10 Barcelona Craft Beer Bars & Breweries

April 14, 2015December 2, 2015Gillian

One of the many things I love about Barcelona is how vibrant its craft beer scene is. We have made it our mission to visit all the craft beer bars and breweries in the city (and eventually in Catalunya), but it’s tough when there are new spots opening all the time. No one said it was gonna be easy.

So consider this a first installment in an ongoing series on craft beer in Barcelona. Here are some of the fantastic places we’ve fallen in love with so far.

Craft Beer in Barcelona

1. Edge Brewing

Edge Brewing is an American craft brewery located in Poblenou – a cool warehouse district near the water that isn’t yet teeming with people. Two Americans, Alan and Scott, started the brewery in 2013, and I love everything about it. The beers are excellent and diverse (I’m partial to the Hoptimista IPA and the Padrino porter), the people are super friendly and knowledgeable, the space is open and welcoming.

For the last year, we’ve been going frequently to their “open doors” events on Friday nights – where you can buy a pint or two and eat food provided by local vendors. Sadly, they recently stopped doing these events, but they are now offering Saturday tours and tastings and private tours by reservation.

Edge Brewing
Carrer de Llull 62
08005 Barcelona
Metro : Bogatell (L4/yellow line)

Tour & Tasting
Saturdays
12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
€15 (cash)
Reserve in advance

2. Chivuo’s

Chivuo’s is an awesome street food and craft beer bar close to our apartment in Gràcia, and it takes all of my willpower not to stop in every time I walk by. Juan and Ale, the Venezuelan proprietors, are wonderful and take great care to offer a well-curated list of craft beers (10 rotating selections on tap) and excellent food.

There are only a few items on the food menu – hamburger, pulled pork sandwich, tuna melt, chicken sandwich, Philly cheesesteak, a few varieties of fries and patatas bravas – but everything from the buns to the BBQ sauce is homemade and delicious. The pulled pork and hamburger in particular are to die for. It’s a small place with a few tables and seating at the bar, so I like to go in the afternoon or early evening before it gets too busy. (They also have free Wi-Fi, but your productivity will probably plummet after a couple pints…)

Chivuo’s
Carrer del Torrent de l’Olla 175
08012 Barcelona
+34 932 185 134
Metro: Fontana (L3/green line)

Monday – Friday: 1:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Saturday: 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Sunday: Closed

3. BlackLab Brewhouse

BlackLab just opened its doors in a beautiful space in Barceloneta, after several months of hosting smaller beer events around the city. I’m already looking forward to the summer when we can take advantage of its big outdoor tables. BlackLab is pretty much the brewpub I wish I had started. It was founded by Jing and Yuan, Galicians of Chinese origin, and Matt, an American, and it has a solid beer list (from BlackLab and other breweries) and excellent Asian-American food. The pork belly buns are insane. As is everything else we’ve tried.

BlackLab Brewhouse
Plaça Pau Vila 1-5
08039 Barcelona
+34 93 22 18 360
Metro: Barceloneta (L4/yellow line)

Monday – Thursday: 12:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Friday & Saturday: 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Sunday: 12:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

4. Garage Beer

Garage is brand new, and we had the good fortune to check it out the day after it opened a few months ago. Since then, it’s been blowing up – hosting cool food and design events, experimenting with tasty new beers and being a generally cool spot to hang out.

Garage Beer Co.
Carrer Consell de Cent 261
08011 Barcelona
+34 93 52 85 989
Metro: Universitat (L1/red line)

Monday – Thursday: 5:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Friday & Saturday: 5:00 pm – 2:30 am
Sunday: 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

5. Ale&Hop

Ale&Hop is a small bar in El Born with an impressive selection of beers from all over the world – on tap and bottled. As one of Barcelona’s well-known craft beer bars, it gets crowded, especially late and on weekends, but it’s worth checking out. We haven’t tried their food yet, but they serve pintxos on Thursday nights and brunch on the weekends.

