Barcelona Beer Festival, 9th, 10th and 11th of March

Beer lovers of Barcelona rejoice as the second weekend of March brings a torrent of artesan ales produced in Catalonia, Spain, Europe and United States to the luminous city in the form of the Barcelona Beer Festival. This beer bonanza will take place in the beautiful former convent Sant Agustí in Born, now a civic centre belonging to the city council and home to many craft markets and fairs. This will be a fantastic setting for us to quench our thirsts under the (hopefully) warm spring rays.

Barcelona Beer Festival, 9th, 10th and 11th of March 2012. Convent Sant Agustí, C/Comerç  36, Born.

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Festa de Calçots in Valls

The post-Christmas festivities, although tinged with sadness at leaving loved ones back on the island, are not tainted in Barcelona by the January blues. The welcome light and sun that greets you after 8 days of constant grey and drizzle in northern England lifts your spirits, as does the realisation that once again the calçots season is upon us.

Now I have written about calçots many times but I thought the ‘Festa de Calçots’ in Valls was worth a mention. The people of this sleepy town an hour inland of Barcelona claim to be the creators of the calçotada and as such hold an annual festival on the last Sunday of every January to celebrate their wonderful invention. As such, we decided to hop on the one bus that day heading out to the town to see what they were cooking up.

A cold wind was whipping through town so we took initial refuge with some too-thick-to-drink hot chocolate and churros doughnuts whilst the town got warmed up. 

Churros

Tucked away in various corners of the town were judging contests for calçots growers and sauce makers and the judges were taking it all very seriously.

The crowds were also scrambling to sample the product from the demonstrations in national dress of how to make this rich, mouthwatering nutty and garlicky sauce.

As with all Catalan festivals the gegants (giants) were out in force and paraded through the town followed by a band which always includes quite possibly the worst sounding reed instrument, the shawm, which evoked memories of the unwelcome Sunday morning wake up call I used to get when living in Poble Sec. What Catalonia has in abundance in good food it lacks in its folk music and incredibly dull national dance la sardana. Thankfully the tradition of building castles from people, castellers, is much more impressive, even when in this case it’s a simple pilar of one column of brave souls.

Gegants

Castellers

Holding off for those tasty onions a little longer we went to observe some less wise folk than us who’d volunteered themselves for the calçots eating competition and were looking to eat the usual 2+ kilos winning quantity. I don’t envy the inevitable stomach cramps and wind that must follow that hefty portion.

Calcots eating competition

With Catalan flags flying proudly more locals in national costume roasted the calçots on open fires and wrapped them in foil for visitors to enjoy.

For our 8€ tickets we snapped up our bag containing the onions, bread, nuts, a half bottle of red wine and fruit, standard fayre at any calçotada, and grabbed a few steps to tuck in with bibs round our necks, also standard calçotada practice. This is messy work.

However, although quite bursting from the contents of our goodie bag the highlight of the day for me were the locals making the most of the open fires when the calçot roasting was over with. Not wanting to feel left out we nipped into the butcher’s shops doing a swift abnormal Sunday trade and snapped up some morcilla and botifarra sausages and lomo pork loin for the barbeque. Definitely not something you’d find happening on the streets of England in January.

The other highlight of my day was being interviewed in Spanish for Catalan television for my thoughts as an outsider on the festival. Sadly I didn’t make the final cut but the film gives you a real feel for the festa even if you don’t understand a word they’re saying la-gran-festa-de-la-calcotada

As we whiled away the remaining time for the one returning bus to Barcelona we took a stroll through the now suddenly eerily deserted town in a poor effort at burning off the days eating, sank a few boozy carajillo coffees and cava in a local bar and were bid farewell by what now seems to be an obligatory Catalan sunset at the end of a heartily good day out.

Festa de Calçots in Valls, last Sunday of every January. Buses run from Sants Estació.

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Mercat de Mercats – 21st, 22nd and 23rd October

One of the highlights of 2010 for me was the autumn Mercat de Mercats. It returns this year which leaves me positively giddy at the prospect of another round of titbits, tastings and demonstrations.Information about the event in English is limited but a Catalan blog is giving regular updates about the forthcoming activities and a preview of the program is also available there. Following last year’s demonstration by the El Bulli chefs yet more Barcelona big hitters such as Carles Gaig and Mey Hofmann will take to the stage along with many other names I’ve yet to discover. The majority of the presentations will be in Catalan but the big screens mean those of us with the most basic or non-existent knowledge of the language can follow what’s going on.

