food blog

[bloviatrix]

Thanks for your detailed explanation of physalis. I've bought them at the greenmarket, but didn't really know what to do with them (I'm a produce whore). Now I can't wait until they re-appear in August so I can try new things with them.

[curlywurlyfi]

Physalis are also good dipped in caramel. I sometimes take them to tea for friends who have toddlers because, while the taste is a bit too sharp for your average child, they adore peeling the papery husks back. and then I get to eat the fruit. Or dip it in chocolate. Child labour? yes indeedy, bring it on. Thanks for great blog, Marlena - cream cheese + jam - mmmmmm.

[Mabelline]

Dear Madeleine:

We read your post with interest. We live with Mabelline and our dad, and a funny little rabbit thing. Our names are Sneaker and Smokie, and we would like to do a lunch some day. Smokie is a very handsome gray guy who looks like a mountain lion, and I am an orange Angora- Norwegian with a lot of hair. Smokie dates a lot, but I was destined for the church. I do not think of the ladies. We just thought we would say hi,and then go back to watching Viking Kitties! Have a purrrrfect day, Madeleine!!!

Edited February 23, 2004 by Mabelline (log)

[kimabima]

Thanks for a very interesting blog. Your life as a food writer sounds wonderful!

I was looking at your list of books and am intrigued by "The Beggar's Banquet". It seems to be out of print. Anyway, could you tell me a bit about it? We eat vegetarian most of the time and I am wondering if this book has alot of veggie recipes.

Also, are you currently working on a cookbook? Thanks!

[Marlene]

since i started this blog on thursday, and since i'm off to barcelona on tuesday, i'll continue my blog for a little while from there.....well, if its okay with everyone else, right on through to the friday night gala dinner? it might be worth the descriptions for all of the catalan-el-bulli-ish-ness of it all. 

I'd be thrilled to have you continue your blog from Barcelona. How lucky you are! I love to live vicariously through others travels

[hillvalley]

husband supplemented his usual breakfast of 2 prozac and a viagra with one of these little garlicky tartines.

We will all be eating virtually threw you in Barcelona. How exciting! For those of us who have no idea about the award ceremony, could you tell us about it?

Loving the blog

[marlena spieler]

back from the big city, southwest trains seemed to be saving money on heating (there was none). we ate physalis on the train going in. Also, when i ate my sandwich i threw off the top piece of bread--and fed it to the pigeons. and reminded myself to tell you all that the mustard i included in sandwich was cassis mustard, a sort of red-pink colour and tangy accent over the dijon type mustard.

Then met cousin at canary wharf, and we pressed our little noses against the window at the salt beef place (corned beef/pastrami) which is always steamy inside, and has big copper pots. it always looks tasty but i figure: how often do i eat pastrami? I'll do it in nyc. katz is hard to beat. then made our way to the serbian cafe where we drank lots of cappuccino. it charges only L1 lb a cup. we drank two cups each, from the sheer exhuberance of the bargain.

Then we went to a guild of food writers workshop and demonstration by tim tolley chef at plateau restaurant. the restaurant looked nice--esp the toilet which was like a round egg that you perch on top of, so comfy, and the sink which was like a slab of marble slanted so that the water just cascaded down......

tim used to be with vong, and before that with jean-georges. the title of the workshop was "modern french cooking" but immediately i thought the food was modern "whatever" food, ie food that was spiced here and there, and clean and interesting at times but lacked soul. nothing made me want to rip my clothes off and roll naked on the floor, which is my criteria of a truly delicious meal.

we ate little nibbles of the following:

griddled scallops with cranberry coulis and celery salad. the winner was the celery salad. the coulis could have gone with ice cream. or even duck. but was out of place on this plate. and this was all prepared after a big talk about seasonality, and i mean: cranberries? is it cranberry season in britain right now? ever (though i think they do grow them somewhere). the scallops weren't caramelized on the outside, and the insides were uncomfortably squishy.

