Andorra and Catalunya

[docsconz]

I just returned from an all-too brief one week trip to Catalunya and Andorra with my family. We went to meet our thirteen year-old son, a budding "gastronomist" - his word- who spent the month of August in Catalunya and Andorra with the Catalan family of a boy we hosted last summer. The food was great from a number of different perspectives and it was fun to be there with the perspective of locals, who were, by the way very impressed with my eGullet based loal culinary knowledge. In this thread I will discuss some of the specific meals in Andorra and Catalunya, but I will adress other specific points in other threads.

We arrived on Sunday the 24th in Barcelona and were taken straight up to Andorra, where we eased into things with participation in a festival in the town of Ordino, culminating in a town -wide feast with plenty of tasty finger foods, including wonderful green olives unlike anything I've ever had in the States, head and shell on shrimp, cheese, sliced cured hams and salamis, marinated anchovies, pizzas and other delectable morsels. The best part, however, was the social scene, which we were able to participate in by virtue of our hosts.

Lunch was always the big meal of the day, generally eaten at around 2 PM. Our first full day there started with a hike in the mountains followed by lunch at a nearby hotel, the Hotel Bringue . The hotel had classic Andorran stone building with a bit of an Alpine feel to it and lovely window flowerboxes overflowing with bright red flowers. The meal started with the classic catalan pan amb tomat (pan con tomate), followed by a good antipasto. My main course, however, turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip. It was a shoulder of lamb roasted to perfection and served with wild mushrooms, baked mashed potatoes and sweet peas. The lamb wa absolutely succulent - a dish I will remeber for a very long time.

The following day we took a long drive to the Grotte Niaux and Carcassone in Southwestern France. Without any specific idea of where to dine, we found a tourist restaurant within the walled city of Carcassone, where I had a tasty if unspectacular Cassoulet with duck. While it was fine, I imagine we could have done better elsewhere with a bit of forethought.

The next day we left Andorra for Barcelona, stopping for lunch on the way at Can Boix a wonderful inn in Peramola south of Andorra. An amuse bouche of strawberry gazpacho with baked leeks and lobster meat with citrus and roe was folowed by duck foie gras with lavender gelee and steamed vegetables. The most controversial dish of the day was next - crispy pig trotters over spinach and serrano ham with a tangy sherry vinegar syrup. I liked it, but my wife and children couldn't get past the fattiness of the trotters. This was their least favorite dish of the meal and the trip.The next course was mar y montana - grilled squid stuffed with a small zucchini and the zucchini flowers stuffed with pork with 2 sauces - one of squid ink and the other a mushroom sauce. This dish wa excellent with great concept, presentation and flavor. A nice fresh roasted cod was next followed by tender braised lamb with a black truffle sauce. Wine was Bodega Dehesa de Los Canonigos 1998 from the Ribera del Duero - tasty and a good match for the food. The first dessert was cooked sliced apples with a delicious sauce and ice cream. The second and last dessert may have been one of the best I have ever had. They were chocolate "bunuelos", basically fabulous molten chocolate balls covered by lightly fried chocolate membranes. They were both interesting and intense. That night we had light tapas in Barcelona at Neyras, a tapas bar near our hotel, The Hotel Colon. They were very good,. but int he grand scheme not particularly memorable.

The next day was an all-day tour of Barcelona, in which we actually missed lunch, but did have time for a stop at Estudi Xocolada of Oriol Balaguer. More on this in a separate chocolate thread. We had an early (20:30) dinner at Talaia in Port Olimpic, the highlight of which was a tasty roasted monkfish in a saffron accented sauce. Our wine was a 1999 Martin Codax Gallaecia aged 3 years in American oak, but surprisingly without an overly oaky taste. The fruit and acid provided excellent balance. The wine was perfect with the monkfish. I hoped to have dessert at Espai Sucre which was on the way back to our hotel, but alas it was closed (presumably for August vacation).

Our last two days were the pinnacle of our dining this trip, but I will have to get to them later.

[docsconz]

Our penultimate day in Catalunya was dedicated to a tour of the Costa Brava. We had lunch for eight by the pool at The Hostal La Gavina in S'Agaro. We had various appetizers, the most memorable of which was a perfectly fried "chipurones" aka baby squid with a little lemon juice. They were heavenly and up to that time the best fried squid I'd ever had The main course was a delectable paella made for the table and brought to the table whole in the pan and dished out from there. Our host was surprised that the paella was not just seafood, but it also had pork in it. He said that most Catalan paellas are seafood only. It was delightful in any case. Being that it was rather windy and the pol was so inviting and we were already there, we spent a couple of hours digesting by the pool before continuing on towards Roses.

Unfortunately, we didn't have reservations for El Bulli , but we made our pilgrimage there in any case. I must say that it is one of the most magnificently sited restaurant I have ever seen, although I could not imagine driving back to a hotel from there after a dinner with wine or other alcohol - the roads are a bit hairy back to Roses. Even though we arrived not long before service was to start I managed to secure a tour of the restaurant including the kitchen where I saw, but did not get to speak to the great Adria himself. The place is simply remarkable and the visit served to whet my appetite for a return visit with reservations

Despite not being able to dine at El Bulli, we managed to do well by dining at Hispania in Arenys del Mar. It was here that we had fried calamari that was even better than the chipurones at La Gavina and perhaps the best I have ever had. They were simply perfect. Their pan con tomate was outstanding as well as an appetizer of tortilla espanola with butifarra (a catalan sausage). My main course was a mixed seafood grill including monkfish (rape), langoustine, sepia, prawns and another whitefish. The seafood was outstanding and better on its own than with the supplied mayonaisse and romesco sauces, both of which were somewhat overpowering to the seafood. My son had a roast goat shoulder that was also outstanding. We drank a recommended cava , Mustillant Gramona, that paired quite well with the dishes served. The only weakness that I was able to detect in the meal was dessert. None of the choices were particularly appetizing nor distinguished. They were ok, but not up to the previous standards. I suppose this is because Hispania serves traditional Catalan food and the desserts are no exception.