The event covers 3 days and is well worth a visit, whether it’s just for a sample of the type of cooking on offer by some of Barcelona’s best restaurants, a taste of some of the fine produce the region cultivates and manufactures or to quaff a glass of fine wine or cava. My advice: if you want to see the stalls in detail go early to avoid the crush after lunch, take a notebook and carry a corkscrew.

Mercat de mercat, in front of the Catedral Santa Eulalia, 21st, 22nd and 23rd October 2011

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El Bulli chefs present ‘Easy and surprising tips and techniques’

A friend recently labelled me an ‘El Bulli groupie’. I’ve already spoken on here about why I find that restaurant and food so interesting so won’t go over old ground again, but maybe it’s an appropriate label given my behaviour at their demonstration at the ‘Mercat del mercats’. I fought off the urge to go to the bathroom and hunger to secure myself the best seat in the auditorium. This was the last presentation of the weekend and I sat through several others I wasn’t so interested in so I could strategically get nearer the front and in the best photo taking position. Like the people in supermarkets who constantly weigh up the shortest queue I moved and prowled until I was happily on the front row and facing one of the big screens. The pull of this presentation packed out the whole room for the first time all weekend with all seats full and rows of people standing. I was glad of my selfish, strategic planning.

It took an army of five people to set up the kitchen before they began yet chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas produced six seafood dishes and an aperitif that really lived up to the title of this demonstration.

El Bulli chefs L-R: Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas and Eduard Xatruch

They began with their aperitif, gazpacho ‘martini’. Frozen gazpacho was placed in a sieve lined with a cloth, the defrosted liquid collected underneath and was served in a martini glass with a drip of olive oil and cherry tomato ‘olives’.

Gazpacho 'martini'

Berberechos or ‘heart clams’ in English were the first to be demonstrated. It was explained that they should be in perfect condition and tightly closed if they are to be used. They were placed in a large utensil similar to a slotted spoon and lowered into a pan of very salty water, I may have misheard but could’ve sworn he said 30% salt for about half a minute, so they had just opened. He stressed the importance of the water being well boiling as the less time the clams spent in the water the better. These were served with nothing more than a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika. Using the same method another plate was done but this time finished with passionfruit. The seeds and fruit were mixed together briefly in their skin before placing on each piece of flesh, the citrus element replacing the usual lemon seafood condiment.

Heart clams with passionfruit

Another type of clam, cloïsses in Catalan, were also poached using the same method but this time forced open with a knife and served barely cooked. The flavour of the sea must woosh round your mouth but they also suggested these could be finished with a splash of olive oil or a sprinkle of those fresh onions ceba tendre.

Barely cooked clams

Galician oysters came next, one served cold, the other hot. Again they gave advise on the freshness, that there should be an intense aroma of the sea when you smell each uncooked oyster.

The cold oyster was to be accompanied by the lemony foam which they made first. A mixture of lemon juice and 50g of water was mixed with one of the Adria’s texturas, unfortunately I couldn’t make out which, and blended slowly to create the foam. This had to be left for at least a minute to settle.The foam was then placed on the cold oyster still in it’s shell.

The oyster to be served hot was removed from it’s shell and cooked gently in a pan with a little water from the oyster shell and some cava. It was then slipped gently back into it’s original home, y esta.

Hot and cold oysters

Oriol Castro was a fast speaker and difficult to keep up with. He produced the final three plates, the first of which was mussels al vapor. These mussels were steamed in a woven basket which he suggested getting from one of Barcelona’s unbelieveable number of ‘chinese’ stores which are piled floor to ceiling with everything you could possibly think of. He placed seaweed in the bottom of the steamer and sat the cleaned mussels on top along with quarters of lemon. The steamer was then placed on the top of a pan of boiling water for about 5 minutes until the shells had opened. The mussels were to be served like this with a squeeze of the lemon they’d been steamed with.

Steamed mussels

Next he peeled langoustines, starting in the middle of the animal and peeling away from himself and gently removing the black line of intenstines that runs through them. He then plunged the head and upper part of the langoustine in very salty boiling water for 45 seconds, swiftly removed the spine and sprinkled sea salt on the uncooked “sashimi” section. The idea is you eat the raw section and follow it with the poached half.