monkfish with mushroom butter sauce (called vinaigrette, but not) and broad bean leaves. the monkfish was tossed with a mixture of somewhat asian spiced and flour, then griddled. fabulous. the buttery buttery sauce of mushroom stock, vinegar, and brown butter was delicious. the addition of diced butternut squash, little tiny onions, and the broad bean leaves just muddied the situation.

rotisserie chicken with pureed lemon and aligot. i loved the baking the lemon thing, and the lemon sauce which is best described as a savoury lemon curd, but it didn't go with the chicken. i'd put it with fish or rare steak. and the aligot was more like just wonderful mashed potatoes, there was not hit of garlic and the cheese was not stringy enough. chef didn't like my questions (such as: where is the garlic in the aligot?).

i had to leave before the chocolate fondant and fromage blanc sorbet.

once i defrosted my fingers from the freezing train ride home, i made a pot of hot faux pho, lots of stock that i simmered with a chunk of charred ginger, and a star anise. we ate it with bean sprouts, thinly sliced raw onion, spinach leaves, cilantro and basil, and thin strips of rare beef from last nights roast.

we have a delicious looking lump of gorgonzola waiting for nibbling as we pack. i'[ve had a bit of a passion about the combination of really ripe gorgonzola cheese drizzled with truffle honey ever since tasting it last summer in verona. since i have a biggish jar of honey i am forced to purchase gorgonzola wherever i find it. i'll reward myself with a little bedtime canape after i pack.

oh, i was reminded today as i stuck my fat little fingers into the remains of last nights popcorn that i have a foodie secret. i like something that is pretty disgusting but i love it and i don't think i've ever told anyone else about this until now.

i love burnt popcorn, so i always burn the last little bit of popcorn for a next day disgusting treat. no butter, just charred black-or brownish bits here and there. deliciously bitter and probably terrible for you. i have no explanation for this passion.

[marlena spieler]

pattimw:

you are so right, i too think that twinings tastes completely different in the uk and in the usa. i used to think it might be the water but now i think its just the tea.

when i'm out of britain, the moment i step back on british soil, even if i've only been gone a short time, i plug in the kettle and get the cups ready. nothing tastes quite as good, especially when the weather is cold. and tea just doesn't taste the same elsewhere.

Kimabima: beggars banquets can also be found under the title of feeding friends, which is the paperback version. amazon.com has it i believe. they have more meaty recipes than most of my books........but also good ideas for nonmeat dishes...........if i weren't so tired now i'd have a trawl to see which of my books have more veggie recipes. ......hmmmm, try the peppers peppers peppers book, which is a paperback and has lots of meat-free goodies. olive oil book is good too.........(both by.....anness? try amazon).

i've just finished two books: one for williams sonoma, the foods of the world series--my book is the one about paris. the second book is Grilled Cheese: Fifty ways to Make you Melt (Chronicle Books). Both will be out this autumn.

sweet dreams of good digestion to you all, i can hardly wait for breakfast. right now i'm too tired to even think about eating. and for me to not want to think about food is......

serious.

night night.

[marlena spieler]

ooooooo, the truth reveals itself. after our train ride in and the sandwiches i so carefully packed for lunch, husband snuck in an extra lunch (okay, i was nibbling at plateau....). he went to Blooms restaurant in golders green for a good old fashioned jewish chicken soup. i'm always amused at his affection for jewish chicken soup as he's not jewish. he said that there were stuffed kneidlach in it, but i think he might have had both kneidlach and kreplach. easy mistake. the bowl of soup came with a basket of rye bread (3 slices). he ate one, and brought the last two home for me. i was so touched i nearly cried. i love rye bread and no one has brought me bread or their food from a restaurant since my grandmother did.

also today: on the train..........one breath mint each.

[kimabima]

Thanks for the info on your books! I have the WS one you did on vegetables- a very beautiful book. Now that I have actually "talked " to you I feel like I want all your books!

Looking forward to your new ones as well!

