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.

Food and drink

Tumbet: a laid-back dish for the summer

Tumbet is usually eaten as a starter nowadays, but at the height of summer when it is really hot, it makes a nice mains for lunch.

Andrew Valente 01/08/2022 11:46

Food and drink

Try a spritzer when the heat is too high

Few drinks are as easy to make as a spritzer: fill a tall glass with ice cubes, add white wine to taste, and top up with soda water. And that’s it.

Andrew Valente 25/07/2022 12:18

Food and drink

The Restaurant Review: Black pudding that was the finest ever

If you want a pukka morcilla de arroz from Burgos, Doña Perfecta is the place to go!

Andrew Valente 23/07/2022 15:47

Food and drink

When the heat gets too high try sorbets

Some Mallorcans like to take their granizados through a straw before eating it with a spoon in the final stages.

Andrew Valente 18/07/2022 11:26

Food and drink

Hotel breakfast kept me on go for 24 hours

These breakfasts are good fun and that they cater for just about every kind of breakfast you may want.

Andrew Valente 18/07/2022 11:08

Food and drink

Eat Peruvian when the heatwave is on in Palma

The traditional dishes have names that don’t mean anything to most of us, but each one comes with a little description of the ingredients.

Andrew Valente 07/07/2022 14:13

Food and drink

Lobster with pasta alla Caporale style

In Spanish there is a special word for the lobster with claws and it is ‘bogavante.’

Andrew Valente 04/07/2022 11:30

Food and drink

Cold liquids time comes round again

Any dish that keeps us away from the cooker always has loads of appeal for those who do the cooking.

Andrew Valente 25/06/2022 12:00

Food and drink

Besiki Sushi: This yakitori was truly hunky dory

The yakitori chicken at Besiki Sushi was like a master cook’s lesson on how this dish should be done.

Andrew Valente 19/06/2022 08:45

Food and drink

A sobrasada that comes from Sicily

This Sicilian version of sobrasada is called nduja, it comes from Spilinga in the province of Calabria and it is made exactly like sobrasada.

Andrew Valente 18/06/2022 10:30

Food and drink

Toque: even the freebie was a 10

“It has been at least five years since my last visit to Toque and I noticed some marvellous changes.”

Andrew Valente 11/06/2022 09:00

Food and drink

Bad weather hits apricot crop again

Mallorca has several well known varieties of apricots and they appear at different times during the season.

Andrew Valente 04/06/2022 11:30

Food and drink

No menú paella was ever as good as this

The rice was tongue-burning hot, it was beautifully al dente and it was scrummily juicy and bursting with taste.

Andrew Valente 03/06/2022 12:20

Food and drink

The pros and cons of liking spicy food

There’s a chemical in hot peppers that activates nerves on the tongue.

Andrew Valente 19/05/2022 16:26

Food and drink

Siduri in Palma: a mise en place for the table

This week our Bulletin Restaurant Critic visited one of Palma's most bistro-ike places.

Andrew Valente 17/05/2022 14:08

Food and drink

Mallorcan requesón for delicious cakes and tarts

The beauty of locally made cheesecake is that the main ingredient will always be requesón.

Andrew Valente 13/05/2022 14:45

Food and drink

Can Nofre: When nostalgia is served on a plate

For those who are fond of Mallorcan cooking, a visit to Can Nofre is always a huge delight. Find out what was the verdict in this week's restaurant review.

Andrew Valente 09/05/2022 10:15