Archive for June, 2008

Chorizo: Pork, Paprika, and the Taste of Summer

Monday, June 16th, 2008

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Summer served: Grilled chorizo, baguette, and a porrón filled with Muga rosé, September 2007. Photo: Adrian Murcia

It’s one of those cravings that kicks in with some regularity this time of year, usually in the middle of the day: an unmistakable hankering for the garlicky, smoky-spicy, porky flavors of chorizo, the Spanish national sausage, believed to have originated in Extremadura but available around the corner from virtually every street in Spain.

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Posted in General, Food pairings, Pork, Rosé, Gastronomy, Rosado | 2 Comments »

Ten Years After: Photo Essay of a First Encounter

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

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Next month marks the 10th anniversary of my first visit to Rioja, a trip I have written about before. In Madrid for the wedding of my two (still) great friends Julian and Marta in July 1998, my (still) great friend Valerie and I headed north for a visit to Bilbao, by way of a small village in La Rioja’s Tierra de Cameros called El Rasillo, where we stayed the night.

I don’t have a scanner, but recently, I took digital photographs of the photo album I put together after the wedding (and preceding trip to Bilbao), which held a bunch of receipts, maps, ripped out journal entries, etc. A short selection of these follows.

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Posted in Architecture, General, Lamb, Personal Travels, Rioja, Personal Travels, Spain, Gastronomy, Bilbao | No Comments »