Author
Andrew Valente
Andrew Valente

Andrew Valente has been a journalist since he left school at 18 in Glasgow where he was on the Scottish edition of the old Daily Herald. He came to Mallorca to work as a freelance correspondent for the London dailies and Sundays, using that as a stepping stone to a job in Fleet Street. But he got involved in the Bulletin and stayed on…and on…and on…and now Fleet Street doesn’t exist. He still reads the London dailies and Sundays.

The Restaurant Review

Best suckling pig in 7 years

This week our Bulletin restaurant critic visits Sa Goleta in Palma.

Andrew Valente 13/08/2020 10:45

Food & Wine

A real cooler for 30ºC heat

In Majorca there’s no end of drinks at hand...

Andrew Valente 13/08/2020 10:26

Did You Know?

Words and more…

Our word ‘kiosk’ comes from the Turkish ‘köshk’ and the Persian ‘kushk’ and it has three main meanings.

Andrew Valente 13/08/2020 00:10

Food For Thought

Fresh chutney will perk up the palate

The Indians serve freshly-made chutneys using those fruits and vegetables that are in season — and at their best and cheapest.

Andrew Valente 12/08/2020 21:30

Restaurant Review

Little squid were sheer perfection

I wouldn’t like the little task of naming Palma’s 10 best restaurants but if I had to do it El Viejo y el Mar would most definitely be there.

Andrew Valente 10/08/2020 01:22

Food & Wine

How to fry perfect egg

It’s essential that the white be solid and the part round the yolk has to be raised.

Andrew Valente 10/08/2020 00:55

Food For Thought

Get curry habit and live longer

Doctors have been discovering that curries help to protect us against deterioration of the brain and help to keep Alzheimer’s at bay.

Andrew Valente 07/08/2020 01:47

Did You Know?

Words and more...

I can use a grammar-check as well as a spellcheck but I don’t always agree with the grammar-check.

Andrew Valente 07/08/2020 01:25

Food and wine

Why albariños are such super wines

The albariño grape is now one of the area’s main agricultural products and it makes an important contribution to the local economy.

Andrew Valente 30/07/2020 15:32

The restaurant review

The best bargain for Indian meals

This week we come to Palma’s best bargain in Indian food.

Andrew Valente 30/07/2020 15:19

Food for Thought

Cucumbers really are extremely cool

The cucumber’s few vitamins and trace elements are mainly in the skin, so we should eat them unpeeled when possible.

Andrew Valente 29/07/2020 14:57

Words and More

Did you know

Alistair Cooke wrote the foreword of a Bedside Guardian, a collection of the previous year’s reports.

Andrew Valente 29/07/2020 14:48

The restaurant review

Pork cheeks have never been better

Pork cheeks, when cooked slowly and for the correct length of time, are always beautifully tender and tasty.

Andrew Valente 23/07/2020 15:39

Food

Food and Wine

Time to go over to a white wine.

Andrew Valente 23/07/2020 15:14

Food for Thought

Slushy fruit ice makes the very best of coolers

The Spanish granizado is a concoction of slushy fruity ice which contains quite a lot of liquid so much that one starts off taking it through a straw before finishing it off with a spoon.

Andrew Valente 22/07/2020 15:14

Words and More

Did you know

The term ‘dog days’, so called because of the rising of the Dog Star (Sirius) between July and September, is a translation of the Latin ‘dies caniculares’.

Andrew Valente 22/07/2020 14:50

Food & Wine

Sun-dried tomatoes are great on flavour

The Italians were the first to dry tomatoes in the sun and as it is such an easy and efficient way of preserving them until the next summer’s crop, the custom of sun-dried tomatoes soon spread throughout the Mediterranean.

Andrew Valente 16/07/2020 14:26

The restaurant review

Another four 10S at the same place

Top marks at a Japanese restaurant in Palma.

Andrew Valente 16/07/2020 13:11

Did you know

Words and more

A ‘French loaf’, much appreciated by the English, was a long crisp loaf that is nowadays more commonly known as a ‘baguette’.

Andrew Valente 15/07/2020 15:09

Food

Gazpacho andaluz is Spain’s greatest and most travelled cold soup

The gazpacho andaluz is Spain’s most renowned cold soup and the ajo blanco of Málaga is a good runner-up in every way.

Andrew Valente 15/07/2020 14:27