This year winter has treated us gently. A couple of years back winter was so rainy the Spanish construction skills didn't have a chance. Every single of my friends were struggling with mold and we had to redo the 3rd floor ceiling.
At its best January sun makes the temperature climb to +24. This is definitely the kind of winter I could get used to...
Someone we know just purchased a holiday home for his family in Calahonda. We checked the area out (read: snooped around) and finished the day in the barefoot bliss that is the beach in La Cala de Mijas.
The beach is peppered with restaurants with locations so perfect it's ridiculous. Ridiculous is also the word to describe the food on offer. It makes me mad that the proprietors simply can't be bothered. Though, neither can the clientele (made up of predominantly English tourists) who wolf down soggy pizzas and stale salads with tinned tuna.
The best choice is to shake the sand off one's feet and head towards the village. Just a couple of streets in one is greeted by small restaurants populated by locals. They're no design miracles and the service isn't often any more precise than the one at those beach-side bars, but the food more than makes up for it. It's real, unpretentious and celebrates local ingredients, especially fish and seafood.
Not many things restore one's faith in the world quite the way a bottle of chilled rosé does. And for someone so used to the overpricing of the depressingly lacklustre chain restaurants back home, the bill is astounding. The bottle of wine along with 4-portion lunch and coffees were still way under €40.
Tortillas de Camarones, pan cake style shrimp fritters and another Andalusian specialty, Berenjena Frita con Miel de Cana (fried aubergines served with local honey) are particularly good here. Sure, The Gentleman eats his greens like a good boy should... as long as they're deep fried or wrapped in bacon.
This is another recipe that will soon be tried and tested... you just watch this space!
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