Gin & Tonic

... is a rare treat for me. It was a bit of an occupational hazard when I worked in theatres in London in the 1970s -- I didn't touch a drop for many years afterwards. Now I like a glass maybe once or twice a year; it gives it a real sense of occasion.

The reason I had one today was that while S was in a bookshop checking whether they had any books about the Pyrenees that he didn't already have (they didn't), I was browsing the cookbook section. They had not one, not two, but three books on how to make gin and tonic. Including Gin and Tonic for Dummies. How complicated can it be? There are only two ingredients, if you don't count the ice and lemon. I flicked through one, and it had one page devoted to every brand of gin, and another page for each brand of tonic. Presumably you were then meant to combine them in new and exciting ways. Some googling later, we found that there is possibly a niche market in La Seu, since they have invented their own "Pyrenean" G&T made to a secret recipe using undisclosed mountain herbs.

I'm not so demanding. The minimum standard of Gordon's and Schweppes will do just fine. I drank this sitting in the shade of the tree-lined rambla in La Seu. Then we went to a tiny tucked away tapas bar found via Trip Advisor, where we had some of the best jamón iberico I've ever had, pan con tomate (ditto) and a lovely, simple chicory salad. With a bottle of very nice local wine, the bill came to 36 euros; coincidentally the same amount we spent on a copious and indifferent lunch in a highly rated "gastronomic" restaurant, and I know which I thought was better value for money. There were only two staff in the tapas bar, one in the kitchen and one serving, and the service was a bit chaotic given that there were only a dozen customers. But I'd definitely go back there.

We'd have stayed longer, but we'd decided to go and see Barbecue, a French film dubbed into Spanish. Big mistake -- it was so awful that we were extremely generous in giving it an hour before we walked out.