago,back in 1987 when I first headed off to work in the fish factories way up in Iceland,we or rather my dear husband Antonio was doing this.

The fresh cod would be landed and these huge fish (way before over fishing became an issue ) were headed,butterflied and salted.An old way of preserving fish but oh so effective.

It needs lots of soaking to remove the saltiness before cooking and my friend Vikki has told me that once all the salt has been removed,she soaks hers in milk to tenderise the fish as it can sometimes be quite tough.

Again a simple dinner of fried bacalao with onions cooked in lots of olive oil ,potatoes roasted with rosemary and garlic ,spinach fried up with garlic.Absolutely delicious.

Ofcourse we could not miss out on the oh so delicious and traditional "pasteis nata ". A little custard tart but so very different . The real ones with pastry as light as anything and the filling set to just the right consistency.Oh, quite out of this world.

I have eaten pasteis nata back home but once you taste the ones here,you really dont want to go back to those.Going to have to try and perfect them once I get home.

madrid

And so from Holland we head back to Madrid.

Anyone heard of a country Angora?Well it seems that's where I am from.?????????

We complain about service etc in south africa but believe me , they aint so bright on this side either.This was a 4 star hotel in Madrid and the staff were a bit thick.

Sorry if that sounds nasty but I think if you work in a 4 star you should be a bit clued up.

Anyway enough of that,back to food.

We travelled to the old town of Segovia where we bought traditional cookies.Thought they were different flavours but it seems like "one size fits all ".They all had the same flavour just different toppings.

My dear husband thought mine were much better so here is the recipe:

250 gr soft unsalted butter , 1/3 cup castor sugar ,1 egg yolk ,2 cups flour,1 cup corn flour ,1/2 cup chopped almonds,5ml almond essence (optional )

Method:

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.Add egg yolk and beat well.If using almond essence add now and stir.

Lastly add flours and mix to form a firm dough.

Roll into balls roughly the size of a ping pong ball.Place on a lined baking sheet and spike each ball with a clove.

Bake at 180 deg for about 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and sift a generous layer of icing sugar over the hot biscuits.

Leave to cool.

Enjoy

The following day it was off to the magnificent city of Toledo.Wow amazing.Well known for its marzipan.Loads of creations.( can seem to post all my wonderful pics ??/??/)

Anyway enjoyed seeing all the different culinary delights.Think it is snail season as alot of the bars have signs posted outside "hoy carecoles ".Will wait until we are up in the north to hopefully feast on "tia Celias carecoles ".She used to make the most delicious snails in tomato.

From Madrid we boarded the rapid train and headed to Seville.For me ,the city of Flamenco Dancers.Walked past a dry cleaning shop and hanging in the window were all the dresses.Obviously taken for cleaning in preparation for the up coming fiestas.

Met up with our dear friends Carlos and Aurora.

As with many kitchens here in spain,there is a corner where the hams are sitting on their special cutting "boards ".Lunched on jamon ,chicken cooked with amongst other things,whisky, and more.So very delicious.

Went off to buy pork form a place called "MONTESIERRA ".Here the animals roam freely and feast on acorns which give them their distinctive flavour. They slaughter the animals (so no long trips to the abbatoir causing the animals a huge amount of stress ) and you have access to the freshest,most beautiful pork ever.A fine marbling of fat all over which adds so much flavour to the meat.And then there were the hams.Oh my gosh,absolute heaven for me.Wish I could take them all home.Disguised maybe as tennis rackets,guitars whatever?????????.Just want to get them back.I can dream ,cant i?

The south is well known for all its wonderful what I call ,"little fish".Things that look like soles but are small .I thought they were baby soles but they aren't.Boquerones are my favourite and I WILL eat them before i leave here.

Just love Europe for its vast variety of foods.

from airline food to spanish culinary delights

Okay,so I am very new at this but a gal has to start somewhere hey.
Since this website is dedicated to food,most of the blog will be food related as we travel to some of the most gourmet rich countries in europe as far as I am concerned.
What is it about some airlines that make me dislike the food served on board so very much.Maybe if they tried keeping it simple then the food would at least be edible.
Breakfasts are the absolute worst.They need to take the egg dish off the menu completely as they taste of a bad quality cardboard.
Then there are others who surprise one with a very simple sandwich but it is served at the right temperature and it is filled with flavour.
And then we touch down in Madrid.Oh my gosh,what a culinary experience and delight.
A simple bar in a side street somewhere and we are served the most simple but so delicious grub.
The markets are filled with all the wonderful summer fruits ,strawberries in so many different varieties,cherries as well.Then I came across a cocoa pod.Wow just had to have it.Cant do much with it but its a step up from the cocoa beans I have at home.Now I have a pod.
At the moment in Holland where we are feasting on herrings ,syrup waffles,kibbling ( a variety of fried fish and shellfish ) and lots lots more.
Such absolute culinary delights.I am loving it.

from airline food to culinary delights

Okay,so I am very new at this but a gal has to start somewhere hey.
Since this website is dedicated to food,most of the blog will be food related as we travel to some of the most gourmet rich countries in europe as far as I am concerned.
What is it about some airlines that make me dislike the food served on board so very much.Maybe if they tried keeping it simple then the food would at least be edible.
Breakfasts are the absolute worst.They need to take the egg dish off the menu completely as they taste of a bad quality cardboard.
Then there are others who surprise one with a very simple sandwich but it is served at the right temperature and it is filled with flavour.
And then we touch down in Madrid.Oh my gosh,what a culinary experience and delight.
A simple bar in a side street somewhere and we are served the most simple but so delicious grub.
The markets are filled with all the wonderful summer fruits ,strawberries in so many different varieties,cherries as well.Then I came across a cocoa pod.Wow just had to have it.Cant do much with it but its a step up from the cocoa beans I have at home.Now I have a pod.
At the moment in Holland where we are feasting on herrings ,syrup waffles,kibbling ( a variety of fried fish and shellfish ) and lots lots more.
Such absolute culinary delights.I am loving it.