After a hectic week working at the BBC Good Food Show Summer, I ditched the fancy dresses and heels for my baggiest clothes and comfiest flips flops and set off for a more relaxing food adventure to the Andalusian city of Seville, capital of tapas and the so called "Frying Pan of Europe!"
On the first day we made our way down to the coast and settled down to tostadas and freshly squeezed orange juice- a typical sevillian breakfast. These little toasted rolls are topped with a delicious fresh tomato puree and a specialty of the region, Jamon Iberico. Black Iberico pigs feast on special diet acorns. Their diet and the way the meat is cured creates a stripes of fat throughout the wafer thin slices, making them melt in the mouth delicious.
Another joy of the seaside were some splurging fresh clams we couldn't stop watching. In a bowl of water on the bar counter, these little beauties were constantly wriggling away, fresh as you like. One even squirted me with water- Cheeky clam.
The best thing about going to visit a friend when you go on holiday is utilising their local knowledge and so I made barely any decisions while in Seville, leaving all the restaurant and menu choices to Daisy- who's been living there for a year (lucky duck!).
Daisy knows me as a notorious cheese fiend and so naturally bought me to a wonderful wine bar in Seville where we were presented with a range of delicious local cheeses. We had some mature manchego, some smoked cheese, a 3 milk cheese and a very, very strong blue that we sampled with some apple chutney which balanced out the flavour, on its own it blew your tastebuds off- phew!
One of my favourite food discoveries was an absolute gem of a dish that Daisy was itching to show me as soon as I arrived- Salmorejo. A wonderfully smooth and flavoursome tomato soup made with bread and scattered with chunks of egg and Iberico ham. It's a Andalucian recipe, a Seville institution, and all you ever want for lunch when its 43 degrees. I'll definitely going to trying this myself at home!
One of Daisy's friends told me you can tell the best tapas places by the number of napkins on the floor, indicating how many people have passed through that day to sample the food. Seville is where tapas originated from. It's famous for its many restaurants, lots of them serving completely different dishes. And all at amazing prices, Tapas often costs about 2,00 and a beer will cost you 1 euro. Coming from London it was a dream come true!
Here's a quick rundown of some of my other favourite tapas dishes.
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| Melted Provolone with herbs- oozy cheesy goodness. |
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| Red tomato pesto bruschetta with pine nuts |
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| Chorizo topped with quails eggs |
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| Ventresca (Tuna belly cut- mmmmm) |
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| Battered aubergine with Salmorejo sauce |
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| Port cheek in a red wine sauce with goats cheese |
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| Morcilla- black pudding with caramelised onions, quails egg and praline. |
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| Squid with Iberico ham, griddled asparagus and squid ink |
A real range of delicious tapas restaurants with hugely varying menus make Seville a must visit for any food lover!
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