[marlena spieler]

Hi Hillvalley:

The annual Gourmand World CookBook Awards are the brain child of my buddy, Edouard Cointreau, who runs the International Cookbook Revue based in Madrid. Each year he organizes a huge gathering in which publishers, writers, food personalities, etc from all over the world have a conference of several days some place wonderful--past events have been held in perigiueux and the loire valley in france, locations in australia, plus different activities throughout other times of the year in Sweden, etc. in fact, over 14 ambassadors will be attending the event.

The awards include Best Food Book of the Year, Best Drinks Book of the Year, a long list of categories. If some kind soul reading this could put up the URL i'd be grateful.......

this year the party's in barcelona, with a mediterranean conference to go with it. dinner is meant to be catered by el bulli but for some reason it appears to be someone else now.....whats a girl to do. in any event, i'm ready to look and sniff and eat and enjoy.......

But first, of course: breakfast.

today is shrove tuesday, pancake day, and this morning is the only time we're going to have an opportunity to make and eat pancakes. So i've beaten the eggs and milk and flour together and its resting a moment. pancake day is a big deal in britain--i was scarcely aware of it in the usa. last night, whilst i was packing, i listed to the world service give a special programme from brazil on getting ready for mardi gras which starts tomorrow (worldwide, after we get rid of the eggs, butter, and all the rich goodies before lent starts on ash wednesday--not bad for a jewish girl, eh?).

the thing that i remember most from the broadcast is: "for ladies and transvestites, remember that if you are wearing a bikini, baby oil rubbed on the skin and then sprinkled with glitter makes a very flattering look".

To continue: "of course, to prepare your feet for all the dancing in high heels, soak them in chamomile tea several hours ahead of time, and rub them with ..... oil.". I forget the exact type of oil as i fell asleep at that point.

On to the pancakes. Pancakes over here are not the same pancakes as over there, though Scottish pancakes or drop scones seem to be, or "American pancakes" which seem to generally be studded with blueberries and topped with bacon. We're doing the traditional british pancake, the kind that mothers have races with, running and tossing them in frying pans, no doubt one will make it on to the news today, it always does. Olney, in Buckinghamshire hosts the most famous one.

Our pancakes here are thin crepe-like things, delicate and eggy. Most people roll them around butter, lemon and sugar, though some fill them with savory ingredients if they're making a dinner of it. For future reference, if anyone ever invites me over for a crepe-fest, i'm partial to crepes filled with shredded gruyrere and diced ham. I eat them on the streets of Paris as often as I can sneak em in.

Back to breakfast: pancake batter is resting resting resting to let that gluten mellow out so that the batter is lighter and more delicate.

pause: knock on the door. guys, the postman is here on his little red bike. they ride red bicycles out here to deliver the mail. He's here right now and drinking dark strong coffee (my contribution to the royal mail) and telling me that what HE had for breakfast today was a soft boiled egg and marmite soldiers (good man!).

(Marmite soldiers are a breakfast icon, toast cut into strips and spread with butter and salty yeasty umamami-mami-ish marmite).

Okay, i'm making these pancakes as first pancake: as always: falls into pieces. Its hard to get the batter to be just the right texture: nice and light and eggy, but with enough flour to hold it together. this didn't hold, but oh, so delicious. first pancake for the cook, of course!

The rest of the pancakes float out of their pan, light and thin with just an edge of crispness around their perimeter, and inside nice and eggy and delicate. husband is eating his with bonne maman jam (raspberry) and i just slather mine with farmhouse butter. at moments like this i know why i drink my coffee with low fat milk.....oh, to enjoy the butter, dripping out of the pancake and down my chin.....

second coffee. i'll need all the caffeine i can get to motor me on to the plane. but once i am there i'll be happy. meanwhile, easyjet here we come. i think i'll take a valium.

cab should be pulling up to door within moments to whisk us away to gatwick. bag packed with fruit for journey (easyjet does not give lunch). talk to you from barcelona: I have two important things to do when i first land:

1. find something interesting to eat

2. find a cybercafe to tell you all about it.

adios amigos!

