Desde Aquel Rincon Negro

Vestida de negro, como el alma mia,

como los dias de invierno en Galicia,

como las noches de espera llorando en una cama vacia.

Asi me siento yo, como las piedras del rio; frias.

Negro es, ese sentimiento que llena mi esencia,

que ocupa mi espacio y dirije mi vida.

Como el banco desocupado del parque de la villa,

Como el amor entre tu y yo,

negro es todo lo que siento hoy.

Como las viejas viudas de marineros que caminan solas por aldeas en la lejania,

Como el manto inquietante que me arropa al dormir,

que acaricia mi cuerpo, endulza mis suenos y siempre esta ahi.

Negras las horas, minutos y segundos del tiempo pasado,

perdidos entre lagrimas de sangre,

de llamas ardientes.

Negras las ascuas que todo lo lleva,

lo poco que somos tu y yo.

Aquellas cenizas de cuerpos desnudos,

de espiritus perdidos.

Negro es el polvo que soplo al viento,

y asi en la nada desaparece todo lo que un dia existio.

Negra la tinta que imprime las letras tambien negras,

que recitan poemas mudos.

Negro es todo lo que veo a mi alrededor.

26.11.14 - 30.03.15

LFC

Like that

Like the river passing through, 
Like the voices echoing in a cave,
Like birds migrating west.

Like the sun softly brushing my skin,
Like a shooting star in a summer night.

Like that and more is the love I have for you.

Profound, deep, magnificent
in so many ways splendidly indescribable;
Yet so delicate, so fragile, so volatile.

I watch you sleep while others die,
It terrifies my dreams.
I stand strong, eyes wide open, by your side,
drowning in tears caused just by my worst of fears.

Wrap your soul around me,
Travel to magical places,
Hold my hand: You Smile.

Like the angels in bedtime stories,
Like the wildflowers in a meadow.

Gardens of roses, skies full of thunder,
Playgrounds coloured by laughter,
Rain dropping on hot-burning asphalt.
The recently mowed lawn,
Priceless pages of the written word.

My love for you is so much more.
You giggle and tonight it is all that matters. 

POTATO & DUCK BOMBS

INGREDIENTS

These ingredients will make 8 balls. Quantities can be change by doing 300 gr of potatoes per 100gr duck meat.

For duck meat mixture

100 gr duck meat
4 Star Anise
1tsp Cardamon Pods 3 Garlic Cloves

2 Cinnamon Sticks 1 tsp Fennel Seeds 2 Cloves
1L Olive Oil

For potato mixture:

3 Potatoes (Aprox 300gr) 50 ml cream
3 cloves garlic
For Crumbing:

200 gr Breadcrumbs 200 gr Plain Flour
2 Eggs
For the plum chutney: 500 gr plums

2 cinnamon sticks 150 gr brown sugar

METHOD

In a bowl mix together the star anise, cloves, cardamon pods, cinnamon sticks, garlic with 2 tbs of olive oil. Rub the spices on the duck then place in a deep baking tray and fully cover with oil.

Cover the tray with foil. I use the whole duck on in my restaurant because we require bigger quantities and the skin and bones release much more flavor but you could use 1 duck breast.

Preheat the oven to 220C and and cook for 2.5 hours or until the meat falls apart.

While that is cooking peel 6 potatoes and place them in a medium size stock pot with water. Bring to boil and cook until potatoes are tender and falling apart.

In another pot place the pitted plums with the sugar and the cinnamon stick for the plum chutney. Stir regularly and reduce.

When the potatoes are cool to handle, mash with 50 ml cream, 3 cloves of crashed garlic, salt & pepper to taste.

When the duck has cooled down take out of the oil and place in a mixing bowl.

Shred the meat removing skin, bones and any cartilages. Make sure no bones remain on the meat mixture.

Add 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped coriander, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of ground coriander, 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika. Mixed well through the duck meat and roll into 50 gr balls. Place in a tray and keep in the fridge.

Get 3 mixing bowls. In one bowl whisk 2 eggs in another shift 200gr of plain flour and in the third bowl 200 gr of bread crumbs and submerge the balls in the egg, then put them through the flour and last through the breadcrumbs.

Repeat this with all the balls and deep fry until golden color.

SERVES 8

CHOCOLATE CHIP MINI MUFFINS

Ingredients:

350 gr self raising flour

150 gr brown sugar

200gr of white & dark chocolate chips

4 eggs

200ml milk

150ml vegetable oil

Method: 

You will need two mixing bowls. One for your dry mixture and the other for the wet.

1. Let's start with the dry. Sift the flour and sugar into one of the bowls making sure nice and loose. Add the chocolate chips. Set aside.

2. In the other bowl wisk the eggs with the milk and vegetable oil. This is your wet mixture. 

3. Pour the wet mixture in the center of the dry mixture bowl and stir with a spoon until well combine.

Place table spoon amounts I a mini muffin baking tray sprayed with oil to prevent the muffins from sticking. Bake at 180C for 30min.

Remove with the help of a rounded point knife and rest them on a cooling tray for a few minutes. With the use of a shaker sprinkle icing sugar on the top. Ready to eat. Bon appetite!

Crustum - Broken Pieces of Bread

Since 10,000 BC the humans has been passionate about one thing.