Ale&Hop
Basses de Sant Pere 10 bis
08003 Barcelona
+ 34 93 12 69 094
Metro: Arc de Triomf (L1/red line), Jaume I (L4/yellow line)

Monday – Wednesday: 5:00 p.m. – 1:30 a.m.
Thursday: 5:00 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Friday: 5:00 p.m. – 3:00 a.m.
Saturday: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m.
Sunday: 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 a.m.

6. Cerveseria La Més Petita

As the name implies, La Més Petita is teeny tiny, but it boasts a massive chalkboard of beers on tap. Throw some ‘bows, find a spot and make some new friends while you drink.

Cerveseria la Més Petita
Carrer de la Diputació, 30
08015 Barcelona
+34 628 11 67 84
Metro: Rocafort (L1/red line)

Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Thursday: 6:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.
Friday: 6:00 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Saturday: 12:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Sunday: 12:00 – 2:30 p.m.

7. HomoSibaris

Alan and some of the other good people from Edge Brewing were kind enough to let us tag along to HomoSibaris one night after a BlackLab event at La Més Petita (if that gives you an idea of the fun craft beer scene here). It’s tucked away in a cute little plaza in Sants with eight beers on tap, specializing in those that are unfiltered and unpasteurized, and a small tapas menu.

HomoSibaris
Plaça Osca 4
08014 Barcelona
+ 34 93 18 56 693
Metro: Plaça de Sants (L1/red line, L5/blue line)

Monday – Thursday: 5:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Friday – Saturday: 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Sunday: 12:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

8. La Cerveteca

La Cerveteca, a cozy little bar in El Barri Gòtic, offers a diverse list of craft beers – many of which I hadn’t tried before.

La Cerveteca
Carrer Gignas 25
08002 Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 31 50 407
Metro: Jaume I or Barceloneta (L4/yellow line), Drassanes (L3/green line)

Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Thursday: 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 pm
Friday & Saturday: 12:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m./ 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Sunday: 12:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

9. Bar Mingus

I’m not sure if we ever would have found this place if it hadn’t been for our friend Matthias, a German beer fanatic. It’s a funky little gem in the Gòtic decorated more like a California surf bar than a craft beer bar. It’s open late and a welcome relief from some of the tourist traps in the neighborhood; but most importantly, it has an excellent selection of international craft beers.

Bar Mingus
Carrer Ataulf 6
08002 Barcelona
+ 34 63 09 01 690
Metro: Jaume I (L4/yellow line)

Monday – Wednesday: 7:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m.
Thursday: 7:30 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Friday & Saturday: 7:30 p.m. – 3:00 a.m.
Sunday: Closed

10. BrewDog Bar Barcelona

The cool kids from Scotland’s BrewDog just opened their newest bar here in Barcelona, and it just happens to be a block away from Garage. Grab a seat at the bar for a pint and tapas, or reserve one of the bigger tables to have dinner and beers with friends.

BrewDog Bar Barcelona
Carrer Casanova 69
08011 Barcelona
+34 93 48 85 979
Metro: Universitat (L1/red line)

Every day: 12 p.m. – 12 a.m.

Toledo, Spain: How to Get There and Where to Eat

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015Brian

Toledo View — Toledo view from the rooftop patio at the Oasis Hostel

First of all, Toledo, SPAIN. All searches for “Toledo” seem to default to Ohio, which I’m sure is nice(ish) but not the topic for today.

This Semana Santa (i.e. Holy Week, i.e. the week before Easter), we took a trip to Madrid, a city that we both love, and Toledo, a city I visited briefly as a college student, and a new city for Gillian. We’ll talk about Madrid separately, but here are some food and logistics we figured out so hopefully you won’t have to.

Getting there:

Getting there is super easy; you’ve got two main options: bus or train. We opted for the train (AVE or AVANT), which left from Atocha and arrived at the Toledo train station in less than 30 minutes. Round-trip cost per person was 20.60€. The bus will cost you about half the price but will take you three times as long.

Side note: you can purchase train tickets online from renfe.com, but we’ve run into problems when using a non-Spanish credit/debit card. Not having a chip in our card also causes some issues when trying to buy from the machine in the train station. Bottom line: you can pay via PayPal when buying online from renfe.com and sidestep this whole mess.

