Duvel

Yeah … as @Ddanno said: terrestrial TV (and/or radio) reception. Unlikely to be useful anymore, but who knows ..!?

Having some friends over at dusk for pica pica & Flammkuchen … We started with the usual suspects: potato crisps, several types of olives, fuet (a small salami-type sausage), octopus mixed with furikake and some grilled sardines … Then the Flammkuchen. Always tricky to work with a different oven, but I managed. Classic (creme fraiche, onions, bacon) in the making … Followed by blood sausage, apple & crispy fried onion variety … And finally soprassada (spicy spreadable sausage from Mallorca), walnuts, thyme & honey version … All consumed with several bottles of Gewürztraminer we brought from Germany. All drunk, none pictured 🤭 Not so regional, yet very tasty ice cream for dessert ! And - no complaints

Went out to a casual place in town, on the main street. We sat outside and enjoyed a pitcher of very vermouth-forward sangria while watching the people strolling by … We ordered a few items. Grilled squid with chickpeas & pigs head. Artichokes with foie gras filling … Sampler of six croquettes (blue cheese, clams, squid with ink, wild mushrooms, bacalau and spinach with raisins and pine nuts). One was eaten before I could take the picture. They were so good, we ordered another plate … Little one wanted tuna tataki … A canelon with braised duck filling and duck liver sauce. Very good … Instead of ordering dessert, too, we went for a nice walk on the beach and the had ice cream at the plaza. Mine was dulche de leche & leche merengada. Both excellent 🤗

The origin of the whiskey itself is indeed Taiwanese … but the can (plus the whole whiskey highball in a can concept) comes from Japan 🤗

Had some childhood friends of DW over for pica pica … not the time to experiment. You want some stuff from the freezer section of the local supermarket for deep frying (ad libitum). I had my cooks treat beforehand … Then croquettes (both iberian ham and bacalao), squid rings, bunyols (basically fried choux pastry with bacalao) and some toast with the liver from yesterday’s rabbit. Gazpacho. Olives, fuet & potato crisps not pictured … Edamame & green salad for a good concience. More of this fruity red. Fun evening, a loooot of catching up and no complaints 🤗

Visiting the market of a nearby town. Plenty of tasty sausages … Guess who got the biggest botifarra blanca ?!

When we are in Spain, I take over the shopping & the cooking. It just relaxes me and is my idea of a great holiday - surprisingly for the rest of the family, too. And there is a certain repertoire of dishes that my in-laws request whenever they visit us or we visit them. Out of these dishes today cornill amb setas (or braised rabbit with wild mushrooms - and actually meatballs). Brown a rabbit … Burn off the hair of your forearm when adding the brandy to the fried onions & garlic … Fresh champignons and dried death trumpets go in with a fruity white from the Somontano region… After a good braise pile everything in a way that the hungriest guys take all the meatballs and I have a chance to get some rabbit when I arrive at the table some minutes later … Served with bread, a mixed salad, (commercial and surprisingly good) gazpacho and some nice German white al fresco … No complaints 🤗

Today paëllas pasta-based cousin, the fideuà … With rabbit, squid, mussels & some sausage. Great lunch before an even better siesta 🤗

We finally arrived at DWs hometown, just some 40 km north of Barcelona. They had the town festival that night - and I pretend it was just for our arrival 🤭 Having Toulousian sausage in our luggage as well as kitchen-ready beams both from Carcassonne, dinner was easily predictable: Cassoulet 🤗 Crust only broken three times, but with enough duck fat (courtesy of the purchased confit) to bring a small French village though a harsh winter. It was very, very well received by my in-laws and my family alike … No complaints ✊

A little further south, near Arenys de Mar. We are at my in-laws, but I am sure we‘ll be daytripping to Girona as well one of these days …

If you would follow my posts on a map you‘d see we are closing in oun Catalonia. Tonight last dinner in France, specifically in the beautiful town of Carcassonne … There are two things to be had here: snails & cassoulet. We went to a restaurant aptly called Escargot and had the former, while I purchased ingredients for the latter on the market for further installments … Ricard, for aperitif … Snails in herb butter - very good … Paté and pan-fried foie gras … Skewered duck with a cherry-vinegar reduction … Swordfish. This was fantastic 🤗 For dessert: salted caramel pain perdu … And probably the biggest profiterole I‘ve ever had … Happy and full we went back, got some dried beans, confit de canard & Toulouse sausage on the market. Next to the carparl we passed a Brazilian restaurant and I admired the sense of marketing genius at work …

After visiting the black Madonna of Rocamadour … … we were on our way back to the hotel when we passed what looked like a makeshift parking lot with a huge sign saying „woodfire-grilled meats“. Of course we stopped, got a table and ordered. They recommended two menus for the three of us, and they were righ about the portion sizest. Wine, wster & bread arrived … DWs choice: salad with country paté, semidried duck and cured duck ham … And for me salad with roasted bread and house-made foie gras mi-cuit - it was fantastic. Mains were grilled trout with bacon stuffing for DW … … while little one and me demolished the grilled lamb. So juicy 🤗 Dessers were a lavender infused pannacotta … And the local specialty: warm nut cake (very moist) with vanilla sauce. Very full we drove home and enjoyed the sunset from the hotels porch while sipping some whiskey I just happen to have in the car 🤭

Dinner in a small mom & pop type place next to our hotel in the village of Alvignac, close to Rocamadour, after some cave marathon … Some local wine to start with … Mixed salad with - of course - gratinated Rocamadour cheese to share … Pork ribs for little one … The „Alvignac“ plate with duck confit and more Rocamadour for DW … And roasted veal for me … Crepe with salted butter caramel … And the apple/vanilla rendition 🤗 No complaints 🥳

What happens when you travel on the day the whole of France gets school holidays ? We left the highway (and the traffic jams), stopped at a supermarket and got some baguette, cheeses* (Rocamadour, Bleu de Auvergne, Crottin lookalike), ham and a duck terrine. Plus some crisps with goat cheese and piment ‘d’Espelette (that we demolished while I moved the car in the shadow) … Some interesting rock formations were admired before heading back to the highway … * all local, so you may guess where we were …

I think it refers to the ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 14th dynasty. He was stuck with so many slaves after finishing his pyramid prematurely, that he invented the first bucket brigade, transporting hand formed ice cubes from the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro to his summer residence in Luxor.