The word itself, old English bread, is common in various Germanic languages. Known around the world and present in most homes - Bread, Brot, Brod, Crustum, Pan, Panne, Hlaf, Loaf - is a staple food prepared from dough of flour and water usually by baking it. It is one of humanities oldest food. 

From Neolithic cooks making breads that weren't leavened in rocks, the used of yeast us a leavening agent by the Egyptians around the 4,000 BC that will bake their breads in beehive or barrel shaped containers of baked clay to these days where commercial breads might include additives and other non nutritional ingredients in order to improve flavour, texture, color and shelf life.   

With so many different traditional recipes and makes of preparing the bread, to the many  differently types of flour used and ingredients added to it.

I do all types of loaves: gluten free white or seeded from corn or rice flour, gluten free from seed flour such as quinoa, whole meal, sourdough, sandwich bread white and whole meal, garlic bread, loaves with olives, with herbs, with cheese, with seeds, ryde flour, .... The choices are endless.

For this article I choose a simple recipe that will result into a health wholesome food. A Wholemeal loaf with fresh herbs from my garden.

It's really easy, you can use the yeast in this recipe or if you wish to have a yeast-free bread leave a stickier dough (a little bit more water) in a metal bowl wrapped with cling wrapped for 24 hours to ferment and that will give you a good result.

RECIPE

Ingredients: 

1140gr wholemeal flour (plain flour if you prefer white bread)

1l lukewarm water

36gr good quality bakers yeast

60ml extra virgin olive oil 

Pink Himalayan salt or sea salt & pepper to taste

Fresh Herbs: thyme, rosemary, oregano

Method: 

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl, with your hands break the flour to make sure there are no lumps or dirt. Add the fresh herbs. In a measuring jar add 1L of lukewarm water and mix the yeast, whisk it. Make a hole in the middle and pour the water, start folding with your hands working towards the middle.This will result in a sticky dough. When you achieve a firm consistence, place the dough in a floured surface (the kitchen counter), and work the dough adding flour as needed, keep doing this for 15min. This process is knows as kneading and it's the most important as is here where gluten gets released. 

Once you are happy with it, shape it in the form you wish your loaf to have and place it in a baking tray pre-sprayed with oil. With a knife make a few superficial incisions to achieve a good crust. Cover it with a wet tower and leave it to rest in a warm area to double in size. Preheat the oven to 220C. Bake for 15min to that temperature and then lower to 180C and bake for another 30min. 

Remove for the oven and let to rest in a cooling tray. Make sure that is breathes otherwise it will get wet. Enjoy

 

TIME OF INOCENSE

His smile went from side to side. His eyes wide opened as we came out of the ferry and the colours of the carnival became visible to him.

The teeth of the Luna Park "monster" was threatening to eat us on our way in but we manage to escape. 

Kids getting their hair raised, families going around on the ferries wheel, laughing clowns, carousel horses racing passed you. 

You stop to look at yourself on the magic mirrors, the image of your body distorted can give you a laugh or make you shed a tear. 

Knoa couldn't contained his happiness. He run, he looked, he smiled, he shout, he jumped 

     - Mami mami looked - Everything was so wonderful to him, to me seeing his little face light up was the most amazing feeling. 

There has been tough times for all of us. As a mother you blame yourself for anytime that your children don't get to live the life of a kid: innocent,  happy, full of joy and play days. Today I'm giving back what I took from him and that is priceless. 

The park is located in Milsons Point, on the north shore of Sydney Harbour. It's water surroundings make this place a peaceful dream land for kids but also often a destination for weddings and party celebrations.

We got there by ferry from Circular Quay, Wharf 5 and cost $12 for a return adult ticket. My son travelled free. 

You can also get there by car, train or bus.

You can buy food there at the Coney Island Cafe, Lighthouse Cafe, Fish 'N' Sips or for more formal lunches or diners visit The Deck. 

It's also a great idea to bring a picnic basket , find a quiet spot and enjoy the views! Great idea for couples. 

Have some fun and forget about your diet for the day and try the parks's favourite Fairy Floss or Ice Cream, or both! 

A great day for grown ups or the little ones. 

For more information visit 

 http://m.lunaparksydney.com

Visit www.mskotravels.com

YOU LOVE IS TOO HEAVY

The Pont des Arts in Paris is known to lovers from around the world, here they seal their love by attaching a lock with their names written on it to its railing and throwing the key deep into the Seine River. But on Sunday evening this iconic tourist attraction known to the world as the “locks of love”  made the news as police was forced to evacuate visitors off the bridge after 2.4 meters of railing collapse. The police said “the bridge was immediately evacuated and closed and would be reopen by Monday”. A petition has started asking the locks to be removed saying that they caused damages to the bridge. The “locks of love” craze are also found in other cities around the world like in the Seoul Tower, Ponte Milvio in Rome, Prague, Donestk and Cologne.

The Freemasons

The Masons

What exactly are the Freemanson? And who are they? The misteriously locate themselves in major cities and towns, the own expensive buildings and property but you never hear anyone talking about it. 

It's like they are there, just in front of you, in front of everyone but camouflaging, like wearing a disguise but they are not ... How do the manage to be right in the middle of everyone but remain a mystery?

Their secrecy amazes me and how they manage to keep it that way for hundreds of years even more.

