Before the common fridge was invented in the 20th century, food couldn’t be properly preserved. Damn it!  That’s the reason why, in the middle ages, the Basque people, who were large producers of salt, decided to salt each whole fish before drying it.

Thus, even the poorest people could afford eating good and cheap fish. Nevertheless, it was the Catholic Church who made the Basque market flourish when it established fast days, during which sexual intercourse and meat were banned and one could only eat fish.

That’s why the Basques, thanks to compulsory abstinence, turned into the kings of Cod market.

Esqueixada is a delicious and emblematic Catalan dish with cod as its main ingredient. Cod is first desalted and then flaked roughly between the fingers (this is the origin of its Catalan name: esqueixar). It’s eaten raw, and it’s delicious!

Recipe:

Serves four people (in different quantities according to the tastes of each family).

• 500 gr. of desalted and flaked cod
• 200 gr of tomato branch, peeled, seed and diced
• 200 gr of julienned onion
• 100 gr of diced red pepper
• Black olives from Aragon and olive oil.

Preparation:

Wash the cod and dry thoroughly with a cloth. Leave for an hour in a bowl covered with olive oil. To remove the strong sharp smell of the onion, leave it for fifteen minutes in a bowl with vinegar and salt.

Then, discard all the vinegar left and dress the onion, the tomato and the pepper with the cod oil.

To serve, place first the dressed onion and the pepper, then the tomato, salted and dressed, and finally places the flakes of cod on the top. Garnish the plate with the black olives.

A disfrutar!

In Spain the word “tapas” doesn’t simply refer to food. To a Spaniard, tapas are part of his own lifestyle and culture. They reflect the essence of Spanish friendliness and sociability.

Anytime is the right time for sharing tapas and good wine with friends, especially when it’s sunny and you can enjoy all this on a terrace of a bar (especially if this bar is in Barcelona!)

Traditionally, tapas was a piece of sliced ham served with a glass of wine, but nowadays we know them as tiny plates of food served in bars all over Spain to accompany drinks.

The history of this awesome “invention”, originated in Andalucia, is still unclear.

There are different explanations about this tradition:

• One explanation says that the tapa was born when King Alfonso the 10th, due to an illness, had to take small bites of food with some wine between meals. After that, the king decreed that in any of the inns in the land, no wine was to be served unless accompanied by something to eat. This, to prevent that alcohol would cause physical discomfort in those who drank, who, in most cases, did not have enough money to pay a complete meal.
• Another version is that King Alfonso the 13th stopped by an inn in windy Cadiz where he ordered a cup of wine. The waiter rushed to cover the glass with a slice of ham to protect the wine from the sand. The king, after drinking the wine and eating the ham, ordered another glass “with the same tapa (cover)”.
• The more realistic explanation refers that the tapa was born because of the need of farmers and workers to ingest small portion of food during working hours, to allow them to continue the work until lunchtime.

The snack demanded wine, because alcohol increased the enthusiasm and strength, and during winter it warmed the body and helped to resist the rigorous medieval cold.

In summer the wine was replaced by gazpacho.

Whatever the truth is, if you really want to get into the local life, be aware that “tapeo” is a must-see experience during your visit in Spain. And if you will visit Barcelona, we would be glad to have you during our tapas tour, where you will be able to discover the best places and the local specialties without losing yourself into the thousands of bars and restaurants you will find!

A tapear, then!

What makes Barcelona Food Markets so special?

Well, the fact that they are not just about food. You can enjoy different kinds of events in Barcelona markets.

Let’s take the example of the Santa Caterina Market, in the Born area: you can sometimes (usually on Saturdays) enjoy a great performance by a local group of Cobla, just outside the beautiful building where the market is located.

La Cobla is a traditional Catalan music that accompanies the traditional Catalan folk dance called Sardana.

It’s a pleasure for the senses to taste fresh produce from the market while enjoying the show.

We warmly recommend it to all Food and Music Lovers!

As we are in winter we feel like talking about Escudella, a typical winter dish in Cataluña and a delight to popular cuisine.

Escudella means bowl, because it is a bowl of soup, a rustic soup made with vegetables and meat.

What I find unfortunate is that nowhere in Barcelona allows you to test a small bowl escudella a trial or lid. You need to sit in a restaurant to get to try this treat, or do it at home. So here are the recipe.

Escudella Recipe:

This recipe is very simple but requires time to cook , minimum 3-hour fire.

Ingredients:

• A chicken leg
• One white and one black sausage
• A ham bone with fat
• A bone of beef
• Pig bone and pig ear
• A neck lamb
• 1 potato 2 carrot 1 leek 2 turnip 1 celery
• 60 grams of chickpeas that have previously been soaking about 24 hours

For the meatloaf:

• 300 gr. minced pork to make small meatballs
• Two cloves of garlic
• A small onion
• Egg
• Parsley
• A slice of stale bread, crust removed
• 250 gr. Galets (pasta)

Preparation:

Begin cooking the meat during 90 minutes, then add the vegetables and let cook 60 minutes more.

Meanwhile we will make the pilotas – meatloaf balls-

Mix the beaten egg with meat, salt, pepper, bread, add the garlic, parsley and onion finely chopped. We give a ball, floured and fry over high heat a minute in the pan in olive oil. Just to be fried out. Drain on paper piles after frying to remove excess oil.

