Category: Spain

So during my trip to Barcelona I enjoyed tapas, pastries, sandwiches, churros, and even a hot dog. The one thing I had yet to enjoy was Paella. I could not leave this beautiful city without having some. Taller De Tapas off of La Rambles looked like the perfect place to get paella.

The restaurant was much larger inside compared to some of the other restaurants I had been to. The staff was extremely friendly and very welcoming. Before ordering any drinks I made sure to put in my order for seafood paella because it takes 20 minutes to prepare.

    

Once I got that ordered I glanced over the drink menu. I was excited to finally see Cava Sangria listed. Cava is Catalonian champagne (sparkling wine). I ordered 1 Liter (a pitcher) because I knew it would be at the restaurant for a while.

They had a nice assortment of fresh fruit that included strawberries, pineapples, and sour apples. The Cava was blended with gin, ginger, and apple liquor. This was not super sweet but still had a slight sweetness. I really liked the bubbles, it made the drink even more refreshing. And the gin was hidden nicely within all the other flavors.

While waiting for the paella, I ordered a few tapas. The Brie Cruixent sounded really good. The brie was covered in panko breadcrumbs and fried. They served it with a red pepper jam. This was simply a high end fried cheese. It was an ooey-gooey cheese that tasted great with the jam. There was a slight heat and a whole lot of sweetness.

The three tapas that came out were actually warmed up. That made them taste so much better.

• Matrimoni d’ Anyova i Seito – This was anchovies and cheese on top of sliced tomato. It all rested on top of a sliced banquette. It was kind of like a piece of pizza, just without the sauce.

    

• Esparrecs Baby, Formatge Brie, Fos i Piquillos – This was asparagus wrapped in red pepper with brie cheese. This was perfect warmed up because it melted the cheese perfectly.

    

• Formatge Fresc amb Salmo Marinat i Tortora de Mongo – The salmon was wrapped around fresco cheese and topped with a cherry tomato. The salmon was extremely fresh and tender. It went well with cheese.

    

It was perfect timing when the paella came out. I was just finishing the tapas. It was a pretty big pan. Good thing I was sharing.

The rice was mixed with cuttlefish (which was local), squid, prawns, and mussels.

The shrimp still had their heads and shells. After peeling all that off I got to taste the shrimp. It had great flavor from the seasoning in the paella. The muscles were extremely tender. They were pretty easy to get out of the shells. The cuttlefish was cut up into bite size pieces. It really reminded me of chicken. The rice was cooked perfectly – not too soft nor hard; it was the prefect al dente.

I actually left Taller de Tapas stuffed. The food was amazing, a perfect way to end my trip. This was a great place for people to enjoy a more traditional meal. I would recommend a visit for sure.

http://www.tallerdetapas.com/

Enjoy!

T

One of the things I enjoyed doing in Barcelona was having coffee and dessert in the evening. The great part about these desserts is they were bite size just like the tapas. The sweets in the window of Forn de Sant Jaume were calling me.

   

They had so many things to choose from. It was hard to pick.

    

    

I got the cream puffs because I love those things. The pastry was filled with a sweet whipped cream. It reminded me of the éclair I had enjoyed earlier in my trip.

The Bulgar De Xocolata was a rolled yellow cake with a chocolate ganache inside. Then they dipped the whole thing in chocolate to create a shell. The cake was very moist and the chocolate was extremely rich.

Finally I got pieces of chocolate. It looked like a little cupcake. This was actually a chocolate truffle that was sitting on top of creamy caramel and then dipped in a chocolate shell. This was a very, very, very rich piece of chocolate, plus it was extremely sweet. It was good but almost too much. I needed something salty to balance everything out.

If you have a sweet tooth, this is definitely the place for you.

www.facebook.com/forndesantjaume.com

Enjoy!

T

Sundays in Barcelona is considered a family day. I witnessed this first hand. Families were together all over the city. Whether they were playing on a playground or having a picnic at the park, it was quality time spent together. It was wonderful to see.

Another big family activity was eating. Everyone seemed to be out eating because restaurants were packed. I headed back over to the Sant Antoni area of town to see if I could try another restaurant that I saw the previous night.

To my luck there was a table open at Café Saula.

They had a bar full of tapas. There were several different kinds that I had not seen at other restaurants I had visited.

    

While I contemplated which tapas to try, I ordered a sangria (surprise, surprise). It can be ordered either by the glass or the pitcher. Since it was still early in the day I decided to just get a glass. This one was sweet and just like the others I have enjoyed.

Like the other tapas places, they did the toothpick in the glass as a way to count how much you have eaten. I love this honors system.

I got four tapas on my first plate.

