Sangria is a stereotypical Spanish drink, that most of the tourists who visit Spain try. There are two kind of Sangrias: the kind that comes in a plastic bottle and tastes sugary and bitter at the same time AND there is real gourmet sangria made from fresh ingredients, -which we are going to prepare toda. So, get you pens and notepads out, as we are now learning the best recipe for sangria, straight from Malaga:

What do you need to make 3 liters of sangria:

2 bottles of red wine
1,5 liters of lemonade or Sprite
12 tablespoons of sugar
1 lemon
1 orange
2 soft and mature peaches
1 slightly greenish banana
10 clovers
1 cinnamon stick

Instructions on how to prepare sangria:

Pour the red wine into a glass bowl or other container
Add sugar and mix with a wooden spoon
Peel the lemon in the form of a spiral, try to keep the skin in one piece! Stick the clovers into the lemon skin and add it to the wine.
Cut the fruit into cubes (including the flesh of the lemon) and add to the mix
Add the cinnamon stick
Mix well with the wooden spoon
Cover the container with some cling film and let the mixture rest in room temperature for few hours.
Now you can refridgerate the mixture, also your lemonade/Sprite should be in the fridge to get cool.
When its time to start the party, mix the lemonade with the wine-mixture.
If needed, some ice-cubes can be added!

Naturally, drinks that have lower sugar content are more recommended than sweet wines. My thumb rule has is, that a glass of redwine is never going to hurt anyones diet. However, what you should be careful with is excessive beer-drinking, -especially now in hot summer months. If you like the hard stuff, such as gin, whisky or vodka, try to drink it straight or on the rocks instead of mixing with sugary drinks such as sodas and juices.

Here are some statistics on how much carbs alcoholic drinks contain: (source: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/alcbev.htm )

• Bottled beer: 12 grams
• Champagne : 2,5-4,5 grams
• White wine: 3-6 grams
• Red wine: 3,5-4 grams
• Liquors (vodka, whiskey, rhum, etc) : more or less none!

In conclusion, alcohol and low-carbonhydrate diet can work together, -just keep in mind moderation, dont drink with an empty stomach and enjoy the summer!

Una naranja de mesa - an orange to be eaten, not juiced!

It was pretty unusual to find the trees full of oranges and lemons at this time of the year, but the trees were totally loaded with the citrus-fruit. Well, I returned from my weekend trip with a red face and 15kg of fresh oranges and lemons!

Baby oranges! - These buds will turn into ripe oranges in about 6 months time!

This is how you make it:
Mix in blender some creamy greek natural yogurt (I used three small packs), add some frozen raspberries, blackberries and redberries. Toss in a few hasselnuts and add some sweetener (if you need).

Low carb berry yogurt smoothie

Customer: Buenos dias, un cafe con leche por favor (Good morning! Could I have a coffe with milk, please)
Waiter: En vaso o taza (Would you like to have your coffee in a small glass or a coffee cup)
Asiakas: En vaso (In a glass)
Tarjoilija: Leche caliente, fria o templada? (Hot, cold or warm milk?)
Asiakas: Leche caliente (Hot milk)

There are numerous different ways to order your coffee, -here are the most common ones:

Cafe solo
A short and strong shot of coffee, like espresso in Italy. Many people prefer this kind of coffee after a lunch or dinner. Can be also ordered as double-shot (doble).

Cafe cortado
A single shot of coffee with a dash of milk, drank from a small cup. My personal favorite.

Cafe con leche
A coffee with milk, common at breakfast. A shot of espresso with hot, cold or warm mik. In Madrid usually drank from a small beer glass.

Manchado
A coffee for grandmothers, – hot milk with a few drops of coffee just to give taste (and to avoid caffeine overdose).

Cafe con leche condensado
Coffee with thick sugary milk. Very sweet.

Carajillo
The farmers favorite. A black coffee mixed with brandy and a slice of lemon. Keeps you warm in the cold mornings!

Cafe con hielo
When you order this, you will be served a shot of espresso and a glass of ice. The most common coffee in the summertime!

Remember, that you can almost always ask your coffee also as decaf (descafeinado).

Foto by Rodrigo Foggiatto

Is you are visiting Madrid, and after a long day of shopping need to have little snack with perhaps a glass of wine, -head this way!

Start by cutting the chicken breasts into small pieces and fry them in a pan with olive oil. Add some salt, pepper and if you feel like or have, some chili powder and curry. When done, let chicken cool in fridge while you prepare the salad.

In this version I used basic iceberg salad and tomatoes. I added some salt, blackpepper and a big splash of olive oil to make it tastier.

The most important part of cesar salad is the sauce. Here is how to do it:
Take a small bowl and crush a couple of garlic cloves in it. Add the juice of half a lime or lemon. Add a pinch of salt, pepper, chili and curry. Pour in few spoonfuls of greek natural yogurt. Grate in a piece of parmesano cheese. Mix with a spoon. Remember, these guidelines can be changed depending what you have in your fridge, -sometimes i dont have yogur, no problem, add something else!

Now mix the salad and chicken. Pour on some of the sauce you just made, and grate some parmesano cheese on top. Mix it all up.

Lots of familiar fruit are available: oranges, lemons, grapes, pears, peaches, but also many unknowns delicacies can be found here. The more south you travel, the more common olive trees become. Many families use olive oil that comes from their own olive trees (or accidentaly from neighbours trees) for cooking. Each region, city and a village swears on the superiority of their own local products, and they do have a valid point: there are differences in the aromas of oliveoils, so a fried egg in every place tastes slightly different. A good oil is the base of lot of the cooking activities in Spain. There is a lot of things that could be written about olive oil, but this is not the right time to do it.

The most striking difference of a Spanish garden is it’s dryness. Without watering, nothings grows here, not even weeds. Thats why everything growing in a garden is used, fruit and vegetables are eaten by people who grow them, -the water used for growing things is expensive.

What do you need to make gazpacho?

• 6 large and mature tomatoes
• 1 green pepper
• 2 red peppers
• 1 cucumber
• 1 garlic clove
• a piece of dried baquette or breadcrumbs
• olive oil
• vinegar
• salt

Start by soaking the dried bread in a bowl with a bit of water. Add salt and a dash of olive oil. Be careful not to add too much water, -just enough to make the bread soft. Mix it all.

Peel the tomatoes (easier if you boil them for a moment first) and chop all the vegetables into pieces. Remember to remove the seeds from the peppers!

Toss all the veggies into a blender, blend for a moment, and add the soggy bread in. Add a bit of vinegar, and let the turbo mix 2000 do its magic.

Taste a bit, and add some salt, vinegar or breadmix to get the texture right to your taste. Let the gazpacho chill in the fridge for some time. If you cant wait, at least add some ice cubes.

Add some finely chopped cucumber/pepper/onion mix on top before serving, -if you are feeling pijo.

Made from wild grapes growing at the back garden and kept in a barrel inside a garage for years. Made in the Murcian countryside. This is the real stuff, and its really kicking my head and it even has some dirt and little flies in it. I love it!

This is how the wine is served on the countryside

The palate is totally raw and different than “real” wines. Has very thin body and almost juicy taste. Very interesting. Definitely worth trying, if you get your hands on this!

The alcohol volume is somewhere around 15%, however the local people swear that this wine does not affect your thinking, -it goes straight to your legs!