The sun, the sea, the Gothic Quarter, Gaudi, Modernism, Miro, Picasso, all of these plus delicious food. Just back from a few days eating in traditional restaurants serving Catalan food.
The least crowded, but with delicious food, was Agut, founded in 1924, on the Carrer d'En Gignàs, just behind the main post office.The escalivada was exceptional, with a few Agut touches. Grilled vegetables - sweet red peppers and eggplant - with sliced potatoes, sprinkled with pine nuts and slivers of fresh black truffle, served at room temperature all with a light wash of olive oil. Suquet followed, a thick soup/stew of monkfish and potatoes.
Suquet
Brown 1 kilo of monkfish, cut into small pieces and lightly floured and sprinkled with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until browned. Add 2 cloves of garlic, minced, and 9 tablespoons of cognac. Set the cognac afire and when the flame has subsided add 2 tablespoons of Italian parsley, minced, In another pan fry 1 onion, minced, and 2 peeled, seeded and chopped ripe tomatoes, until soft. Add this to the fish, along with 1 kilo of peeled, thickly sliced potatoes. Cover with fish stock and cook for about 15 minutes. Mash in a mortar 1 slice of Italian or French bread, fried in olive oil until well browned, 2 cloves of garlic, minced, and 12 peeled and roasted almonds, and enough olive oil to make a paste. Add the paste to the fish and potatoes. Serve hot. (Thank you Colman Andrews)
To make the fish stock boil fish bones and heads in white wine and water with a celery stalk, an onion, and a carrot. Reduce and then add salt and pepper. Strain before using.
Another dinner was at Siete Puertas, on the Passeig Isabel II near the port. The restaurant opened in 1836 and was, once upon a time, a cantine for Picasso. It is now an elegant restaurant specializing in fish dishes. Its paellas are outstanding. They are made with proper round grain rice that remains slightly chewy. The Rich Man's Paella combines shellfish, already shelled, and chicken. For dessert have the crema catalana, The atmosphere here is lively and there is a mix of locals and tourists. Reservations are difficult to come by and the restaurant is always full. You can just drop by and hope.
The third restaurant is Casa Leopoldo, located in a red light district on the Carrer de Sant Rafael. In fact the neighborhood is not inviting. A friend, a former ambassador from Belgium, took one look at the surroundings and refused to go into the restaurant. Silly. From Roman times Barcelona was surrounded by a wall. Prostitutes were only allowed to ply their trade outside the wall and Casa Leopoldo is outside the lines of the old wall. The wall went but the ladies of the evening, as my father called them, stayed. The set menu, only available for 2 people, or 4, etcetera, begins with several dishes - deep fried small fish and squid, anchovies, garlic and tomato smeared toast, (a Catalan national dish), tasty with the anchovies on top, assorted olives, salted cod with very thinly sliced fried potatoes and scrambled eggs (bacalao "Bras,"), and salt cod fritters. For a main course I had meatballs with cuttlefish and prawns in a Romesco sauce. Casa Leopoldo is also known for its oxtail stew. Dessert with the menu was a refreshing lemon sorbet and a sort of nut cake. The menu includes a glass of wine and coffee.
Romesco sauce. Soak two "nyoras" (small, round, not too hot dried chillis - a substitute might be an ancho chilli - in warm water for half an hour. Peel one head of garlic and remove the germ. Peel 2 uncooked tomatoes and 1 grilled tomato. In a food processor put the soaked chillis, seeded, the garlic, tomatoes, and 150 grams of peeled, toasted almonds. When smooth add 1 teaspoon of wine vinegar, 2 cups of extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. The sauce can be thinned with white wine and/or broth. You can then serve the meat balls in the sauce, or serve the Romesco with grilled fish.
None of these restaurants is inexpensive - dinner will cost between 35 and 50 euros with a glass of wine. Don't forget that, as in Italy, there is a charge for bread, and only bottled water is served.
Dining hours take getting used to. Lunch in these good restaurants starts at 13:30 and goes to 16:30. Dinner begins at 20:30 and that is mostly for foreigners. Siete Puertas starts buzzing around 22h.
If you are feeling poor you can eat yummy Argentinian empanadillas in a little street not far from the Picasso museum around the corner from the Jaume I metro station. I especially liked the one stuffed with chopped chicken breast, fresh pineapple and hot green pepper.
If you are poor and hungry at an improper time go to the Quinze Nits (15 Lice) - (this must be a wordplay on els 4 Gats, so popular in Picasso's time) in the Plaça Reial. It is open all day long and does not accept reservations. I was not carried away by the food but my friend was very happy with her dinner.
The most fun of all in Barcelona is a visit to the Boqueria market just off La Rambla. Glorious food of all sorts, fabulously fresh fish and shellfish, little restaurants where you can sit at the counter and eat amidst the bustle. Just wonderful. The best covered market I have ever visited.
Everyone has heard of Gaudi, but have you heard of Lluis Domènech i Montaner, another imaginative, creative Catalan architect, whose works include the Palau de la Musica Catalana, a wonderful structure built and still used as a concert hall. Well worth a visit, and there are no wandering hoards of tourists, for most people do not even know that the building exists.