There are two types of bus that can take you up to the city (I don’t recommend the walk with bags) from the Toledo train station: a red one and a blue one. The red one is a tourist bus that will take you to Plaza Zocodover for 2.50€ and picks up directly outside the exit of the train station (inside the perimeter wall). The blue one is the city bus, and lines 5, 61 and 62 will also take you to Plaza Zocodover, for 1.40€. The bus stop is outside of the perimeter wall to the right as you exit the station.

Where to eat:

As a general rule, we avoid any place that has huge picture-board menus hanging outside, and this made finding a restaurant in Toledo a challenge. We did find a few really great places that are worth mentioning:

The name "Kumera" is not very prominent on the sinage, so keep an eye out as you walk by. — The name “Kumera” is not very prominent on the signage, so keep an eye out as you walk by.

Restaurante Kumera
C/Alfonso X El Sabio 2
Phone: +34 925 25 75 53
www.restaurantekumera.com
Weekdays: 0800-0230
Weekends:1100-0230
Closed December 25, 31 and January 1.

This place has a beautiful outdoor seating area on a street that seems to be off the tourist traffic heavy streets. They have an amazing mix of tapas (3.00-4.50€), tostas (7.00€), larger plates to share (8.00-13,50€), fish (12.50-15.50€) and meats (12.90-15.50€). A tosta is a large piece of bread with, for example, black olive tapenade spread, roasted red peppers and anchovies (delicious, by the way). Some of the items like cochinillo (roast suckling pig) appear a couple of times on the menu and can be ordered in smaller portions (tapas) or larger entrée portions.

Before taking the train back to Madrid we came by again for lunch and had the Menú del Día. Three courses, included wine and was 12.90€ each.

The menu was:
Primeros: (pick one)

Salad with manchego cheese cubes, seasonal fruit and dried fruits vinaigrette
Salted gulas (a tiny eels that look like pasta) with shrimp and ajillo (a spicy garlicky olive oil sauce)
Fried asparagus with Iberian ham (thinly sliced, cured ham)

Segundos: (pick one)

Grilled salmon with vegetables and teriyaki sauce
Steak and veggie skewer with blue cheese sauce
Lamb chops with garlic and parsley potato sticks

Dessert or Café
(The desserts were admittedly unimpressive, we opted for the coffee)

This place is the perfect combo of quality and price.

Alfileritos 24
C/ Alfileritos, 24
Phone: 925 23 96 25
www.alfileritos24.com
1300-1600 Lunch
2000-2330 Dinner

Though they didn’t break the bank on coming up with a name, this place was another great spot to stop. It’s divided into two floors: upstairs is more formal restaurant (reservations seemed to be a thing), and downstairs there are plenty of smaller tables and a separate tapas and wine menu. The latter is what we were looking for.

The menu includes tapas, or “raciones” (5.50- 12.50€), tostas (5€) and wine by the glass or bottle (2.50-3.50€ / 11.20-20.90€). We thought we’d get started with three “raciones,” believing we would ask for more afterwards. This did not happen. We ordered a chicken salad with cheese and a mustard dressing, mushroom croquettes and small pieces of grilled deer meat. It was nearly too much food for two people and incredibly tasty.

Total cost, including two glasses of wine, was 22.30€. Amazing. Also has a lunch Menú del Día for 10.50€ but didn’t get to check this out.

Mercado San Agustín
C/ Cuesta del Águila, 1 y 3
Phone: 925 21 58 98 (info)
mercadodesanagustin.com

About two minutes from Plaza Zocodover is an amazing new gastronomic market that opened in September 2014. Spread over its four floors (plus a rooftop terrace) there are 19 different food and beverage establishments that include tapas, Asian fusion, fancy burgers, grilled meats, cakes, wine and cheese shops, you name it. The place is beautiful inside and has really impressive architecture, including a three-story vertical garden. We stopped at the Marisquería y pulpería (shell fish and octopus shop) and got a huge mixed plate of fried calamari, tiny squid, fish in adobo sauce and anchovies that the woman fried up right in front of us (for 10€). Wish we were there on a Wednesday because apparently the burger place does a 4€ special every week.

