Page 126 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023 LISBON EDITION

Jody’s birthday party meal. Everything from local markets in Seville

answered, “That I join you for dinner.” At that But to bring our tapas saga back to earth, the
point he became our personal stand-up come- trip’s most significant meal was came on the
dian, bantering with us in broken English. night we celebrated Jody’s birthday. Instead of
Along with the Flamenquines, a roulade of going out, we stayed at our three-bedroom
pork loin with Iberico ham, other memorable AirBnB in Seville and did tapas of our own.
dishes were: No fancy fois gras popsicles anywhere. Just a
Mollejas de Ternera a La Parrilla Crema de tray heaped with the basics: Olives, ham, salami,
Patata Trufada y cheeses, sardines, bread, crackers, sliced toma-
Esparragos – Grilled veal sweat breads with toes, dried apricots, sliced apples, almonds,
truffled potato cream and asparagus. radishes, grapes, and strawberries.
Pulpo Asado, Aguacate a la Parrilla, Cebolla The tray-full was a birthday gift from my other
Encurtifa y Sopa de Maiz – Roasted octopus, stepson, Sam Shepard, and his wife, Rebecca
grilled avocado, pickled onion and corn soup. Distler. They’d gathered it all at a local market.
Canelones de Pato con Bechamel de Foie – When I emailed Rebecca about wrapping up
Duck Canelones with foie gras sauce. this tapas story with that birthday meal, she re-
sponded:
But for birthday girl, Jody, the most memo-
rable single tapas was at Siete Cabezas Restau- “I think you could say something about how
rante in Malaga. It was called Magnum de foie, the simplicity of that meal harkens back to the
Almendras y chocolate de blanco. In fact, it was simplicity of tapas itself - and that ultimately,
a mini fois gras popsicle sprinkled with almonds it's not necessarily about innovative flavors or
and coated with a thin veneer of white choco- showmanship in restaurants but high-quality in-
late. gredients, simple presentation, infused with the
warmth of family and good conversation (and
Looking back on that particular morsel, Jody
maybe a little vermouth). And that the lesson is
says wistfully, “It had everything I love: the soft-
to enjoy the small bites and small moments - and
ness of white chocolate; the cruelly derived but
deliriously delicious fois gras, punctuated with anyone can experience tapas any time.”
notes of plum sauce. In other words: heaven,” I couldn’t have said it better.

126 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023