We are so lucky that in Spain the strawberry season is fairly long, from February to June! We love them and right now they are featured on our menu, served in a delicious dessert Thomas has created. “Ceviche” is a known dish(originated from South America), but mainly served as a cold starter with fish, lime, chili, coriander as the main ingredients. With this fish salad in mind Thomas came up with the idea to a “dessert ceviche”; with strawberries, lime, chili, fresh mint and pistachios. This dessert has been praised by many of our guests and quite a few have asked for the recipe. Now it is for you all to try and it is very easy to make:

Strawberry Ceviche

(serves 4 persons)

Cream:

2 dl of milk

1 dl of full cream

75 grams of sugar

¼ vanilla pod

20 grams of maizena

2 egg yolks

 

Toppings: Strawberry ceviche

400g Strawberries

2 limes

2 spoonful sugar

½ dl water

¼ vanilla pod

½ small red chili

4 fresh chopped mint leaves

2 spoonful toasted pistachios without shells

How to make the cream:

Bring milk, cream, sugar and vanilla to the boiling point.

Whisk lightly together, in a bowl, the egg yolks and maizena. Slowly pour the cream/milk into the egg yolks, while whisking. When well mixed pour everything up in the pot again. Put it on low heat and whisk until it becomes thick (1-2 minutes…), then take it off the heat and sieve it and refrigerate it until you need it.

This is called English cream!

How to make the strawberry ceviche:

Clean in cold water the strawberries, nip the green top off and cut each in 4 or 6 pieces.

Grate the zest of 1 lime and juice both of them, put juice and zest in a small pot with the sugar, water, vanilla and chili. Bring it to the boil and let it cool off in the pot. Sieve it and marinate the strawberries for a few minutes in it. Just before serving mix in the chopped mint leafs and toasted pistachio nuts.

Before serving:

Pour the English cream about halfway up, in 4 glasses. The other half you fill with the strawberry ceviche.

Serve them with a crusty cracker and maybe some shredded, freeze dried chili as in the photo.

 Enjoy!

When the strawberry season is over, you can replace them with watermelon, peaches etc. (or with the seasonal fruits and berries in your part of the world) as will we in the restaurant.

I always enjoy visiting the old sherry bodegas(wineries). The atmosphere, smell, light, difference of temperatures in the different storage rooms, to hear the history & tradition of the families and process of making the wine and off course the tasting. It is a fascinating world. Here is a beautiful photo from the famous Bodegas Tio Pepe.

 

 

I have just received a call from a nice woman, who wanted to reserve a table for Saturday evening. After writing down her name, number of people, time etc. she mentioned, that she found our phone number a bit strange…”Is this restaurant not in Peru?” Nope, I’m sorry. I’m in Spain! ”Then please cancell the reservation…” 😉

We already knew that our restaurant was not the only one by that name…  Last summer, we had a group of 5 people, that never showed up. The day after we send them an email, asking if we had misunderstood the date. They replied “that they had had a wonderful evening at Restaurante Patria, but been a bit puzzled by arrival, since the waiter could not find their reservation. But luckily he could fit them in anyway. From Maria, Ecuador.”;-)

Election Day is coming up. Not the National Election, but the Municipal. The 24th of May the residents of Vejer de la Frontera will decide who shall be the Mayor the next four years. The poll card came yesterday, and of course I’ll vote.

My parents always said; if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain! One of the disadvantages of moving to Spain, is that we are no more entitled to vote in a National Election; not here, not in Denmark. It is a strange feeling that this “birth given” right has been taken away from you and it makes you want to vote even more… But I still have my right to vote at the Municipal Election. Now who shall I give my vote? In a municipal election is it often more personal, but being an outsider, I don’t know many of the candidates. But some elements have made it easier for me. Two of the main candidates from the two biggest parties; the former mayor and the sitting mayor have been indicted and are at the moment under an investigation of fraud. And keeping in mind how much fraud by Spanish politicians, we hear about every day in the news, I regret to say that it doesn’t sound totally unreal that they could be guilty. And still PP & PSOE has chosen them as their best candidates as Mayor. Well, they can’t count on my vote. That leaves me more time to concentrate about the other candidates…

Always remember to vote!!