Their buildings always have their symbol at the front, the Compass & Square

This is the Masonic Center in Sydney, located in the corner of Castlereaugh and Goulburn St, made following the Brutalish Movement. 

http://www.sydneyarchitecture.com/cbd/cbd4-013.htm

Above he link of a very interesting articulo regarding the architecture of this building.

Old "handbooks" of freemasonry define the organization as "a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols," "a science which is engaged in the search after the divine truth," and "the activity of closely united men who, employing symbolical forms borrowed principally from the mason's trade and from architecture, work for the welfare of mankind, striving morally to ennoble themselves and others and thereby to bring about a universal league of mankind which they aspire to exhibit even now on a small scale."

They credit themselves with the building of Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel, the Pyramids and Solomon's Temple. The practice of freemasonry includes temples, altars, a moral code, worship services, vestments, feast days, a hierarchy of leadership, initiation and burial rites, and promises of eternal reward and punishment. During the initiation rite, the candidate expresses a desire to seek "light," and he is assured that he will receive the light of spiritual instruction that he could not receive in another Church. 

The Freemasonry is anti-Catholic. In the United States, one of the leaders of freemasonry, Gen. Albert Pike referred to the papacy as "a deadly, treacherous enemy,".

One of the most famous Freemanson was Benjamin Frankling, which became a member a few years after starting his own society, the Leathern Apron Club. He was the Grand Master of Pensilvaniia, a hero of the Revolutionary War, Founding Father and inventor.

George Washington, Mozart, Simon Bolivar, Mark Twain, Wiston Churchill, Franklin D. Rooselvelt, J. Edgard Hoover, Silvio Berlusconi, Jesse Jackson, John Elway, Oscar Wilde, Michael Richards are just a few. 

Anorexia & Bulimia: Dark Places

Everything is a bit fuzzy in my mind but I was around 14 or 15 years old. A normal happy girl, with friends, active, healthy with no problems. Some how I ended up lost in this haze, in this life that now seems to have belonged to somebody else but me.

In a psychiatric hospital sharing room with a lady that had the aged to be my grandmother and that thought that had the ability to jump out of the bedroom window and fly. Surrounded by minds long gone and bodies that moved as if were part of a puppet show.

I was just a young teenager lost in my own pain, puberty and searching for answers, reaching for help of those that I though they knew better. With a wiliness to make a different, with the ability to ask why, what, how, when. With more questions that answers, with a sense of searching for a idolise freedom and with an inside full of uneasiness unable to express myself in a manner that could had been heard or acknowledge.

I dig deep inside in the search for that something and I got lost. There was no help. I was thrown around like an experiential rat and when things went wrong the fingers of those adults, of those professionals pointed back at me looking for someone to blame but themselves.

I never fully recovered and that year life as I knew ended.

I travel as far as I could to go away, to hide, to escape. Of course only to find that it was still there. Self harming appeared to be the best option. Feeling a real pain that I could at least be control and explain.

I always wonder how many more people like me are out there. What went wrong? Why me? How my life would have been if that never happened? What if that year I got the right help, the right treatment? Would I be a better person? Could I have spare myself and my love ones so much pain? If only somebody listen. If only somebody explained. If only those that didn't know stopped pretending they did. If only I didn't trust them. What would it be of me?

The mind is a powerful tool. A fantastic piece of state of the art machinery. So much that we don't know. So much we can't explained. Some people rely on religion to quiet their fears, to stop their questions for being asked or answered some. I still think of that little girl now, almost 20 years later, and I can't help but to cry.

I felt pain, hurt, lost, abandoned, unfairness, discrimination. I felt really scared, I still feel scared now. So lonely, abused, bullied. I was just a little girl, maybe a bit different. Maybe I asked too many whys and the lack of answer started to built up inside, and not too long it was a big dark space that couldn't be explained.

I was 14 and I didn't had anorexia or bulimia. I was sad, depressed perhaps. I was a nervous girl that was growing and lost her grandfather and godfather. That saw dead and pain and didn't really cope with it.

As my health deteriorated I seek for family and medical help. I didn't had anorexia or bulimia but I picked it up later from the patients that shared roomed with me just as if it were a virus that was going around in the room.

I was asked to droop out of school. To join a "team" in a "special department". I was isolated, locked up for weeks. Not able to sit or lay but only to semi lay in a bed I was not able to leave but to go to the toilet follow and in the presence of a nurse. I was not able to write or read. I was no allow phones calls or letters from family or friends. It was only me, the nurse and the crazy old lady in the next bed.
A small group of young people were in that hospital with me but under different conditions as their illness was treatments was clear. I was just a doctors nightmare. A big pain in the bump. An annoyance because they had no answers for me. They couldn't explain me so they locked me up, treated me like a mental patient and then put me back into this world and expect what? Expect that everything would be like nothing ever happened??? I don't think so. The drugs, alcohol and self harm follow very closely.

Now I look back furious wanting some justice. Wanting to hear somebody saying I fucked up, I am sorry. For them to take some responsibility of what I went through, what they put me through. And more some awareness so that no other young girls and boys ended treated and locked up like crazy people just because they are going through some things and are lost.
Life is not easy and we are not born with a manual that explains where everything goes and what should be or not touched.