Next time you’re in Madrid, consider taking a side trip down to Toledo. I haven’t gone into any of the city’s incredible art, history or architecture in this post, mainly because I’d be writing for a very, very long time. We just want to make sure you don’t go hungry when you get there.

Got a place that you found on your trip? Tell us about it! Cause we might find ourselves there again real soon…

Fighting the Hangries: Quick, Healthy Snacks

February 25, 2015February 25, 2015Brian

It’s five o’clock. We didn’t really have much of a lunch, and anyway, that was hours ago. Dinner is a bit of an elaborate one, so it won’t be ready for some time.

We’ve worked out a color system for these situations, very similar to the DEFCON levels, or the Homeland Security Advisory System, to describe our hunger/angry (hangry) levels. Right now we are both in the orange. Deep Orange.

Something must be done, and thankfully, our past selves put a healthy stock of nonperishable foodstuffs in our cabinet. In this particular case, little crusty bread, canned cooked beans and assorted fishies in cans.

Beans and crusty bread — Crusty Bread and White Beans.

Assorted canned fishies — Assortment of Canned Tuna, Sardines and Clams.

With these, a little olive oil and salt and very little work, we were able to throw together this tasty little snack, and live to fight another day (the hangries, that is).

Bean Spread Crostini with Canned Fishies

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Bean Spread Crostini with Canned Fishies

Ingredients

Crusty bread
Any kind of pre-cooked beans that are canned or jarred
Any kind of canned seafood, like mussels, sardines, clams, tuna etc.
Olive oil
Salt

Instructions

Take about a cup of beans, rinse them and put them in a small bowl.
With a spoon or other blunt object, mash the beans until they start to break down.
Add a few splashes of olive oil and continue to mash/stir the beans until they become a spreadable paste and salt to taste.
Drain liquid from can of seafood.
Spread beans on crusty bread and top with canned seafood of your choice.
Enjoy!

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2015/02/25/fighting-the-hangries-quick-healthy-snacks/

Spiced Couscous Salad Recipe

February 24, 2015February 25, 2015Gillian

We’ve been on a grain-based salad kick for a while, combining couscous, bulgar, farro or whatever we have in the cupboard with vegetables, nuts, legumes, herbs and spices for new combos. I think this started because:

Green salads can get pretty grim during the winter months.
Whenever we serve simple salads to guests, no one eats it and we end up with a neverending bowl of wilting lettuce in our fridge.

I like these heartier salads because they have endless variations, and they are a blank canvas for all the spices we have been collecting. I made this one for our last EatWith event and loved the contrast of the different textures and flavors (I think the cinnamon is a must).

Spiced Couscous Salad with Chickpeas, Cashews & Veggies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: Large bowl to feed a crowd

Spiced Couscous Salad with Chickpeas, Cashews & Veggies

Ingredients

1 large box couscous (about 500 g or 17 oz.)
2 cans chickpeas
2 cucumbers, roughly chopped
2 red peppers, roughly chopped
2 cups cashews
2 cups raisins
Spices (for example: cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper)
Olive oil
Juice of one lemon
Fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Instructions

Cook couscous according to package directions in a large pot (a 2:1 water-to-couscous ratio is a good rule of thumb). Let cool.
Mix in chickpeas, cucumbers, peppers, cashews, lemon juice and a healthy glug of olive oil.
Add spices, a teaspoon at a time, until it reaches the flavor you desire. Mix in fresh cilantro.
Transfer to a large bowl and serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2015/02/24/spiced-couscous-salad-recipe/

Photo credit

Fancy Mac & Cheese Recipe

February 1, 2015February 2, 2015Gillian

We hosted our first big EatWith event last night and had an absolute blast. We had more than 20 guests, and it was such a great mix of interesting, cool people from all over.

