Catalan Cuisine Suggestions: Restaurant La Violeta, Castelltersol, Barcelona

One the good things in life, if not the best, is to go out and find a nice meal, at a nice restaurant in a nice place. When it comes to enjoying excellent Mediterranean dishes, Catalan cuisine, is one of the best choices. It's been a long time, I haven't recommended an interesting restaurant in or out of Barcelona and in fact I always forget to use cellphone pictures I take while traveling around Catalonia to share them here with you. That's what a blog is for after all.

Today I want to suggest Restaurant La Violeta in Castelltersol (there should be a letter cedilla after the R but Google spiders don't like foreign letters too much), a Catalan municipality that is part of Barcelona province which historically devoted to the textile industry and took its name after a castle that dates back to the ninth century. Restaurant La Violeta and the hotel with the same name, are located in a house from 1860, restored in the 90s. Apparently is just another normal local restaurant, but I have to say that if you happen to be nearby you shouldn't miss it because its cuisine is certainly worth tasting. When I say nearby, I mean, you could be watching eagles fly in renown Cim d'Aligues natural park or admiring the views at Sant Miquel del Fai. 

But let's talk about the menu at La Violeta:

For starters, I recommend you don't miss their special tapas, like Formatges arrebossats amb melmelada de violetes (breaded cheese dice in violet marmalade) in the picture above, or the Patatas Bravas a la Violeta. In fact, my wife and I fell in love with that violet flavor and that's why we always try to return when we have the chance. They have a nice selection of salads like the season salad with nuts, cheese, quince and apple.

For the main course, you can either have pasta dishes like the Rossejat de fideus mariners (a sort of Paella but with noodles and sauce) or a good shrimp risotto. I would go for the Arros amb llamantol (rice with lobster) but as you can see in the image, pan fried tuna can suit you well for less money. We were fortunate it was summer and they had the Gazpacho, one of the best I have tried, out of Andalusia of course.

For dessert, there was this homemade ice cream with strawberries that was just the cherry on top of the day. As to the price, it is slightly pricey, not much, but you get quality food and they are not minimalist at all, if you know what I mean. More details on their website following the first image.

Romesco Sauce: The Perfect Companion to Calçots

As mentioned in yesterday's post, Calçots are supposed to be soaked in Romesco sauce. I mentioned the ingredients too. I guess this video might do to get the idea considering I wanted it in English for everyone to understand. I wish it was some Catalan chef but the guy knows what he's doing anyway.

Peeling Calçots, Masia Can Palau, Vilanova del Valles

In Catalonia, there is this part of the year when going out to peel calçots for lunch at any of the many masias spread around the country becomes almost a matter of state.

Most well-known places for calçotades are in the southern province of Tarragona, in a region called Valls but around Barcelona it is not strange to find a good spot in an idyllic environment.

The place I will mention today is just an example and of course you are free to choose. It is called Masia Can Palau and it is located in Vilanova del Valles some kilometers away from the city of Barcelona.

The 30 eur menu included Calçots with Romescu sauce, grilled meat (a mixture of chicken, sausage, lamb and rabbit with fries) and dessert. We had two generous rounds of calçots per person. They came wrapped in aluminum foil and were very hot.

But how do you peel Catalan calçots?

You have to grab the calçot by the leaves and with the other hand, press gently on the black roasted skin of the bulb and peel it off. Beware you don't press to hard and pull away the inner part of the calçot. It requires some practice. It should come out clean.

After that you soak the tender and juicy stems of the plant in an exquisite romesco sauce which is made with almond, garlic, red pepper, hazelnut, tomato, olive oil, vinegar, crumbs of fried bread, salt and pepper.

If you want to know how they cook calçots and what they are, check my previous posts: Catalan Traditions - Calçotada: A Close Look and Grilled Leaks...Check the sauce in next post.

Boquerones en Vinagre (Anchovies in Vinegar), Mediterranean Delight

Having a tapa of raw fish macerated in vinegar is surely not quite luring for some stomachs. Mediterranean anchovies are not just gutted fish salted in brine, matured and canned or bottled in oil or salt as those you find in the market. They are also served fresh and marinated in vinegar as the ones in the picture. This exquisite tapa is called Boquerones en vinagre. By now you probably have guessed that not all anchovies prepared this way taste the same and that both the freshness of the fish and the quality of the vinegar really make the difference. Yesterday, we enjoyed these superb boquerones en vinagre dressed with garlic, parsley and some olives at Rincon de la Ciudadela, exactly at the corner of carrer Princesa and carrer Comerç in El Born, Barcelona. The restaurant is not modern, chic and trendy like many others in the area, but you know, good food, is not always in the coolest place.