I have done things I regret. I made mistakes. I hurt people. I didn't mean for that to happened. I am sorry. I got a second and third chance. Some other people don't.

Others get taken by this dark cloud that follows them in life taking position of their bodies even until they die. Living a life unworthy far from what they dreamed of. I was lucky in a way. Still fighting. Still confuse, and lost and sad at times but I am still here, I am still fighting. I am still making progress, keeping on trying to make it happened. Refusing to let go. But on me visible are the scars of those darker times.

I wish I knew more so I could understand. I wish somebody could explain even if its now. I wish I could be of more help.

I registered and support The Butterfly Foundation and wish I could do more. I wish I knew more.

Amor de madre

Van sonando las alarmas por el viejo boulevard,
Las calles estan mojadas, silenciosas paredes en la madrugada.
Voy caminando, tacones afilados, pantalones apretados,
 cartera en mano, cigarillo en boca, pelo al viento.
Cada vez mas cerca, cada vez mas lejos.
Siempre pensando en  ti.

Mi reflejo en los cristales de un banco sin dinero,
escaparates que muestran tu reflejo.
Muerdo unas, pierdo peso.
Cada vez mas cerca, cada vez mas lejos.
Siempre pensando en ti.

Un avion que da mil vueltas, como un niño muy travieso,
Pasan dias, pasan anos, se va haciendo mas intenso.
A veces mas cerca, otras mas lejos.

Llamadas de alegria y otras desesperadas,
desde una cabina publica a horas muy inadecuadas,
Tu esperando a que suene el telefono,

Unas veces mas otras veces menos.
Siempre pensando en mi, y yo pensando en ti

It's all about Riesling

Before we go into the cold weather I would like to do a small tasting notes on my favourite Riesling this summer.

Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. Today is mainly found in Germany, Alsace, Austria, Australia, New Zeland, US & Canada.

It reminds me greatly of my precious galician albarino. I just love it. 

Here are some of my favourites that go fantastic with asian, seafood dishes & salads.

* Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2013

A benchmark Riesling made with fruit from The Petaluma's Hanlin Hill vineyard in the Clare Valley. Intense aromatic and floral aromas lift from the glass with hints of juicy citrus characters. Powerful lemon and lime flavours and a wonderful fruit sweetness.

Can be purchase from Dan Murphy's for $23.75 (in any 6)

* Crabtree Watervale Riesling 2013

Lifted aromatics of lemon zest and citrus spice, balanced with finely textured, juicy acidity. Great for cellaring 10+ years. 

Buy direct from their cellar door for $23.35 (if you buy a dozen)

* Pikes Traditionale Riesling 2013

Fresh, crisp and bright palate with aromas of tropical fruits, lemon & lime zest and minerality. Great Riesling from the Clare Valley to enjoy young or with age. You can find it around Australia in numerous bottle shops for around the $23 mark but often with a deal of buy 2 bottles for $40 in BWS

* Henschke Peggy's Hill Riesling 

My favourite! Light green colour, vibrant floral tones, with citrus nuances, passion fruit flavours, fine crisp acidity and lengthy finish. Henschke do other Rieslings but to me for your value quality-money I go with Peggy's anyway. $17-20 per bottle


* Jim Barry Rieslings 

Jim Barry offers a range of 4 or 5 different Rieslings. I think they are all good for the cost. The Watervale can be found in most bottle shops and its a great wine to drink now or cellar for a few years if wanted. Crispy, with citrus notes such as lime, lemon, grapefruit. They all sell for around the $19-$23

Ana

I wrote this song for my father to sing as talks about love, suffering, death and I just thought he would be a great singer for that message. 
It has nothing to do with him. 
The song talks about a couple and a nice girl that one day fell in loved with an unkind man that abuse her to her death all in the name of "love". Unfortunately this domestic violence and this end happens to real people in real life way too many times.

ANA

En la manana de San Juan, lejos por las montanas, 
entre arbustos y fantasmas, caminaba Ana.
Con una maleta blanca, se fue esa mañana.

Tu eres la nina de la nada, recoje y vete ya de casa,
yo te decia que te amaba, mientras tu llorabas.
Con tu carita de porcelana, con sonrisas del mañana, 
con mil besos y caricias, me camelabas.

De la mano paseamos como jovenes enamorados,
suenos y promesas susurramos, entre sabanas manchadas.

Tu eres la nina de la nada, yo te decia que te amaba,
tu me rogabas que parara mientras te pegaba. 
Tu eres la nina de la nada, yo te decia que te amaba mientras te enganaba.

Con frio y en sandalias, va corriendo asustada, 
lagrimas en sus mejillas y aterrodizada.

Entre arbustos y fantasmas, fui, siguiendo a Ana. 

Yo te decia que te amaba, tu no decias nada.

Tu eres la nina de la nada,
yo te decia que te amaba, mientras tu no hablabas.

En la madrugada de San Juan, lejos por las montanas, 
entre arbustos y fantasmas, se fue para siempre Ana, 
en una maleta blanca y de madrugada. 

Tu eres la nina de la nada,
yo te decía que te amaba, tu ya no decias nada.




*** if you know of anybody or if you are a victim of violence seek for help before it's too late.

The Perfect Sangria

I have made thousands of Sangria over the years and I can tell you that is one of those things that everyone loves and raves about and if you make a good sangria they will love you for it. 

