Hands down, no arguments, Spain has been the culinary highlight of our trip . . . . While France and Italy are obviously delicious places to visit, we found that Spain has a range of new flavors and a great style of meals - tapas is a great way to try a greater range off the menu - which really suited the way we liked to eat! Here are just a few examples of our culinary delights from our short time in Spain.
Cured blood sausage, Cordoba - Quesuco cheese with peppers, Valancia - Eggplant fries with honey, Cordoba - Ox tail, Cordoba - Green bean & ham croquettes, Valancia - Valancian mussels, Valencia
Fried potato with quail eggs, Valancia - Black pudding with peppers, Valancia - Rabbit and chicken paella, Valancia - Meatballs, Valancia - Broad beans with pidgeon, Oropesa - Stewed pigs ears, Figueres
Chorizo tartare, Barcelona - Shredded duck terrine, Barcelona - Seafood paella, Barcelona - Ceviche, Barcelona - Shredded pork Tacos, Barcelona - Pigs ears, Barcelona
Galician-Style Octopus, Barcelona - Pulperia (Bar), Barcelona - Fried Sardines, Barcelona - Rasor Claims in Garlic, Barcelona - Steamed mussels, Barcelona - Seafood Paella, Barcelona
Now to some of our less casual dining experiences . . . . .
A rural town . . . . .
On our way down from Figures to Valencia we had an overnight stop in a large town called Valls. When we arrived at our hotel we ask the receptionist for her favourite restuarant in town, she quickly recommended Les Espelmes which was a small resturant in the hills behind the town. After asking her to make a reservation at 7:30pm, she gave us a strange look and half way through the call looked up and said that they don't open till nine. Whilst way past our bed time, we willing accepted and realised we were going to have get used to eating much later then we were used to. We were first in the door and ravenous when 9pm finally came round, so we quickly ordered a jug of Sangria and a duck charcuterie patter to settle our grumbling bellies. This was then followed with a pigs trotter served on beans and duck in orange. All of the food was sensational and the resturant was full of locals. Finally we finished up with a local specialty of the Catalina Cream, which quickly became Ryan's new favourite desert.
The unexpected seafood resturant in Madrid . . . . .
While in Madrid the guide books and reviews we had read recommended the seafood despite the distance from the ocean. This lead us to a small local restaurant called La Gaditana, a family run taverna serving typical Andalusian cuisine. On arrival they said they were fully booked for the evening but if we weren't planning on staying all night they could fit us it! We were so glad they did. As the locals streamed in we took three seafood tapas, tuna terrine, Galician style ocutopus in potato, cheese and paprika (patented by the restuarant) followed by garlic prawns. The good food keep coming with Ryan proclaiming the steak with Spanish style potatoes, as the best steak of the trip! We then finished up with cheese cake, which completed a perfect meal. After paying the extremely cheap bill, the one waiter who could speak English ushered us to the bar and poured us a glass of sweet wine from the south of Spain and was very keen to know how we found the place - apparently they don't get many tourists!
The (Michelin) star meal . . . . .
As previously mentioned, we were not fortunate enough to get a reservation at a Michelin rated resturant while in France. So upon hearing that San Sebastin has the most Michelin stars per capita we decided this would be a great place to book one in. We decided upon a place called Restaurante Alameda, a small resturant run by the Txapartegi brothers which 'respects the products' and uses local fresh ingredients. We started with a complementary gazpacho, followed with a mushroom and scallop ravioli and seared tuna in sesame, which were all absolutely sensational, bursting with flavor and beautiful presented. Then we moved onto a main of roasted pidgeon with black chilli sauce and stewed pigs trotter in apple and lime. This was all finished off with a chocolate ganache with hazelnut soup and citrus ice cream and a fresh cheese ice cream with bitter orange and crumble. The delicous food continued throughout the entire meal, some of the most exceptional food on the trip! We also accompanied the meal with a glass of local Rioja red, but only had a little as we were (both) recovering from a chest infection.
Our goodbye to spainish food . . . . .
As we were jetting off to Morocco in the morning we wanted to say goodbye to Spain and Europe in style, so we picked a modern Spanish resturant with raving reviews not far from our hostel. On arrival I ordered a blueberry mojito which the resturant was famous for and once it came it was easy to see / taste why. We then ordered the fish ceviche served with yuca to help reminisce over our time in South America, the dish was similar to the many we had in our travels there, so much so we asked if the chef was from South American - our waiter nodded and smiled and then asked when we had been to South America. Next up we had an amazing duck 'steak' with a red berry sauce and Ox tail with plantations. We finished up with a traditional Catalonia cream, a perfect dessert to end our stay in Catalonia and to say goodbye.
It wasn't all fancy dinners . . . . .
While we did indulge and eat out a majority of time in Spain, we also made time for some thrifty self catering, which was a completely different experience. Every local market was brimming with extremely high quality produces, hams, olives, white anchovies, marinated peppers, marinated octopus, salami, caper berries, chorizo, flavored jellies (we tried mojito & sangria), juices, pastries and fresh seafood. A platter from the markets was an excellent and easy meal that was a little bit more in our budget.