Cupcakes (Magdalenas) at Local Market Stall

I am not fond of cupcakes (magdalenas in Spanish) because I find the dough too dry to swallow. But there is a huge difference between those industrial magdalenas packed in plastic at the supermarket and homemade Spanish cupcakes right out of the oven. In Catalan towns it is common to find these local fairs where you can buy all sort of homemade products so rare in big cities like Barcelona and cupcakes are one of them. Today's picture was taken in Vic. Here is an easy Spanish cupcake recipe

Black Olive Bread: Yet Another Catalan Delight

It is very common in Catalonia to dress up dishes with the magic touch of some small slices of black olives. They appear on top of salads, fish, pizzas, cocas and so on. These buns look yummy with that tasty garnish so I thought they might be a good teaser for your stomach this weekend. Check this black olive bread recipe and maybe you can try it at home.

Catalan Sausages: Botifarra d'Ou

A close look on one of the most delicious sausages in Catalonia: Botifarra d'Ou (literally, although I don't think there's an equivalent in English, Egg Sausage). As the name suggests it is made of eggs and meat. It is served in slices and has a more delicate texture and taste than other sausages. According to Catalan traditions Botifarra d'Ou is served the first day of Carnival aka dijous gras or dijous llarder (Fat Thursday)

If you missed other posts dealing with Catalan sausages please check: Botifarra Negra, Botifarra de Pagés or the whole story: sausage. This picture was taken at Mercat de l’Abaceria Central in Gracia quarter.

Homemade Bread in Barcelona Towns

Nothing like homemade bread bought in one of the many occasional markets organized during local celebrations in the great majority of towns around Barcelona city. Of course, bread is bread and maybe any bakery near you provides exquisite products but the good thing about these markets is that now that you bought the freshest bread you can combine it with other homemade stuff sold in the next stand, be it ham, anchovies, cheese or marmalade. Here is an interesting post that explains the difference between industrial and homemade bread: How to Make Your Own Tasty Homemade Bread, Easily and Cheaply.

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Coca de Recapte, Bring Up Your Best Ingredients

For a better understanding of what a Catalan coca is it is inevitable to mention pizzas. They are similar in appearance but each of them are good their own way. There is nothing like a home made, wood-fired oven baked Italian pizza, but, believe me, Catalan cocas elaborated in small towns by our grammas are delicious. The principle is the same, a flour-made base, crispy or soft, thick or slim, that accepts an incredible amount of toppings (open coca). They tend to carry less fat cause cheese is not present in all of them although some ingredients are not considered to be healthy food. What I mean is that it may be slightly healthier than pizza in some cases but being careful with the topping and the butter or lard in the dough. Wholemeal flour could be a solution. Let's face it, forget about your diet if you try them. As it happens with pizzas, some combinations of ingredients are more familiar and are accepted by many. Cocas can be open, closed, with a hole or just plain. They can be salty or sweet like the ones we have by Sant Joan celebrations. I've heard of sweet pizzas but I don't think they are as extended, except for the nutella pizza. Besides St. John's cocas the most common is what is known as coca de recapte which consists of botifarra (sausage), herring, olives and escalivada (roasted aubergines, onions, red peppers and tomatoes on hot coals). There are variations of these ingredients since the word recapte (Cat. recaptar or Sp. recaudar) refers to an old tradition that consisted in going house to house collecting whatever suitable edible ingredient you could think of to add to the cocas to be baked in the only wood-fired oven in town. So it is not strange that now herring is substituted by tuna or sardines. I suppose there was a point in which the recipe went wild and new cocas started to appear by the dozen. This one in the picture is what is known as, guess...Coca de Anchoas. There are many other types that I may cover some other day with a different picture. Take note of it then, when in Catalonia, do as Catalans do, have some coca de recapte.

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La Escala Anchovies: A Genuine Catalan Product vs The Competition