[marlena spieler]

Marlena is gone. This is Madeleine here. You can always tell when she's gone, because being fastidious (territory that goes with cats) I always use capital letters, and use them properly.

So the email is mine, mine, all mine now.

Dear Smokey and Sneaker. aren't you lucky to live with Mabelline.

Marlena used to have a beautiful bunny, called Basil. Her bunny was going to be the next big thing, once, and was even booked onto the Big Breakfast morning television (with Marlena). And then--then--Basil's segment was cut, on account of Ricky Lake making a last minute appearance cooking for Thanksgiving (Basil was to be showing off his salady skills) and then, Marlena's agent got a new client.

And voila: Basil was forgotten and Jamie Oliver became the next big thing!! But it was this....close!

Still sad though it was, it didn't bother Basil. He was very beautiful, and slept in Marlena's (and husbands) bed at the top of the bed, and I would sleep at the bottom. Happy days.

Basil was named Basil after his favourite herb. He also loved: arugula/rocket, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, mint, and chewing people expensive leather shoes when they were sitting at our table for a dinner party. Once a guest got up from the table and the top of her shoes were gone. She never returned.

I look forward to these next couple of quiet days. I have the IAMS, I have the remote, what more could a kitty want?

[marlena spieler]

9:25 p.m. Barcelona

after a non-eating day, i mean, after our breakfast butter-fest for pancake day, we didn´t have a bite to eat, except for three little fruity candies in the hotel lobby. and some fruit at the airport: satsumas, strawberries and pears.

tonight we walked down las ramblas and down a little leafy alleyway, and into a buzzing little bar--had a tapas dinner: a little bocadillo of the most divine jamon, sweaty and warm and hammy and beyond delicious. worth the whole trip. it was in a little tender roll.

and we ate: green olives, briny and rather picante, with a couple of chile bits and carrot slices hanging around the marinade.

Patatas bravas, sizzling hot with spicy red sauce and a squeeze of something mayonaissey. and chorizos, pan'browned and charred on the outside but juicy and spicy inside, with more pieces of those tender little rolls, this time toasted.

we ate a ham croquetta, and drank a perfect rioja. but it was the coffee that made husband squeal with delight: truly scrumptious.

on the way home we ate a helado, well to tell the truth, i had one and my husband had three. i think it might be the sea air.

i wonder whats for desayuno, and if the coffee is as brilliant other places as it was in our little tapas bar. oh, and my birthday is coming up in a month or two and if anyone wants to buy me a whole jamon, this is exactly what i want.

xx saw lots of queso catalunya, local catalan cheeses, and hopefully will buy a tray full for sampling. the lady was so proud of her catalan cheeses: cow, goat and sheep.

buenos noches,

M

[hillvalley]

tonight we walked down las ramblas and down a little leafy alleyway, and into a buzzing little bar--had a tapas dinner: a little bocadillo of the most divine jamon, sweaty and warm and hammy and beyond delicious. worth the whole trip. it was in a little tender roll.

and we ate: green olives, briny and rather picante, with a couple of chile bits and carrot slices hanging around the marinade.

Patatas bravas, sizzling hot with spicy red sauce and a squeeze of something mayonaissey. and chorizos, pan'browned and charred on the outside but juicy and spicy inside, with more pieces of those tender little rolls, this time toasted.

we ate a ham croquetta, and drank a perfect rioja. but it was the coffee that made husband squeal with delight: truly scrumptious.

on the way home we ate a helado, well to tell the truth, i had one and my husband had three. i think it might be the sea air.

There is a puddle of drool just below my space bar.

ps, what's a helado?

[Pan]

ps, what's a helado?

Ice cream in Spanish.

[hillvalley]

ps, what's a helado?

Ice cream in Spanish.