Oriol Castro cooking langoustine

Raw and poached langoustine

And finally, prawns from Palamos further north on the Costa Brava. Again the freshness was emphasised here, that only prawns caught the same or previous day should be used. The lower ‘leg’ parts were removed along with the heads and a cocktail stick placed under the tripa black line pulled it out in one piece. The heads were then floured and fried in a little oil for about 30 seconds where they were then forced through a mini sieve to squeeze out all the head juice “which contains all the potency of the prawn”. The body of the prawn had a skewer placed through the upper part, the skewer laying across the edges of the pan as this section was briefly submerged in hotish oil but not too hot to burn it. The lower part of the prawn out of the oil cooked due to the heat being emitted from the pan. The finished prawn was then served with a sprinkling of salt and a little spoon of the ‘head juice’ on the side.

Fried prawn with prawn sauce

This really was simple stuff but methods many of us would probably never think of doing at home and I think all these techniques were to show how you can bring out the pure, fresh taste of the ingredients and also make them look fantastic. I wish I could’ve captured the waft of prawns and ocean floating round the room at the end as I put my photographic shyness to one side for once and jostled with the crowds to snap the dishes.

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Carles Abellan demonstration at ‘Mercat del mercats’

Now I’ve never had delusions of being an amazing cook but I can turn out a decent meal. What I struggle with is making it look good on the plate. Maybe it’s my no-nonsense Yorkshire roots which still hold firm, that it all goes down the same hole so just get it eaten. One of my fascinations with good cooks and chefs is not just that they manage to make fantastic tasting food but that they can make it look pretty as a picture and totally inviting.

With an uncanny resemblance to Elvis with his sweeping quiff, Carles Abellan graced the platform in the aula gastronòmica to present some nifty and simple tapas served in cans. Unlike in the UK, good quality canned fish is considered a delicacy here and many tapas bars will offer a selection on their menus.

Carles Abellan

Snr Abellan is the head chef at the highly successful Comerç 24 which he opened after spending almost a decade working with Ferran Adrià and now has four other establishments in the city. Those elusive and secretive judges from Michelin awarded them a star in 2007, making them the first tapas restaurant in the city to hold one, which they have retained ever since.

Here Abellan demonstrated 5 dishes, each of which was served in a can manufactured in Galicia, where coincidentally most of the tinned seafood is produced.

Cans to be filled with tapas

The first dish was cubes of raw tuna steak marinated in sesame oil and soy sauce which were then placed in the can with space between the cubes as he stressed air should circulate round the chunks. On top of each cube a small amount of minced ginger was added along with a sprinkling of roasted white and black sesame seeds before a small heap of very finely chopped seaweed to finish. A cocktail stick was placed into each cube so they could be eaten easily from the can.

Once again mar i muntanya made an appearance, this time using oysters and ultra thin and fatty pancetta slices. Removed from their shells the oysters were wrapped in the pancetta slice and grilled for about 3 minutes. To serve the can was filled with salt to support the oyster shell sat on top of it, the now grilled oyster was placed back in the shell and some grated white truffle and a pipette of truffle oil dripped on top.

Snr Abellan at work

For the third dish fillets of raw sardine had been marinating for 20 minutes in a ceviche of the sardine bones, red onion, ají groc (yellow something, I cannot find a translation anywhere but think it may be a fruit), coriander, lime juice and water. The ingredients had been infusing together for 6 hours and strained before the sardine fillets were added. The sardines were then laid in the can and garnishes of peach, the pulp of fingerlime, finely sliced red onion and some further untranslatable ingredients of goa baby leaves, pels de bitxo and more of the ají groc. Unfortunately Catalan-English dictionaries are not as comprehensive as one might like.

Moving away briefly from fish, the next dish was seasonal salted mushrooms. Chanterelles and other varieties were lightly sautéed in oil and sprinkled with salt before being placed in the can, more white truffle was then shaved on top. This was so simple but must taste like mushroomy heaven.

Mushrooms sautéed in oil

The final can was salt cod and tomatoes. Neat cubes of salt cod were topped with cherry tomatoes with the seeds and juice removed, followed by some caviar and incredibly fine slices of what I thought was basil but that Abellan kindly corrected me on after the presentation. These were the green stems from ceba tendre, the fresh onions whose skins have not been dried out.  A drizzle of olive oil and a ‘stem’ for each finished the plate.

Preparing the salt cod and tomatoes

If your budget will stretch to the refined and pricey ingredients these were simple and very achieveable dishes to be done at home and the cans could easily be replaced with small dishes or even well cleaned, re-used cans. Maybe food does all go down the same way, but laid out like this inspires me to try a little bit harder on the plate before getting stuck in.