There are many different recipes and many different stories as how and where the sangria was originated. Most people believe sangria was created in mediterranean Spain by farmers who on a hot day after working the fields wanted to use their produce, wine & fruits, and use it to drink in a way that will refresh and kill the thirst of a hot summer day. It's name originates from blood or sangre in spanish due to it's ruby colour. Sangre - Sangria. Makes sense to me however others believe that sangria comes from a refreshing drink during XVIII in the the french & english Antilles call sangaree or sang-gris.

It's history might not be clear but what it's for sure it's that sangria is today Spanish Natinal Drink.

Differnet people will do sangria in many different ways using all sorts of fruits, spirits ... many variations exist. To me what is important is that you make your own sangria from the scratch and from fresh ingredients. So this is how I like it:

To make a 1L Jug of Sangria:

Use some cheap but medium to full body fruity red wine. Tempranillo is spanish grape of excellence but here in Australia I discover Slippery Fish and this wine it's cheap and makes great sangria. It can be purchase at any 1st Liquor 

Noite Longa

Este anoitecer vai ser outra noite longa onde a oscuridade do ceo esconde a minha doente persoa.
A gaita soa no fondo, uns rapaces a face-lo tonto.

Ti ere-lo todo, todo o que me redoa. O meu querer seguir, o suspirar o sonreir. A minha mitade boa. 

Ti ere-lo todo pra min nesta noite longa. 

Apertame moi apreitadinho que fai frio nesta saudade.
Non me deixes que me perdo nesta negra soidade. 
Non te alonxes que non vexo a luz dos teus dous luceiros.

Non me mires con desgano, non me deixes que me rompo.

Eu son todo, eles nada mais de aqui non podo sair.

Estas bagoas de vino dunha tarde madrugada.

A xuventude pasada. Matrimonios fracasados. Fillos bastardos. Abortos silenciados. Amistades de toda unha vida agora tan estranas.
A choiva en Santiago. As patacas. As festas das parroquias, os bicos inocentados. O oruxo queimado. As herbas de San xoan. Meu amigo Castelao, minha sombra Rosalia. O pai da nosa Galicia.

Esta noite na que choran as paredes desta sala.
Esta rutina que non cambia.
Este queixar mais non facer nada.
Este eu, este ti.

Esta longa noite, esta madrugada.
Este poema sen fin.

You have your mother's eyes

People lately say to me:
You look like your dad but you have your mother's eyes.
I look at you; yes, I can see that.
You do have my eyes and look like your dad.

Deep inside them I can reach your soul,
the sweetness of the fruit of love.
They hide secrets one day to be told.
Guardians of our story.
Mirrors of purity that we once were all.

My dear boy, my perfect love.

You are so small, unaware of the horrors of this world.

I am your mum and you know that,
you feel so warm, you feel so wrapped.

I want to fight,  I want to dream
about a lovely place for you and us to be.
I hold your hand, I hug you tight
because I know these times will soon go by.

You are my everything, the best of me.

And a time will come when you find yourself alone,
perhaps lost in this confusing world.
And the time will come when
we cannot be together as I long be gone.

Just remember: You have your mother's eyes.

When you feel so sad that you just want to cry.
When you tried your best and that is just not enough.
When the lights have turned dark,
and the beauty around cannot be found.

Close your eyes, look inside. With you I am.
In you I can always be found.

Cuban or Dominican Cigars?

That is the question:  Cuban or dominican?

Like everything else, with cigars it comes down to personal taste and opinion but these are the main difference between the two: taste & manufacture.

Cuban Cigars are the most renown and their rollers or "torcedores" are believed to be the best in the world and they are highly respected in their country and overseas when they travel sharing their art of rolling around the world.

In 1492 Christopher Colombus sailor's reported that in the island of Cuba found natives smoke a primitive form of cigar. From there,  smoking cigars was spread to Spain and Portugal and later to France, Italy, America and Britain. The spanish took seeds to the Philippines and manufacturing houses were built first in Cuba then in Florida and other areas. From there the growing and manufauctiong of cigars grew and spread all through Europe, the States, South America, Asia & Oceana.

The main 2 markets are the United States and Europe with little sold in Asia, South Africa & Australia.

The taste will get affected by many things but one of them it's of course the weather so you will not get the same result even using the same seed when grown in Cuba than in the DR.

Cuban cigars are stronger with more peppery , spicy, earthy, woody and leathery flavours and with heats of cocoa & nutty flavours while the DR are milder and lighter.

Due to the embargo with Cuba the US cannot legally purchase these cigars so the DR caters mainly for this market while cuban targets the european market.

In my experience and my humble opinion I find dominican cigars to be generally of a better quality of manufacturing and more consistent today's day and also a better cigar for beginners due to its milder flavours.

I think DR cigars go through more strict manufacturing process resulting in a better and more consistent product. They are just more on top of presentation while cuba to me it's more about quantity. With cuban you risk finding plugged cigars, fakes, rolled too tight or too loose .... I mean this is also possible with dominican or any other origin but not as much.

I also like the fact that DR do a lot of their cigars in tubes wrapped on cedar strips which protects them and helps maintain better. Cuba does a few, mainly Romeo y Julieta but not as much.