Thank you! I took French

[pattimw]

Wow, that was a totally visual description of the tapas. I felt like I was there, for, a few, wonderful fleeting moments....

[marlena spieler]

Early morning Marlena: cafe con leche, the Spanish version of cappuccino or cafe creme. (apparently the coffee throughout barcelona is as good as the one we had last night as we´ve been darting into bars throughout the day for a quick one)

Slightly later morning: the sweet rolls that some people eat for breakfast don´t attract me. I was with the guys who stand at the bar and drink red wine and eat a bocada, a sandwich on a tender crusty roll (like the one filled with jamon we ate for tapas dinner). this morning mine was filled with tuna, roasted red peppers and olives.

Then I went to La Boqueria market. I´ve always been told that La Boqueria is marvellous, wonderful, a delight. But you know, i´ve been to a lotta marvellous markets in my life, i wasn´t prepared to fall over in love, to feel so much tenderness towards the market.

la boqueria is food, and its life, and its all a delicious jumble, with tapas bars scattered every couple of food stalls. i made a note of some of the things to love: whole preserved oranges and a stall lined with huge glass vats of preserved fruit; shelled (and peeled) fava beans, how wonderful is that! bags of chicken feet, a cooked vegetable stall where you can buy cooked chickpeas, beans, green beans, potatoes, lentils, pastas, all done simply and very fresh, dished out of big bowls.

there were endless catalan (and spanish, and international) cheeses, and so many salamis and chorizos and jamons, hanging and ready for slicing; stalls selling spices and dried mushrooms, fruit stalls selling fruits such as the exotic pthaya (both the red and yellow variety) cut into halves with a plastic spoon for eating on the go.

there were the tiny green padrone peppers which have a very green pepper flavour and are usually mild except for every so often you get a renagade scorcher. they are served crisply fried and sprinkled with coarse salt.

its baby artichoke season, and calcots, the onion that looks like a big green onion and is served barbecued with a romescu sauce to dip in (red pepper, almonds, breadcrumbs, garlic, olive oil).

i left what a trail of drool from olive stall to olive stall and discovered a new pickle (the subtext of my life is searching for new and interesting pickles). A BIG RED ONION. The woman said: its good in sandwiches, or with tapas, or in salad. I ate mine standing at the edge of the market, trying not to drip any of the very very very vinegary juices down the front of my neckscarf. trying unsuccessfully. I think i´ll have to have another onion tomorrow. the woman was very amused when i bought one onion by the way.

a very adorable group of school children were being sheparded through the market, and the crowds split, everyone clucking as the little ones went by, feeling proud that they were part of the market too.

Lunch: restaurant gorduna (or is it garduna?). right on the edge of the market it was full of tapas eating market people early in the day--when we asked the restaurant owner, antonio, he said yes, that the market traders come as soon as he opens (7 am). the place is quite gaudi-esque in its looks with a staircase that seems to twirl through the room as it makes its way to the second floor. richard sterling who edits the lonely planet food books emailed me to go there. they have a nice huge menu, but i´m telling you: there is a menu del dia, lunch of the day, and it costs anywhere from 7 to 9 euros. guess what we ordered.

i started drinking a rioja that made me think more of france than of spain, and reminded me how good riojas are these days and unlike the old riojas.

husband ate a plate of charcuterie--chorizo, a couple of jamons, salami, something meaty and unidentifiable, and a big mound of russian salad, but a sort of tuna-infused russian salad. yum yum yum. me: bowl of chickpea soup with shreds of the blessed jamon.