L-R: Tuna and seaweed, oysters and pancetta, sardines ceviche, salted mushrooms, salt cod with tomatoes.

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Gastronomy classroom ‘Mercat del mercats’

As if the food, the cava, the displays, the tapas, and chatting to a cute Italian chef weren’t enough last weekend, the highlight for me was by far the aula gastronòmica, the lecture hall showing demonstrations from the exhibitors. I cherry picked the ones I prefered as work commitments on the Friday and good company and sunshine on the Saturday meant I couldn’t see everything I might have liked.

The demonstrations were varied and covered talks on healthy eating for diabetics and children, information about specific ingredients such as olive oils and the controversial foie gras, representatives from Mercabarna, the city’s wholesale food market who were demonstrating meat and fish presentation and chefs from the tapas tasting making us envious of some of their skills.

Despite my best efforts I couldn’t keep up with the long streams of Catalan during the ‘how to correctly cut meat’ and ‘preparation, cutting and serving Iberian ham’, without constant demonstration to reinforce the language I ended up completely lost. I did best with the ham presentation where I at least managed to grasp that there are three types of pigs which produce the pernil, that the meat is actually a source of ‘good’ cholesterol and high in minerals, particularly iron. I will chew guilt free on that melt in the mouth fat from now on.

Iberian ham demonstration

Three different types of knives are used to cut into the legs, a mid-length one for the removal of the external fat, a long blade for cutting long, wafer thin slices and a shorter type for slicing the meat in the more difficult parts near the bone. Long strokes coming towards the body produce thin slices of ham which it’s suggested is best served at a room temperature of 25°c, simple enough here, slightly more difficult in some foreign climes.

Slicing Iberian ham

Now I’d love to ham a ham at home but have seen the results of not storing it properly. A friend’s housemate once had tiny mites scurrying over the surface under the cloth placed over it. Euw. Here he demonstrated placing the cut outer layers of fat back on the exposed parts and then covering with a cloth.

Covering cut Iberian ham

On Sunday from Genova was Stefano Bruzzoni from ‘Il Pesto de Pra’‘, growers of basil for the best part of 200 years and manufacturers of that moreish pesto we’d sampled the day before. This presentation was an assault of latin languages, the host speaking Catalan, Snr Bruzzoni speaking his native Italian and a Spanish translator. I was shocked to learn that there are 60 varities of basil, the Genoese variety apparently the most prestigious and the small leaves from the plant are used for the pesto. The name pesto comes from the Italian verb ‘pestar’ which means ‘to grind’ and also gives the name to the common kitchen item ‘pestle and mortar’ and of course the ‘pesto’. Cooking and lingustics.

Pesto demonstration

He was keen to stress that “the quality of the ingredients is vital” and that “there are pine nuts and there are pine nuts”, the best of which can cost up to 30€ a kilo, far removed from the cashews they are replaced with in cheap supermarket brands. This was pesto made with Ligurian love, no bashing the ingredients but gently twisting the pestle with one hand and hugging and turning the mortar with the other. The recipe for the pesto is at the end of this post.

However, it was a quick wristed woman, a mean wielder of a very large and sharp knife that enlightened me the most in these demonstrations when she answered the question ‘How do you correctly fillet fish?’ A very experienced hand from Mercabarna she is obviously used to doing this at lightening speed every day out at the vast 90 hectare wholesale market in Zona Franca which has gradually absorbed the cities wholesale markets over the years. She made light work of gutting and portioning a whole hake, two sole, some sardines, anchovies and a cuttlefish in just half an hour.

Fish demonstration

She began by explaining what we should look for in fresh fish; red gills, bright eyes, silvery and shimmery scales, and of course that whiff of the sea not fishy odours. She started on a large hake, snipping off the fins and sending scales flying everywhere as she brushed them away. As she gutted it she kept the liver, I didn’t understand what she said as to why she didn’t throw this away but I’ve never heard of a hake liver dish and she then deftly cut the peix into pieces and removed the cheeks.

That is one mean looking knife

From the two soles she filleted one into four pieces and the second she kept whole but just removed the skin. Her knife skills were astounding as she used the knife to not only fillet the fish but to hold it and the skin as she manipulated them and intermittently wiped it clean in a fearless manner. I would love one of those knifes but I worry I would probably do myself some serious damage.