There are plenty of brands selling bottled or canned anchovies. A good anchovy should not be too salty or dry and they are better in plain olive oil although the ones that come salted make better fillets once gutted and cleaned. I am no expert but as a good consumer I can tell by the taste and sometimes by the look. In fact I used to sell anchovies for a small company catering bars. I had to distribute small plastic containers full of fillets. I remember they were sold as L'Escala anchovies (Cat. anxoves). To tell you the truth they were not too genuine. Our anchovies (L'Escala is a fishermen town in Costa Brava), have a great rival: Cantabric anchoas or boquerones. You can tell the difference sometimes by the color or the degree of dryness but mainly by the taste due to curing differences. As it happens with all good brands it is difficult to come across the authentic product. They must carry the original label and preferably some small tag inside the can or bottle. I have had the opportunity to try them both and I can assure you they really mark the difference compared to other anchovies (Palamos anchovies are a great option). Personally I prefer Cantabric anchovies but of course that might be considered as some kind of "treason" since they are not Catalan. I think that food is food and knows no boundaries. Some local-product defenders go crazy for Jabugo ham or Burgos morcilla (Black pudding) and that does not seem to tarnish their unpolluted image. Well, I do like both but I like the Cantabric ones better. The species is the same though: engraulis encrasicolus or European anchovy, the difference lies in the habitat which is more appropriate up north according to experts. I won't talk more about the competition. L'Escala has been engaged in the process of curing anchovies since 1940. It is more home-made, less industrialized, applying salt curing techniques inherited from the Greek (the ruins of Empuries nearby are good proof). Due to the low amount of this fish to the north of Spain, captures have been temporarily banned by the government so Mediterranean anchovies are being more demanded than ever. I don't want to bother you with stats or details. My point today is to show you how the label on the bottle looked so you can spot the good ones, to remind you that these two regions lead the market here and finally to emphasize that the anchovies you can buy in other countries, specially in America are not by any chance all the good they are supposed to be (more recently they can be bought on gourmet stores or online) so when you visit Spain buy yourself some good bottle of anchovies, oil-packed or salt-packed (they are not that expensive!), and don't miss the opportunity to treat yourself with exquisite new flavors. Oh, I almost forgot, help yourself with some pa amb tomaquet, some Manchego, Cabrales or Valdeon blue cheese and a good bottle of Albarino or Rueda wine. An even better idea is to go and visit El Xampanyet, on Carrer Montcada 22, one of the best places in Barcelona to try good anchovies among other tapas. But that is part of a different story...

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Bread and Coques, Help Yourself!

We are only three days away from the official arrival of spring on the northern hemisphere, March equinox, and I say official because at least in Barcelona we are having a wonderful fair weather since last week. Buds are sprouting from tree branches, people are talking outloud on bar terraces again or getting a tan on the beach. Over the weekend, thousands flee from the city and set to discover towns nearby in many different ways. Some are veteran excursionists and therefore insist on places they consider a favorite or consult with other experienced fellow travelers about secret troves. But the majority of mortals like me are used to dealing with randomness, trial and error methods and surprises whether they are good or bad. Sometimes we organize a trip to a historical site and then try local restaurants completely blindfolded (big mistake here!). Most of the times though, we first decide on what to eat and where and then if possible include the historical place, the celebration or the local market as an extra. In other words, we travel with the stomach. Local food markets are a fantastic wild card. You can kill two birds with a single shot. Say you blew it and couldn't find a comfortable restaurant where they made a good paella or tapas like some tasty chistorras from Navarre and Spanish omelette, for example, no problem. You run to the nearest stall and jump on the kind person behind the counter like Attila the Hun after crossing the Mongolian prairies, taking a good bite at all the sample food they offer for free, drinking from the wine porron on the house and then maybe, just maybe you buy a thing or two at the most. The cherry on top would be that you could bargain but they are not stupid either. Please visit local markets and try local food like these Catalan coques covered with all sorts of ingredients. Notice in the image you also have bread and empanadas (pie).

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Grilled Leaks Soaked in Romesco Sauce? No, Just Some Calçots

Do you dig grilling some baby leeks to later soak them in romesco sauce? I do! Well, it is not exactly a leek nor it is an onion or a garlic plant but something in between. It definitely reminds you of onions when you smell it and taste it. Maybe the only difference is that calçots, as such is their name in Catalan, neither bite nor make you cry.

Here you have a great bunch of calçots that are traditionally consumed this time of the year. I won't get any deeper into the story about what they are or the ritual followed before and during a calçotada since that has already been described in this previous post of mine: Catalan Traditions, La Calçotada.

Pa amb Tomaquet - Bread with Tomato

Nothing like a good toast spread with tomato and some olive oil to accompany any kind of food. We call it pa amb tomaquet. Instead of using a slice of tomato to make a sandwich or pouring and spreading some tomato sauce on the bread we cut tomatoes into halves and gently spread them against the toast. You can first rub the bread with garlic, then you apply the tomato and finally you add some olive oil. That will serve as the basis for many ingredients like anchovies, ham, sausage or grilled aubergines, red peppers and onions sliced in strips aka escalivada among other things.

Evil Mask, Monistrol de Montserrat

You know the devil disguises or manifests in oh so many ways. One day he may be McCain Trump himself, some other day the hideous child of our neighbors, maybe a cat, a pumpkin or simply an evil mask with firecrackers inside, as is the case of this one at Monistrol de Montserrat.

It was on one of the stalls of the market organized during the Fira de la Coca i el Mató 2008 (a local food fair).

Remember this fair at Monistrol has been featured here in the past, as for example in: Say Cheese.

I would like to go around with this for Halloween. In fact there was an old B movie where the devil himself wandered among the crowd for the famous celebration and everybody mocked at his attire, with tragic consequences, of course.

