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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Bar Celta Pulpería

Tourists and locals/residents can be, at times, a heady cocktail in Barcelona. Many foreigners living here now complain about them but were once tourists themselves and these camera-wielding, path-blocking visitors undeniably contribute vast sums of money to the local economy, as well as of course having every right to come and experience and devour this beautiful city. This is somewhat offset, however, by some of the problems they also bring such as drunkenness, noise, crowded streets and the thieving that follows them, particularly in the barri Gotic. The city council continues, with varying degrees of success, to try and find ways to disperse visitors to other areas of the city.

There are some places though where the cocktail is perfectly shaken or stirred and everyone rubs along just fine and dandy. One of these places is Bar Celta Pulpería.This is a rustic, Galician tapas bar which is always packed out with those who live here and those who are visiting and it’s one place that has improved immeasurably since the smoking ban. A long L-shaped bar area is lined with tapas to be selected and ordered from the waiters, who after sweat and hard work deserve every cent of their salary as they are constantly rushed off their feet. Inside, walls are lined with panelling, bowls are attached to the wall to hang your jacket and the place is littered with nic-nacs and bottles.

If, like me, you sometimes find sitting on a bar stool with your feet dangling a little uncomfortable then there is a small, cramped dining area at the rear of the bar.Name a classic tapas dish and they probably serve it here. The glass cabinets that line the bar make decisions difficult, rows of dishes of patatas bravas, razor clams, mussels, pa amb tomaquet, pimientos de padrón, whitebait, pinchos, sardines and of course this being a pulpería, octopus.With the exception of commenting that they were a little heavy-handed with the salt shaker before serving, especially with the pimientos de padrón, there are no complaints about this food. It is simple and honest fayre and at a reasonable price. Follow our lead and order a few things and then fill up more if needed, much more pleasurable than placing one bulk order and having too many plates in front of you. Here’s a few things we ate that survived for a photo opportunity:

Sweet, tender pulpo a la gallega (Galician octopus)

Crispy, salted pescaditos fritos (whitebait)

Pa amb tomaquet (Bread with tomato)

Oversalted pimientos de padron that washed the wine down quicker than expected

Other dishes that didn’t make the photo call due to our absent mindedness and hunger were pieces of warm, paprika-oozing chorizo and buñuelos de bacalao deep-fried salt cod dough balls.

On an evening in the city take a stroll along the seafront, do some fantasy yacht shopping at the harbour and then skip to C/de la Merce just behind Passeig de Colom and sample some of this for yourself. Soak up the buzz of the bar and admire the harmonious relationship between the insiders and outsiders.

Bar Celta Pulpería, C/de la Merce 16, Gotic

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Can Maño

As you wander the streets of Barceloneta, especially at the weekend, it’s difficult to ignore the constant indicators that people are enjoying eating. Through open café or restaurant doors and windows and from street front terraces you hear the animated chattering of voices, clattering of plates and cutlery being cleared, glasses being ‘clinked’ together as people say salut and inhale wafts of garlicky seafood that intermittently hit your nose. Every time I have this experience I say to myself that I must eat around here sometime, I just can’t believe it’s taken me so long.

With a visitor from home keen for a marine fix this seemed the perfect opportunity to have a taste of this barri. We thought we’d try out Can Maño on C/Baluard, just a short walk further along from Baluard bakery on the same street. As we arrived half an hour before closing at 11pm the place was thronged with customers and there were ourselves and others trying to get in. Noone, including us, seemed to be in the slightest bit put off by the aged decor, dusty, mishapen fans and menu boards which looked like they hadn’t been updated in 20 years.

Thankfully the framed reviews and a recent mention in the city’s Time Out magazine were more of the moment and indicated, as was evident from the throbbing atmosphere, that this place is still going strong. We hastily placed our order as the kitchen was closing and large plates of pa amb tomaquet, fried aubergines and chunky, hot chips arrived.

A 10€ bottle of Rioja was far less ropey than we anticipated. I also love drinking wine out of little beakers instead of the usual wine glasses and I also find I knock them over and break them much more infrequently.

