248 330
TRAVEL
248
January14
Translation:
Eat, drink and enjoy,
for tomorrow the world will end.
Or in English: “Life is short,
and then you die.” I prefer the
Spanish version though – their
way encourages me to eat
crèma
catalana
(a
crème brulee
-esque
dish) and
mel i mato
(a Catalan
cheese and honey dessert) before I
kick the bucket. Speaking of death,
it’s 43 degrees Celsius today in
Seville. People aren’t sitting by the
water fountains; they are dunking
their heads in them.
It’s mid-afternoon and the hottest
part of the day has hit, so I divert
down a back alley and stumble
upon
Casa Morales
, a dark and
ageing restaurant with the best
salmorejo
(an Andalusian tomato
bread dip),
pisto
(Spain’s version
of ratatouille) and
pringa
(roasted
beef and chorizo) thus far. What
a find. Who could have guessed?
Only me. Oh, and Frommer’s. And
apparently Lonely Planet. And a
group of tourists on a tapas tour that
just marched in.
I’m meeting an acquaintance
named Javier for lunch at
Casa
Robles
. It’s his favourite spot in
town – mainly because of the
revuelto de matanza
, a punchy
dish of scrambled eggs, potatoes
and chorizo. I suggest a bowl of
garbanzo beans and lentils, too. “If
you eat a plate of lentils in this heat,
you’ll die!” he says. Uh oh – there’s
that link to food and death again. I
better let him do the ordering.
A COMER, BEBER,
BAILAR Y GOZAR
QUE EL MUNDO
SE VA ACABAR.
Clockwise from top:
Seville Cathedral at
night; tapas at Casa Morales; spiral steps
of Hotel Alfonso XIII; jerez tasting at Hotel
Alfonso's American Bar; Seville tilework