Rioja Grande

Top 5 food related things from the a weekend in Northern Spain:

1. A sidestreet bar in Bilbao serving perfect pata negra ham, dinky fillet steak pintxos and La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 1995. Awesome. We knocked off several raciones of ham, drank half a dozen brilliant bottles of red, kept the bar staff back an hour with our enthusiasm and walked out for 20 euros a head. Ridiculous.

2. Tortilla. The best thing to drink before, during and after a night on the Vino Tinto in Logrono. Eggs, potatoes and onions never tasted so good.

3. Creamed rice and goose liver at Dinastia Vivanco's restaurant in Briones. It didn't reach the heights of the foie gras risotto at Cambol Zero in July but it was still the best thing on the menu. Disgustingly rich.

4. The rain in Spain falls mainly in San Sebastian. The antidote to a very wet Monday morning in SS? A coarse fish broth in a rustic pintxos bar. A thin, brown, fishy gruel full of the flavour of the sea. Delicious.

5. Jen's chicken soup spiced with the Thai paste from the fridge and full of green noodles and even greener pak choi. If the fish soup warmed the cockles in San Sebastian this washed away the Stansted experience and told me I was home.