Grilled sardines with garlic and parsley and a plate of straight out of the fryer calamar arrived and we got stuck in, although despite arriving so late we were left to enjoy our meal and not rushed to be out of the door again.

The sardines were perfectly cooked, the calamar soft not rubbery, being British the chips we couldn’t resist dowsing in vinegar. The aubergine for me was a little bland and on reflection we should have ordered a salad to balance all the fried components, however I have had terrible salad experiences here so always err on the side of caution. When we saw other diners receive theirs though they looked fresh and bright, not wilting and insipid as is often the case.

We finished with two coffees and I introduced my companion to hierbas, a Spanish liquor often drunk at the end of a meal and I enjoyed watching the middle aged waiter who was obviously tired from his shift, pause a minute, towel over his shoulder as he took a short descanso to watch a bit of television that was on low behind us.

I took this as our cue to leave and he scribbled the bill on a slip of paper, a real bargain for the amount we’d eaten including a bottle of wine.

If a swanky, modern setting is what you’re after then this is probably not your place, but if some large plates of fresh seafood and a glimpse of this fishing neighbourhood’s past is what you’re looking for then Can Maño will be a hit with you.

Can Maño, C/Baluard 12, Barceloneta

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Betty Ford’s burgers

Betty Ford’s. Burger and Fries. Blumming Fantastic.

I could stop there but I will expand on my bold statement. The summer months have kept me away from the ironically named ‘Betty Ford’s’ as this small, often crowded bar doesn’t have any outdoor space but it has been a regular haunt of mine since arriving in the city. After several months leave of absence and a recent, vegetarian heavy diet I couldn’t wait to tuck into one of their lip lickingly good burgers and fries. We met earlyish for Barcelona, 8.30pm, as this place gets very busy on weekend nights so good to get the food in before the crowds arrive and make it difficult to eat. Whether you’re eating or not Betty Ford’s is a great place to hang out. The space is cosy, one wall is exposed stone, the bar carries an extensive range of spirits, they serve well priced, good cocktails and the red wine is passable if a little ropey. One big plus point for me about this spot is that there is always a good soundtrack to your conversation and burger munching, soul, disco and funk sounds provide the background to your evening. For the size of the bar and the number of people it attracts the toilets could do with being a little larger. It’s a game of ‘toing and froing’ when there is a queue for people to get in and out of the two toilets which are literally the size of two upright coffins and tucked in a tiny corner near the bar. Some interesting decoration adorns the walls, such as this tropical surfer sceneand my favourite, this rather raunchy print which is possibly intended to fuel the lustful thoughts of the bar’s clientele as the evening progresses and the cubatas flow. The only food you’ll get here is a choice of six burgers which you can choose to have accompanied by fries or as part of a ‘menu’ with the burger and a drink or burger, fries, and a drink or smoothie.  All burgers are served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayonnaise and then there is a choice of: Classic, a regular burger with extra cheese and mustard; my favourite the Habanero with spicy peppers and goat’s cheese; the Galaxy with blue cheese and cranberry sauce; Ranchera with guacamole and bacon; the Texas which in typical Texan style has more than a couple of additions, BBQ sauce, bacon, cheese and fried onion; and not forgetting the vegetarians, the Seitan which is a moist bean burger with cheese and guacamole. They are also very accomodating at swapping things round to suit your taste.

 

Habanera burger and fries

 

Served in a kitsch plastic basket and a soft, toasted sesame bun the burgers are juicy and nicely pink on the inside and the fries crisp, crunchy and lightly salted on the outside with soft, fluffy centres are divine, especially plunged into the yogurt and dill dip which comes alongside. Now I hate dill so that’s a big thumbs up from me.

You also can’t really beat the price either, the burger, chips and a drink which can include soft drink, beer or wine will only leave your wallet about 10€ lighter, depending on which burger you choose for your menu.

If you get the urge for a decent fast food fix then bear in mind that Betty Ford doesn’t allow intoxication until 7pm, I’ve been caught out by that more than once and have been gutted when I’ve had my heart set on some afternoon indulgence and found the doors firmly shut.

I’ll end where I began, just in case you didn’t quite get it.