We left the broth alone without vegetables and meat. Chop one of the carrots cooked in the broth and add it to the broth with the meatloaf balls.

Finally we add the broth some pasta shells ,usually about 12 minutes.

And enjoy!

Olive oil is definitely an essential part of our cuisine. In Spain we do not say “olive oil adds” we say “add oil” because it is always olive, and almost always virgin.

For those not familiar with this product at least know that it is an essential part of the Mediterranean diet, its magnificent nutritional qualities and how healthy it is. For those who know the product first thing you say is “how delicious”!! Because when you know you know that an oil, in itself, is a delicacy. When you find that oil, one rather specific, newly produced, good harvest, good quality, then you just need to put it on a plate and dip a piece of bread.

Once you closed your eyes and fragrance invade you, which moment!

Behind a good oil is a quality process, made with the wisdom that gives the tradition and love of those who love their work.

You can see in several languages, a good, brief explanation of this process on the website of Nian, much olive oil as they come!

If you go to Barcelona tapas or dishes, and in the kitchen or at the tables not see a good olive oil…stop! Look elsewhere!

Photo courtesy Toni Ventura

What is needed to feel for a moment the essence of luxury? Good apples and a few minutes of work. Apple sauce: Pippin apples, cinnamon, a little water and a little sugar!

In the postwar period, eating a good chicken or a good steak was a luxury available to very few. The most common meat, affordable for the vast majority, were the leftovers: the offals and the sweetbreads. Women, of course, became culinary artists. They managed to make the testicles lose their peculiar stink, they also succeeded in softening the guts and in turning ox cheeks into a delicacy, just as good as the most tender steak. Therefore, during the postwar years the giblets shops reached their maximum splendour. However, over the years these stews were relegated to grandmothers and it is thanks to them that we can still enjoy these dishes, which were turned into great delicacies by the poor, witty and imaginative women from our country.

Recipe: (for 4 people)

• ½ Beef shank cut into pieces
• 1 Veal lips cut into pieces
• 2 small onions
• 1 bay leaf
• Approx 100 g of Serrano ham
• 3 grated tomatoes
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of pepper or ground chorizo ​​pepper
• 250 g boiled chickpeas
• Salt
• 12 grains of black pepper
• EVOO
• Red Chilli (optional)
• Water

Preparation:

Thoroughly wash the shank and lips, leave one hour in cold water with vinegar. Wash again and blanch in hot water for 5 minutes, and wash once more with cold water.

Fully cover the shank and lips with water and add one onion, a bulb of garlic, a bay leaf, salt and pepper.

Proceed to cook until all the products (35 minutes in the pressure cooker) soften.

When everything is tender let the meat cool down until you can handle it without getting burned.

Bone the shank and cut the lips into small pieces and reserve the juice from the stew.

Add 50 cc of olive oil in another pot and sauté the onion.

When it becomes transparent, add two cloves of garlic, previously chopped, and the ham cut into strips. Fry for two minutes and add the dried red pepper (stirring constantly).

Incorporate the diced tomatoes and let them reduce on a low heat.

Add the shank, the lips and the chickpeas. Stir. Taste and add salt if necessary. Add the remaining broth from cooking the meat.

Cook for another 20 minutes so as all the flavours can blend.

A piece of advice:
I recommend to let it settle for a few hours to gain in taste and consistency.

Buen provecho!

We can sometimes find this fish in the market, I love it! It looks like a small shark, which always adds a dramatic touch to the plate.

In Catalonia it is cooked “allipebre”, a traditional Catalan way, but we chose a Galician recipe because the accompanying potatoes are more tasty in it.

Dogfish, (known as Huss or Rock Salmon in the UK??), Moixina in Catalán and Pintarroja in Spanish.

(Galeus melastomus) is a type of shark common in the Mediterranean and is often found near the Catalan coast.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of dogfish (pintarroja in Spanish, moixina en Catalan)
• 1kg of potatoes
• Parsley
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato
• 1 bay leaf
• Oil
• Salt
• 1 glass of white wine
• Oil
• Water
• Picada (traditional blend of toasted nuts, herbs and garlic)
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 handful of almonds
• 1 slice of bread previously soaked in water

Preparation:

Dogfish  is marinated  with garlic, parsley and salt.

In a saucepan brown the chopped onion, and then add 1 chopped tomato . Add a teaspoon of paprika, 1 glass of wine and 2 of water. Add the potatoes, previously cut into slices (approx. 1 cm thick). Add half bay leaf.

Stir and add the water until the potatoes are covered.

Leave it to cook for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the dogfish.

Roll the dogfish in the flour and fry very slightly.

Add the fish to the stew together with the “picada” (blend garlic, almonds and bread all together) and leave it to cook for 10 more minutes.

And that’s all folks!

How to start? With my passion for gastronomy? With my fascination for good pictures? How share my love of pleasure and laughter? For all in one: a blog where it all together.

And, friends and strangers, I hope you like my reports from Barcelona: information about bars, wine bars, tapas and restaurants, recipes and lots of pictures of the food world.

THANKS TO ALL WHO ARE SUPPORTING ME IN THIS PROJECT!