Brian made his amazing slow-cooked BBQ pork, setting up the grill on our wee balcony and tending to it lovingly all day. We also made crudité, tzatziki, bulgar salad, coleslaw, bourbon-chipotle BBQ sauce and a new version of mac and cheese we’re experimenting with.

fancy-mac-cheese-sign

True to my American roots, I love mac and cheese in all its forms, and I’m always looking for my new favorite recipe. This one turned out really well. A few people asked for the recipe, so here it is! You can be flexible with the kinds of cheese you use – feel free to play around with combinations and see what you like. I’m not sure there’s a wrong way to make delicious cheese sauce.

Fancy Mac & Cheese

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Serving Size: 6-8

Fancy Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

4 cups dried macaroni (about 400 g)
5 tablespoons butter (about 70 g)
5-8 tablespoons flour
2 - 2 1/2 cups whole milk (500-750 ml)
2 teaspoons dry ground mustard
1 1/3 lb. cheese, grated (about 600 g) - I used aged white cheddar, Grana and a semi-curado Spanish cheese that reminded me of Monterey Jack
1 egg, beaten
6 yellow onions, sliced thinly
Panko bread crumbs
Grated black truffle (optional)
Salt, pepper, other spices/herbs to taste
Olive oil
Extra butter

Instructions

Heat a small amount of olive oil and butter in a non-stick pan on medium-low.
Add sliced onions and cook until golden brown and caramelized, stirring frequently, about 30-40 minutes. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, adding a generous handful of sea salt.
Cook macaroni for a few minutes less than the cook time on the package (it should be too firm to eat, not yet al dente). Drain and set aside.
While the pasta water is boiling, melt 5 tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan on medium-low heat.
Add 5 tablespoons of flour, whisking constantly to remove lumps and to keep from burning. The consistency should be a slightly thickened liquid (I added a few more tablespoons of flour here to make a bit more dense). Cook for 5 minutes, whisking constantly.
Stir in milk and dry mustard slowly. Cook for 5-10 minutes on low heat, stirring often.
Add a small cup of the sauce to the bowl holding the beaten egg, whisking constantly.(This is called tempering and gradually raises the temperature of the egg without scrambling it.)
Mix in cheese, reserving a small amount of Grana for the topping. The consistency should be thick and creamy.
Taste sauce and add salt, pepper and other spices or herbs to taste.
In a small pan, toast a few generous handfuls of panko breadcrumbs in a little butter for a few minutes.
Add macaroni and caramelized onions to cheese sauce and mix well.
Transfer mac and cheese to a casserole dish. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture and leftover Grana on top.
Bake at 375 degrees F/ 190 degrees C for 20-25 minutes, until the topping is golden brown.
Sprinkle a little grated black truffle on top if you're feeling extra fancy.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2015/02/01/fancy-mac-cheese-recipe/

Our Go-To Pizza Place in Barcelona: Napoletani DOC

January 27, 2015Brian

Before moving to Barcelona, we lived in Naples, Italy for three years and during that time, we ate pizza as if it were our job. We did not chronicle our pizza hobby as this guy did (who ate 365 pizzas over two years), but between the two of us, we did pretty well as connoisseurs in the birthplace of pizza. We ordered pizza from our neighborhood joint so many times that they knew us by name over the phone (this is still one of our proudest achievements to date).

We got spoiled by having amazing Neapolitan pizza at our beck and call all the time. We never had to travel more than a block or two to find a pizza restaurant, and within minutes we could have hot, crispy, oozy, delicious pizza that rarely cost more than 6-8€. It cannot be overstated that Neapolitans are SERIOUS about their pizza, and there are very specific rules for a pizza to be called “Vera Pizza Napoletana.” These rules dictate the diameter of the pizza (no more than 35 cm), the thickness in the center (1/3 cm), where the tomatoes must come from (San Marzano) and so and so forth. There is even an organization that governs the pizza regulations called the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana.

As we were getting ready to leave Naples, we knew that pizza would never be the same. It’s like growing up in Philadelphia and then trying to find a suitable Philly cheese steak anywhere else. We were worried, until we went to one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants called Osteria DOC. The family that runs the restaurant is very sweet, and after telling them our plans to move to Barcelona they said “Oh you need to go to our son’s restaurant there. He has a pizza place.”

HALLELUJAH!

