Last week I spent a couple of days in Barcelona for work, and unfortunately the rain followed me there from London. Luckily, I spent most of my time inside: either in the office or, more interestingly, in various restaurants in Barcelona – the team there certainly enjoy their food and I wasn’t complaining!
When I arrived (after a brief detour to the wrong address thanks to my taxi driver), the team took me straight out for breakfast, although I wasn’t really hungry after eating in Heathrow. However, it was great to sit outside in the warmth (the last of the sunshine before the torrential rain started shortly afterwards).
After a couple of hours more work, we went out to lunch in a local cafe which the team often visit. I asked my colleagues to recommend some traditional dishes, and ended up having a relatively light lunch of Xato salad with romesco (lightly salted cod):
Followed by cheese croquettes:
And a slice of local cake with chocolate sauce (it was quite light like a brioche, and could have done with some cream!):
A few more hours work later and we were ready for dinner. I was delighted to be taken to a tapas restaurant for dinner, where we were served a variety of tapas. Here are a few of my favourites.
Bread with tomatoes, which I had before when I visited Barcelona, but not like this:
You rub the bread with a garlic clove and mush the tomato onto it yourself, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt:
Clams in a gorgeous rich tomato sauce:
Beef with some kind of salty dressing, with crispy fried garlic slices:
Caramel flan with cream:
I was disappointed not to have any tortilla which is my absolute favourite, but luckily the hotel breakfast the next day had tortilla, manchego, chorizo and iberico ham (this was my second plate!):
I discovered this delicious looking bar of chocolate at the cafe when we went to get our morning coffee, so couldn’t resist buying it:
On the flight home, I couldn’t resist a last memory of my Catalan adventure with a tapas tray:
Luckily I missed any of the political dramas in Barcelona, and have only happy memories. I’ll be making myself tortilla this week as a little reminder of my trip away.
- Monday – sea bass with tomatoes and pasta
- Tuesday – chicken roasted with garlic, with roasted potatoes and courgettes
- Wednesday – tapas
- Thursday – hot smoked salmon with potato cakes
- Friday – homemade fish, chips and mushy peas
- Saturday – a cookbook challenge from Stanley Tucci’s The Tucci Cookbook: Milanese risotto
- Sunday – chicken stew with dumplings
Any recommendations for your favourite tapas?
Yummy