2. SPAINTRAVEL
247246 January14January14
Translation:Forthehungry,there
isnosuchthingashardbread.
Hard bread is generally not
considered to be a good thing.
Unless, that is, you happen to be
making pan con tomate. The trick
to this ubiquitous Spanish dish is to
use stale bread (in a pinch, toasted
bread can work, too).
I’m in Allium, a slow food
restaurant in Barcelona’s medieval
Jewish quarter, learning to make this
simple bread, tomato and garlic dish
to accompany
a p l a t e o f
pulpo Gallego,
a G a l i c i a n
s p e c i a l t y o f
octopus, boiled
potatoes and
p a p r i k a s o
popular that
it’s often called
“Spain’s fish and
chips”.
Allium is the
third restaurant
of the night: the
first, Etapes
in art-nouveau
Eixample, for cava, mi-cuit foie gras
with peach confiture and black truffle
canalons (Catalan’s “national” dish
introduced by the Italians in the
1800s) followed by an hour at beer-
factory-turned-gastro-bar Moritz for
peppery, sweet fuet sausage and
bio-dynamic wines from Catalan’s
prestigious Priorat region.
Dinner is officially in its fourth
hour but there is still more stop yet:
to Barra for a glass of jerez and a
small plate of Spanish butter cake
with lime basil ice cream – yes, tapas
for the dessert course, too.
Translation: It’s better to go well fed
than well dressed.
Some Barcelonians really take this
one to heart – but no one more than the
city’s infamous Elephant Man. As the
face – and phallus – of the city’s liberal
slant, this gentleman doesn’t dress to
impress – in fact, he doesn’t dress at
all. It’s said that the Elephant Man sports
tattooed elephant ears on his stomach
and tusks on his legs – the trunk is his
junk in all its dangling glory, of course
– but it’s difficult to verify this. (Google
at your own peril.)
If Singapore is a dress shirt, starched
and buttoned up to the neck, Barcelona
is a butterfly-collared number, open to
the navel. You can still find public nudity
– even cycling ones (wince) – even
though it was officially banned in 2011.
Marijuana is legal in small amounts, and
public drinking is widely tolerated. And
castells, those backbreaking human
towers built in town squares without any
wires or safety apparatus of any kind –
you’ll find them here too.
As the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona
is a city of fiercely nationalist people.
Catalonia has its own history, and its own
language; calls for independence from
Spain grow louder every year. The topic
is highly controversial among Spaniards,
so if you happen across an illustration
of a donkey, Catalonia’s symbol, doing
indecent things to a bull, don’t ask
about it unless you’re prepared for an
impassioned discussion about politics.
Translation: Rice that is not
stirred will burn.
Spain’s phrase urging activity
and dissuading sloth doesn’t apply
to a good plate of paella. A stirred
paella will never form the socarrat,
that beloved layer of toasted,
caramalised rice at the bottom of the
pan. Paella is serious business here
(though not nearly as serious as in
Valencia), and it comes with its own
set of rules. First, never order paella
on Las Ramblas, the mega shopping
thoroughfare and
tourist magnet. (In fact,
never order anything
on Las Ramblas –
not a beer, not an ice
cream, nothing – if
you care about quality
in the very least.)
Second, never eat at a
restaurant that serves
paella for one – proper
preparation requires
a portion for at least
two. Third, never order
paella that is ready in
less than 20 minutes.
If so, you can be sure
you’re getting a reheated dish.
Eating“paellaattheport”isupthere
with photo pinching the top of the Taj
Mahal and kissing the Blarney Stone.
The neighbourhood of Barceloneta,
with its matchstick-thin streets and
seaside restaurants, draws in the
tourists – and for good reason. An
afternoon at La Gavina sipping cava
bytheMediterraneanSeaovershrimp
carpaccio, calamari en beignets and
a paella aux fruits de mer, and you
won’t even care that the city’s best
paella is cooking in Barcelona’s less
picturesque backstreets.
A BUEN HAMBRE
NO HAY PAN DURO.
MÁS VALE IR BIEN COMIDO
QUE BIEN VESTIDO.
ARROZ QUE NO SE
MENEA, SE QUEMA.
Previous page, clockwise from top:
Barcelona's alternative side; a sip of wine in the
streets; cava at Parés Baltà winery; plating a dish at
Barra; paella in Barceloneta's La Gavina
Opposite page, clockwise from top:
Brandade "sweets" from Moritz; the Barcelona
Cathedral; black truffle canalons; dessert tapas; a
heavy metal shop in El Raval; Gothic quarter graffiti
3. SPAINTRAVEL
249248 January14January14
Translation: In matters of eating and
scratching, it’s all a matter of getting
started.
Spainlaysclaimtosomeoftheworld’sbest
restaurants–ElCellerdeCanRoca,Mugaritz
andArzaktonameafew–butyoudon’thave
to mortgage the farm to get a good meal in
thiscountry.Forinstance,I’mhalfwaythrough
one of the best meals of the trip, straight
from the parchment paper it came on. No
maître d’, no Michelin stars – just me and my
pastry on a roadside curb outside Horno La
Santiaguesa panaderia in Madrid.