If you look at a box of 25 dominican their wrapper colour seems to be the same all throughout the box, the filler with the same consistence while on a box of cuban it just differs so much.

I used to have a customer that made me go through boxes of Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas that came on cedar boxes of 50's and also the Cohiba Siglo Vi in cedar boxes of 25's and picked them to make a box just for him just because in the past he found that when purchasing a whole box so many of them where un-smokable for him.

With dominican this just doesn't happen. Look at the Davidoff Cigars. All so beautiful rolled & packed. Yes they are milder I will probably say that only the Millennium Blend will equal the strength of the cuban but to me I much prefer a milder cigar and my smoking experience it's better.

In saying this when you get a good cuban it's pretty hard to compete with that. Their wrappers are oily and just beautiful. I like the earthy, coffee tones like the Partagas D4 and it could be quiet mild for a cuban as well as the Romeo y Julieta Churchill because due to it's length and ring gauge the smoke it's quiet cool. To me the pepperiness of Montecristo's it's just too much but again this it's just a personal taste.

When US place the embargo over Cuba and no body could purchase cuban cigars and the cuban houses couldn't sell to them all they did was start producing dominican cigars like Romeo y Julieta.

So how can I answer the question? What's best Cuban or Dominican? There is not best it's all down to personal taste and individual cases and products. I forgot to mention that some premium dominican's are also quiet expensive but so are a lot of cuban too let's say for example the whole range of Cohiba that I found so expensive.

So here are some of my suggestions:

Cubans:

Montecristo Edmundo, Montecristo N4, Vegas Robaina Unicos, Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure N2, Partagas D N4, Romeo y Julieta Churchill, Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona in box of 50's, Partagas  Lusitanias in box of 50's, Cohiba S VI, Punch Punch, Ramon Allones Specialy Selected, Juan Lopez Selection N2, if you like full body cigars and you get a nice box of Bolivar Belicoso Finos with its superb oily wrappers hmmmm!!

Dominican:

Davidoff Millennium Blend Robusto or Pyramid, Macanudo Ascot (either cafe or maduro), Macanudo Diplomat Maduro (Great little fatty one!), Davidoff Crand Cru Range is not too bad either with No 4,& 5 my favourites, front he Davidoff Mille Range the 2000's in Tubos are pretty good. The Macanudo Hyde Park a good coffee cigar

From the Arturo Fuente house the Opus X Range but prepare your wallet and for what it is I just wouldn't pay for it.

Zino Classic from Honduras has also a great range of cigars. If you enjoy a robusto Zino N 6 it's a medium body cigar with sweet nutty tones and toast finish.  Their platinum series  is just so elegant, a great nicaraguan, honduran & peruvian blend. Grand Master or Chubby it's up to you

From Nicaragua Padron 2000 Maduro not bad either, nutty and chocolaty.


Your choice of cigar will depend on the time of the day you choose to smoke, the food and the drink that will go together with it. generally speaking Dominican cigars are a very good coffee cigar while cuban or full body dominicans like the Millennium Blend of Davidoff are great with cognac, brandy or good medium to full red.

Tortilla Espanola: Spanish Potato & Egg Omelette

Ummm I remember coming home at 4am after partying and finding if I was lucky some tortilla left from lunch. Put it in the middle of some true spanish bread and that was heaven. Best hang over, party hunger fix ever!

Some of my best memories from childhood are those of summer days on the beach and the family lunches. Russian Salad, tortilla and a salad of lettuce, tomatoes & onions always on the menu.

It is my experience that this is not as popular in Australia, mainly because anything "eggy" here it is usually consider breakfast or brunch food but nevertheless it wouldn't be my blog if I didn't share with you my love, passion and the secret for my finger liking tortilla espanola.

Ingredients:

6 eggs

3 big or 5 medium potatoes

50ml milk or cream (optional)

1 Onion

Olive Oil

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes and slice them thin. 

2. Fry the potatoes (You can do this on a pan but the potatoes need to be cover with oil so use plenty of it. Or you can fry quickly on a deep fryer). Do not fry too much. 

3. While the potatoes are frying which the eggs and milk or cream if you choose to use it. 

4. Add the potatoes to the egg mixture with a pinch of salt and leave to rest for 10 min. 

5. Pan on the stove and drizzle with oil. When it's hot add the onion and brown then to medium heat add the potato & egg mixture. With a fork mix the mixture so that it goes through it and use the base of the fork to them flatten the whole surface.

6. Get a round plate of the same size as the pan an turn over the tortilla into the plate and to the pan so it cooks on the other size.

7. You cook tortilla to personal taste. Some people like very runny eggs so cook it very little on medium heat. I like everything very well done so I cook mine longer. Serve it with a baby cos lettuce, tomatoes & spanish onion salad with extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper. On a sandwich for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Cold, room temperature or hot. Add chorizo or braised beef. Drink it down with a Estrella Galicia Beer

Churros are served!

Sick with the flu now for over 5 weeks and with my whole body acking I am craving those lovely sugary, oily and chocolaty churros. Wishing I could be at home, with mum giving me all the attentions a sick patient needs and where I could so easy ask dad to go pass the churreria and buy two dozen churros (in a house with dad, 4 nieces, 2 sisters, 2 brothers in law and mum you have to order big!).