1. Sausage with aioli and crunchy onion straws – The sausage flavor was great and the crunchy onions were a nice addition. The downside was that it was cold. It would have tasted better if it was hot.
2. Crab Claw – Now this was breaded and fried; it looked exactly like a stuffed crab claw, however, it was not crab at all. It was some sort of seafood that had the texture of a scallop. It tasted pretty good but I was bummed that it was not crabmeat.
3. Fried Shrimp – This shrimp was huge. It had a great tempura like breading on it. It was very crispy.
4. Italian Tapas – I called it this because there were four Italian meats on top of a slice of bread. It had a slice of salami, capicola, prosciutto, and pepperoni. It was accented with a tomato slice and a green olive. This was basically an Italian sandwich.

I went up one more time to try three more tapas.

1. Bomba – This was a meat and potato croquette. The meat was in the center and covered in potato. This was the first croquette that did not have cheese mixed in. The taste was great, just not as creamy.
2. Ham & Cheese Croquette – The ham was chopped up and blended with cheese and potato. This was extremely creamy.
3. Spring Roll – This was a vegetable roll that was drizzled with sweet and sour sauce. The wrapper was nice and crispy.

I was glad I got to try a different place for tapas, which offered a different variety of choices. This whole area of Sant Antoni is a fun area. I highly recommend everyone check it out.

Enjoy!

T

It is amazing to me how much I have been eating on this trip to Barcelona. But this is a very different type of eating compared to what happens in the states. In the US portion sizes at restaurants are usually huge. This is not the case in Barcelona. Everywhere I have been so far the food has been served in small bites (like all the tapas) or the portion of food has just been smaller.

So here I am again about to get something else to eat, even though I had a few tapas just a few hours before. This time I wanted to try a frankfurter or bratwurst from Bitte! Wurst.

I passed this place a few times as I walked around. Every time I walked by I noticed how busy they were. As soon as I walked in I was greeted. I felt so welcomed.

    

Naturally they had sangria on the menu. I could not pass that up. This one was a little dryer than others I have had so far. They made sure to include a lot of fruit, which I enjoyed.

They had so many different frankfurters and bratwursts to choose from. You can even get a pack to go.

I went with a simple Frankfurt America. It was the frank with bacon, onions, and gruyere cheese. It also included mayo but I had them not add that. I am not a fan of mayo on a hot dog.

The frank had a great salty taste and there was a slight crunch from the casing as I took a bite. The bacon was not crispy which was a disappointment. It was more like a slice of ham. The onions were sautéed to a perfect caramelization and added sweetness to the salty frank.

This was a great place to get a quick bite. You could easily get the frank to go and eat it while walking around the Gothic Quarter. I never expected to enjoy a hot dog and sangria in Barcelona.

http://www.grupnolla.com/bitte-wurst/bitte-wurst-s66.html

Enjoy!

T

There is an area of Barcelona called Sant Antoni. This is an area where locals hang out and is filled with bars and tapas restaurants. I decided I needed to check this area out. Based on what I was told this area does not get hopping until at least 9:00pm.

As I walked up and down the main road, I noticed that every place was packed. These are not big restaurants inside so they fill up quickly. After walking up and down a few times, a small table for two opened up at La Tiza. I knew this was a sign that this was where I needed to try.

I started off by ordering a classic mojito. I had read that mojitos are another beverage that are famous in Spain.

This mojito was the best one I have ever had. It tasted so fresh. It was not overly sweet with that syrupy texture like the ones in the states. This was smooth. They used rum, lime, mint, soda, brown sugar, and angostura (an aromatic bitter bark).

This place was really popular. At times there was hardly any room to move around or get up to the tapas bar.

    

This was the first place I got to experience true tapas. It took some getting used to. All the tapas are on platters with toothpicks in them. There were two different kinds of toothpicks that determined the price.

These serving platters lined a tiny bar (there were people actually sitting there too). You just grab a plate and help yourself.

I simply had to put the used toothpicks in the shot glass that was on the table. Then when I was ready to tab out, the server just counted up the sticks to know what to charge me. To me it was a true honors system and it was amazing.

I tried several different tapas:

• Spring roll – This was a classic veggie spring roll like you would get at a Chinese restaurant. There was a great sweet and sour sauce drizzled on top.
• Ham & Cheese Roll – This was great. It was like a ham and cheese sandwich rolled up, breaded, and deep fried.

• Asparagus Wrap – This asparagus was wrapped with cucumber and drizzled with a creamy tomato sauce. This had great flavor. It was also nice to have a tapas that was not fried.

 

• Empanada – This one was filled with tuna. This was just ok. The tuna was what you get out of a can, not fresh tuna. It had that classic can tuna taste. I would have preferred a beef filling.
• Meringue Tart – I assumed this was a dessert when I picked it up. Turns out I was correct, this was a mini lemon meringue pie. The lemon filling had a great tartness to it. I ended up getting up for a few more. They were the perfect bite size dessert.