We arrived in Barcelona, and like any normal person, I put on my Napoli jersey and we went to check it out. Let me tell you, it is FANTASTIC.

Walking into this place is like walking into a pizza place back in Napoli; huge wood-fire pizza oven, pictures of Mount Vesuvius, as well as jerseys and scarfs from the SSC Napoli soccer team on every wall (they also have a whole page of pizzas named after the soccer players on the menu).

The pizza is spot on, too. The price is slightly higher than what you would find in Naples, but there is absolutely no difference in quality.

Pizzas come in the standard personal size (no more than 35 cm, if you recall) and are best eaten with a knife and fork. They have what seems like an endless list of pizzas (more than 30) which includes the classics (diavola, capricciosa, margarita, etc.) but some unique ones too (Spacca Napoli, for instance: mozzarela, butifarra, mushrooms, parmesan and basil). If you’re going with a group, consider getting the 1/2 meter, or if you’re really hungry, the 1-meter pizza. In both cases, you can choose more than one topping to accompany the metric measurement.

They have a considerable list of antipasti, primi and secondi, but our experience with these is limited.

It is, without question, our favorite pizza place in Barcelona. It is also the only one we go to, but I have a hard time believing a better one exists. Maybe someday we’ll branch out, but until then, I’ll have another capricciosa.

Napoletani D.O.C.

Metro: L1 Urgell
Calle Diputación, 101
Barcelona

Phone:+34 93 451 6902
http://www.napoletanidoc.com

Bertso Taberna: A Fantastic Barcelona Pintxos Bar

January 26, 2015Gillian

We took a week-long trip to Spain’s Basque country last spring, staying in San Sebastian and Bilbao. It is a beautiful and fascinating region with some of the best food I’ve ever eaten.

Our friends Dustin and Amaia hooked us up with a detailed list of places to get the best pintxos – Basque tapas – in both cities. Amaia is from a city near Bilbao, and these two have great taste in all things, so we followed their list like a treasure map. We ate so, so well.

I love that each pintxo is a tiny, flavorful work of art. Salmon, anchovies, tuna, jamón, bacalao, beef cheeks, foie, red peppers, olives, cheese… The combinations were inventive and endless. The pintxos crawl is the way I want to eat all the time:

Go into a bar, where the counters are covered with platter after platter of tempting small bites.
Order a glass of txakoli, the Basque white wine that is a tiny bit sparkling and very refreshing. (Also, the bartender pours it from about a foot in the air, and it’s fun to watch.)
Grab a plate. You’ll probably serve yourself, and the bartender will add up your total later. (You can also order larger portions of hot dishes at a lot of places – some of which are definitely worth the effort.)
Try to pace yourself. Fail.
Pay up, walk next door and repeat… and repeat… and repeat.

We have found a couple of Basque tapas bars here in Barcelona, but the best one by far is another Amaia and Dustin discovery. They were in town in October, visiting us and other friends and family, and the apartment they rented just happened to be next door to a brand new pintxos bar. Coincidence? I think not.

Bertso Taberna is in a quiet part of Gràcia, conveniently a short walk from our apartment, but it’s always bustling with people. The owner is very warm and welcoming, and the food is outstanding and affordable. We’ve tried a variety of the pintxos out on the bar, as well as the larger portions ordered from the kitchen, and everything is good. Give me all of the seafoody pintxos and extra heaping helpings of the octopus, the morcilla (blood sausage – don’t let the name deter you; it is so good – served with a sweet apple compote) and the meatballs, and I am a happy girl. We’re looking forward to becoming regulars. You should join us.

Bertso Taberna
Metro: L4 Joanic, L3 Fontana
Carrer Torrent de les Flors, 113
Barcelona

Hours:
Monday & Tuesday: 7:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Wednesday – Saturday: 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Photo credit

Tartiflette Recipe: A Feast of Cheese, Bacon & Potatoes

January 24, 2015June 2, 2016Gillian

The French dish tartiflette is everything you want in a winter comfort food. It combines rich cheese, bacon and potatoes in melty amazingness, and it’s guaranteed not to result in any leftovers. You’re probably supposed to eat it after a long day of skiing in the Alps, but since I don’t ski or understand the cold, I think it’s acceptable to eat it any time there’s a little chill in the air.

