CÁDIZ PROVINCE
@paulgrichardson
On a bright September morning, the La Viña neighbourhood of Cádiz city is buzzing with life. Old gents in berets play dominoes in neon-lit cafes where flamenco music blares from the radio. Housewives toting the weekly shop chew the fat with neighbours while their kids run riot on the street. All along Calle Palma the bars are setting out tables in the shade of palms and orange trees. I pick one at random and duck inside for a snifter of manzanilla sherry, bracingly fresh, along with a morsel of fish that comes sizzling straight from the fryer.
Southern Europe doesn’t get much more southerly than Cádiz. I don’t only mean in geographical terms – this province of Andalucía hangs off the lower edge of Spain, seeming to reach out to Africa before pulling back at the last minute – but in cultural and culinary ones too. Cádiz turns the relaxed, informal Spanish lifestyle into a fine art. The region’s food culture turns on a handful of stellar ingredients, a world-class wine,