[vserna]

The seafood was outstanding and better on its own than with the supplied mayonaisse and romesco sauces, both of which were somewhat overpowering to the seafood.

It was probably not a plain mayonnaise, but a home-made 'all i oli', the Catalan cousin of the Provençal 'aïoli'. It's sometimes made, these days, as a garlic-flavored mayonnaise, but the real 'all i oli' is even more overpowering and 'dangerous', so it should be used in homoeopathic portions, with great prudence: it's a pure emulsion of mashed garlic cloves with some olive oil (which is what the name means), with no eggs to soften the blow!

[docsconz]

The last day in Barcelona was on our own without our hosts. We spent the morning perusing the stalls of the Boqueria market. Wow - afood lover's dream . Lunch was divided up between tow places. The first was Bar Quim as recommended in The Art of Eating by Edward Behr. We had white butifarra with whole small grilled green hot peppers (not overly spicy) vegetable croquets and braised chicken. The dishes were simple but possessed of outstanding flavor. Behr called this the best meal he had in three weeks in Catalonia. While I wouldn't go that far, it was quite good. This was followed by a short jaunt to the Bar Universal for some grilled seafood. We had grilled razor clams and fresh sardines, both of which were out of this world in their simplicity and flavor. This may have been the single most satisfying meal of our trip

Dinner was at Alkimia. We had a degustacion menu, but because my twelve year old son's culinary interests are still a bit limited, the kitchen was perhaps slightly more conservative than they might have been. The first amuse was a deconstructed "pan con tomate" that consisted of a juice glass of tomato water with a little olive oil, and bread crumbs with a piece of cured ham all to be eaten together. It was heavenly and remarkably contained the flavor essence of the best pan con tomate with of course a different texture. The next amuse was watermelon huice with some goat cheese and parmesan crisp. This was good, but not exceptional. A salad of figs and ham with "carquinyolis" vinaigrette followed which ws delightfully refreshing with delicious peeled figs and silky ham. Noras (a catalan pepper) with saffron rice and dublin bay prawns hit a nice note, followed by the outstanding whitefish with onion juice and crispy dry tomato. The final main course was Iberian pig cheeks with onion and pinenut parmentier. Curiously, the meat tasted more like beef than pork. Our wine for the meal The first dessert was a soup of peach and cucumbur with ginger yoghurt ice cream and olive oil. This was aninteresting and tasty combination, but not incredible. The second dessert was chinese creme caramel with banana, coffee amaretto ice cream and lemon, a mixture of disparate elements that when combined resulted in pure synergy of sweet, tart, spicy and bitter. The sum was most definitely greater than the parts. The meal finished with a lemon meringue in a shot glass and some slightly bitter chocolate coated nuts. The meal was fabulous in its totality although it did vary somewhat in the impact of specific dishes. Everything was at least excellent, and some dishes were incredible (the "pan con tomate" and whitefish jump to mind), the service impeccable and the value unbeatable. The tasting menu was 39 Euros per person.

All in all I must concur that Catalunya and likely the rest of Spain is one of the most exciting culinary areas in the world today. I can't wait to return.

[docsconz]

The seafood was outstanding and better on its own than with the supplied mayonaisse and romesco sauces, both of which were somewhat overpowering to the seafood.

It was probably not a plain mayonnaise, but a home-made 'all i oli', the Catalan cousin of the Provençal 'aïoli'. It's sometimes made, these days, as a garlic-flavored mayonnaise, but the real 'all i oli' is even more overpowering and 'dangerous', so it should be used in homoeopathic portions, with great prudence: it's a pure emulsion of mashed garlic cloves with some olive oil (which is what the name means), with no eggs to soften the blow!

I imagine you are correct, since it wasn't particularly subtle

[Bux]

It sounds like a great trip. We were in the area in the Spring of last year. What rings true to me was that you were excited by both the traditional restaurants and the creative ones and that there was really good food to be found across the price scale. What also comes though is the range of foods to be found even in the traditional restaurants. As I recall, Hispania had a pretty large menu. We were hard put to eliminate enough choices to even begin to work within a narrow range. I wanted to throw up my hands and just say feed us. In fact, I think to a certain extent we did that, by asking bout specialties and then ordering whatever was recommended. Of course if we didn't say stop, the hostess (owner?) might have recommeded the whole menu.

[docsconz]

It sounds like a great trip. We were in the area in the Spring of last year. What rings true to me was that you were excited by both the traditional restaurants and the creative ones and that there was really good food to be found across the price scale. What also comes though is the range of foods to be found even in the traditional restaurants. As I recall, Hispania had a pretty large menu. We were hard put to eliminate enough choices to even begin to work within a narrow range. I wanted to throw up my hands and just say feed us. In fact, I think to a certain extent we did that, by asking bout specialties and then ordering whatever was recommended. Of course if we didn't say stop, the hostess (owner?) might have recommeded the whole menu.

The menu at Hispania is huge. I would have loved to try so much more.