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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Sherry’s Sweet Market

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, Spain


Dad’s gateway drug will be breakfast.

Toast a little wheel of bread, pour a liberal dose of olive oil on top, add a few spoonfuls of crushed tomato and a sprinkle of salt for good measure. Watch the city wake up as you down a café con leche.

Later, have your idea of freshness brought up to date at the Mercado Central de Abastos where you sell fish or play second fiddle.

Perhaps due to most stalls’ paintings of Jesus, the big-eyed redfish stare out, looking forlorn and guilty.

All I can think of is following one of these little ladies home so I can see how she cooks her fish.

Mercado Central de Abastos MAP
C/ Doña Blanca
Jerez de la Frontera



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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Toe-Tapping Sardines and Pork Roast From Heaven

JEREZ, Spain

It’s a wonderful feeling to know you’ll need to come back to a place before you sit down.

Eyes wide and fresh from the plane, we head to Bar Juanito for a crash course of a menu of the good and the local.

We try langoustines and mushrooms in a deep, sherry-laced sauce with bits of shell that give away some of its secrets. Then we dig into a little plate of fried fresh anchovies that, matched with a glass of the salty counterpart-loving fino wine, was toe-tapping goodness.

The bar’s signature artichokes slip by unnoticed - our fault for trying them offseason - but the showstopper is an Andalusian native that arrives with our drinks for free: chicharonnes - bite-sized cubes of pork which are like bits of crispy, fatty pork roast from heaven. My friend who’s on a diet takes one look and groans. I pop another and my heart skips a beat.

Count on 5-15 euros, depending on how peckish you feel.

Bar Juanito MAP
C/ Pescadería Vieja 8-10
11403 Jerez De La Frontera, Spain
956 33 48 38
bar-juanito.com



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