Our lovely friends Marylise and Joan invited us over for a pre-Christmas dinner and made a to-die-for tartiflette. We had an entire conversation about how you should pace yourself while eating it because it’s so rich and filling that it’s easy to overdo it and end up with a belly ache later… and then we licked the pan clean. It was too good to stop.

I asked Marlyise for her secrets and consulted a few recipes before making my own tartiflette for family in New Orleans. Some recipes have you parboil the potatoes before baking, others have you pan-fry them. I opted to pan-fry because it worked better for our timeline, but I think either way would work well.

References:

The tartiflette was delicious, if I do say so myself. Everyone liked it, from my parents to my wee toddler nephew. We’ll be having this one again.

Note: We were able to procure reblochon – a soft washed-rind, stinky cheese – by means I cannot reveal, but if that is hard to find, you could look for a similar substitution. There are “reblochon-style” cheeses, and I’ve also read about using gruyère or other cheeses you would use in fondue. Go to a cheese shop or a grocery store cheese counter and see what suggestions they have.

Tartiflette

Ingredients

2 ½ - 3 lbs. potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped or diced
1 onion, thinly sliced
½ lb. bacon or lardons, diced
1 cup white wine
1 lb. reblochon (or reblochon-style) cheese, cut into thin slices
Salt
Pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a sauté pan, cook bacon until browned and starting to crisp. Remove bacon onto paper towels.
Drain grease from the pan, except for 1-2 T.
Add onions, cooking for a few minutes until they start to soften and turn golden.
Add wine and let simmer until it’s reduced by about half.
Add the potatoes, bacon, salt and pepper and cook until the potatoes are just tender (adding more wine if you like).
Grease an ovenproof casserole dish, and spread half of the potato mixture in an even layer on the bottom.
Spread half the cheese slices on top. Repeat with one more potato layer and one more cheese layer.
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2015/01/24/tartiflette-recipe-a-feast-of-cheese-bacon-potatoes/

How to Help People Cook More Often (AKA the Story of my Masters Thesis, Pt. 1)

January 23, 2015April 27, 2015Brian

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we like food. We like to cook, we like to eat and we like to break bread with others. We generally can’t have a meal without reminiscing about a meal in the past, or the potential of another in the future. Look at our Instagram accounts on the right side of the page. Is there anything non-consumable in there? And, you know, we have a food blog that you happen to be reading right now.

Food is a daily necessity for all of us, but some people enjoy the experience more than others. For some, thinking of what to eat is torture, and they long for the meal pill from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For others, each step from coming up with the idea to savoring the flavor of a meal is a joy. Lots of us fall somewhere in between, but last year, I decided to explore this a little bit.

A year ago I starting doing a Masters program here in Barcelona, a significant part of which is a thesis on a topic of my choice. I’m not a betting man, but I’ll give you one guess what my topic was. If you said food, you are correct. Extra credit if you guessed cooking, which is more correct.

The reasons I wanted to focus on cooking can be distilled down to exactly two things: health statistics in the US, and Michael Pollan’s book, Cooked.

For one of my presentations I made the slide below compiling some heath statistics from, to name a few, the National Institute of Health, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention ( a .pdf can be found here).

These numbers gave me pause. For reference, according the US Census Bureau there are about 316 million people in the US. To say that one-third of the adult population in the US is obese (i.e. a Body Mass Index of 30+) is to say that nearly 77 million of our countrymen and woman are dangerously unhealthy and are at high risk things for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer.

Apart from the health effects and costs for the individual (and family), these statistics call into light the health of our nation. As a guy who was in the Navy for 7+ years, I wonder who will be capable of defending us and protecting us? Who will be our firefighters, police officers, paramedics, emergency services and serve in our armed forces if two-thirds of us are obese or overweight?

The obesity epidemic (that is what they are calling it now) is surely a combination of many factors, but as Michael Pollan puts it in his book, our food, and the industrialization of our food production, is a very big culprit. Corporations, he says, “cook very differently from how people do…They tend to use much more sugar, fat, and salt than people cooking for people do.”

