International Chef Comes To Mojacar

My involvement in the new Spanish Culinary School to be based at el Mirador del Castillo in Mojacar Pueblo, southern Spain has taken a great stride by helping secure the services of a top international chef in the form of Jeremy Stent.

Jeremy, formerly of The Ivy London, ex Head Chef at Shepherds Restaurant London and the ex Head Chef at The One and Only Royal Mirage, 5 star luxury hotel in Dubai, (image right) where he had 15 chefs reporting to him, joins the team to head the tuition at the cooking school. Fresh from a contract in Estepona southern Spain, Jeremy is no novice when it comes to Spanish cuisine as he was previously Head Chef at Alcazaba Restaurant where 90% of his clientele were Spanish.

What I can also report is that the school will open for residential 5 day courses from April onwards - bookings are now being taken - and will offer One Day programmes from March! To keep up to date with the news check the website at http://www.elcastillomojacar.com/

New And Old Friends....

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!

Back in the kitchen...

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.

Out With 'The Old', In With 'The New'!

I've never been one much for celebrating Christmas nor New Year, especially in recent years, although I have to confess to having a memorable Christmas feast with 20+ Filippino friends in the UAE a couple of years back, but generally I no longer 'do' the festive celebrations in the same way as many. Not that I don't like to but most of my family are scattered around the globe and we never seem to be able to get together due to work commitments. This leaves me often to my own devices and that may mean that I call into a good restaurant for a meal (busman's holiday I guess).

I did exactly that the other day, when I visited Osteria, Restaurante Italiano in Mojacar. It used to be a regular when I was here in 2007 to 2008 but since returning to the area in 2009 I haven't frequented it half as much as I should. It was good in 2007, in fact one of the best in the area, but in 2010, Simon the owner, (a Dorchester Hotel, London trained chef), has 'upped his game' even further and this has to be some of the best pasta in the south of Spain. Oh, and I just happened to have my camera with me! (Do I ever go anywhere without my camera? Yes frequently, and sometimes to my regret). Certainly if you are looking for somewhere with real table clothes, quality wines, and great Italian food then Osteria is just the sanctury that you need to visit. And, I would mention - this is not a pizzeria - sure Simon will throw a pizza together if you twist his arm behind his back, but you primarily go to Osteria to sample good wholesome Italian food by way of pasta dishes, amongst others.

My Tapas Trail Continues

Regardless of the fact that this is Christmas with New Year celebrations soon upon us, I have still been engaged in my day to day activities of discovering new and exciting foods in Almeria Province.....and there are some interesting tapas and foods being prepared here....take a look at the photo...

Wednesday sees me with important friends from Almeria, at Antonio Gazquez's Restaurante Las Eras in Tabernas. I have to say, not having seen my friends for some months, I am really looking forward to it and I know the lunch will be top class.

Cold Turkey

This week, I gave myself a well earned and deserved day off to recharge my batteries. Having not had a break for 2 years and working 7 days a week I decided to ‘rest.’ No computer, no internet and no camera in tow. By 11.00 I had already failed the test. By 13.00 I had already purchased a note pad and pen in order to scribble some notes between gulps of red wine, the partaking of tapas and a great ‘queso de cabra y mermelada de tomate raf’ in my favourite tapas bar, and at 15.30 I was sitting at the beach answering emails via my iPhone….and, writing this blog. Such is today’s technology.

Let’s just face it – I’m currently a workaholic and a cyber junkie. (With no partner within the vicinity to distract me nor for whom I must be responsible, nor attentive, I guess there isn’t much else to do other than work). Even going without the computer or internet for as little as 24 hours is proving almost impossible for me, and the only feasible way is to go ‘cold turkey.’ As ‘food’ is my business and I have to eat, then it too makes it doubly difficult for me to switch off.

This me leads nicely to, “What are you going to do with the left-overs of your Christmas bird?” (I mean the turkey of course – what were you thinking?).
There are the obvious turkey curries, turkey paella or even turkey mince. I favour just plain cold turkey, (hams too, if you have any left), bubble and squeak and chutneys.
For those more creative of you, how about inventing your own new tapas, and posting it up on the Comida de Almeria Facebook page!?

Who said this was a glamorous job?

It has been said by other photographers that this job is 25% photography and 75% ‘other’ things, like accounts, chasing monies and marketing etc.

This last week in particular, I’ve found that 25% is on the generous side, as the ‘other’ things to which they refer seem to take over… marketing probably accounts for 80% of my time, whether it be in the form of a magazine article or putting the magazine Comida de Almeria together. Last week proved to be a prime example of a ‘tough’ week. Apart from a number of ‘issues’ to have to encounter and overcome, 15 hours of internet ‘upload failure’ hasn’t exactly been the fun and glamorous side of the job. That said, the week is behind me and we move forward…