This was a fun place that had a great vibe. I really got to experience Barcelona night life here. Everyone should check this area out.

www.latizabcn.com

Enjoy!

T

I was walking in between buildings in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. There were restaurants and shops everywhere. All of a sudden I saw a sign for an Italian restaurant called Made in Sicily.

It was a cute little place with a few tables to sit at.

    

Now I was not hungry for pizza, which they sold by the slice.

    

What caught my attention on the menu they had posted outside were the Arancino (arancini or rice balls). I had not seen these anywhere else at this point in my trip.

I figured I could not pass up the opportunity to try these. I always make sure to try arancini whenever I see them on the menu – no matter what country or city I am in.

They offered three different varieties but I only tried two. I had been munching all day long so I was not that hungry. So I went for the Four-Cheese and the Bolognese.

I tried the Four-Cheese first. This was loaded with cheese and not enough rice. When I cut it open the hot cheese oozed out. If there was a little more rice it might have held things in place better. The cheese was nice and salty. I would have liked a little pasta sauce on this to balance out the cheese.

The Bolognese arancini was a blend of meat and cheese in the center with a little sauce. This had a great savory flavor and there was enough rice that helped calm down the slight salty accents.

The downside to these arancini happened to be that they were not freshly fried. Much like some of the tapas I have gotten at the market, these were all premade. They simply warmed them up in a microwave. So they were not very crispy, but the flavor was still good.

This was a fun stop. I could not wait to tell everyone that I got Sicilian arancini in Barcelona, Spain.

You can check out their Facebook page at madeinsicily.bcn

Enjoy!

T

There are dozens of food stands to choose from at Mercat de La Boqueria. I passed by a pretty busy stand that had a long line. That seemed like a place I should check out. It was simply called Catalonian-Food.

    

There were a few things I wanted to try. The first was the sausage on a stick. These were mini chorizo sausages and grilled onions. The sausage was very flavorful and had just a hint of spice. The onions were very sweet and paired well with the sausage.

The Patates Farcides were something unique that I had not seen anywhere else. These were stuffed potatoes with cheese and chorizo sausage. There was a super creamy texture to the potato that had great salty accents thanks to the cheese and sausage. The sausage was not spicy.

The last thing I tried were the Croquetes Artesanes. These were really popular and were selling fast. This was a simple potato croquet. Like all the others I had tried, the filling was extremely creamy. Since it was just potato it was not as salty as previous ones.

The only downside was that the breading was not crispy. They did not deep fry them there at the stand, they just warmed them in a microwave. Had they been fried or even baked in an oven then they would have been perfect.

It was really fun eating these tapas. It was the true market experience of eating on the go.

If you are walking around the market and want a quick snack, I would recommend stopping by the booth that is Catalonian-Food. They will give you a little extra energy to fuel your shopping trip.

www.boqueria.barcelona/home

Enjoy!

T

Through my travels around Barcelona I came across this bakery that was not too far from my hotel, Baluard. I actually visited them on two different occasions. The family that owns this bakery is a fourth generation baker. It is in their blood, dating all the way back to 1892. All this history still amazes me.

They had a big window that looked into the bakery. I could see them making the different loaves.

It smelt wonderful as soon as I walked in, I love the smell of fresh bread. It is comforting and makes me hungry. They had many options in their glass cases. There were so many different types of bread, fresh pastries, and an assortment of sandwiches on their fresh baguettes.

   

I got a white baguette with jamon (Spanish ham). The sandwich itself was good. The bread was extremely crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. There was a great crunch when I took a bite.

The meat was not as flavorful as I was expecting. I expected it to be slightly more salty. There was no cheese on this sandwich. If there was it would have added more flavor.

They had fresh eclairs in their case when I visited. The cream filling was calling to me. I made sure to get one. They called them Éclair Crema.

The fresh éclair pastry was light and airy, this allowed for the cream to get into every nook and cranny of the pastry. The cream was also flight and extremely fluffy. It was definitely homemade whipped cream. It was totally delicious and satisfied my sweet tooth.

The next morning I did make my second visit to Baluard. I wanted to get a pastry that would go well with coffee. I ordered the Brioix Canyella I Fruits Vermells.  This pastry was not in their case the day before. So it appears that they offer different items each day.

It looked like a cream cheese filling but after taking a bite it was more like a vanilla custard. The fresh berries were great and added some sweetness. There was also a sweet glaze on top of the pastry. It was almost like honey. it was sweet and made my fingers a little sticky. This was the perfect way to start my morning.

Both visits to Baluard were wonderful. They take great care in everything that they make and that is reflective in the taste of their bread and pastries. I would definitely go back to see what other creations they come up with.

http://baluardbarceloneta.com/en/principal

Enjoy!