With the sardines she destroyed any future misgivings I might have about buying and cooking them. No longer will the pleasure of eating delicious sardines be diminished by trying to pick my way amongst the bones. By bending the head back, putting a finger under the gills and pulling your finger downwards through the body the guts are removed in one fell swoop, the main bone and feathery bones can then be pulled out in one go, all still connected to each other. The process was the same with the fresh anchovies, although in this case you remove the head at the same time. By flattening out the anchovy you can then pull out the bones as before.

The final demo with the cuttlefish was slightly rushed as they were pushing her to take questions from the audience and my view was obscured by the camerman but it seemed she removed the large head and then cleaned it as for squid and cut the tenticles to go along with the firm white flesh. Cuttlefish ink is an important element of many local dishes such as arros negre (black rice) and fideu (a short cut, thin noodle dish) and she insisted on removing it carefully so it can be used and not colour the fronts of your kitchen units.

So, to end, here is the recipe for that mouthwatering pesto, enjoy!

Fresh Pesto for 4

3 handfuls of fresh basil

3tbsp of pine nuts

1tsp of coarse sea salt

Half a clove of garlic

3 tbsp of grated Gran Padano cheese

1tbsp of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1tsp of ewe’s milk

4tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Start to grind the salt and garlic in the mortar and then add the basil leaves, oil and cheese. Turn the pestle and mortar lovingly, do not bash the ingredients together. The pesto is ready when all the ingredients are well combined.

 

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Tapas and tasting ‘Cuina del mercat’

I read somewhere recently that Barcelona has 11,000 restaurants and cafes. Judging by the proliferation of Paellador pre-cooked paella and other ‘typically’ Spanish oven ready dishes being advertised outside so many I pass I would make a good guess that many of this number are not worth setting foot in to try out.

Thankfully, the Cuina del mercat tapas and tasting area at the ‘Mercat del Mercats’ gave us the opportunity to sample some of the offerings from 12 of the best the city has to offer. Those involved and their head chefs were:

Restaurant LLuçanès – Àngel Pasqual

Saüc – Xavi Franco

Comerç 24 – Carles Abellán

Bar La Torna – Josep M. Sancerni

Restaurant Suquet de l’Almirall – Quim Marquès

Bar Kiosko Universal – Benjamín Domínguez

Restaurant Cuines Santa Caterina – José Santiago

Restaurant Koy Shunka – Hideki Matsuhisa and Zhang Chao Xu

Bar/Restaurant El Velòdrom – Josep Lorenç

Bar Nuri – Núria Castellà and Jordi Anglí

Bar El Quim de la Boqueria – Joaquín Márquez Durán

Restaurant Avalon/Freixa Tradició – Ramon Freixa

As with most civic events like this, no cash changes hands for food or drinks. There was a range of tickets on offer giving you the option to taste cavas, tapas plates, or in our case, a couple of tapas plates and a soft drink or beer. In the jostle and bustle of the crowds I haven’t managed to note exactly which dishes came from each establishment but here is a selection of some of what tickled our taste buds.

My first plate was a stew of cuttlefish, salxitxa sausage and prawns from seafood reataurant Suquet de l’Almirall. This is an example of what Catalans call ‘mar i muntanya’ (sea and mountain), we would call it ‘surf and turf’, the joining of seafood with meat. Even to my usual fish loving palette this leant a bit too far to the ‘fishy’ side for me, but that’s down to personal taste rather than a bad dish. It could’ve suffered from being really salty but wasn’t and even though I personally didn’t love it I still gobbled it down whilst forcing my way through the crowds.

Cuttlefish, salxitxa and prawn stew

As I munched on my stew I sneakily stuck my spoon into my friend’s guacamole with salmon and sesame seeds. Smooth, rich, slightly lemony guacomole was topped with tiny pieces of smoked salmon and a sprinkling of white and black sesame seeds. Tapas envy kicked in as I wish I’d chosen that.

Guacamole with salmon and sesame seeds

I spotted said friend’s boyfriend happily chewing on a pintxos, I’m guessing this was form one of the stalls hosted by the bars rather than the restaurants. I have no picture but imagine a skewer of soft grilled pork, tinged orange from spices, unsurprisingly I managed to procure a little nibble of that also. The offering from Comerç 24 was a quintessential Spanish tapas dish of ensalada rusa. Now this is something I would never be interested inordering in a bar, the idea of cubes of potato, carrots and peas in a mountain of mayonnaise just doesn’t appeal. I also have a student whose loathing for this dish is unsurpassable. However, there’s ensalada rusa and there’s ensalada rusa. This was a large quinelle of pureed potato containing pieces of the vegetable ingredients, a dribble of mayonnaise piped across the top and finished with a sprinkling of gherkins and some hand made crisp breads. Much more refined and much more delicious.

