Our rendezvous spot was in front of a bank at Avinguda Diagonal and Passeig de Gracia. On the recommendation of friends, we had tried to book a tour with Culinary Backstreets in Istanbul two years ago, but they were fully booked. We were very pleased when we saw that they did food tours in Barcelona. The tour we took was called "Made in Catalonia" and featured traditional Catalan food. Our tour guide was Paula and there was only one other person on our tour- a United Airline Pilot from Colorado who was flying back from Barcelona the following day.
The area we were touring is called Gracia, which includes a very bourgeois part of town with fancy stores and wonderful art nouveau buildings including a number of Gaudi masterpieces, and the older village of Gracia which is a much more working/middle class area with a history of radicalism in its past. Our guide focussed on taking us to family run, artisinal places that featured Catalan food. We hadn't ever eaten so much food in such a short time! Paula also gave us the history of many of the foods.
Starting our walk, we passed a wonderful art nouveau building (not a Gaudi).
 |
| Art Nouveau building |
 |
| Paula and grandson of owner at Churreria J. Balcells |
We then passed a house where the designer, Cristobal Balenciaga, lived from 1935-1968, and another spectacular art nouveau building with beautiful stained glass windows.
 |
| Balenciaga plaque |
 |
| Amazing stained glass window |
 |
| Casa Fuster
We then stopped for our second "breakfast" at a pastry shop called La Colmena that dated from 1835. Alano had a piece of a pastry called the "gypsy arm" (brazo de Gitano)- a confection with a cream filling. Paula told us the legend of a gypsy who would order this pastry (a bit like a swiss roll) at La Colmena, and how the name gypsy arm came to be. Alano also had a "wind" fritter, so named as it was light as the wind. As the gypsy arm had dairy, I had a piece of almond nougat.
   
Paula recounting the gypsy arm story
|
 |
| Another elaborately decorated building |
Our third breakfast was the best. It was "breakfast with pork". We shared two dishes at La Pubilla, located across from the Mercat de la Llibertat ( Liberty Market). The restaurant dates back to 1912, but a new well-known chef took over in 2012 and designed a new menu of contemporary Catalan specialties. The first dish we shared was fried egg over a type of salami sitting in rosemary honey. The second dish was pig snout/trotters with a crispy crust with corn, beans and caramelized onions. Fabulous breakfast. The place was busy and has an excellent reputation for fresh, innovative food.
 |
| Two incredible breakfast dishes |
 |
| Outside of restaurant
Paula explained that pork has always been an important part of the diet in Spain. During the Inquisition, pork would be added to many dishes by Christians and then offered to Muslims and Jews who, in that era, did not eat pork. If the food was turned down, it meant that one was not a Christian.
We then went to the Liberty Market. This market was very modern and had been renovated about five years ago. Gorgeous fish, meats and vegetables. We made a number of stops there.
|
 |
| Vegetable stall |
 |
| Another beautiful display |
 |
| Sausages
We then stopped at a fish counter called Joan Noi. Paco, the man who prepared our fish, had been in the restaurant business, but now did his magic at the fish counter. We tasted wonderful marinated sardines (olive oil, garlic, paprika) and a cod dish with paprika, red and green peppers and olive oil, served with beans. The salted cod is soaked in water for a number of days before being cooked.
|
 |
| Marinated sardine |
 |
| Paco at the fish counter |
 |
| Outside of Graner Sala |
 |
| Corn decoration on the wall |
 |
| Nuts on display |
 |
| Sampling hams |
 |
| "Hamming it up" at ham store |
We then stopped in the Placa de la Vila de Gracia. There was a large tower with a bell on top, built in 1862. Apparently, there was a revolt by the Catalan mothers in the Village of Gracia, who were being forced to send their sons to the Spanish army in the late 19th century. One woman tied a rope from her house to the bell and rang it incessantly. The bell was bombed and clanged horribly after.
 |
| The Bell at the top of the tower |
 |
| Tower in square- blue building is village council hall |
 |
| Treats at Montserrat
We then went to another market. This market had been renovated in the 1960s, so was much less modern than the Liberty Market which we had visited earlier in the day.
|
 |
| Another market
However, the food was excellent quality. We stopped for some Catalan sausages. We tried three different kinds- Botifarra negra (black), Botifarra d'ou (egg) and Botifarra blanca (white). We also had some different cheeses, including a manchego with quince.
|
 |
| Three types of sausages beautifully displayed |
 |
| Quince on the right |
 |
| A plate with our food for tasting |
 |
| Calcot |
 |
| Savoury treat
We then had an olive tasting of about five different olives- including some small Catalan olives, some spicy and some sweet. There are a lot of different types of olives in Spain.
|
 |
| Lots to choose from
We also looked at a wide array of different types of cod-- most are salted and need to soak in water for a number of days before eating. The shop we stopped at also had some cod soaking in water which can be eaten immediately.
Cod soaking in water- ready to eat
 Different types of salted cod
We then went for a vermouth at La Vermuteria del Tano. Catalan vermouth is very popular and small glasses of vermouth, often with a bit of seltzer that one adds at the table, are drunk throughout the day. Tano's bar is very popular. We had some delicious anchovies and olives which complemented the flavourful vermouth.
La Fermuteria del Tano
 
Inside of the old bar-- lots of clocks on the wall
Paula then said she had something interesting to show us. We followed her down four levels in a parking garage. She walked us up to a locked gate on the wall and pulled out a key to open the door. It let us to a portion of a bomb shelter built in around 1938 during the Spanish Civil War. When the parking garage was erected, the owners had to agree to give any member of the public the right to ask for the key to see the shelter. Paula had her own key as she takes people on the food tour there. The neighbourhood of the village of Gracia contributed funds and built the bomb shelter. It was Mussolini's bombs that fell on Barcelona. People were terrified as they had never experienced bombing before. It was fascinating to see the shelter and the remnants of the old electric connections that lit the shelter.
Entrance to the bomb shelter in the parking lot
  
Having studied and read about the Civil War and having heard stories from my mother about demonstrations in the 1930s in Toronto for the Republican cause, this was an amazing opportunity to see an important piece of history. No Pasaran !!!
We ended the tour at the Bodega E. Marin. We opted not to have a drink--- but instead had a coffee with a shot of anise liquor. This was surprisingly good.
   
Inside the Bodega
It was a wonderful tour- we would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Barcelona-- the opportunity to experience Catalan food and customs was terrific.
We were so full (eating and drinking from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. is exhausting), that we decided to walk back to the apartment. We passed a number of iconic Gaudi buildings on the way. The first was Casa Mila known as La Pedrera ("the stone quarry"). It was finished in 1912.
 
The top of Casa Mila with wonderful wavy lines
 |
It was a fascinating day. We had a very light dinner at the apartment-- needed to rest up after all the food. It's now Thursday February 26 and we're off to visit the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece.
Excuse me while I get a napkin to wipe my mouth. The food tour looks like it was a great success. I enjoyed watching you eat - as it were.
ReplyDelete