We plan on getting to Cordoba on Thursday - 3/25 and we celebrate our 25th anniversary the next day. Need recommendation for special/romantic dinner. Keep in mind it's Holy week - are restaurants open? do we need to make reservations in advance?
Any recommendations for good places to eat in Granada, Ronda and Seville?
Couldn't find out if the Alhambra has any changes in opening times on saturday - 3/27 or on Easter sunday - 3/28.Any help?

Very nice place to have "tapas· and dinners in Granada, just in the bull ring. The lower part of it has been converted in bars and nice restaurants (at least 2 of them). In Ronda you can go to "Tragabuches" close to the bull ring, one of the best restaurants in hole Spain, awarded with Michelin Stars from the international Michelin guide.

In Cordoba, El Caballo Rojo (very near to the Mezquita) is an excellent restaurant specializing in Andalusian cuisine with a Moorish influence.

P.S. It is also a very attractive restaurant with pleasant service.

It has a Web site:

http://www.elcaballorojo.com/

"Message: In Cordoba, El Caballo Rojo (very near to the Mezquita) is an excellent restaurant specializing in Andalusian cuisine with a Moorish influence."

You mean "Moopish influence," don't you?

I'm sorry, Metellus, I do not understand your message.

I wrote "Moorish" and meant "Moorish." You are no doubt aware that the Moors had a thriving culture in Andalusia for hundreds of years; in fact, Cordoba rivaled Baghdad in importance.

And I have no idea what "Moopish" means. Kindly explain.

Aziba: Sorry, a second P.S. If you think that you might like El Caballo Rojo (it is the best of the four restaurants mentioned on the site), I would suggest that you reserve in advance, as it is quite popular with the locals. And I would mention that it is a 25th anniversary celebration; they might just make that extra effort for you.

I found the staff extremely pleasant, which is not always the case when a woman is dining alone. I loved their gazpacho blanco (a change from the usual gazpacho, it is almond-based) and they gave me the recipe for it -- in Spanish, but which I was able to translate when I got home. The pastilla cordobese (I think that was its name; it's a tart with a squash filling) was also unusual and delicious. I don't remember what I had as a main course, but it was also characterized by the combination of "regular" and sweet ingredients, which comes from the Moorish influence. I feel it is as well to tell you that, because some people dislike the combination.

Sorry, Aziba, this is getting positively silly, but ideas keep coming to me.

Do reserve tickets for the Alhambra. The site should tell you whether it is open on Easter Sunday and/or Monday.

It is

http://www.alhambra.org/ingles/home.asp?res=800

For a truly romantic experience, I would very much suggest an evening visit; it is quite magical. And if you have the time, I would also do a day visit.

The Parador San Francisco is on the grounds of the Alhambra; it would be wonderful place to have lunch or dinner.

While in Seville, we mostly ate tapas but had a great Moroccan dinner at Al Medina. If you like Moroccan food, this is outstanding. In Granada, we had a wonderful dinner at Mirador de Moryama in the Albacin. We ate outside and had a gorgeous view of the illuminated Alhambra but I don't imagine that the outside is open in March. Happy Anniversary!

Another big vote for El Cabrollo Rojo--it was excellent. I had the honeyed lambshank and DH had the fish and both were fantastic.

And Eloise, could you please give me the recipe for that gazpacho. I too thought it was one of the best I've ever tasted. I purchased a Spanish cookbook that supposedly had it, but mine was nowhere as good!

Hi, artlover, this white gazpacho is typical of the Malaga area and is called "ajoblanco", send me your email to [email protected] and I will ask my mum´s recipe (we are from Malaga) and I will translate it for you

mettalus -- I get it!!! SORRY...YOU'RE WRONG...IT'S THE MOOPS!!!

Thanks for the laugh.

Hello, Artlover,

It looks like you may get the real thing from Pepomalo.

I have not had time yet to look for the recipe -- I always promise myself to organize my recipes and never get around to actually doing so -- but I'll try to find it in the next few days and post it on this thread for you.

