Caramel Flan in blue

A flan is a flan here in Barcelona and any other place on earth, so if this custard were an animal or something, this picture would be called, common caramel flan. There is nothing new to it. I could be telling you that "this old English word "flan" and the earlier forms "flaune" and "flawn" come from Old French flaon (modern French flan), in turn from early Medieval Latin fladōn-em, derived from Old High German flado, a sort of flat cake, probably from an Indo-European root for 'flat' or 'broad'" and I would be quoting wikipedia, as in fact I am doing right now. I could even give you a link to some nice flan recipes, like Spanish flan and I would dare to recommend you try to use condensed milk for that (my favorite choice) but, nah, that would be too boring a post much more related with Spanish cuisine than with Barcelona. But it happens that I shot this bluish picture in some Spanish restaurant in Barcelona and I enjoyed the display and the light and the perspective so here we are talking about nice looking custard for a change. Enjoy it!

Hot Suissos at La Granja Pallaresa, Carrer Petritxol, Barri Gotic

Dessert shelf at Granja La Pallaresa - Barcelona

As I promised the other day in my Churros post, this is a detail of La Granja Pallaresa at Carrer Petritxol in Barri Gotic, one of the best places in the city to have a wonderful hot suisso, that is, chocolate with whipped cream on top.

You may try churros, porras or melindros with a swisso or suizo. Leave your diet at home if you have in mind to visit La Pallaresa.

Please check these recipes of menjar blanc (almond cream) and crema catalana (Catalan custard) which I noticed on the shelves after examining the picture closely.

By the way, Granja Dulcinea on the same street is also great.

In case you wonder what a granja is you should know that it means "farm" from "dairy farm" (originally granjas were shops selling dairy products).

The Best Churros in Barcelona - A Short List

A close look at some good Barcelona churros

A now for something completely different: Churros!!!

I have been browsing in search for good recipes or the history of churros. According to Wikipedia: 'A churro (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtʃuro]) is a fried-dough pastry—predominantly choux—based snack' and there are many recipes out there for some exotic and appealing churros.

No, I just wanted to show you this picture to evoke those good memories every citizen in Spain has involving churros or porras which is a bigger, thicker variety made in Madrid.

The experience of waking up early to go and buy churros for a good weekend breakfast is unforgettable. There are street stalls or caravans in Barcelona neighborhoods where they cook homemade churros which you can smell from some blocks away but they are fewer than in the good old times.

And what about those who on their way to bed after a long crazy night grab a bag full of churros to soak them in hot chocolate. That is one of the best remedies in the world for a bad hangover.

Needless to say that there are small traditional places called granjas selling good churros in Barcelona. The best according to many is on carrer Petritxol, near Plaza del Pi in Barri Gotic and is called La Pallaresa.

Here is the short list of best places to have churros in Barcelona recommended by Barcelona Photoblog

1. La Pallaresa
2. La Nena
3. Dulcinea 
4. Viader 
5. Xurreria Laietana 
6. Xurreria Trebol 

Learn more about historic carrer Petritxol or watch for churros at La Pallaresa in the next post.

Escriba's Desserts

Escriba's: A restaurant by the beach in Barcelona. Here is a sample of what kind of desserts you can have while enjoying the view. Check Xiringuito Escriba

Thanksgiving Dessert: Chocolate Covered Fruit

Chocolate covered fruit is my proposal for Thanksgiving dessert. I wouldn't like to interrupt your turkey time but this is a simple dessert, a low calorie one if you don't exceed too much with the chocolate or go directly for the upper pastries. This picture was captured in a recent chocolate trade show celebrated in Barcelona which I plan to show you soon in detail. Happy Thanksgiving! I know this post appears some days in advance, don't worry about that. I will update my posting asap.

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