Talk of the North > Previous Issues > Issue 42

Don't Lose Your Vote
Welsh Choir
Football Honour
Party Pieces
Strong Winds bring down Port's Sea-Plane
Mike Neal's Accent on Alcudia

Recipe - Chocolate & Praline Terrine

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Local elections are being held on Mallorca on Sunday May 27th. All European residents on the island are eligible to vote if they have registered with their local town hall and are therefore listed on the Electoral Roll.

The deadline for registering with the town hall if you have not already done so is April 16th, miss that date and you miss your chance to vote in the election. Simply having a residencia does not mean you are on the electoral roll. Take along proof of your identity and residential status to your local council office and you will be able to register. If you will be absent from the island on May 27th, you can obtain a postal voting form, ask for it before April 17th and send it in by May 23rd. Remember that apart from being able to vote, registering with the town hall also entitles you to a reduction in the cost of travel between Mallorca and mainland Spain and other Spanish islands. Ask at the council office for a form for discounted travel (it costs 1€) and use it when booking your flights or ferry journey.

Your vote really counts in these local elections, in 2003 just five votes decided the outcome in Pollensa and it was similarly close in Alcudia. The politicians know the value of the foreign residents’ vote and you can be sure that all parties will be out to woo you over the next month, make your choice wisely!

PARTY POLITICS

With local elections looming next month, politicians in the area are putting themselves about, meeting people and promoting their policies in an effort to secure as many votes as possible.

Many of these politicians, who recognise the importance of the British residents’ votes, will be holding meetings in English and one of the first such gatherings was presided over by Joan Cerdá on March 20th at Tolo’s restaurant on the sea-front in Puerto Pollensa.

Cerdá, pictured left, of the Unió Mallorquina party, held the position of mayor for the first three years of the current administration in Pollensa, handing over to the Partido Popular’s Tomeu Cifre in May last year. After introducing himself to the audience he went over the many improvement projects initiated by the council. He said the government of Mallorca had spent 18 million euros in the area in the last four years. Improvements completed or still underway included work on a new sewage plant and pipes, the creation of a park at La Gola, a pensioners’ centre, all-weather football pitches and the new by-pass in the port.

A lively discussion followed with many in the audience complaining of the disruption caused by the construction of the by-pass and other roadworks in the port, and querying the need to start some work so near to the beginning of the tourist season.

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The Cardiff Ardwyn Singers were formed in 1964 and have become a formidable force in the world of choral singing under their musical director Helena Braithwaite MBE.

The 40-strong mixed choir, pictured below, has toured widely in the USA, Canada, Ireland, Malta, Germany, Hungary, Barbados, South Africa and of course the British Isles, and now they are coming to Mallorca.
On Tuesday April 10th the choir will sing in the Church of the Santo Domingo Convent, next to the Cloisters, in Pollensa. the concert will start at 9pm. The next evening Palma Cathedral will provide a wonderful venue for the choir, this concert starts at 8pm. Then on Thursday April 12th the choir will sing in the church in Puerto Pollensa’s main square, starting at 9pm.

The Cardiff Ardwyn Singers have made many television, radio and commercial recordings, including featuring in Gilbert Kaplan and the LSO’s CD of Mahler’s Second Symphony, and there own production of hymns and carols by Vaughan Williams.

Their repertoire is wide ranging from renaissance to 20th century music and includes both Welsh and international folk songs. The choir’s high standards are reflected in the number of prizes they have won at European festivals over the years, and they have also performed with Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

A great treat then for music lovers on the island to be able to hear such a distinguished group of artistes live in Mallorca. Not to be missed.

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The Liverpool Ramblers Amateur Football Club has been coming to Puerto Pollensa to play against the local team for 20 years now, and recently the port’s Veterans side has made annual trips to Liverpool for return matches.

But last month representatives of Puerto Pollensa FC travelled to Liverpool at the invitation of the Ramblers for a very special occasion. Juan Aguilar and Paco Garcia were the only guests from abroad amongst the 400 people at the Liverpool Ramblers’ 125th anniversary celebration. After dinner and entertainment at a Liverpool hotel, Juan and Paco presented the Ramblers with special commemorative plaques from Pollensa Council, Puerto Pollensa Neighbourhood Association and, of course, the port’s football club itself. The celebrations went on late into the night and are sure to be repeated when the Ramblers make their next footballing visit to Mallorca in September.

** In the recent Spanish national female footballing championships held at the Puerto Pollensa ground, the home team’s under-18 side qualified for the final which will be held in Madrid in June. Well done, girls!

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Show time really meant something in Pollensa on Saturday March 17th when NOMADS (the North of Mallorca Amateur Dramatic Society) performed their first “Party Piece Party” in the restaurant Il Giardino.

"It's Showtime, it's Showtime" were the opening words of a song by Derek Williams that featured during the programme. With dinner taking place in the middle of two sets of “party pieces”, the event proved hugely popular, and the combination of humerous readings, sketches and songs made for a very enjoyable evening.

Derek Williams and his wife Geraldine had had the original idea for the performance, and it certainly gave NOMADS a great opportunity to show off their collective talents. One particular surprise, not in the programme, came when the owner of Il Giardino, Sonia Bresciani, performed a very funny monologue "Three Little Pigs". There was a feeling that NOMADS may have found another member! The evening was compered by Roger Smith, and Derek Williams showed just what an accomplished jazz pianist he is.

Howard Mullen, chairman of NOMADS, praised all the performances and particularly those of two founder members of NOMADS. “Avril Howard (left) gave a reading of a piece called Cinderella. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. We loved it. And Brandon Clark (right), president of NOMADS, proved that he's still got what it takes to grab an audience with his performance of “It Was a Very Good Year.”
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Not one of the real sea planes that do so much good work fighting bush fires and helping in air-sea rescue missions, thank goodness, but the recent stormy weather and high winds caused the roundabout sea plane in Puerto Pollensa to take a nose-dive. As a symbol of the port, it was a perfect roundabout feature, let’s hope it’s flying again soon.