Hello again, Artlover,

The recipe has been found. But please do remember that I said I was able to translate the recipe (more or less; I do not have a great command of cookbook language) from the Spanish, NOT that I was able to reproduce the gazpacho blanco of El Caballo Rojo.

I suspect that there are two principal reasons for this:
a) The chefs at El Caballo Rojo are much better cooks than I am;
b) Almonds in Spain are fresher and more fully flavoured than those we get in North America or perhaps a few bitter almonds (not available here, as far as I know) are also used.

Also, I'm afraid the recipe is in European measures (which we use here in Canada -- but only for volume, not for weight. You use neither in the U.S., but any dictionary will tell you the weights-and-measures equivalents; you will probably have to use a kitchen scale for the weights).

Gazpacho blanco "El Caballo Rojo"

Ingredients for 6 servings:

125 grams ground blanched almonds
1 litre water
125 millilitres olive oil
500 grams dry bread, cubed, without crust (some kind of white European bread bought unsliced; not sliced American bread)
1.5 litres water
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 raw eggs
1 tablespoon of vinegar (I think a European tablespoon holds somewhat less than the standard North American tablespoon; I'd use white wine or cider vinegar rather than the ordinary white stuff)
Salt

Garnish:
Diced apples (with the skin on) and raisins (and I think I remember seedless green grapes that are not mentioned in the recipe...)

Preparation:

Cover the almonds with one litre of boiling water and let soak overnight.

Soak the bread in 1.5 litres of water and, after the bread has turned soft, add the almonds (with the water they were soaked in), the olive oil, the garlic, the eggs, the vinegar and salt to taste.

Put the mixture in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Pass the mixture through a sieve.

Serve very cold and garnish with the diced apples, the raisins (and the green grapes?).

Notes:

Almonds: I would suggest using unblanched almonds, blanching them yourself and, after they have dried, grinding them in a food processor. You might also consider adding -- at the end, very carefully and drop by drop -- pure almond extract (I did).

Raw eggs: Many people do not use raw eggs in recipes in which the eggs are not cooked because of the danger of salmonella poisoning. You will know best whether the eggs that you can obtain pose a salmonella threat or not.

If you do get Pepomalo's mother's recipe, I'd love to see it!

Thank you SO MUCH Eloise and pepomalo! You Fodorites are so terrific!

Muchas gracias,
Paula

HI Eloise and Artlover !!! I´ve never seen Ajoblanco with eggs !! Altough my English is not very good, I will try to translate my mum´s recipe. Here we are:

AJOBLANCO -- (WHITE GARLIC)

- 150 grms blanched almonds
- 4 cloves of garlic (Be careful with the garlic mesaure , too much would be
a disaster !! )
- The kind of bread that Eloise said, but only the white part, not the one that is in the outside. There is no mesaure, something like the quantity that fits in your open hand.
- A small glass of OLIVE oil
- 1 litre of water
- Salt and vinegar

Garnish :

Exactly as Eloise said, but not grapes and apples together, one thing or another. You can place small pieces of fresh melon too.

How to do it:

Place together tha almonds, the bread (warm it with a little bit of water), the garlic and the olive oil. Add a little bit of the water and use the food processor until smooth, the add a little bit of salt, a little bit of vinegar and the rest of the water, keep on mixing with the processor until it gets liquid to your taste. The serve with the garnish on. Remember that must be served always cold !!!

Hope that the recipe would be comprenhensible !!

Thank you, Pepomalo, for your mother's recipe and also for explaining about the apples/green grapes.

I, too, was surprised to see the raw eggs in El Caballo Rojo's recipe. When I made the soup, I did use them (who am I to quarrel with Spanish chefs?) but they were not at all in evidence in the final product; I mean, there was neither the taste nor the texture of the raw eggs in the soup.
Perhaps they are only added for richness, to make the soup more filling and satisfying.

But I shall try your mother's recipe too. Thanks again!

Pepomalo,

Muchas gracias! Muy amable.

I'm so glad you responded here--I tried to e-mail you, but apparently had the wrong address.

Your English is excellent. I wish my Spanish were a fraction as good--estudio mucho pero aprando despacio.

Best wishes,

Paula