I don’t mean to paint a grim picture because, ultimately this a story of hope. If high levels of sugar, fat and salt from industrial foods are to blame for our health, then all we need to do is to cut down on, or eliminate them.

The easiest and simplest way to do this is to cook for ourselves. Skip the complicated stuff, the calorie counting, the”fat-free,” the fad diets, the cleanses and the deprivation. If we do nothing else other then cook more often, we will be doing a whole lot better than we are today.

I also don’t mean to over-simplify the issue, because there are lots of moving parts and factors involved in making a meal, but I think it’s a good and manageable place to start.

This is what inspires me, and this is what I built my thesis around. More on that coming soon, and I’ll explain how I ended up with #cookingcouplets.

If you’re interested in this kind of stuff, you would probably also enjoy:

Cooked by Michael Pollan. I’ve discussed it here, but the whole book is fascinating. The intro is available for free download if you follow the link above.
Fed Up– Katie Couric is one of the executive producers of this documentary, and many big names in health and food make appearances.
The Weight of the Nation– an HBO series covering the obesity epidemic. The whole thing is available for viewing online.

UPDATE: I’ve finished writing my thesis! If you want to read it, you can download it in the Download section. You can also see a shorter slide show here. (29 Mar 2015)

On Resisting Takeout: Easy Thai Noodle Stir-Fry

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015Gillian

It is a daily challenge to make a healthy dinner instead of grabbing takeout from the many tempting places in our neighborhood. And I do love to cook. But when we don’t plan ahead, and it’s 8 p.m. and the hangries are coming on… well, a kebab or a wok stir-fry someone else has prepared starts to look pretty appealing.

Sometimes I give into takeout’s siren song, and I enjoy every bite. But I know it’s not great for our budget or our health to do it as often as it crosses my mind, so I try to have a few easy recipes to draw from that I actually look forward to.

The wok takeout places are our default for fast food: you choose your noodles, your sauce and your protein, and they stir-fry it to order with veggies. It’s tasty and cheap, and because it has vegetables in it, it feels healthier. But I’ve been working on making our own version at home with whatever we have on hand. It’s cheap, it makes a ton – so we have leftovers for days – and it’s delicious and much less greasy than the takeout version.

If we have chicken, I’ll add it to the hot wok first, browning it on all sides, and then adding the veggies. But more often, I’ve been making it with just veggies. If you use a good portion of something hearty like squash or sweet potato, it’s really filling (even meat enthusiast Brian agrees) and a great way to use up produce you don’t want to spoil.

The “recipe” below is just a basic framework. I do it differently every time, and it’s very forgiving and adaptable. I’d love to hear any variations you try!

Thai Curry Veggie Stir-Fry

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Serving Size: 6

Thai Curry Veggie Stir-Fry

Ingredients

Fresh vegetables, cut into cubes (suggestions include: squash, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, bell peppers)
½ can- 1 can coconut milk
1 package rice or egg noodles
Curry paste or powder
Oil
Soy sauce
Sriracha hot sauce
Ginger, garlic, fresh basil or cilantro (optional)

Instructions

Heat a small amount of oil over medium-high heat in a wok or large pan.
Add the heartier veggies that will take longer to cook (such as squash and potatoes) and stir-fry until they start to soften a bit. If they begin to stick to the pan, add a little more oil, water or broth.
Add the rest of the veggies, as well as curry paste/powder, soy sauce, ginger and garlic (if you’re using them), and cook for a few more minutes.
Add the coconut milk, stirring well to mix in the spices, and let simmer until the veggies start to become tender. Season with soy sauce and hot sauce to taste.
Meanwhile, boil water for the noodles. When the veggies are just about done, cook noodles until al dente (usually 1-2 minutes).
Drain noodles and add them to the veggies (along with fresh herbs if you’re using them), mixing well and turning off the heat.
Serve with extra herbs and hot sauce.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2015/01/21/on-resisting-takeout-easy-thai-stir-fry/