Percy Moo as Einstein

Percy Moo as Einstein
Dog=Einstein2

Sunday 31 August 2014

On Sanlúcar de Barrameda

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Sanlúcar  de Barrameda is a relatively undiscovered jewel among the smaller coastal Andalusian cities – and its catchphrase “Calidad de vida”, or “Quality of Life” is one of the truest I have ever come across. For further general information click on this wikipedia link.

A panoramic shot of the beach.

Sanlúcar is famous for its Manzanilla sherry – it’s 10 miles from 
A Chinese restaurant. Note 
the round window .This was to
regulate thetemperature in 
the wineries and is common to
all the"Cathedrals of Wine"in
the Jerez DO.
the city of Jerez and is one of the vertices of the Sherry 
Triangle.
For the past few decades, Sherry consumption worldwide 
has been in decline and the large number of abandoned 
wineries to be seen throughout the Denomination of Origin
are its silently eloquent witnesses. Some become 
restaurants and shops as this image attests, others are 
bulldozed to become blocks of flats.

Luckily for Sanlúcar, the city is also famous for its beaches, 
fresh fish, horticulture[1] and, therefore, cuisine.
Indeed, people come from other cities in Andalusia to enjoy 
dining in the local restaurants which range
 from the relatively expensive, but still good value, 
such as El Espejo to the down-to-earth family establishments that serve good, honest, 
fare; Casa Balbino, for example.

Inside the municipal food market.
A firm favourite here – indeed, in all 
of the province of Cádiz’ coastal towns are the famous tortillitas de camarones and tortillitas de bacalao. These are shrimp or cod fritters and are quite simple to make – see the rough recipe below.








My own effort. I used frozen pollock,
employing the meltwater in the batter
mix - a neat (Hairy Bikers) trick 
when battering fish. To accompany, 
fried green peppers.
Make a batter with the consistency of 
double cream, add finely-chopped 
sweet onion and parsley along with
 shrimps or finely-minced, salted cod 
that has been soaked overnight. 
Ladle the mixture one fritter at a time 
into very hot oil – not olive oil as it 
begins to smoke at a relatively low 
temperature. Fry until crispy and lacy. 
Enjoy with a chilled, dry, white wine. 
Obviously the wine of choice should be 
Manzanilla. 

Calidad de vida on a plate and on your palate!




[1] The Patata de Sanlúcar for example, is grown on sandy soil (bajo navazo) relatively near to the beaches and is a firm favourite of gourmets throughout Spain – it can even be ordered online for next day delivery anywhere in the country!

Friday 29 August 2014

Come on, My Son - or A Fool and His Money Are Soon Parted

Now this one's going to give away my age...

When I was an infant, my maternal grandfather would often take me out for a cup of hot chocolate to the Top Ten Café near where we lived. How I enjoyed those moments with Granddad in the café! Sometimes I was even allowed to go into the, gasp, back room with him.

The back room was a pretty stark affair, wooden floors, hard seats and tables, a fat ginger tom asleep by the gas fire, enough (Player's Navy strength & Woodbines) ciggy smoke to cure a boatload of kippers, a blackboard(???) and a wall-mounted loudspeaker that chanted exotic names and numbers. Strange to say that all of this chanting seemed to make some of the men there ecstatic and plunge others into the deepest depths of small-bits-of-paper-ripping despondency. 

With the passage of time - decades - I realised that I had spent part of my infancy in an illegal gambling den; licensed betting shops were still a few years away. These days, I suppose that this (coupled with a tot of rum or whisky in my morning tea, administered by my Granddad who also taught me Welsh and how to sup tea from the saucer) would place me firmly on the risk list of even the most cynically disillusioned of social workers.

Looking back, I don't think I was traumatised by it all. In fact, I would argue that in hindsight it was an interesting experience. I, for one, do not gamble. I don't have a knee-jerk reaction of revulsion towards it, nor do I condemn it from any feeling of outrage. I merely pity those who are ingenuous enough to believe that they are going to make, instead of lose, money. More than that, I pity their families who are the real victims of the bookies, online casinos etc. who prey on such weak-minded folk. 

People on both sides of my family lost fortunes on the gee-gees and the financial markets, but heigh ho, that's all water under the bridge.

So finally to the photo I want to publish.

A magnificently dramatic shot of a horse race, 
Sanlúcar de Barrameda. August 2014 Courtesy:

Maricielo Gil Arranda
Every Spring and Summer in Sanlúcar de Barrameda there are cycles of horse races on the beach in the evening. These are the oldest horse races in Spain and amongst the oldest in Europe.

Another powerfully dramatic spectacle. A
supernova sunset at the beach after the last
race of the day (this one's mine).
Thousands of people gather on the beach to watch. Indeed enthusiasts come from all over Europe to enjoy the spectacle. And a mighty impressive sight it is too. Let's forget the money side of it all and concentrate on the aesthetics: the sun is setting and there is a certain tension in the air among everyone - whether they have been foolish enough to have a flutter or not. The horses are off and a murmur runs through the crowd, turning into a roar as the horses approach. Then with the an earthquake of hooves and a deafening rumble from crowd, the horses dash past. It's all over in a matter of seconds, but in those scarce couple of seconds you have witnessed a powerfully dramatic spectacle.