Is Barcelona sweet or savoury? Salty? Or maybe spicy? Or is it more like a bright firework display of tastes, where among the lush variety of shades everyone can find what he/she likes?

Let’s take a closer look at the cuisine of Barcelona. Just be careful, the text causes an uncontrolled desire to eat everything at once !

I suggest starting our culinary research with a dish that vegans will definitely like:

Escalivada

The name of this dish comes from the Catalan verb “escalivar”, “to cook in ashes”, referencing the dish’s traditional preparation in the embers of a wood fire.

It is a typical Catalonian dish which is also very popular in Valencia, Murcia and Aragón, and which you can order as a starter.

Gently roasted sliced peppers, eggplants, and onions are lying on a big plate and waiting for you. Of course, this wonderful team is accompanied by olive oil and garlic.

Esquiexada

And now good news for all ceviche lovers living in Catalonia. You don’t have to look for a Peruvian restaurant to enjoy your favorite dish. Catalonia has its own equivalent of ceviche, which is called Esquiexada.

It is shredded salted cod with peppers, tomatoes, onions and olives with a generous portion of olive oil. Esqueixada is particularly popular in warm weather and is sometimes considered a summertime dish.

But in this case what should we eat during winter? Of course, calçots. This is the real star of a long winter weekend in the countryside, the Michael Jackson of Catalan winter cuisine.

Calçots

Calçot is a type of green onion. The origin of the calçot and its cooking method is in the town of Valls, where people celebrated the harvest of calçots. Nowadays, people all over Catalonia celebrate it. And this festival is called calçotada.

And now the instructions how to eat calçots correctly:

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to get messy. Most likely you will ! So accept this fact and enjoy it!

Calçots are grilled over hot embers, wrapped up in newspaper and served on terra cotta tiles. To eat them you need to peel them firstly with bare hands, then dip them one by one in salvitxada sauce, and since you will not be able to bite off a piece intelligently, you will have to swallow the whole onion. Believe me, it’s a lot of fun.

Nowadays in many places with a portion of onions they will give you gloves and something like a bib. It will make the whole process cleaner, but no less fun.

Meat and wine will be excellent companions for the onions. And forget about doing anything else that day!

If calçots can be tasted only in winter, the next gift of Catalonia, or better to say the gift of the generous Mediterranean sea, can be enjoyed all year round in any bar or restaurant:

Grilled Cuttlefish

Grilled Cuttlefish, or Sepia, is one of the favorite tapas of the locals. Very simply cooked, served with garlic and parsley. It is perfect with a glass of white wine on the side. Yummy!

Fried Chipirones (Very Small Squid)

You risk becoming obsessed once you try this dish. It’s like with popcorn, you can eat it endlessly. The same with Fried Chipirones.  In fact baby cuttlefish, they actually even look a bit like popcorn, especially their size.

Croquetas

“If you don’t like croquettes, we have nothing to talk about with you.” That’s what my local friends jokingly say sometimes.

It is believed that croquettes were invented by the French. Well, let’s say we won’t argue. But it’s one thing to invent something, and another thing is to turn it into an art.

This masterpiece is made by breading and frying a variety of ingredients held together by a thick bechamel sauce that becomes a rich and irresistible base of the flavour.

The most popular is “croqueta de Jamón” with the mouthwatering taste of Spanish Iberian ham. Have you tried it? Did you like it? Of course, yes. And now you can boldly go on to explore the entire world of croquetas, because there are dozens of them. Almost in every bar you can find some unusual flavour.

Tortilla De Patatas

And now at our exhibition of Spanish culinary achievements — the queen of Spanish cuisine, the empress of breakfasts, lunches and dinners, the one and only — Tortilla De Patatas.

Cooking the Tortilla De Patatas right is a real art, although the process seems very simple. You combine  potato and onion slowly cooked in olive oil. Then this mix should be whipped together with eggs and turned into a sort of thick omelette.

After all, it should not be too dry, not too raw, with ideal proportions of potatoes and onions. You may spend a lot of time searching for the perfect Tortilla De Patatas, and even more time trying to cook it properly, but the result will definitely be worth it.

Another potato delight are Bombas.

Bombas

And here Barcelona is fighting with other Spanish cities for the right to be called the birthplace of this dish. What is it? Perfectly smooth mashed potatoes are stuffed with things like spiced minced meat or even spiced octopus and then breaded with breadcrumbs and fried to a golden brown crispiness. This is the kind of bomb that turns out to be dangerous only by a taste explosion in your mouth and the possibility of getting used to it.

Now it’s time to move on to desserts. What is waiting for us here?

Crema Catalana

Take a spoon, break the crispy crust and enjoy the delicate creamy taste of Catalan sweetness.

Crema catalana is a custard made from egg yolks, milk, sugar and cornflour, with a delicate touch of lemon zest, cinnamon, or vanilla, with a crisp caramel crust, which is my favorite part. And it is known from the 14th century. It is a kind of greeting from the past, which does not lose relevance today.

Mel i Mató

A delicate dessert for gentle palates who do not like it when “it is too sweet”. It’s cottage cheese topped with honey and usually served with walnuts. It is a very mild dessert which you can find on the lunchtime menu deals.

Of course, these are just a few pieces of the huge puzzle of Catalan cuisine. You can collect this puzzle for a very long time. The main thing is to enjoy the process and the tastes of Barcelona.

Your guide in Barcelona,
Lilya @digidogs