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Sadly, these days it seems that near enough the whole of the sporting world is ridden with corruption of one sort or another. Murder and scandal dominate the once noble sport of cricket. An ongoing drugs problem continues to blight international athletics. Football managers are regularly being accused of accepting "bungs" and jockeys are left facing lengthy bans after being found guilty of not trying in races (certainly the ones I back anyway!) Even the world tiddlywinks champion was recently found to have been "tiddling" when he should have been "winking". Whatever happened to the good old days of Gentlemen and Players, when competing and sportsmanship were the important things and victory was just a welcome bonus. Today it's very much a case of win at all costs and it is with considerable regret that I must report that this cut-throat attitude has infiltrated the lowliest level of Mallorcan team sport. Prepare yourself for a sordid tale of cheating and treachery. When it comes to the Alcudia pub quiz league it seems that there are some rotten apples in the barrel.

A recent quiz evening held at the Smugglers bar in Puerto Alcudia resulted in an unexpected runaway victory for the host team which more than surprised the vast majority of those present as the team in question had hardly covered themselves with glory in earlier rounds. Indeed they are the current holders of the "wooden spoon" having finished bottom of the league last season. On this occasion however it seemed that they (the "Strugglers" to give them their official title) could do no wrong and amazingly achieved a near maximum score correctly answering a whole string of mastermind-level questions including... (1) Name the current Moldovian ambassador to the UN... also name his wife... their children... and their pet guinea pig? (2) To the nearest ten, how many Maltesers would it take to fill St Pauls Cathedral? and.... (3) Who's farted? - although, thinking about it, this last one might not have been part of the quiz itself but was more likely a general enquiry from a fellow participant.

When the results were announced, members of the Strugglers took it upon themselves to openly revel in their victory, cruelly mocking opposing teams and gloating about their newly acquired level of intelligence. Sensing that all was not as it should be, I decided to investigate the affair, but it still came as a shock when, the following day, I discovered that a female member of the winning team had also been heavily involved in setting the questions!

Since this news has broken, well-known personalities, both sporting and otherwise, have been quick to voice their shock, disappointment and contempt. Here is a selection of their comments.

"I am very sad that cheating has found its way to my home, the lovely island of Mallorca. I cry very much. My mother, she cry very much too." RAFAEL NADAL

"Majorkka is the bestest and my favouritist of all the Greek islands and it's awful that this should have happened. Victoria is gutted." DAVID BECKHAM

"I say good luck to them! Sorry what I mean is that it stinks, a really terrible thing. Mine's a pint by the way." FREDDIE FLINTOFF

"Yeah it's not on - but life isn't all bad. There are still copies of my latest album available to buy at just 15€ including postage and packing!" LEAPY LEE

At time of going to press a mass demonstration was being planned for the next quiz evening due to be held at the Mindanao bar in the Avenida Tucan where extra security has been hired to deal with any possible violent outbursts. For all true sports lovers here on Mallorca these are troubled times indeed.
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Can anyone tell me what is the point of Spanish clingfilm? It's completely useless and it certainly doesn't "cling". I have just used a whole roll of the stuff to try and wrap up a single chicken sandwich! And when you buy fruit juice or cheap Spanish plonk in cartons why does the silver foil tab thingy always snap off when you try and open it? God, I'm sounding more like Victor Meldrew every day but I would like to hear about the Spanish brands that annoy you the most and which you consider don't live up to their British counterparts. A bottle of Cava for the sender of funniest one received.

You can contact Mike Neal on Tel: 971 547 492 or e-mail: topteam@electronbox.com

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● 500g dark chocolate
● ½ pint double cream
● 5 oz sugar
● 5 oz hazelnuts (or almonds), roasted

1 Line a small terrine dish with cling film so it overlaps on all sides (this will make it easy to remove terrine when cold)
2 To make the praline, firstly put sugar in a frying pan with a few spoonfuls of water and mix well. Put pan over the heat and, once the sugar is golden, add the hazelnuts and mix well. Now pour onto a slightly oiled metal tray and spread evenly with a spatula until you have a thin layer. Let praline set and cool completely.
3 Break chocolate into small pieces. Place in a saucepan with cream and melt slowly over low heat, stirring gently. Allow to cool.
4 Crack praline into small pieces by hitting with a blunt kitchen instrument. Place pieces into a food processor and whizz a few times until you have a mixture like sugar granules (as fine or as rough as you like)
5 Spread a layer of this praline mix on the bottom of the terrine dish. Pour half of chocolate mix on top. Place in fridge for 1 hour to allow to settle a little, but not set.
6 Remove from fridge and add a further layer of praline followed by the remaining chocolate mix. Place back in fridge.
7 Once terrine is starting to set, cover top of dish with the cling film overlaps. Place back in fridge for at least 24 hours.
8 When ready, turn terrine upside down and gently pull on the cling film and it should come out with ease.
9 Cut 1.5cm thick slices. Spoon a table-spoonful of coffee sauce onto a dinner plate and place the terrine slice on top.

Tip #1: for a quick coffee sauce, simply make custard from powder a little thinner than usual. While still hot, stir in a heaped teaspoon of coffee powder and mix well. Allow to cool before serving.

Tip #2: if you have any praline left over, it is delicious sprinkled over strawberries and cream


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Contact
Ann MacDonald, C/Llevant 46, 2d, 07470 Puerto Pollensa.
Fax 971 864 163
E-mail: carduusann@yahoo.co.uk

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