Ensalada rusa

Japanese restaurant Koy Shunka offered a break from the traditional local fare and gave us some neat sushi rolls with a flack of wasabi on the side. Unfortunately we didn’t taste these but they were very popular, as was their Sunday demonstration.

Sushi

After seeing someone wandering around with what looked like some delicious chorizo stew I went to hunt that down. I was mislead and instead found Bar La Torna servinga couple of varieties of tripe stew and some impressive looking bread. Thus far I’ve not been able to learn to like tripe so gave it a miss but many souls were enthusiastically handing over their tickets and heartily tucking in.

Tripe stew

However my favourite dish has to be the poached egg with fried lardons of onion and bull blanc sausage. The eggs, cooked in their shells in a water bath were then delicately peeled and sat on top of the crispy onion and sausage and finished with incredibly finely chopped chives. Oh, for a water bath so that making poached eggs no longer eludes me. The chefs were working a fierce line here to keep the dishes filled with the artery clogging fried mixture, eggs peeled and unbroken and cute final dishes finished.

Tapas preparation

Poached egg with lardons of onion and 'bull blanc' sausage

Other stalls offered huge prawns simply poached, another friend sampled a risotto, the flavour of which I can’t remember. Our vegetarian friends were a little under represented so chose to purchase from Organic a vegetarian and vegan restaurant and Boqueria stall in the city. Sadly they were underwhelmed by the burrito wraps they had and complained they were bland. I also had space for a little something else, the tapas was fun but I was a hungry chica so I wandered to get some coca. As I’ve mentioned here before this is a water and oil dough similar to that of pizza which is very common here. Often served with red peppers, ham, cheese, or fish toppings on this day I found one reminiscent of a pasty, stuffed with spinach, sultanas and pine nuts. Rather sweet but a great combination. Once again my photography fails me and I’ve pictured the whole item but not split it to show you the insides. Note to self: Must slow down and not let stomach lead me to rushing to get my teeth stuck in. For 3€ this was very filling and finished my off my remaining, gurgling hunger.

Spinach, sultana and pine nut 'coca'

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Mercat de mercats (Market of markets)

For lovers of cookery, fine food and warm sunshine there was probably nowhere better to be this past weekend than in Barcelona at the ‘Mercat del mercats’. The plaça in front of the Santa Eulalia Cathedral in the barri Gotíc was taken over predominantly by stallholders from the cities 46 markets and Catalan producers of DO products.

'Mercat del mercats'

These were complimented also by exhibitors from cava cellars from around the region, a handful of DO producers from Italy and southern France and tapas and tasting from twelve of the city’s most prestigious restaurants. This was not only a showcase of the finest food the city and region has to offer but also an opportunity to improve culinary knowledge and cooking skills through a series of presentations and demonstrations from the exhibitors in the aula gastronòmica (gastronomy classroom).

Aula gastronòmica

For those of a grapey inclination there were additional presentations from sommeliers in a seperate lecture tent and a children’s zone with fun and games for the little ones. The whole event stretched from the cathedral and across the traffic clogged Via Laeitana to in front of the Mercat de Santa Caterina in Born.

As I’ve mentioned before the public events put on by the city council never cease to amaze me and this was no exception, other than that it was the best I’ve been to thus far and had me in a state of near ecstacy all weekend.  Unsurprisingly this was an incredibly popular event and the crowds flocked and stuffed the aisles of stalls from early afternoon onwards. Thankfully we’d agreed to meet before noon so got a chance to wander and sample without having to endure the later crush.

Entering the market from Plaça Nova the first ‘zone’ was for producers of local and quality products from the towns and farmland around Catalonia. Cheese gave way to embutits, in Spanish embutidos, the collective name for cured meats and sausages, which then led to locally reared chickens which at 32€ each I was unable to stretch to but would relish the opportunity to devour one day. Many of the goods were from the area around El Prat, nestled on the edge of and around the airport it is littered with small holdings and crop production which is clearly visible to anyone getting the train in or out of the city when they arrive.  Organic meats and calçot cultivators sat alongside an overwhelming range of olive oil producers which somehow I have managed to not get any photographs of.

Local cheeses and 'embutits'

Chickens from El Prat

Whilst quietly chewing on many slices of bread soaked in their fruity, peppery and sometimes herby olive oils (which is probably what distracted me from taking any photographs) the majority made from Arbequina olives, I discussed the possibility of visiting some of the cooperatives with the engaging stallholders when the harvest season arrives at the end of next month and the beginning of December. Many open their doors to visitors and I have at least one visit planned to brighten up the winter months.

