A wonderful mix of sweet and savory tastes and smells
May 2009
[ Ibiza, Spain travel photos ]
Alison: We hunt down the Ibiza Gastronomic Festival a local food fest, which closes tonight. This is the third year for the four-day festival, and I hope for future visitors, that it comes back for year five. Walking the distance from the hotel to Ibiza Town should work up a good hunger.
After shot: Demolished "small" platter of grilled octopus and boiled potatoes seasoned with hot smoked paprika and olive oil.
Now that we are here, I can see we are definitely making the tail end of the festival. There are still some booths lined up along the Ibiza Town boardwalk, but the vibe is low key. The exhibitors are winding down, some are packing up. Others are gone, their presence reduced to an outline of poles.
The smoker with ribs initially catches my attention. (Luc: Is she talking about me again?)
But then we see families and couples crowded around a center stall. Smoke is pouring upwards, people are lined up and straining over a grill to shout out their orders in between chatting with their neighbors.
Beers and sodas are passed overhead through the crowd, along with baskets of bread and thick wooden platters heaping with grilled octopus and boiled potatoes. Toothpicks randomly stick out at all angles.
We decide to go for a small serving.
As you can see, there was not much left of our starter plate! The octopus was really tender, boiled and then sautéed in a light olive oil and sprinkled with hot smoked paprika.
Luc: That was sooo good! Maybe we should have gotten the bigger one? Nah, I’m full. And I know you won’t forget the roasted nuts and pastries.
Alison: Hmmm. I am going to go for a bag of honey-coated almonds.
Luc: You know those aren’t going to make it home!
Alison: Don’t worry, I can control myself. And I’ll put you on a ration. Or hide them.
