Nerja and Frigliana

A visit to my friend Sherri who lives between Nerja and Frigliana in Spain seemed like the perfect time to hang out and catch up with what she’s up to and maybe learn a little more about Spanish cuisine. I’m not all that familiar with Spanish food and she promised to show me some of her favourite dishes.

Before we head the supermercado to shop, we go to the beach for a paella lunch with friends. Given the year round fabulous weather in Nerja, it’s no surprise that everything is outside – the kitchen as well as the tables. The paella pans are a metre wide and there are three or four of them cooking away. The restaurant probably holds 200 people and we have to wait for seats. Nerja is filled with British ex-pats who obviously love the paella. I’m not so convinced.

I’m much happier in the supermercado where I can wander from aisle to aisle discovering all kinds of new foods. In the fish section I find vacuum sealed packages of smoked and dried tuna along with boquerones, anchovies, sardines, dried cod, calamari and frozen octopus. The cheese section holds an equally awesome selection as do areas filled with olive oils and wines!!

We make our way home, laden with bags of ingredients and make incredible (and incredibly easy) tapas with the dried tuna, the octopus, the calamari and the sardines. We make an equally easy Torta de San Juan – a cake with lots of olive oil and almonds. It’s all accompanied by a passable bottle of wine that I’ve selected. Turns out I know even less about Spanish wine then I do about the food. You know it’s bad when your non-drinking friends are telling you how to choose wine!

Anyway, we enjoyed the tapas and the torta all of which I’ve since made at home. But that was about all I learned about Spanish food because the rest of our time was spent cooking from Sherri’s newly acquired Bonnie Stern’s Friday Night Dinners. I guess you can take the woman out of Canada but you can’t take Canada out of the woman – or something like that.

There's always time for tapas

My interests when travelling are pretty broad – I can wander through archaeological sites and ancient cities, hike through rainforests and canoe down jungle rivers. I can lose myself in museums and orchid gardens.

But wherever you find me and whatever I’m doing, food is never far from my mind – trying local restaurants and street food stalls, exploring the local markets and grocery stores, taking cooking classes to learn about traditional foods, visting local food festivals – no matter how big or small. If there’s a food angle you’ll find me there.

So last year when I finally made plans to spend a couple of days in Sevilla I planned to go tapas hopping. My friends warn that it’s Semana Santa (Easter Holy Week) and I won’t find a hotel. Armed with a list of recommendations I begin the long process of finding of a room. My first call to my first choice yields a room. I guess Las Casas de la Juderia (The Houses of the Jews) isn’t a big seller during Semana Santa.

We arrive in late afternoon, walk around the neighbourhood planning how to see everything we want to see in the next two days. We decide to hit one tapas bar and make it an early night. We start with sangria and then order small plates of boquerones, calamares, anchovies, tortilla, chorizo, olives and almonds.

I know about the religious processions held during Semana Santa and certainly intend to see one while in Sevilla. Turns out every church has its own procession and there’s a schedule published. As we walk towards the church, the streets are lined with people and every balcony is filled with people. As the procession rounds the corner we’re amazed to see thousands of participants in outfits similar to, but not to be mistaken for those worn by Ku Klux Klan members. (We’d been told about them, but it’s hard to imagine until you’re there).

Each procession has two ‘floats’ (one with Jesus and the Cross, the other the Madonna) that are carried throughout the neighbourhood by 20 or more people. It’s a huge honour to carry the float but also a huge responsibility. In one place they had to all crouch down to be able to get under an overhead pass. And, although there are police everywhere keeping the crowds back, people are always breaking through and closing in on the floats.

It was just an amazing experience and everyone should try to visit during Semana Santa. And, don’t worry, I know where you can get a room.

Tapas Therapy

I'm feeling the post-vacation blues. Not even a month ago, I spent a week on Canada's beautiful East Coast, eating fresh lobster (with the proper technique shown to me by a very handsome Maritimer) and hunting down local delicacies. It's only been a few weeks, but I have to say - I'm ready for another vacation!

If you're feeling like me, you might want to take a minute to check out our contest. You could win a trip for two to Spain. A good reason to finally book that week off? I think so.

If you need something to tide you over a little longer, visiting a tapas bar could be a good bet. Those little bites of tastiness and some sangria always put a smile on my face. After coming across this link though, I must say that I'm tempted to actually throw my very own tapas party. However a party does imply the sharing of food, and if you've had a look at my bio, you'll see it's not something I'm very good at (yes, à la Joey from friends). Well I guess there's only one way to get over it - tapas party therapy, here I come!