Churros are a type of fried long-shaped doughnut cover in sugar and with a ridge surface, traditional cooked for breakfast in Spain. They often also come accompanied of a thick chocolate to dip the doughnuts in and sold by street vendors or in churrerias. They are within doubt a great sugar fix!

Here in Australia even though is not accessible everywhere you can buy churros at http://www.sanchurro.com. It's nowhere near as good or cheap as an spanish churreria and not really design to have them take away but not a bad effort at all.

This delicious spanish delicacy can also be found on the dessert menus of most abroad spanish restaurants. Here are some:

www.movida.com.au 

www.bodegatapas.com

www.kika.com.au

www.menhir.com.au

www.capitantorres.com.au

www.delicadofoods.com.au

www.elbulli.com.au
www.encasarestaurant.com.au

If your rather have them on the comfort of your own home following my easy and quick recipe you now can!

There are many different of recipes for churros some containing milk, butter and more complex processes and some others as simple as just flour and water. 

I have come up with the recipe that I believe works best for the regular everyday cook and without the need for  professional equipment. They don't look like exactly like those long fried strings found in Spain but their rustic looks make them even more irresistible and special and the reward of making them yourself priceless. 

In the recipe below I have combined sweet and savoury ingredients to find what for me is the perfect balance. Not too sweet not to savoury just perfect to have churros as a dessert and dipped in chocolate.

CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE (4-5 serving each serving containing 4- 5 churros)

125gr Self Raising Flour

125gr Plain Flour

30 gr cornflour or 60gr for crunchy
430ml Water 

20 ml Milk
1T Melted butter
1T EVO (Extra Virgin Oilive Oil)

1 Cup full cream milk

1T Vanilla essence

1t salt
1T sugar
1t cinnamon

Cinnamon sugar to cover the outside (Just mix white sugar with a bit of cinnamon)

For the chocolate:

1L Milk
200gr Spanish Chocolate the taza (Spanish drinking chocolate that comes in a block and contains a little bit of flour to thicken. You can use another good quality and high in cacao dark chocolate and add flour to thicken)

Method

1. Combined dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, cornflour salt, sugar & cinnamon)
2. Boil water with oil and vanilla essence.
3. Add a little of boiled water with flour. Stir with wooden spoon.
4. Add melted butter & milk. Stir again.
5. Insert the mixture in a pipping bag with a start nozzle.
6. Pour the mixture in the deep fryer. Don't use the basket. The churros will float.
7. Melt the chocolate in hot milk while churros finish frying.
8. In a bowl place the cinnamon sugar and add churros so they cover well with the mixture.
9. Place the chocolate on a small bowl. I like add some fresh berries or a berry syrup to the plate to give it the freshness and sweetness of the fruit. Churros are now served!!!! Que aproveche!


Notes:

a. The consistency of the dough must be lumpy so do not mix too much.
b. If you want your churros crunchy add more cornflour. This will make them also more hallow and less doughy.
c. If you want them sweeter add more butter, reduce the amount of water and increase amount of milk. I like this better for breakfast churros as the milk & butter with result in a very soft & sweet dough also harder to work with on a pipping bag and too milky for dessert.

d. You can have longer, shorter, thinner or thicker churros. It's up to you. The thicker the more dough you will taste. The thinner the crunchier will be.
e. When ready to fry I prefer to pipe them out in front of the fryer as if you place the churros on a tray they will stick and loose their start shape which gives them crunch. I do not use the basket of the fryer either as same thing happens and churros will come to the surface as the float in the oil.
f. You can also purchase a chorus gun for domestic use. You can purchase this over the internet or in Sydney you can find them at www.elmercado.com.au  I personally prefer the pipping bag. It's easier to work with, holds more quantities, easier to store and to clean and you can buy nozzles of different sizes that might suits best the size of churro you wish to obtain. However with the gun as the dough is pushed out with more pressure the churros have a more star marked resulting in a more crunchier churro.
g. When you make the dough and place it inside the pipping bag you can store this just like that in a air tight container inside the fridge and it will last for at least 5 if not more.
h. You can freeze churros but I am not a big fan of freezing anything but if you must this can be done. The result if not the best but not bad. In fact a lot of spanish food suppliers sell frozen churros.


Ok amigos it's now time to seat down in front of the tv, watch a great movie and enjoy your churros con chocolate. Enjoy!

Starting a Blog. Day One

Seating in my small flat with the computer on my lap wondering what to write. All the ideas were very clear at the beginning. I was very excited, lots of thoughts and experiences to share.
So how is it that I am now stuck?
Beginnings are always difficult; finding the right path to follow, it is the hardest thing. I should know.

I am starting this blog with the aim of sharing my life experiences so far and the ones that I will gain as we go, my passions, my thoughts, opinions and general information with the hope that this will come useful to you at some point.

Born in a small town in Northwest Spain I have an undying passion for my country, my people, the many and diverse cultures and languages, the food, the wine .. you name it. My husband constantly tells me that I go on in life saying how "the food it's best in Spain, in Spain we have this, in Spain we have that , we do this and the other". Everything is best in Spain. Perhaps I couldn't have chosen a better timing to say that of course this is not entirely truth but, Spain is home, and there is no better place than home. It's a bit like having a child. Regardless of how ugly or stupid  he or she might be, on mummy's eyes he/she is just perfect.