Follow label Monistrol below for more.

Catalan Embutidos

Catalan embutidos or sausages may look gross indeed but taste good, believe me. My wife has just advised me not to publish this picture. I laughed. I know it is disgusting but that's what makes it more interesting! By the way, those of you with linguistic habits should know that "embutir" means "to stuff", that's why they call it sausages in English. We use "salchicha" for hot-dog-like sausages and "embutidos" for all the products prepared in the same way, i.e. stuffing meat and fat, generally pork derived, into the clean bowels or guts of the animal.

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Candied Fruit Pastry or Coca de Sant Joan

This is what is known as coca de Sant Joan, a traditional light sweetbread covered with candied fruit. As the name suggests, it is a kind of pastry to be consumed during Saint John celebrations when it is sold in huge amounts and as you can guess there are the cheap and the expensive ones. They can be tasty and spongy or an authentic hard rock. The cheapest you buy at the supermarket but if you want the best stuff then you'd better go to your favorite pastry shop. Besides the candied fruit "coca", there are other kinds, like coca de crema (cream filled pastry - this is the one I like the most), coca de llardons (suet pastry)...to have a better idea learn about cocas de San Juan. Maybe you prefer the recipe: Candied Fruit and Pinenuts Cocas.

Sausage Spread or Sobrasada

Sobrasada (Sausage Spread) is in the group of sausages made with pork. It is prepared with minced meat and lard. The great amount of Spanish paprika or "pimentón" gives it the characteristic color and the peculiar flavor. Sobrasada is a Majorcan speciality. Although you can buy it all over Spain, the authentic, the one that really makes a difference, is from Majorca in the Balearic Islands.

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Spanish Food: Aged Manchego Cheese

Named after La Mancha which is the Spanish region of famous Don Quixote, these aged Manchego cheese are made of sheep milk. They say the aroma reminds of lanolin and roast lamb. It has a slightly briny, nutty flavor and at the age of 13 weeks it is considered cured (curado). Over that period it is referred to as aged (viejo). There are other well known kinds of Spanish cheese: Cabrales, Idiazabal, Zamorano, Tetilla, Liebana, Roncal...In Catalonia we have Mató de Montserrat which is a fresh cheese (formatge fresc). From the Balearic Islands, specifically from Menorca, we have Mahon cheese which is one of my favorites. A link today: The Encyclopedia of Cheese.

Pan de Payés or Pa de Pagès: Traditional Peasant's Bread in Catalonia

When you visit Barcelona or other cities and towns in Catalonia you will surely taste this bread known as pa de pagès, pan de payés or pan de pueblo (peasant or people's bread). Don't be scared you don't have to hold it and take a bite, just eat it in slices. At the baker's they'll cut it up for you. Maybe you have seen similar bread before since many Mediterranean products are already familiar to you in your country. What I am sure some of you are not aware of is what we do with the slices of pagès bread . But let's talk about this traditional Catalan product first. 

El pa de pagès or pan de payés is a thick crusted bread with abundant crumb, higher carbohydrate content and less fat than a normal loaf. The thick crust is obtained thanks to a long kneading and fermentation time and a slow baking process. Due to its characteristics it is classified as a rustic kind of bread and as you already must have guessed by the name, people working in the fields were and still are the main consumers. As to the possible ways to serve the slices, there are lots of them. You can have them as such, although they are better in toasts, normally the ones popped into a barbecue grill taste better. Once you've got the toasts, you preferably spread tomato on top. How?

How to prepare pa amb tomàquet or toast with tomato

You cut the tomato into halves and rub it against the toast. Normally, you are given some garlic, olive oil and tomatoes together with the toasts so you wonder what about the garlic? Garlic is just an option although it is used on many occasions. If you have a knack for garlic then it is important that you cut one clove in two and rub it against the bread toast before spreading tomato, otherwise it is almost impossible to rub. Voila, you are almost there. Now you take the olive oil recipient, pour some on top of the slice of bread and finally add some salt. This part, which is the basis to prepare dozens of different kinds of pa de pagès toasts, is called pantumaca or pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomato pulp). The toast or the slice can then be dressed up with cured ham, anchovies, omelet, sausages, red peppers and aubergines in strips, all sorts of cheese...The ideal situation is to have high quality extra virgin olive oil from local olive oil producers although local does not always mean good. There are great olive oil regions like Cordoba or Lleida that are remarkably good at this. Try not to use any odd supermarket oil and see if you can buy those recently cropped real juicy and ripe tomatoes that are not hard to find in  farmers' markets around many Catalan towns.

Sausage Closeup

This is just that, a closeup. A sausage so close you can feel the smell and you only have to stick out your fork and pick it up.

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