New Blog!!

patriablogcitron

I know it has been a bit quiet on the blog lately. It is because I have had a few doubts about it. First of all I really disliked all the ads and secondly I wanted to write more about our new adventure PatríaPura. So here we are, the new blog from Patría:
http://patriablog.es/

A visit to an ecological farmer…

Patria visits Roche-7“I don’t really have anything to show you! Just a lot weed!”was the first sentence Andrés uttered. Thomas and I looked disappointed at each other. “Really, just weed??” Through our chef, Nino, we had been introduced to Andrés and had arranged a field trip to see his ecological vegetable garden, orange- and lemon plantation. Excited as we were, we had invited our friend fotografer Kelly to shoot lots of photos of the produce. Was it all in vain?

But luckily it didn’t take long for Andrés to warm up, and soon his passion for the “garden” became very clear. It also became clear that his first allegation was very much an understatement. He showed us from plot to plot; peas, artichokes, medlars, cabbage, carrots, laurell, cauliflower, red cabbage, spring onions, chard, oranges, lemons, – and we tried it all. Even the limes; handpicked and halfed we drank the juice directly from the fruit. I wouldn’t normally drink lime juice, but this was so refreshing and tasty. He picked some nuts from a tree, opened them and we were enjoing the most full-flavoured pecan nuts ever. He pulled up vegetables, handpicked fruits, cleaned those that needed it and gave us piles and bags filled to the limit for us to bring home and try out. I tried guyava fruit for the first time and was gobsmacked!
Even though his land isn’t that big, it is a lot of hard work. The place was so well kept and the produce standing so healthy and fresh. And the weeds? – well, nearly nothing; that just shows how utterly modest many Spanairds are. I for one, know how many extra man hours you have to put in to grow ecological produce. Being a daughter of a farmer, I never forget the endless days in the sugar beet fields… My dad was determined that to hoe the sugar beet fields manually was the best way to get rid of the weeds. One of our neighbours even mocked him about it: “Why use all that time hoeing the beet fields, when you can kill all the weed by spraying in less than half the time? Man, you are too oldfashioned!” I hated helping out in the beet fields, – it was boring and very hard work. But it has also made me aware of why organic produce has to cost more than the industrial farmed produce.Patria visits Roche-27Patria visits Roche-19

Walking around with Andrés in his “huerta”(vegetables garden) on this warm, sunny February day, you could feel his pride and joy about his work and we just can’t wait to get his vegetables into our kitchen and serve them for our guests, – and off course make organic juices and lemonades of his fruits.Patria visits Roche-25

Mushy, old bananas make a great banana cake.

sorte bananerafterWe eat a lot of fruits, but sometimes the bananas get dark brown/black real quick, which doesn’t really encourage anyone to eat them. But instead of throwing them out, here is a easy recipe for a delicious banana cake:

 170 gr sugar
100 gr butter
3 eggs
125 gr flour
1 teaspoon bakingpowder
2 teaspoon vanille sugar
1-2 bananas

Whip the sugar and softened butter well in a bowl, add the eggs one by one until the mass is white and fluffy. Combine the flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar. Then add it bit by bit to the sugar mass, while you stir it gently.

Mash the banana(s) well and add it to the rest. When everything is mixed, pour it into a greased baking tin. Bake in oven for appr. 55 minutes at 175 degrees C (350 degrees F).banankagebefore

Enjoy!

“International Sherry Week”… – starts tomorrow!!

Don’t forget that this week, 2nd – 8th of November, we are celebrating International Sherry Week. If you want to know which events you can join in your area of the world, have a look at: isherryweek.com. Every hour new events are added onto the list.

Have a great week & Salud!

Time for a snack!?

soya mandler

Soy Almonds,

– are really easy to make and delicious to eat!!

100 gr almonds with skin

2 spoonful soy sauce

Heat up a frying pan, add the almonds and soy sauce. Stir until the liquid has evaporated, take the almonds off the pan and let them cool off.

Enjoy!…