It was not always like that though, and it wasn't the country, my town, friends, family or anything specific really. It was me. I needed to go on and see things with my own eyes. I had this voice inside of me that was saying:
- "Hurry up there's no time to loose; you are not getting any younger, you are already 13, before you know it you will be 20, and by then the biggest decisions of your life such as career, studies, work etc .. must have already been taken. Then with a blink of an eye you turn 30 and according to current society that is it: If you haven't done it, it's too late. You can't say "oops I spend 12 years studying to become a doctor but I just don't see it working for me anymore so I am going to go on and do something else". You are old, it pays the bills, stick to what you know!!.
If you turn 40, unmarried, childless, perhaps even jobless and still confused in life it's Game Over, move to the looser team!! - It will soon be time for you to retired and you haven't even started to do anything with your life!!!! - I can picture in my head so many grandmas saying this and it just seem so wrong to me.
Then death it's just around the corner and it's only Heaven left after that.  I just wasn't so sure about the After Life so I was trying to get things sorted for the life that I had with no doubts on that particular moment and decisions needed to be made, questions needed to be answer but I just didn't know.
Adults will ask you - What would you like to be when you grow up? They ask in school, at home, on the streets ... constantly the same question, again and again there is so much pressure on having this answers ready and I just didn't know. I liked many things and i showed interest for many things I just couldn't commit myself to only one thing that I will do for the rest of my life. It seem so final, so boring. What about if I choose wrong?

After a period of "messiness" and "cloudiness" confused about this whole "Life & Decision making situation" I ventured, without knowing at the time, on the beginning of a lifetime of travelling which it has brought me to Australia, where I met my husband and where almost a year ago I gave birth to my first and only son, Ulises.

We live a "On the edge" life style far away from perfect. More so that I would like. With it's ups and downs, lot's of them. Still trying to figure out even more things than when I was 13 years old. With a lot of fears (now that I am a mum I worry about everything!) and some regrets about things that given the choice i wouldn't do again and also things i'm not proud of.  But it's all me, the good and the bad and i'm just thankful for the opportunity to do it all, to make those millions of mistakes and also those right choices, thankful to have been able to lived those experiences, to see Man Kind in it's many forms, to be part of this World and this Time.

Those regular and simple things of a normal day that, when you travel and you are in a new place surrounded by strangers seems so different, it opens up your eyes to this new dimesion, it makes you wiser, it helps you get closer and perhaps answer some questions or even arise some more! Travelling made me be more thankful for what i already had and made me value what I was going to gain. Those things that were always there,  right in front of your face but you just had to travel 20 thousand kilometres away to be able to see them, to understand them better.
It's funny how the furthest away from family and friends the closer it brings you.  Just like the saying "You don't know what you have until you loose it". Sometimes some of us we just don't know exaclty who we are, we just don't have those basic answers and we need to loose ourselves in order to then be found.
I am still on this journey. Still travelling. Loving some things and hating others.
Of course I don't do as much travelling as I would like to due money, time, obligations, responsibilities, bills, debts, mortgages, etc ... All that big pile that could be label the Anti-Freedom. And that just upsets me. I have seen, been and done quite a bit and perhaps that should be sufficient and perhaps you will think that i should just get on with it, settle into the job-house-family standard life that offers all comfort and safety net. While i respect that and the people that choose to go on that path, it's just not for me. The same voice inside of me tells me i have to rebel to that. I want to explore, i am curious of what else it's out there. So i refuse to let all those so call commodities created by the consumer and capitalism world we live in, to restrict my freedom, to stop me for seeing new places, meeting new people and most importantly to continue on the journey of meeting me.

We are constantly buying objects we don't need, things that just buries us more into debt. On top of the cost, they become an inconvenient and a burden to our freedom. Let's just mention as an example those thousands of dollars I spend on that beautiful furniture to go with my overpriced apartment that i couldn't afford and could't maintain but that i really wanted. In a matter of months I was not only into more debt due to that purchase but homeless and with the problem of what to do with all that staff. You need more money to move it, more money to store it, the time and energy that I didn't have because I was all depressed by the situation ... Pointless. I didn't needed any of that to start with!.

If your busy life style is attached to debt, credit cards, bills and others, then for whatever reason you loose all those material things or can't keep up with the payments, takes a while but after the pain and embarrassment and the period were you feel like a total failure and you just want to keep your head on the toilet bowl for as long as possible; then comes some sort of relief and suddenly you realise that all those things were a big weight on you, and you just couldn't breath and now you can stand up tall and feel so light, you feel you can dance, you can almost flight. And you start seeing your life on very different way. Maybe it's time to move, start fresh, to start again.

The feeling of being in a new place: Priceless.

A beer in a Medieval European city, seating outside on a terrace with cobblestone floor surrounded by history. Walking a long the many flea markets in the highly populated Asian cities looking at something that resembles food. Swimming and diving in the pristine waters of the Pacific Islands amazed by its beauty.  The delicious and healthy mediterranean food with a glass, or a few bottles of wine in my case, the modern architecture in US cities, the magnificence of the dessert of the Middle East, the ancient cultures and the legacy left by them, the meaning of symbols that regardless time, distance and difference are understood world wide.

Us: The People who live on Earth for thousands of years. Me: A part of it.

Well there you have it. My first blog.