Nothing cures a spot of homesickness like cooking.

I am amazed at how the human psyche works. In 44 years in England and many of them as a professional chef I have never made my own Pork Pies. So why is it that during the second year of my sabbatical in Catalunya I get the irrepresable urge to make that most quintessential of English treats? Who knows. The great thing is that this region seems to have a fetish for pigs feet. Eating them, I hasten to add, as opposed to any other fetishistic activities you might be thinking of.
So the essential jelly for the pies was.......well.......a piece of cake, if you forgive the mixed metaphore. Boil a pig's foot with aromatics and white wine for a few hours, strain and reduce. Ya esta!
A quick visit to the local Cansaladeria (pork butchers) yielded pork lard for the hot water pasty, bacon and minced pork for the filling.
The result, it has to be said, was rather impressive although I couldn;t find any English mustard to go with it.
They didn't last long.
Now where did I put my extra large jeans?

HAPPY PLUCKING!

Got a call from a friend who said our mutual friend Joan (pronounced joo-un) had a gift for me. I headed to Joan's restaurant and was presented with two freshly shot partridges. After much cheffy banter about how best to cook the beasts I headed off home to pluck.
They were about 5 days old so beginning to wiff slightly which is the desired condition. I plucked conscientiously into a plastic bag to stop my flat looking like I'd had a pillow-fight with 6 teenagers and then dispached the now-familiar looking creatures into a pan on my trusty two-ring kitchenette stovetop.
I braised the birds which effectively gave me a meaty soupçstew which was damn good.
Thanks Joan.

CONGRATS TO CASTELLERS FOR WORLD HERITAGE STATUS!!!!!!!!

BEACH WALK AND NEW STATUE DISCOVERY

Went for a walk with friends of friends from UK and took them to a new sculpture I discovered on the rocks outside someone;s house. Here are the pics. Like I have said before.......beats Weston on a wet Tuesday.

Em dic Anthony!

No, I'm not being rude or self critical. I've started Catalan lessons and that's how you say 'My name is Anthony'.
The local autonomous government here offers free naturalization language courses to beginners so I'm taking advantage.
Here are the fruits of my first lessons.

Com et dius? What;s your name
Em dic Anthony. My name is Anthony
Com es diu. What's his name.
D'on ets? Where are you from?
Jo sóc d'Anglaterra. I'm from England
De que fas? What do you do?
Faig professor d'anglès. I'm an English teacher
Quant temps fa que hi treballes? How long have you been doing that?
T'agrada la teva feina? Do you like your work?

Any students of Italian French or Castellano can see the connections. Can't wait to build a bit of fluency.

FESTIVAL SURREALISM

Images from the recent festivals here. Double click to enlarge. And....yes.....the second pic is a naked breasted dragon bird spouting fireworks from her mouth.!!!

Human Castles.....a unique obsession.

The thing I love about the crazy and unique activity of competitive Human Castle Building is the passion and emotion it triggers in the crowds that watch.
I cannot expalin it. I guess you need to be here but I think it has something to do with the incredible combination of strength and courage but above all trust in your team.
It;s very competitive and we stumbled across the local Colla de Joves (youth team) practicising as they do twice a week all year.
Here are a few images