we then ate the best meatball i´ve ever eaten, or rather, a whole plate of them. the meatballs were in a broth-like sauce which had seen a little tomato or paprika, and lots and lot and lots of onions, and a handful of peas which scattered here and there. next to them was a pile of stubby little french fries\chips which, as a brit for much of my adulthood, i doused with vinegar. husband had barbecued thin beefsteak with barbecued peppers and tomatoes; i snagged his tomato. big juicy and just touched by the fire enough to warm it through and perfume it with smoke. the guy at the table next to us had the lightly grilled merluza (hake) and it smelled so lovely parsley garlicky he was lucky i didn´t snag a bite of his. (its happened before)

dessert was crema catalana, the catalan version of creme brulee. the cinnamon was especially lively in this, and the top crackled when i smacked it with my spoon; then antonio brought over some liqueur that seemed to also be a creme catalana.....egg yolk liqueur so strong and so sweet, i was swerving when we finally managed to make our way out. tiny cup of dark strong coffee didn´t help sober this girl, but who cares. let happiness reign!

i could go back to garduna every day it was so cozy and delish, and i also learned when i was there that the market has cooking classes nearly every day, often from star chefs, so tomorrow morning its back to the market for me.

meanwhile.

there is gaudi. gaudi gaudi wow. i think that gaudi buildings look like barcelona food tastes!

on our way home stopped off at market again and went looking for a bar that mary jose sevilla from the spanish trade commission in london had recommended to me; since i couldn´t find it right away, we went to el quim de la boqueria and nibbled artichokes with a sort of vegetables foamy thing and a hunk of tortilla (hot and freshly made). all the bars in the market were tempting, very tempting, but el quim just seemed fabulous, before i tasted their artichoke fiesta. i want to have a stool of my own there at their bar, a permanant stool of my own.

is nearly 8 at night. people are starting to get ready for dinner. who knows what the night has in store for me............

but you know that i´ll tell you all.

[marlena spieler]

ps: the flight. i´ve discovered that raw red peppers, whole and bitten into as if they are a fruit, as a very good thing to eat on a flight. refreshing and juicy and full of good things to combat the dehydrating effects of the whole thing. once i did it on a translatlantic flight and had the good luck to sit next to a row of italian ladies who joined me in my pepper-fest. you just never know how people will react.

meanwhile, after a nasty flight back to britain from boston a few months ago, i have sworn off british airlines. v. bad attitudes all around (on their part, not on mine). so this time i took easy jet to barcelona. it was not only an easy flight but it was easier than taking the train to nottingham, the last trip i took a few weeks ago. they work on a tight schedule and many are the horror tales from people who were late for their flights and missed them. so we made a point of being on time. anyhow, i had to laugh at their motto, printed proudly and happily on the tickets: "if you´re late, we won´t wait!"

[ludja]

ps: the flight. i´ve discovered that raw red peppers, whole and bitten into as if they are a fruit, as a very good thing to eat on a flight. refreshing and juicy and full of good things to combat the dehydrating effects of the whole thing.

Great tip for plane food. I've always loved eating raw green and red bell peppers. My mom would cut them in long strips like carrot sticks and I'd eat them alongside sandwiches.

I'm intrigued by your mention of whole preserved oranges. Are they bitter oranges, in syrup? How are they eaten or what are they used for? Can you describe these more?

Really enjoying your blog; what a bonus with your trip to Barcelona! This only reinforces my desire to visit there. I guess in Barcelona your day is 'only starting' at 8 pm! Thanks.

Edited February 25, 2004 by ludja (log)

[Mabelline]

Marlena, that sounds like just a divine way to spend the day. Were the preserved oranges a sweet, as I'm figuring (preserves aren't usually sour are they?). Sounds so friendly and just plain nice!! Way to go girl!

[marlena spieler]

whole preserved oranges:

they looked sweet, as if they had been simmered in syrup which had sort of dried to a glaze........i didn´t buy one, as a whole glaceed orange seemed a bit excessive and i always worry about waste.....

but i´d better get you guys a preserved orange tomorrow or next chance i get!

meanwhile, its raining in barcelona, and i´m sitting facing the mediterranean sea out of a huge window, in the reception area of our hotel and all around me is the happy sound of people getting ready to eat. there is the clinkling sound of glasses, and liquids being poured, and talking! omigod the talking, the noise level, its almost like being with my family!

