The meaning of eating deep

What is the meaning of eating deep? Eating deep, to me anyways, means enjoying each and every single bite, mhhmm-ing and ihmmm-ing at every rich forkful of whatever it is you've been served. Of looking at the smiling faces around you, rosy with too much wine in your veins, happy with the intriguing conversations, whether it is with 15 people at the table or five. I dare you to take a fresh slice of watermelon as the summer comes to a close, go ahead, slice up a big piece, bigger than your face, stand over the sink and take a deep bite into it, go ahead, let the juice run down your chin, spit out the seeds and eat deep my darlings, you only live once. Or invite your friends to dinner, sit at the table drink wine, laugh, share stories about your childhood and bite deep into the moment...this episode is about eating, drinking and living deep, thinking tonight might be the only night.
The picture above, believe it or not, is of my very first paella, my first real paella, on the beach, with kind people, freshly made. Last week, some of Carles's friends invited us to lunch to eat fresh mussels, fried calamari, and paella paired with chilled white wine, beach side style. Carles had to run and they invited me to stay and keep the festivities going. After a three hour lunch we went to another chiringuito where they made the best caipirinhas in the middle of nowhere. It was like stepping back into Brasil, even though I was in Catalunya, it was Paradise.

The chiringuito was off the beaten road, with a small cardboard sign that said, "ChiringuitoManel" and a florescent orange arrow. I would've never found it on my own. It's a fishermen's local spot and the owner had a spectacular choice of music, old classics, jazz, cuban orchestras. It was straight out of a movie. I spent the entire evening there, watching the light dim down to night time. Carles even called at 9:30 worried I had gotten lost and I still had a dinner to cook since I had invited Idoia, Ada and Carles's friend Rosa for dinner. I was the host and the host was "riding the wave" on caipirinhas...

Nothing that can't be solved. I got home, stretched out for a bit and sobered up before cooking up the dinner. Yes, this is eating deep.

The girls arrived right on time and we ate like kings and queens and photographed the moments, these are times that should not be forgotten.

We laughed, drank, played with Chet and even managed to host a slumber party. Happy happy was the tune of the evening and I had yet another adventurous day in Reus. God, I swear I could do vacation time for a lifetime, without a doubt.









And the festivities went on. On Friday evening, Julia arrived straight from Barcelona to visit me and to see exactly what I had been up to. I loved the idea of hosting a friend at the house where I was being hosted, but that is exactly the type of person Carles is. He will open his door if I tell him the person is worthwhile. Friday night we enjoyed a night in Reus and on Saturday morning Julia and I sat at the table with breakfast and chatted it up about what we had missed out on the last few weeks.

It is utterly impossible to not sit and chat in this kitchen for hours on hand. The light, the warm coffee and milk, the company, the idea of eating deep and savoring each moment.
It is a miracle I haven't gained more weight, with all the talking and eating.

After breakfast, we met up with Idoia and Ada and did a tour of Tarragona. Julia had never been and although I have been there often, I realized, historically, I have never seen anything of it. The only Tarragona I've seen is the night life...sorry mom. It was amazing to walk around an ancient Roman city,(Tarragona was originally the capital of Catalunya and one of the biggest maritime ports,until Barcelona took over) filled with magic, history and an incredible view of the sea. Like Idoia said, "The Romans were not stupid people."

I Just want to acknowledge little Ada, who took this lovely picture of me...
I think we have a future photographer on our hands.

We roamed the streets of Tarragona and submerged ourselves in history and knowledge, nothing like a handful of information after a long night of drinks and dancing. We acknowledged the accomplishments of the Romans and ate ice cream to toast their genius. Of course, in between, we went to Idoia's amazing home for lunch and ate to our hearts content. We even had the luxury of spreading out in the living room and napping...ah yes, if you eat deep, don't forget the siesta!
We finished the day with more Tarragona history and prepped ourselves after a swim to go out for the night. We couldn't let Julia spend a Saturday night without seeing the madness of disco mania. We dolled ourselves up and went to Salou, which is a horribly touristy town with lots of crispy red giris (tourists) and ate dinner, drank and danced to our hearts contents. S-U-M-M-E-R!!!


On Sunday, after a long fun filled night, we ended the weekend by not going to one beach but two, making sure Julia went home satisfied. And I think she did because as we bid our goodbyes she had a smile pasted on her face, demonstrating to me that yes, she had eaten deep.

As I finish up, a glass of wine at hand's reach, Chet asleep next to my feet, Carles snoozing on the couch, a sultry voice coming out of the radio, I realize that I don't know how not to eat deep, how not to savor each moment and perhaps that's why these pages are so rich. I only have a few days left of this paradise, of rising in the morning and writing with the sun, of going to the beach, of being near those I care about, but I promise to bite deeply into each and everyone of these last days.