K & L's Travel Blog

I have had so much fun experiencing the food!  It got me thinking about what items I could try  at home and what I would forgo and why.  

To try:

Pan con tomate
Tomato bread is served everywhere.  One detail is to pay attention to the tomatoes.  They call  them “hanging tomatoes.” They are the small ones sold on the vine.  They get rubbed on the toasted bread along with garlic and then followed up with the olive oil.  The quality of the olive oil is important. At home I tend to just buy olive oil at the grocery store. But here the special, high quality virgin oil comes out for salads and tomato bread.  And they pay attention to salt, it should be sea salt.  I tend to throw on whatever I have, but for good tomato bread all the details matter.

Grilled Artichokes 
Artichokes are in season here.  On our day trips we have seen fields of them in production. They have the cutest little baby ones here. One dish we had that would be easy to reproduce is grilled baby artichokes like we had at the restaurant Blavis.  I bet after cleaning out the choke they parboil them and then throw them on the grill.  They were served with romesco sauce.  This sauce originated in Tarragona, a neighboring city.  It’s roasted tomatoes, peppers and nuts.  I saw a couple of recipes that called for hazel nuts along with almonds.  I have seen lots of hazel nuts used in dishes. Too bad they are so hard to find fresh at home.

Green Salads with Quinoa 
They toss quinoa with greens.  I expected quinoa to be the main ingredient in my “quinoa salad,” but it was greens tossed with quinoa.  This inspired me to use quinoa this way.

Butternut squash with pears
Pears along with squash, onions and peppers are simmered together and then pureed.  The pears added this wonderful sweetness.  I want to try it.  Then the “boys” get invited.  I once read  Vincent Price recipe (he was a wonderful chef and cookbook author) where he said you have to invite the “boys” meaning the condiments.  No party is complete without the boys. For this soup we had hazel nut brittle and crumbled blue cheese.  I will remember this combo for finishing off a soup.  

Tortillas
This is an egg and potato dish.  I have watched several videos and the tricky part is that you have to invert the tortilla on the plate at the end and return it to the hot pan, fast and accurately.  I have never been brave enough to try it but then I hear Julia, “Don’t be afraid!” Of course, finding shaved, black truffles might prove a challenge.

Things not to try at home:

Croquetas
Oblong spheres of fried deliciousness.  Like a pot pie in a crunchy shell.  The last time I tried to deep fry something at home I thought “Oh lord, if I can ever get this mess cleaned up I will never deep fry at home again.” We’ll get our croquetas at Curate.

Razor clams, sea urchins and other fish delicacies
I do plan to try and stop at “Mother Ocean” on Merrimon and cook with more fish.  But simple recipes, like a fish filet in a pan with lemon and butter.  Can’t imagine managing some of the wonderful preparations we have had here in Barcelona.

Blue fish with fennel, potato foam and herb oil . Some things you just get at a great restaurant.