I’mtakingallmealsonthegotoday;churros
and chocolate for breakfast and a build-your-
own bocadillo picnic with jamón ibérico
de bellota – the famous cured meat cut from
acorn-eating, free-range Iberian pigs – in
Parque Del Retiro for lunch.
TomorrowI’llreturntotherestaurantcircuit
–totheremarkableZerainforaBasque-style
piquillo pepper tortilla bacalao (red pepper
codomelette)andatenderchuletón(T-bone)
steakandtoSolMayorforsucklingpiginthe
touristy Plaza Mayor.
Translation: Eat, drink and enjoy,
for tomorrow the world will end.
Or in English: “Life is short,
and then you die.” I prefer the
Spanish version though – their
way encourages me to eat crèma
catalana (a crème brulee-esque
dish) and mel i mato (a Catalan
cheese and honey dessert) before I
kick the bucket. Speaking of death,
it’s 43 degrees Celsius today in
Seville. People aren’t sitting by the
water fountains; they are dunking
their heads in them.
It’s mid-afternoon and the hottest
part of the day has hit, so I divert
down a back alley and stumble
upon Casa Morales, a dark and
ageing restaurant with the best
salmorejo (an Andalusian tomato
bread dip), pisto (Spain’s version
of ratatouille) and pringa (roasted
beef and chorizo) thus far. What
a find. Who could have guessed?
Only me. Oh, and Frommer’s. And
apparently Lonely Planet. And a
group of tourists on a tapas tour that
just marched in.
I’m meeting an acquaintance
named Javier for lunch at Casa
Robles. It’s his favourite spot in
town – mainly because of the
revuelto de matanza, a punchy
dish of scrambled eggs, potatoes
and chorizo. I suggest a bowl of
garbanzo beans and lentils, too. “If
you eat a plate of lentils in this heat,
you’ll die!” he says. Uh oh – there’s
that link to food and death again. I
better let him do the ordering.
Translation: Eat a small and early
dinner if you want to get old.
Apparently no one in Spain wants to get
old. I haven’t come across anyone who
believes it normal to begin dinner before
9pm. What’s a jet-lagged tourist to do?
Chase a siesta with a double shot of café
cortado and throw portion-control out the
window, I suppose.
COMER Y RASCAR,
TODO ES EMPEZAR.
COME POCO Y CENA
TEMPRANO SI QUIERES
LLEGAR A ANCIANO.
A COMER, BEBER,
BAILAR Y GOZAR
QUE EL MUNDO
SE VA ACABAR.
Clockwise from top: Seville Cathedral at
night; tapas at Casa Morales; spiral steps
of Hotel Alfonso XIII; jerez tasting at Hotel
Alfonso's American Bar; Seville tilework
Clockwise from top left: Jamón Ibérico de Bellota;
breakfast at Horno La Santiaguesa; an artist on the
streets of Madrid
4. TRAVEL
250 January14
WHERE TO STAY:
BARCELONA: Neri Hotel & Restaurante
is a Relais & Chateau boutique hotel in
Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter that matches
a superb location with equally impressive
interior décor and gastronomy. The hotel
is located off of Plaça Sant Felip Neri,
a quiet, shady square that has seen
everything from firing squads during the
Spanish Civil War to shoots for films like
Vicky Cristina Barcelona. hotelneri.com
SEVILLE: Built to house dignitaries for
the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition,
the Neo-Mudejar Hotel Alfonso XIII
is a destination unto itself. The hotel
pays homage to the city’s heritage with
rooms in three different styles – Moorish,
Castalian and Andalusian – and a lobby
replete with intricate hand-painted Triana
tiles, sweeping arches and geometric
designs. The history of the building
is laid out in a special wing alongside
photographs of world leaders that have
graced its halls. The hotel is part of
The Luxury Collection, a group of 75
properties around the world that combine
local history, architecture and interior
décor with unparalleled service and
amenities. hotel-alfonsoxiii-seville.com
MADRID:Openingin1912,the467-roomed
Westin Palace, Madrid is blocks from
Madrid’s three most renowned art
museums – the Prado, Reina Sofia and
Thyssen-Bornemisza – and two minutes
from notable tapas restaurant, Estado
Puro. The elegant yet comfortable
rooms feature original mahogany doors,
soundproof walls and marble bathrooms.
The hotel has hosted everyone from
Bowie and Brando to Einstein and the
King of Pop. Sunday Opera brunches
feature live opera performances, perhaps
in a nod to Luciano Pavarotti, once
a regular guest of the hotel who was
known to belt out a few morning notes
from his balcony – in his bathrobe.
westinpalacemadrid.com/en
ALSO RECOMMENDED: Barcelona’s Spanish Trails for tapas, wine and gourmet food
tours as well as day trips and bespoke adventures. spanish-trails.com
Westin Palace Madrid
Hotel Alfonso XIII
