Monday, October 11, 2010

Edible Barcelona

Last week was the big 10 year wedding anniversary! Our anniversaries usually involve food and last year we were in Barcelona, so here is the Barcelona food post. I felt like I ate my way through the city. But, why not?

After we arrived, we wanted a quick bite for lunch and found a neighborhood place that was busy with locals. We started with some cold beer on that hot day. They had lots of tapas to offer. We ordered beers and marinated mushrooms to start. Then patatas bravas. This yummy concoction consists of potato cubes slathered in the local version of slightly spicy ketchup and garlic mayonnaise. It comes to the table burning, smoking hot. Amazing. I tried a few versions of patatas bravas while in Barcelona and loved them all.

patatas bravas and marinated mushrooms

One night, we wandered down the beach from our hotel, toward Vila Olimpica. We wandered inland, away from the touristy places by the sea, to look for a place filled with locals, always a promising foodie endeavor. We found one and went in. After ordering a carafe of wine, we decided on a few tapas. I noticed that a phrase was painted on the wall above the kitchen. It translated as, "We don't speak English, but we do have Bombas." So, maybe as tourists, we weren't welcome there. But they, indeed, had seated us and we were hungry. Bombas are a particular type of tapas that have a political history. It is simply a potato croquette, sometimes meat-filled, with red sauce and garlic mayonnaise on top. Politics aside, it looked good to me. I proceeded to order, in Spanish, as best I could.

We had a great tuna, onion and olive oil dish, but the best was a plate full of very, tiny, salt and olive oil covered, grilled peppers. I NEED to try to recreate these at home as they were one of the most memorable things we ate in Barca. Yum!

The English-speaking disdain surfaced later, whether intentional or not. The server went to clear the plates and tipped a dish of tuna and olive oil all over Scott's shirt and pants. Perhaps it was an accident, but he never even offered a napkin or an apology. Hmm. And the two guys to our side, just laughed and laughed as Scott got up to go to the restroom to try to salvage his clothes (which never happened. And let me just say that tuna and oil laden clothes, no matter how well you hand wash them in the hotel tub, don't smell very good when you unpack back home). And oddly, they were speaking English much of the time, clearly the language they had in common, being from different countries. Whatever. I think this place was in a rough, edged neighborhood called Barceloneta. Despite the food, I will not recommend this place. They can keep their politics and their attitudes.

On our anniversary, we went to a place called El All i Oli. The hotel staff recommended it after we pestered them for an authentic Catalan place that was not touristy. It is considered a Restaurante Tipico, which I assume to mean a traditional restaurant.
http://www.restaurante-barcelona-elallioli.com/presentacion.php

It was pretty rustic on the inside. In fact, it was designed to look like a cave, with rough stone walls and low ceilings. There were not many people there when we went in. I think we dine too early compared to the Spanish, even though it was after 8 PM. So the servers were very attentive. I speak no Catalan and just what I can remember from high school Spanish. Our server spoke no English, so the whole dinner was pretty entertaining. We determined that we wanted the prix fixe Menu Aniversario, which had nothing to do with our anniversary, but what the heck. I had no idea what we were getting specifically, except sangria, many courses that included lots of meat, bread, veggies, dessert and coffee. Sounded good, except I was a little frightened about the meat courses.

The Sangria was delicious! We had some olives and they brought out this amazing, garlicky mayonnaise in a cute little crock. Apparently, this is the traditional all i oli, a Catalan classic that can be schmeared on everything. Then came the bread and veggies course. Everything was grilled, including the bread. It was huge and thick like Texas-toast. There was grilled eggplant, whole peppers, onions, baked potatoes, carrots... the list goes on. This course, indeed, was enough food for me, but we were just getting started.

Next, the meat course. Again, I was a little frightened. I tried to ask what some of the stuff was, but couldn't figure much out. I am not a big meat-eater, so some of it was just scary, I couldn't try it. Scott did better than I, but even he decided to try but not finish the blood sausage and skipped what we could only assume was the hoof of some barnyard animal, either pig or cow. There was also rabbit, a bird that may have been pigeon, pork, another sausage and ribs.

Despite the scariness factor for me, the meal was amazing. Everything was grilled to perfection, hot and tasty. There was WAY too much food, though. The presentation was beautiful, all on large platters, family style. It made me feel a little like I had traveled back in time to medieval days.

Finally, we were so stuffed that I didn't think I could take any more. Then out came the dessert and coffee. Crema catalana, flan y cafe con leche. Yum. Needless to say, I made room. I wouldn't want to have to do it again - way too much food for 2 people, but it certainly made for an indulgent anniversary.

Another night, we wanted to get a little edgier in the culinary arena. We have always heard that Barcelona is known for molecular gastronomy and all kinds of cutting edge cuisine. So we consulted the Internet and found a place that Gourmet magazine had recently reviewed called Fishhh!!!! We had been relaxing at the beach that afternoon, so I showered and got all dressed up to go to a restaurant that was, believe it or not, in the food court of a shopping mall. I was a little skeptical, but up for the adventure. After an hour of tram, bus and train rides, we made it to the mall, entered, and didn't know what to expect.

It was a pleasant surprise. All stark white and minimalist, we were greeted by a really funky bright red crustacean sculpture on the back wall. They offered several prix fixe menus to choose from. We chose one and the deliciousness began. The server started us with a carrot cava shot. Cava is the local version of sparkling wine. Very crisp, light and refreshing, a nice contrast to the heat and humidity. After a little explanation about the menu we got to the oysters! They came on a huge bed of rock salt with an American flag in the center. The server kindly explained that the salt signified the moon and it was the Chef's take on the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, which had happened a few months before. Very creative presentation.

We enjoyed some other courses which included a potato salad with tiny shrimp, a pipette of lemon juice as palate cleanser, which took us back to high school science class, and the entree. Scott had sardines, which are huge in Barca. Literally huge. He had 3-4 six inch whole fishies on his plate. He said they were delicious, but he worked hard to eat them, trying to separate the meat from the many, many bones. For dessert, I had an amazing cinnamon bread pudding. Then the finale, frozen cubes of cafe con leche on a skewer! A great ending.
http://fishhh.net

At some point, because of the language barrier, the server asked us how we found out about Fishhh. We told her about Gourmet. Later she came back and she asked what the name of the magazine was again, with notebook in hand. Then she said "Yes, I remember some magazine people from NYC were here a few weeks ago. I forgot to tell the Boss!"

While we were enjoying dessert, I noticed a book on the back shelf that said on the spine, A Day at El Bulli. Scott sort of shouted, El Bulli! and jumped up to look at the book. But he was stopped before he opened it. It was still shrink-wrapped and he was told that the owner, who owns a fish market, is friends with the El Bulli owner and he was expected to sign the book for Fishhh. What a dinner! And thanks for the tip, Gourmet, RIP.

In advance of the trip, we did something unusual. We booked two tours, something we normally avoid like the plague. Both were awesome. One was a culinary walking tour and the other was an architecture tour, part of Architecture Week 2009. More to come on that one in later posts.
The culinary tour was great. We got to visit 11 typically-Catalan establishments and sample a few of the specialties. The Mercat de la Boqueria and Mercat de Santa Caterina were both a farmer's market lover's paradise. We sampled some amazing fruits, and purchased some jamon serrano and some tasty cheeses, almonds and saffron.
http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/Barcelona-Walking-Tours-Gourmet

Mercat de la Boqueria

Mercat de Santa Caterina with its wavy ceramic tile roof

All in all, it has been a year and another anniversary has passed. But I will always remember the beach, the olives and the sangria of beautiful Barcelona.

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