La Vida Alcalaína

Last month at a party we were invited to try two of Andalucía's traditional sweets. They are often made together, because one uses the whites of egg while the other uses the yolks. Tocino de cielo literally means "fatty bacon from heaven" yet it contains no bacon, no fat and is definitely an earthly pleasure.  It is made with sugar and egg yolk, and the first written record of it is dated 1324 in Jerez de la Frontera.  The reference to tocino comes from its appearance, creamy-yellow with a brown "skin". Jerez has always been a wine-growing region, and egg whites were used to clarify the wine in the barrel.  The leftover yolks were taken to a local convent where the nuns turned them into this heavenly custard. Although tocino de cielo can be found all over Spain, Jerez council have applied for it to be given its own protected designation of origin . Another way of using up the spare egg yolks was the  candié,  derived from the English "candy eg...

Like most Andalusian hill-towns, Alcalá used to have a castle.  It was built by the Moors in the 12th century, at the highest point of the town with commanding views in all directions.  When the Christian king Alfonso X "El Sabio" reconquered the town in 1264, the castle was extended and remained in use for the defence of the town for many centuries. Unfortunately most of it was destroyed by French soldiers during the Guerra de Independencia (Napoleonic Wars).  Both the French and the Spanish troops wanted it because of its strategic position as a lookout post. The Spanish tried to repair it for this purpose but didn't have the materials.  The French managed to occupy it in September 1811, but when they were forced to retreat they blew up the walls to stop the Spanish using it.  All that remained was the keep (known as la torre de homenaje in Spanish). The keep was declared a site of historical interest in 1984, but remained basically a pile of rubble u...

After last year's failed attempt to put Alcalá on the international cycling map, Stage 4 of this year's "Vuelta", Spain's equivalent of the Tour de France, passed through the town yesterday on its 210 km route from Estepona to Vejer de la Frontera.  The stage winner was Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, of the Movistar team.  Here are some photos taken by myself and various Facebook friends. Photo by Pedro Martin Sánchez Photo by Alicia Gómez Soto Photo by Julia Mansilla Cordero Photo by Esperanza Venegas Benítez Photo by José Diego de la Rosa Pérez

The Restaurant Formerly Known as La Parada re-opened last week as "La Auténtica" - the Real Thing.  It is being managed by an enthusiastic young team of local people, including the former chef from the restaurant at the Botanical Gardens.  The decor (apart from the red awning outside) has been completely refreshed, the kitchen is brand-new and there is a very reasonably priced menu using ingredients from the region where possible. Address: Paseo de la Playa 28, Alcalá de los Gazules Tel:  (+34) 695 83 45 65 Facebook:  www.facebook.com/restaurantelaautentica Opening hours:   Tuesdays to Fridays 8 am- 4 pm, 7 pm till late. Saturdays and Sundays 9 am - 4 pm, 7 pm till late. Closed on Mondays. Sample menu items Most items are available either in small portions (tapas) for around €3, or large platefuls to share (between €8 and €12). Atún rojo - Atlantic bluefin tuna, caught off the Costa de la Luz Carrilladas - braised pork cheeks, te...

Municipal elections took place all across Spain last Sunday and, after four years of what can most kindly be described as an almost total absence of government, Alcalá has a new mayor and a new team in charge of running the town.  The unholy alliance between right and left , the Partido Popular (PP) and the Izquierda Unida (IU), has been consigned to history and the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) took ten of the 13 seats available, their biggest majority since 1983, leaving the PP with two and the IU with just one.  The turnout was almost 70%, more than double the average for a local election in the UK. The new alcalde, 35-year-old Javier Pizarro Ruiz, is not new to the Ayuntamiento, having been a councillor in the previous administration.  He was born and bred in Alcalá, and is related to half the town.  He trained in environmental, countryside and forest management but politics is in his blood.  His father is Luis Pizarro , a leading ...

Acelgas (chard): a versatile winter vegetable. Use the leaves like spinach and the stems like celery. If you look up berza in a dictionary it says cabbage, kale or collard greens, but around here it is the name of a hearty winter stew, justifiably popular at this time of year. It is nourishing and tasty, and very economical to make, being based on chickpeas ( garbanzos ) and dried white beans ( alubias blancas ) for bulk, plus seasonal vegetables and cheap but tasty meat products like spiced sausage ( chorizo ) and blood pudding ( morcilla ). The locals will often include plants harvested from the countryside, such as the various kinds of edible thistle ( tagarninas and cardos ). You can buy these at the village shops or from street vendors when they are in season. The authentic version includes various bones and other items you can get cheap from the butcher, which all help to flavour the stock and add protein, but I just stick to things I recognise and chuck in a s...

We hear with depressing regularity about natural habitats being destroyed in the pursuit of profit. So it's good to learn about a project where the opposite has happened, thanks to the hard work and persistence of a group of environmental conservationists.  Such a project is the Laguna de los Tollos , near the town of El Cuervo just north of Jerez. Until 1976 this lake was an important stopover for wetland birds, including flamingoes in their thousands, winging their way between the Coto Doñana and the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra in Málaga Province.  It was also a breeding site for purple swamp hens (aka purple gallinules), crested coot and the rare white-headed duck.  Then along came Hefran SA, a mineral exploitation company, who dug a pit next to the lake to extract the special clay needed to produce Fuller's Earth - a mineral used in the pharmaceutical industry and in the production of cat litter. The effect on the lake was catastrophic.  The water leve...