From the local products we wandered into the Cuina de mercat, the zone dedicated to the chefs and leading restaurants and bars in the city. This section deserves a post of it’s own and will feature in the future articles ‘Tapas and tasting Cuine del mercat‘ as will some of the presentations in ‘Gastronomy classroom’, ‘Carles Abellan – Celebration dishes made with cans’ and ‘El Bulli chefs present easy and surprising tips and techniques’.

Moritz beers and cold drinks brought our unusually high October temperatures down and waist-height bench tables provided a space to enjoy the tasting plates, icy beers and catch up with friends before continuing the adventure.

Moritz tent

We wandered through the cava space, exhibitors from 20 cellers from the Sant Sadurni d’Anoia region and in the late afternoon we returned to buy a chilled bottle of brut from the celler ‘Rossell i Formosa’ to enjoy on the cathedral steps as we soaked up the skin tingling rays and the atmosphere.

Cava producers

Rosell i Formosa cavas

Taking in the atmosphere on the cathedral steps

The most varied section was that of the markets of Barcelona. Whilst I was aware that Barcelona’s market network was extensive, to learn there were 40 market halls out of 46 total markets was still a surprise. Whilst the Boquería is without doubt the most popular and well known visitors should not dismiss the markets of the other barris, some of them in impressive old buildings, sat on top of roman ruins and oozing charm. I don’t need to describe what was on sale here, the following photos do all the talking.

Iberian hams

Nuts however you need them

Sardines

Chocolates, truffles and other sweet treats

Poultry

Dried mushrooms

Chillis and peppers

Sweets galore

Butifarras, white and egg sausages

Harvest display

As we left this sensory overload behind we wandered past the workshop tent and through to the compra a pagès, literally meaning ‘buy from the countryside’ and here in one space where twelve producers from further afield in Catalonia. Here we found eggs, more olive oil, cheeses, fruit, vegetables, honey and pollen.

Catalan honey and pollens

Our last call before going to briefly check out the children’s zone and the organiser stands across Via Laietana was that of the markets of the Mediterranean. Represented by MedEmporion a project which supports and brings the markets of Barcelona, Turin, Marseille and Genoa together, here were twelve more suppliers of quality jams and conserves, breads and the last stall of wonderfully moreish Genoese pesto whose representative Stefano Bruzzone lovingly prepared for one of the demonstrations we will read about another time.

Stallholder from Genoa, Italy

Conserves, preserves and wine from Turin, Italy

Genoese pesto producer 'Il Pesto de Para'

This has been a whistle stop overview of the market, here you can find information on all the producers, exhibitors and demonstrations from the weekend. However, I spent the best part of two days here so more to follow, watch this space.

Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th October 2010

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‘Bolets’ season

Along with cloudier skies, the nip in the evening air, the blustery wind and recent, at times torrential rain, the other way of knowing that autumn has arrived in Barcelona is the arrival of the bolets. Bolets is Catalan for ‘mushrooms’ and the markets are overflowing with wonderous varieties.  I wandered round the Boquería as the stall holders were setting up for the day, crate upon crate of fungi were stacked up, some of them to be painstakingly trimmed and neatly laid out on display.

 

Mountains of mushrooms

 

The selection is vast and to eyes that are so accustomed to seeing bland, button mushrooms shrink wrapped in a plastic tray, their arrival and the opportunity to sample them is an exciting prospect. Mushrooms are very important to Catalonia. The region’s location, northern and coastal yet also mountainous and forestal, provides the perfect environment for wild growth and cultivation and the area generally consumes more of them than other areas on the peninsula. It is a long standing tradition, which appears to be alive and well according to my students, for locals to go foraging for their own at weekends throughout the season which runs through until the new year.

The Saffron Milk Cap is the most popular variety and whole stalls are devoted to them, the care of the display seduces and entices you.

 

Saffron Milk Cap (rovelló (cat), níscalo (cast))

 

 

Display of Saffron Milk Caps

 

Enormous Queen Boletes, a type of cep lay quartered in the crate, even in pieces they are huge and how to cook these hunks is definitely something to research.

 

Queen bolete (Sureny (cat), Cep)

 

There are delicate chanterelles and their relation the yellow stemmed chanterelles . Again I want to research some recipes that do them justice and with all this choice some cooking is going to have to wait. Luckily I have a few months ahead of me for planning and salivating expectance.