Betty Ford’s. Burger and Fries. Blumming Fantastic.

Betty Ford’s, C/Joaquin Costa, 56, Raval – Smoking

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Torres vineyard tour and wine tasting

Under an hour away from Barcelona by train lies the D.O. wine producing region of Penedès, a beautiful area of rolling hills, quaint, historic small towns, vast vineyards and the looming presence of Montserrat in the distance.

Distant Montserrat behind the Penedès landscape

There are a number of wine producers in this area, many of which offer tours and tasting, although not all are easily accessible without a car, hence the reason for choosing Torres for our visit which can be reached by taking the train to Vilafranca del Penedès and a short taxi journey from the station there. Public transport reliant cava lovers can also visit, tour and taste at the cellers of Freixenet a few stops before Vilafranca at Sant Sadurní d’Anoia and will be dropped off immediately outside.

There are various tours available at Torres, we chose the Standard Winery Tour and the option to sample a few of the wines, a dessert wine and  brandy to round off the visit.

The tour begins in a mini-cinema with the showing of a film about the family and vineyard history, which set the tone for the light and flowery descriptions used for the vineyard from there on in. We then moved onto the ‘Tunnel of Aromas’, a bizarre room with projected, blurry images of burning vines, grapes and wine production amongst others which were unidentifiable .

The Tunnel of Aromas

These images were accompanied by the ‘aromas’, supposedly the scent of burning vines, followed by spring flowers and then grape juice before fermentation. Unfortunately the acrid scent of the first fragrance masked any chance of picking out the later ones.

In keeping with the somewhat strange experience of this tunnel, we had fantasies of a Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory experience and sightings of Oompah Loompahs when a motorised ‘train’ then arrived to take us around the vineyard. Sadly, they were to remain just fantasies, although bizarre goings on were not confined solely to this tunnel.

The train led us out of the tunnel and onto a tour of the vineyards itself, an automated voice gave us brief information about the site and various buildings we passed, such as the harvest collection area, machinery for separating the grapes from the stems and bottling the vintages.

Harvest collection depot

Machinery to separate the grapes from their stems

The previous bizarre projected images made another appearance as we entered the first of two cellars, this time there were no ‘aromas’ but yet more flowery descriptions of monks creating the first wines, accompanied by their ghostly images projected on the glass of the cellar walls. Personally I would’ve been happier with this information and a view and detail of the said cellar.

Luckily, we were briefly released from the ‘ghost train’ and a real guide took us into the second cellar of the tour, this time providing us with interesting and informative detail about the maturation, storage and sales of the wine. This was the highlight of the tour and overall the whole experience would’ve benefitted from having a real guide, which is available on the VIP tour.

After a brief return to the train we arrived back at the main reception where we had the opportunity to sample some of the Torres creations.

For the tasting there is the option to sample four noble and reserve wines, or one of the prestigious wines and a brandy or dessert wine. We made the most of being a group and got tickets to sample all of these and enjoyed sniffing and slurping the following: the prestigious wines Mas La Plana and Milmanda; the reserve wines Marimar Estate Chardonnay, Santa Digna C.S. Rosé, Atrium Merlot 2008 and Gran Coronas C. B. 2006;

Marimar Estate Chardonnay and Santa Digna C.S. Rosé

the dessert wine Floralis Moscatel and finally the Torres 10 brandy.

Floralis Moscatel and Torres '10' brandy

This is only the second time I’ve been wine tasting and being very unknowledgeable about wines, as with my previous experience I loved having the guidance about flavours and aromas and information about the grapes and production, which always leave me eager to extend my knowledge.

Overall this was a fun afternoon out, in a beautiful location and an interesting ‘taster’ of a wine tour, sadly it just left me craving a more indepth visit and wishing it had had a little more substance. A hint to myself and anyone interested in doing such a tour to maybe choose more than the standard tour in future.

As a final note about Torres, I think it’s worth mentioning and commending them on the steps they are taking to reduce their environmental impact, details of which were mentioned on the tour and futher details of which are on their website http://www.torres.es

Torres vineyard tour, Pacs del Penedès

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