About Us

A word on why from "El Jefe"

Saborear has been in existence in various forms for a number of years, slowly increasing in size and momentum, although it really happened by accident...

In the early 1990s, I spent 6 years living in the very organised & cultured mayhem of Madrid. When I got there I was conscious of differences between my culture and the culture I was arriving into, 6 months later I felt that the Spaniards were quite similar to me in a lot of ways...or I similar to them should I say, more similar than I had initially imagined. After another 6 months & a full year in Madrid I realised just how differently we viewed so many things, undoubtedly this was because I was getting to grips with the language and working hard to develop stronger relationships with the people around me. I was being a little braver with the language and trying to integrate further into Spanish society. The thing that really touched me about Spain is the warmth of the Spanish people. Their love of life, each other, their food, and most definitely a party !

Whilst in Madrid many English friends (one of whom I later had the fortune to marry) came to visit me for a bit of free board and lodging, I would do my best to show them around and introduce things to them that had delighted me.

With hindsight it was only after returning to the UK that I realised how intense my love of Spain, its people and food had become. I found myself pretty helpless but to return as often as I could; any excuse and I was on the plane!. When I did I always had my "special" suitcase and a shopping list from friends and family, smuggling it was not, testing the patience of the airlines and the strength of my arms, most definitely !

During the ensuing years Saborear developed slowly from a dream to concept, to the reality we have today. The development took the form of an ever increasing number of friends and relations requesting more of the food or products I had initially brought back as gifts, or food people had tried whilst visiting me or in our home during one of our "Spanish evenings".

It was in 2003 that we finally took the plunge, stowed away the rather battered "special" suitcase and put in motion what we had dreamt of and talked about for such a long time.

We have gone from strength to strength because of our outlook - we treat you fairly and offer you quality at reasonable prices, we believe you will then want to re-visit us. We like to see ourselves, not just as a business, but also as ambassadors for Spain in England and vice versa. We make our living doing this, but feeling passionate about something... well, theres no stronger motivation.

We hope we can persuade you over time to feel the same way that we do, you may already be well aware of what Spain has to offer - either way we welcome you to our site and hope it is of interest to you.

If you like what we do and how we do it, then please tell others, in the unlikely event that something we have done makes you unhappy, then please do not hesitate to tell us.

Un saludo fuerte

Derek & Megan Hales