Holiday Barcelona Blog

During the period of industrialization Barcelona became a real city. This period was also the beginning of an adaptation in the Catalan cuisine. Catalans and Barcelonians will never give up eating well and always quality produce. Traditional Catalan dishes still continue to be made. The traditional dishes are oftenly served with more sauces and were initially substantially lighter. A good restaurant in Barcelona is definately Can Culleretes, originally opened as a chocolate house in 1786. It would be a shame not to try a few of these recipes while in Barcelona

During the period of industrialization Barcelona became a real city. This period was also the beginning of an adaptation in the Catalan cuisine. Catalans and Barcelonians will never give up eating well and always quality produce. Traditional Catalan dishes still continue to be made. The traditional dishes are oftenly served with more sauces and were initially substantially lighter. A good restaurant in Barcelona is definately Can Culleretes, originally opened as a chocolate house in 1786. It's the oldest in the city and an on the menu you can find Escudella y carne d'olla (Stewed mixed meat and vegetables with broth). This is the most authentic of all the Catalan dishes but not easy to find, because it takes a long time to prepare. Another old restaurant (more than 100 years old) is Siete Portes, which started initially as a cafe. You can join here dinner every day till 1 am.

Barcelona restaurants you shouldn't miss

Whenever you're traveling to Barcelon you'll find an endless list of restaurant. But I'd like to mention some exceptional restaurants:

• Boix de la Cerdanya. The perfect combination of traditional and classical cooking in the style of Josep Maria Boix.
• Agut. Restaurant and kitchen with a "pre-war" guarantee: fish soup, grilled aubergine, pepper and onion, meat stew and cod.
• Pitarra. A traditional cuisine, but with a modern touch.
• Can Lluís. Popular Catalan cooking, specialized in rice dishes and with a very large dessert menu.

Traditional dishes in Catalonia

I'd like to mention some traditional Catalonian dishes. The list is of course to big to mention them all.

• Romesco: A sauce consisting of tomatoes,peppers,onions,garlic and almons. It's a traditional sauce from Tarragona.
• Calçotada: Prepared by cooking spring calcots over an open flame. When cooked, the spring calcots are char on the outside but tender on the inside. The're usually eaten by brushing out the outer layer of ash and dipping it into romesco sauce.
• Fideua: Normally paella is served with rice. This is a sort of Paella, but served with noodles. The main ingredients are shrimps, chicken, crawfish, peppers and tomatoes.
• Niu: Pig feet boiled with onions, mashed potatoes, garlic, wine and picada.
• Escudella y Carne d'olla: Local beef stew. Meat and vegetables cooked together in a large pot.
Two traditional Catalonian desserts are Crema Catalana, a custard pudding with burnt caramel, and Mel y mato, soft cheese with honey.

Drinks from Catalonia

If you want to avoid an alcoholic drink, than Orxata is a good choice. It's a juice of chufa. People from Barcelona also drink coffee with ice and granizado, a sort of orange juice. Typical Catalonian drinks are:

• Beer : The most spread drink. Usually if you ask for a beer in a bar you'll get a bottle of beer. If you like a draught beer you have to ask for a "caña".
• Wine: There's a tremendous choice in wines all over Spain. The wine fields close to Barcelona are the ones of Penedés.
• Cava: It's a Champagne, but a bit more fruity and greener than the French Champagne. Famous brands are Freixenet, Codorniu and Raïmat.

If you like to drink a sweet wine you can order Moscatel.

In Barcelona breakfast is generally a no-nonsense affair, taken at a bar on the way to work. The main dish of the day is the lunch, usually between 2 and 4 pm. In restaurants just outside of the city center you can find good menus for lunch from 8 euro (this includes, starter, main dish, desert and drink). Nobody in Spain is having dinner before 9pm and most kitchens are open till 11:30 pm. Smaller snack restaurants are open earlier.