Mouth watering...

When I conceived Casa del Mar, I decided that it should be a place where diners would be transported back to whichever fantastic Mediterranean holiday they have just come home from.
The menu includes Greek salad, Spanish Paella, Algerian Sausages, etc...
The minted lamb draws from both North African and Spanish cuisines.


Just like with Pavlov's dog, smells and tastes never fail to ring a bell inside our memory.

One warm summer's evening back in the late eighties when I was still cooking at Seaton Carew, I walked across the road to my favourite seat by the paddling pool just as I always did before the evening service, to collect my thoughts and ready myself for the onslaught.
A couple of hundred yards down the sandy beach The North Sea felt peculiarly warm. Not warm enough for a late dip but it imparted a strong Mediterranean smell, a fishy smell, a smell I had only come across back in the tiny harbour where, as a youngster I went for evening walks with family and friends. A smell that conjured up many beautiful memories.
Suddenly, I was gasping for grilled sardines, simple olive oil and lemon dressing, a walk on a beach...


Whenever I see couples holding hands across a table at Casa del Mar, their eyes full of Rosé I know they are on a beach far, far away, listening to the gentle surf of a Mediterranean evening...




8 comments:

valerie walsh said...

you have my mouth watering! yum!! i love the way smells bring memories :)

Mary said...

What was I thinking coming for a visit when I'm on doctors orders to only take in liquid. Oh the torture!

la bellina mammina said...

Definitely mouthwatering.... and romantic!

Elizabeth said...

Where have you been?
Your food looks DELICIOUS as ever.
Just caught up with you on Merisi's blog.
We are back in NY after 2 wonderful years in Morocco. (R. ancient mother.. oh dear.)

Krimo said...

Val, smells are like triggers that get our memories fired up.

Sorry, Mary... I'll get all the dishes liquidised for you.

Bella, Northerners are very romantic!

Elizabeth, so nice to hear from you. I can't believe you've left MK...
How are you going to cope?

Queenie said...

Memories eh! Strange how food can bring them flooding back.

Merisi said...

"Speak, Memory", as Nabokov put it, not to forget Proust, escpecially regarding the power of food to evoke distant pasts! You have me right there now, dear Krimo, I am eating every single grain of that paella rice, dunking my bread in it too ... oh well, may I have another glass of wine? ;-)

So good to read you again,
hugs from V.,
Merisi

Akelamalu said...

You are so right! Having just come back from two weeks on the Greek island of Kefalonia on Thursday I'm craving feta cheese and aubergines already!