Due to recent developments at work and at home, I have taken to being back in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, we aren't talking about being in a working professional kitchen selling restaurant meals, but moreso back in a fully equipped kitchen where I can prepare my own dishes and recipes, and do some serious tastings and photography work for
Comida de Almeria, food magazine in wonderful surroundings....oh and of course I have the opportunity to entertain should the need ever arise. With weekly markets available locally some really good bargains can be secured. Indeed, tomatoes are currently only 60 cents per kilo at some of the local stalls, and they are slightly more ripe and tasty than those found in the supermarkets for three times the price. The streets markets are also sporting some useful fresh herbs in some quantity at a fraction of the price of the supermarkets too...
In the meantme, I have been busy harvesting
red pepper corns. Two plastic bags of them in fact - it's a time consuming process...but see from the photo - they look amazing in the image and taste even better than they look, in spicing up dishes! These particular red pepper corns were picked at the new
culinary school in Mojacar,
el Mirador del Castillo where we will soon be commencing some wonderful culinary cooking holidays.
Last week, I spent a really pleasurable day visiting Almeria City (again) in order to search for food and culinary delights. I can never get enough of the place, and each time the day is full of surprises. Firstly, I had the good fortune to bump into my dear friend Isabel. She rarely travels into Almeria City itself, as she lives on the outskirts and has little reason to be in the centre, but on this occasion she was not only in Almeria, but was parking the car only a few yards away from where I had alighted. Naturally, we tried a coffee bar not far away. 
Later in the day, whilst making new friends in a certain bar, (you can read about the bar in Comida de Almeria next week, when I publish February's issue), I bumped into the beautiful Anna, ex-staff member of Lombok in Mojacar where I had previously shot during the summer months. And of my new friends? Well, apart from any friend of Anna's is a friend of mine, I had the delightful experience of meeting 6 new people, in David, Ismael and another David and their respective partners...the warmth they exude is only matched by the quirkiness of the bar and the owner Jose. The tapas were first class and the wine of course was great - after all, it was my favourite Almeria wine, Tetas de la Sacristana from Seleccion de Vinos de Fondon!
