cape town catch

something about being on the coast makes it difficult for me to eat anything other than seafood. living in landlocked atlanta most of my life if there is actual fresh seafood to be had, i'm going to have it. we enjoyed a lot of wonderfully fresh seafood this weekend in cape town. we chowed down on lovely local fish (the above photo being some of the best fish and chips we've ever had), prawns, mussels, calamari and even had some pretty decent sushi, which is something we haven't had since we left the states.

i did veer off track sunday afternoon and had some beef goulash soup. it was rainy and chilly and they didn't have clam chowder. the soup was incredible thanks to the delicious chunks of ridiculously tender beef.

we've found that south africans don't mess around when it comes to their meats and since captonians really know their seafood it turned out to be a pretty tasty weekend.

open letter

dear indian, greek, and south african restaurateurs:

we've enjoyed many of your various offerings but would like to point out that "doritos" are not the chips to use when offering "nachos" on your menus.

thanks in advance for your prompt attention to this matter.

sincerely,
mav & jsv

la perfección

i admit one of the biggest reasons i wanted to go to spain was to eat. i really think food says so much about a culture and i had little doubt i would not fall in love with spain's.

our first tapas was unfortunate but i believe it was due solely to our inability to order in spanish. and although our first meal wasn't spanish but mexican i think it says a lot to be able to get decent ethnic food in a country. the tacos al pastor were impeccably done, the margaritas perfect and the guac was really some of the best i've had anywhere...even mexico. in greece you can't even get decent italian much less something as exotic as mexican or sushi.

breakfast at the hotel was lovely and fresh beyond fresh. after living in a city where almost all coffee is instant i could have kissed the coffee machine when i saw it was freshly grinding beans.

at lunch on friday i went straight for the jamón ibérico and cheese plate...



madrid is really gaga for this ham. it is produced only in spain and huge legs of it can be found hanging in every single restaurant. you can even go to ham cafes where you literally stand at the bar drinking cerveza and eating nothing but plates of ham. these pigs are fed a diet almost exclusively of acorns and i found it to be delicious. i already made jules promise me that after our 2 years are done we'll stop in spain on our way back so i can get a big ol' leg for our kitchen.



can you find a better cuisine when even their salted boiled potatoes are spectacular...



on saturday we had crispy seafood paella in plaza major...



and saturday night we had what i really came here for...hot chocolate and churros. this chocolate was so thick your spoon could rest upon its surface for hours. the churros were fresh and a delicious vehicle for the chocolate goodness.



the aftermath...



gastronomically speaking spain is by far my favorite place we've visited.