 

Chanterelles (rossinyol (cat), rebozuelo (cast))

 

 

Yellow stem chanterelles (rossinyolic (cat), rebozuelo (cast))

 

I’d love to write about the earthy, woody smells being emitted from the stalls, that wafts of forest were stimulating my olfactory bulb. Unfortunately, despite the Boquería being possibly my favourite place in the city, it’s odour of disinfectant, jamons, fish and nearby drains is sometimes a bit of an assault on the nose. All said, you forget the aroma when there are marvellous, smooth, milky stemmed specimens of oyster mushrooms catching your attention.

 

Oyster mushrooms (orellana (cat), seta de cardo (cast))

 

I brought home some of the Saffron Milk Caps with another variety called St George’s mushroom (moixernó (cat), seta de primavera (cast)), which are very similar in appearance to the milk caps but without the blueish – green tinge. Slightly toasted bread, drizzled with a little olive oil, a brand called Oleaurum which is so moreish it takes a lot of restraint to stop pouring it on nearly everything I eat, and thick slices of some of each mushroom sautéd in some butter and a dribble of bog standard olive oil to stop the butter burning. I also threw in a whole garlic clove so it had a hint of the flavour but without overpowering the fungi but whipped it out before serving, seasoned with salt and pepper and then sprinkled some chopped parsley in at the end. Perfect, delicious quick food for someone like me who arrives home from work late and generally famished.Whilst the market doesn’t have the woodland aroma, the mushrooms certainly did. Wiping them with kitchen towel removed more dirt than pre-packed button mushrooms and there was a definite whiff of pine coming off them. Also unlike ‘regular’ mushrooms they didn’t ooze water during cooking so would’ve benefitted from being sliced a little thinner before going in the pan. Nevertheless, they were a juicy, ‘meaty’, substantial supper and an introduction to my forays into fungi.

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La Cuina del Món

When it’s Saturday evening, you’ve been out all day, your a bit penniless and need feeding…..actually that last bit’s a lie, I didn’t exactly need feeding, not after a picnic, ice cream, horchata and a few afternoon beers, but nevertheless….what more could you ask for than a food tasting fair to be right on your doorstep?

Barcelona city council’s budget for free or very low cost arts and cultural activities continues to astound me, despite not having a clue what the budget is, never a week goes by without something going on for the citizens of this currently very balmy city.

‘La Cuina del Món’ was a project started in 2003 to show the culinary diversity of the Poble Sec barrio, an area of Barcelona which has seen a huge rise in immigration in the last decade. This project, which brings local people together to teach them how to cook, along with others I have read about, seems to be aimed at encouraging the local residents to get to know or at least appreciate the cultural differences of their neighbours. The 17 dishes presented at this event were prepared by 30 students from 22 different countries and the dishes originated in 15 of those countries, those being: Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Japan, India, The Phillipines, Morroco, Ethiopia, Senegal, Moldova, Ukraine, Catalonia, Domincan Republic, Cuba and Guatemala.

Carrer Blai

C/ Blai was turned into an outdoor restaurant for the evening of Friday and Saturday with tables along the pedestrain thoroughfare and stalls where you could purchase the 2€ taster plates .

A handy booklet in Catalan with information about the individual countries and recipes for the dishes was given with the purchase of tickets for the plates.

I made space for 3 plates following the afternoon’s eating session and chose the ‘Ropa vieja con chicharritas‘ from Cuba, which was shredded  beef cooked with peppers, garlic, chilli, tomato, olive oil and other ingredients I’m still not familiar with in Catalan and served with fried green banana chips, these being the ‘chicharritas‘. Along with this I had the Sengalese ‘Thiebou Diene‘, sardines cooked with assorted vegetables and rice, and finally ‘Casquinha de Peixes’ from Brazil, hake and mussels cooked with lemon juice, coriander, fennel seeds, tomatoes, onion and olive oil and this dish I particularly liked.

'Thiebou Diene', 'Ropa Vieja con chicharritas' and 'Moro de Guandules con coco' chosen by my friend

However, I do not want to critique the food here, this is not professional cooking and catering for an event like this is always difficult. What I want to celebrate is this event getting neighbours and others from the city out, sharing flavours and enjoying the warm evening air together.

For anyone interested in being involved in ths project you can contact http://www.poblesec.org for more details plus additional and better photos of the event.

La Cuina del Món, C/Blai (between Roser and Margarit), Friday 9th and Saturday 10th July

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