T

One of the major sights that everyone must see in Barcelona is La Sagrada Familia. This is a Minor Basilica that is the master work of famous architect Antoni Gaudi. This iconic structure is actually still under construction (it was started in 1882).

I took the audio tour, which I highly recommend. The audio actually help give me a larger appreciation for every aspect of the basilica because I understood the meaning behind everything Gaudi planned.

The outside of the basilica has two parts. The entrance façade (at least it is the entrance of the tour) depicts the Nativity of Jesus.

   

The backside of the basilica depicts the Passion of Jesus, including his crucifixion. It is a very emotional look at the scriptures told through beautiful stone structures.

   

The inside of the basilica is lite up by all of the stained glass windows. The rainbow of colors filled this magnificent structure with warm and cool light. I took lots of pictures to share but they truly do not do justice to seeing this breathtaking color in person.

   

After taking the tour I found myself to be a little hungry. To my ultimate delight I found Xurreria Sagrada Familia right across the street from the basilica.

This little shop was making homemade, fresh, hot churros. I was so excited as soon as I saw them. They have been serving up these sweet treats since 1950.

They had churros filled with everything from cream, Nutella, white chocolate, and even different fruit jams.

I grabbed one of the churros stuffed with cream. It had just come out of the fryer. They also covered the outside in sugar (you do not have to get it this way, it is optional). The cream was more like a vanilla pudding.

The churro was nice and hot so it made the cream warm too. The freshness was overwhelming, but in a good way. The dough was soft with only a slight crunch on the outside from the dough being fried and covered in sugar. The dough was also light, not dense at all which was nice. It did not take me long to finish the churro.

It was really cool to watch them actually make the churros. The batter went into this large dispenser that pushed it out directly into the piping hot oil. The guy working the machine then cut the dough right before it went into the oil. He worked so fast masking each batch of churros. Very cool to watch.

   

I highly recommend stopping by Xurreria either before or after a visit to Sagrada Familia. It was one of the only places where I saw churros being made fresh. They are a must have.

www.xurreriasagradafamilia.es

Enjoy!

T

Whenever I travel to a new city one of the first things I make sure to do is check out the fresh markets. Whether it is the Farmers Market in Nashville or Pikes Place in Seattle, fresh markets are a great way to truly experience a city. All the fruits, vegetables, meats and even flowers are the freshest they could possibly be. So in Barcelona I made sure I stopped at Mercat La Boqueria.

I got there pretty early in the morning so I could avoid huge crowds. It was still fairly busy. Many of the local chefs shop there to get fresh ingredients for their restaurants. I also noticed several little old ladies shopping which I could only assume they were there to plan the dinner they would be making their lucky families.

  

I was completely overwhelmed. I did not even know where to start. There were butchers everywhere. They had everything from fresh steaks to thinly sliced jamon (ham) that they served up in paper cones that you could munch on as you walked the market.

   

The fresh seafood was abundant. There were several fish I recognized and many I did not.

   

   

If you need to satisfy your sweet tooth, they had everything from fresh made gelato to handmade candies that looked like food.

   

If you were craving an empanada, I found a stand that had several to choose from. This was their specialty.

   

What I was excited for was all the fresh fruit. That is what I wanted for my breakfast. There were so many stands to choose from. For the most part they were all priced the same. It really came down to who offered the fruit I wanted.

   

  

I got a cup of fruit that was fresh mango and papaya. Plus they offered a variety of fresh squeezed juices, so I tried the strawberry/pineapple.

The fruit was fantastic. Each piece was extremely juicy. The natural sweetness from both the mango and papaya jumped forward. The flavors were extremely memorable both on my taste buds and through my sense of smell.

The juice was amazing as well. The combination of strawberry and pineapple blended so perfectly together. It was smooth in texture and went down very easy. The strawberry shined through; the pineapple was kind of hidden. The best part was this juice was a bargain at 1.50€.

Now I spent the rest of the day exploring Barcelona. Later in the evening I stopped back by the market. I wanted to get another juice. I was not sure if there would be anything left since it was so late. But lucky for me there was plenty and they were on discount, only 1.00€ now.

  

I could not pass up a bargain so I got two different juices combinations:

• Pineapple Coconut
• Mango Pineapple

The pineapple coconut juice was sweet and slightly creamy. It was a great blend. I was able to taste an equal amount of pineapple and coconut. When I closed my eyes the taste transported me to a tropical beach.

The mango pineapple was both sweet and tart; it all came from the pineapple. The mango only added slight texture.

The market was a fun experience. It was a great way to get immersed into life in Barcelona. It was great both day and night. Everyone visiting needs to make at least one stop.

www.boqueria.barcelona/home

Enjoy!

T