So, I shucked 10 Kilos of fava beans today for a very traditional dish that incorporates a special blood sausage, the elbow of a pig, and fresh mint. I forgot the name of it, but will post it when I remember. One of my highlights of today was seeing new friends again that Carnet and I met …
Continue reading Day 6 El Quim: Busy-ness, as usual, and no business tomorrow
And, so there is Team Quim (except we're missing Marcos; he didn't work that day). From left to right: Ricardo (in back), Christian, Yuri (Quim's son), Quim, Joan, me, Jordi (standing), and Antonio (kneeling down). This team has loads of fun. So unlike most kitchens in the U.S., this team has stayed with Quim for …
Continue reading Days 4 and 5 at Quim’s; Monday at Alimentaria; Monday night at Lolita
Now that I have several hundred artichokes under my belt, I fully plan to put the fried artichokes on my menu of the restaurant I'll one day open. Think chips, except artichoke slices AND WAY BETTER. I now feel part of the team. The jokes are flying and although my attempt at humor in Spanish is …
Today was another fun day of staging. Quim's son, Yuri, is very gracious, and he's teaching me how to make certain dishes. He told me that whenever the asparagus with bacon, or the calamari, or the mixed seafood plates were ordered, that I'd make them. This was excellent, since they were all grilling items. I …
After 3 weeks of touring and having a blast, I started staging this morning at 7:30 a.m. at a place called El Quim de la Boqueria. Quim, the owner, is awesome, and pretty famous. All the restaurateurs in Barcelona come to his place to eat, and Quim travels around the world to work with other …
Continue reading 1st day of staging at El Quim de la Boqueria
*Warning: I am in a sassy mood, so this post will be sassy. Read at your own risk.* On Thursday, I stepped off the plane to a gorgeous day in London. I made my way from Gatwick to the hotel where I met C. We walked over to his office and I dropped him off …
Today through my expert navigating skills, Rachel and I went to Montserrat, a mountain with a monastery about an hour by train out of Barcelona. We really had no idea what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised. We had to take a cable car up, which was made by the krauts in the 1930's …
Continue reading Montserrat… one drink at that altitude and you are done.
Yesterday was another gorgeous spring day in Barcelona, so I decided to put on my very U.S.-looking running shoes (sea foam green and orange) and head out to see some sights. So, I packed my lunch with some llonganissa slices (excellent cured meat - hard salami like), manchego and an apple that I purchased from …
Continue reading Being a tourist or being “local”? Hard to tell
The last few days I have been trying to figure out different neighborhoods in Barcelona. They're not neighborhoods like I'm used to in San Fran, that are usually known for something. Some are, like around the hospital clinic metro stop, there's a medical school and hospital, and around the universitat metro, there's a university. But, …
Continue reading A trip to Sant Celoni yesterday and to my Spanish “disneyland” today
Tonight Rachel and I ate at a Catalan restaurant and it was delicious, but the service was something out of Eastern Europe. After our long journey of navigating the streets of Barcelona and Rachel almost killing me in the process, our waitress, which I nick named "Svetlana" started by asking if we had a reservation …
Salty Apron 