- Louise -
Cured blood sausage, Cordoba - Quesuco cheese with peppers, Valancia - Eggplant fries with honey, Cordoba - Ox tail, Cordoba - Green bean & ham croquettes, Valancia - Valancian mussels, Valencia
Fried potato with quail eggs, Valancia - Black pudding with peppers, Valancia - Rabbit and chicken paella, Valancia - Meatballs, Valancia - Broad beans with pidgeon, Oropesa - Stewed pigs ears, Figueres
Chorizo tartare, Barcelona - Shredded duck terrine, Barcelona - Seafood paella, Barcelona - Ceviche, Barcelona - Shredded pork Tacos, Barcelona - Pigs ears, Barcelona
Galician-Style Octopus, Barcelona - Pulperia (Bar), Barcelona - Fried Sardines, Barcelona - Rasor Claims in Garlic, Barcelona - Steamed mussels, Barcelona - Seafood Paella, BarcelonaNow to some of our less casual dining experiences . . . . .
A rural town . . . . .
On our way down from Figures to Valencia we had an overnight stop in a large town called Valls. When we arrived at our hotel we ask the receptionist for her favourite restuarant in town, she quickly recommended Les Espelmes which was a small resturant in the hills behind the town. After asking her to make a reservation at 7:30pm, she gave us a strange look and half way through the call looked up and said that they don't open till nine. Whilst way past our bed time, we willing accepted and realised we were going to have get used to eating much later then we were used to. We were first in the door and ravenous when 9pm finally came round, so we quickly ordered a jug of Sangria and a duck charcuterie patter to settle our grumbling bellies. This was then followed with a pigs trotter served on beans and duck in orange. All of the food was sensational and the resturant was full of locals. Finally we finished up with a local specialty of the Catalina Cream, which quickly became Ryan's new favourite desert.
The unexpected seafood resturant in Madrid . . . . .
While in Madrid the guide books and reviews we had read recommended the seafood despite the distance from the ocean. This lead us to a small local restaurant called La Gaditana, a family run taverna serving typical Andalusian cuisine. On arrival they said they were fully booked for the evening but if we weren't planning on staying all night they could fit us it! We were so glad they did. As the locals streamed in we took three seafood tapas, tuna terrine, Galician style ocutopus in potato, cheese and paprika (patented by the restuarant) followed by garlic prawns. The good food keep coming with Ryan proclaiming the steak with Spanish style potatoes, as the best steak of the trip! We then finished up with cheese cake, which completed a perfect meal. After paying the extremely cheap bill, the one waiter who could speak English ushered us to the bar and poured us a glass of sweet wine from the south of Spain and was very keen to know how we found the place - apparently they don't get many tourists!
The (Michelin) star meal . . . . .
As previously mentioned, we were not fortunate enough to get a reservation at a Michelin rated resturant while in France. So upon hearing that San Sebastin has the most Michelin stars per capita we decided this would be a great place to book one in. We decided upon a place called Restaurante Alameda, a small resturant run by the Txapartegi brothers which 'respects the products' and uses local fresh ingredients. We started with a complementary gazpacho, followed with a mushroom and scallop ravioli and seared tuna in sesame, which were all absolutely sensational, bursting with flavor and beautiful presented. Then we moved onto a main of roasted pidgeon with black chilli sauce and stewed pigs trotter in apple and lime. This was all finished off with a chocolate ganache with hazelnut soup and citrus ice cream and a fresh cheese ice cream with bitter orange and crumble. The delicous food continued throughout the entire meal, some of the most exceptional food on the trip! We also accompanied the meal with a glass of local Rioja red, but only had a little as we were (both) recovering from a chest infection.
Our goodbye to spainish food . . . . .
As we were jetting off to Morocco in the morning we wanted to say goodbye to Spain and Europe in style, so we picked a modern Spanish resturant with raving reviews not far from our hostel. On arrival I ordered a blueberry mojito which the resturant was famous for and once it came it was easy to see / taste why. We then ordered the fish ceviche served with yuca to help reminisce over our time in South America, the dish was similar to the many we had in our travels there, so much so we asked if the chef was from South American - our waiter nodded and smiled and then asked when we had been to South America. Next up we had an amazing duck 'steak' with a red berry sauce and Ox tail with plantations. We finished up with a traditional Catalonia cream, a perfect dessert to end our stay in Catalonia and to say goodbye.
It wasn't all fancy dinners . . . . .
While we did indulge and eat out a majority of time in Spain, we also made time for some thrifty self catering, which was a completely different experience. Every local market was brimming with extremely high quality produces, hams, olives, white anchovies, marinated peppers, marinated octopus, salami, caper berries, chorizo, flavored jellies (we tried mojito & sangria), juices, pastries and fresh seafood. A platter from the markets was an excellent and easy meal that was a little bit more in our budget.
- Louise -
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