just sucked on a tiny little fruity candy that the desk has a huge glass fishbowl of; where do hotels get such fruity little teeny candies, that taste huge but are the size of a pea? (I´ve looked for these everywhere).

i´m getting up to look at the menu of the restaurant here, mere steps away from computer......

a whole section on little nibbles, comsisting of a million different types of croquettas (has everyone out there eaten a spanish croquetta? It is truly the work of the devil--how on earth do they get this thick yummy cream to stay together long enough to be crumbed and fried to a crisp golden brown is beyond me. my faves are usually jamon, veal, salt cod, chicken, pigeon, and roquefort cheese which is very popular though a french cheese. (i suppose it would be divine, too, with the spanish cabrales blue, the most sumptuous of cheeses imaginable).

the other main section of this little nibbley category is different types of jamon: the pig ate acorns, the pig ate something else, the pig lived in the forest, the pig lived in.......well you get the picture. jamon obsessed with ham, i´d say; there are political topics one cannot speak of, but everyone everyone can speak of ham. a unifying force. see the movie jamon jamon to set the mood.

next is first courses. its a big menu so i´m just going through the highlights as i remember them from my walk across the room. pureed vegetable soup, gazpacho, then a big salads section: endive and roquefort look particularly good to me, but there is also manchego cheese salad with orange, frisee with xato sauce, and tomatoes and crab.......

pastas and rices--i´ve discovered that there is a lotta pasta in barcelona unlike the rest of the country. cannellones are on the menu, pasta with garlic sauce, as is rice with squid ink (the rice is much like risotto rice).

main courses: sea bass with cava sauce, fish with romescu sauce, veal with wild mushrooms, meatballs in jabugo sauce (my beloved lunch dish), steak, etc.

desserts-(postres) sound enticing, esp the carpaccio of fruit with caramel, fresh cheese with honey, dried fruit steaped in moscatel wine........

[bleudauvergne]

Marlena,

I just want to say - You're beautiful.

[Toliver]

A sumptuous and scintillating supper...I am superbly sated!

And the market sounds like a wonderful world unto itself.

Thank you for keeping us updated.

[marlena spieler]

Dear Bleudauvergne, you´re beautiful too, for saying such a nice thing!

Its a real privilige to be the blogger, as well as a lot of fun.

Dear Toliver, you´re with me every step through that market! i´m going back tomorrow, too.........did i mention that every morning there is a sort of cooking presentation of the foods of the marketplace with one of spains chefs, often a star-chef..........

meanwhile, back in barcelona:

after perusing the menu, and since we had had a large sit down multicourse lunch, we decided we wanted something a little wilder. so we walked along the sea, and wilder you couldn´t get, the med in its fiesty grey and icy wintery way....i have real affection for the mediterranean sea in winter.

so by ten we popped into a tapas bar and said: surprise us! (foodwise).

a big plate arrived with a selection of tortillas: a classic plump potato tortilla, a fragrant tortillas of wild garlic, and a little round omelet of greens that they called spinach but i think was more like chard--it was wild and springlike and rangy, stems but delicious stems, leaves but delicate leaves. and garlic of course.

with it, a big pile of sliced chorizo, a smokey salami-type one this time, that you eat simply sliced and not browned. this one was not too spicy but had just a little kick.

and a plate of padrone peppers, little green sizzlers, as described a couple of entries back in my market description.

ah, here is what our neighbours at the table next to us ate tonight: a group of young trendies in the media bizz: wait, its better than that! they are cast of a television programme, which will air tomorrow night on espana tv5, 7:45.

sid, one of the stars, who is very charming, and handsome, and very interesting, and speaks enlish very well, ate:

a salad of tomatoes and cheese with a mustard sauce, beef with nut-cream, fresh fruit for dessert. sid tells me he lives in melia, which is part of north africa, and he is so charming. he has to leave us now to have his cafe con leche.......

adios, sid.........ooops, he tells me he spells it siad.

night night, marlena´s joining the party...........