Tapas degustation en el Carmen de los Martires de l'Alhambra

oh...what are these two lovely cooks up to ?

please spare me a big portion, I'll sure be back in one hour

as for now I'm going to walk up this aisle


and cross this enchanted garden



refresh myself in its romantic fountains,
before entering a beautiful house named Carmen de los Martires
which was built in the XIXth century on the site of the Alhambra


look who's waiting to welcome you...


charming isn't it ?

We're going to attend a talk on Spanish cuisine and its Moorish influence,
held in the conference room


past the small living room


follow the crowd through this door, please....



here are two of the participants

Claudia Roden, Egyptian-born author of several books
on Jewish and Middle Eastern gastronomy and
the colourful Alicia Ríos who is a food expert and olive oil historian
and also the organizer of Eat london Festival.

Sam Clark, (on the left) the British chef owner of the much appraised Moro restaurant in London for its fusion between Spanish and Morroccan food, also took part to the event. Before opening his restaurant in 1997, Sam and wife Sam who's also a chef, set off on a culinary journey through Spain, Morocco and the Sahara, trying to learn as much as possible on the varying cooking techniques used and local ingredients.



For this occasion, the conference table had been decorated
with some of the star products of Spanish food : olive oil, almonds, figs...


At the end of the conference, the distinguished audience
had been promised a "tapas degustación"

but I think the little cooks and waiters got quickly overwhelmed.
Still we patiently waited and oh...look what a charming waitress brought me....


doesn't it look nice ? What do you think it is ?
Well...I wasn't too sure but it had a very nice taste of duck mousse
though afterwards someone told me it was chicken
topped with a thin layer of chocolate. Interesting, non ?





photos by your devoted blogging hostess

and tapas by chef Juan Matias del Moral

Comments

Unknown said…
beautiful pictures and the food looks/sounds good!
Divana said…
Delicious! Can't wait to come and visit!! Missing you, xx
Gill said…
thank you for your visit and comments! Your blog is beautiful!
There is a lot to read here, so I will go now and read, enjoy your day!!
xo
Frieda said…
wow! I love all the pictures/...specially the outside lamp! do you have any idea how to find that kind of lamps?
corine said…
Mon dieu quel blog super! You've got yourself a glamorous life.
Unknown said…
fantastic pictures, i love the lovely tree coz we dont have it here, happy weekend:)
That was delightful! I see you found some pink trees, and a truly, truly amazing door. Not to mention some quite distinguished looking gentlemen (love the white hat)...
The "colourful Alicia Rios" truly is colorful...her fig-print pants suit is very unique. I can tell by looking at her that she would be fun to listen to. I wish I had been there!
shelley said…
The pic of the wrought iron lamp is lovely. Lovely pics - thank you. Have a great weekend!
Karen Cole said…
Hi Lala!

What a grand day it looks like you had!! Food is always on my mind!!!! :-) Chicken with chocolate sounds interesting. I will try anything.

I have never heard of an olive oil historian. I bet she had some interesting things to say. I would love to learn more about the history.

Yes, I would love to stay in the hotel you mentioned in your previous post. So many things in this world to see and learn.
Lavinia said…
Lala, this post with all its photos and inviting words, is just gorgeous! I wish I was there, to feel the sunshine, to smell the Spanish goodies cooking, and the blossoms in the enchanted garden, to hear the fountain tinkling and splashing....to admire the marble statue and the architecture. You are in a spectacular place and I know you are enjoying it tremendously, so thank you for taking the time to share it with us.

Regards,
Lavinia
paris parfait said…
Oh how fantastic! Claudia Roden and Sam Clark amidst all that beauty! You lucky, lucky woman! Thank you for providing a peek.
Unknown said…
I aim to spend some time exploring your beautiful site here! I spent a couple of weeks in Spain and while I didn't make it to Granada I was able to spend some time in Arcos which I loved!

eating it all up here!

x...x
Mélanie said…
I wish I would have been abble to share this moment
Vernon Grant said…
Vernon says: But remember that old but very true saying Lala... there is no such thing as a free lunch!

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